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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: DMaA who wrote (20717)	6/13/2000 11:04:00 AM
From: MulhollandDrive	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

DMA, I think that there may be some gouging going on in my area. As the article states, St. Louis was given a temporary waiver, and the price did fall, but now it is just about back up to where it was when all they had was the re-formulated gas. They blamed the higher prices on the scarcity of reformulated gas, but right now that isn't what is being sold at the pump. Of course, crude prices have inching back up, too, so it's hard to say. The good news in all this(short term as far as the market is concerned) is that I believe the higher fuel costs are slowing down the consumer much more than the rate hikes. I've noticed when I buy gas I'm seeing more and more "even" sales at the pump, $10, $20, even $5 which tells me that people can't afford to "fill up". Higher fuel costs work basically like a tax and as we both know, higher taxes damage overall economic growth.

To: DMaA who wrote (20717)	6/13/2000 11:05:00 AM
From: jlallen	Respond to of 769670

Shhhhhhhhhhhh!!! Maybe they hadn't thought of that yet!! BTW, did you hear Bubba's proposal give all parents 12 weeks paid leave, the funds to come from unemployment insurance trust funds? JLA

To: DMaA who wrote (20717)	6/13/2000 11:29:00 AM
From: Zoltan!	Respond to of 769670

The EPA is trying to deflect responsibility for causing the higher prices from Clinton-AlGore the Junior. Their EPA directed oil companies to supply 12 different gasoline formulas w/in the 300 sq mi Chicago market. Obviously, the costs of production are not going to be the only costs even if you believe the EPA numbers. The logistical problems are huge. The plan is stupid too, because it implies that cars do not drive out of their respective formula zone or fill up in another zone. In the East they required MTBE despite no testing on environmental impact. Now MTBE, which has a unusual affinity for water, pollutes the groundwater throughout the NE and is found to be a potent carcinogen. (I believe the West has the same problems, as Santa Monica had to close its wells due to MTBE pollution). Further, MTBE - besides polluting the groundwater and raising gas prices - has had little positive impact on reducing airborne pollution because it only made an impact on carbureted cars during warm-up and few carbureted cars exist anymore. Fuel injected cars never did benefit, they just delivered reduced gas mileage. Despite all the evidence that MTBE is no solution and a major pollutant, the EPA has refused to ban it - though CA has tried. Since there is no longer any empirical argument in favor of MTBE the EPA has now decided to phase it out over a period of 5 years! Amazing. btw, another reason for the high gas prices is the AlGore the Junior sponsored decision to rule the Arctic off bounds for oil production - despite the huge reserves there. That gave the signal and added leverage to OPEC to set higher prices.