Political gas is passing on business — Marketplace

I shop around when I’m looking to fill up my tank with gasoline. I’ve been everywhere from Albertsons to Frontier and from Stinker to Costco. There’s no way around it, the cheap gas just isn’t getting any cheaper.

Usually, you can find a station that will be a couple cents cheaper than the next station, but it never fails once you’ve filled up, and you’re driving off … d’oh … there’s a station just a block away that’s listed for .0099 cents cheaper a gallon. I mean it never fails.
Gasoline has never been so high. And, this will let you in on my age a bit. I remember borrowing the car from Dad and paying 28 cents a gallon for gasoline. I remember putting in three bucks and seeing the reading go to almost a half a tank.
But seriously, recent results from the AAA Idaho show pump prices reached an average of $3.53 per gallon last week. But, not to worry. Memorial Day is coming and then gas prices will drop off.
I’m thinking it’s not going to happen this year. National average for gasoline is still 10 cents higher than what we’re paying here – $3.63.
As I filled up my tank the other day at the Costco in Boise, I stood and listened to a woman who was obviously talking too loudly. I couldn’t see if she was talking to the person inside the car with her, or on her cell phone. The one-sided conversation went something like this:
“I know, I can’t even believe it. I just put in 63 dollars in John’s suburban and that wasn’t even a full tank.” Pause. “And, my gosh, I couldn’t even believe I was paying $4.69 for a loaf of bread.”
Now, when you start talking about gasoline and food in the same conversation, I’m afraid something is really getting out of whack.
If you read the Wall Street Journal, you got a clear picture of what’s happening in the world of oil:
“Oil’s sharp rise this year has driven gas prices to unprecedented levels, prompting consumers to reconsider summer vacation plans and limit daily excursions; they’re also spending less at malls and shopping centers because they’re paying more not just for fuel, but for all kinds of goods and services. Americans are also being pinched by tight credit conditions, a sluggish jobs market and a downturn in the housing market.”
Now, if that doesn’t sum up the American economy in a paragraph, I don’t know what does. You have to look at why record-setting gasoline and oil prices are a centerpiece of conversation. Last year at this time oil traded for about $62 a barrel. Since that time, investors have been looking for a place – commodities – to hedge their money against inflation: corn, wheat, rice and oil.
In addition, the American dollar is declining in strength, partly due to a series of Federal Reserve rate cuts that started last year. That makes oil less expensive to investors overseas.
And, now, the recent discussion by presidential candidates who have been hovering around the gas pumps telling everyone they want some sort of “gas” tax relief. Does that sound funny to anyone? The presidential candidates offering gas relief?
Republican presidential candidate John McCain promised voters when he called for a Memorial Day to Labor Day suspension of the federal 18.4 cents-per-gallon federal gasoline tax. Democratic candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton jumped on the tax relief, and Sen. Barack Obama, also a Democrat, considered, spoke about, flinched but withheld his blessings.
It’s going to relieve a little pressure off my mind … 3.639 minus .184 equals … but seriously, congressional researchers say it would save the average motorist $30 during the summer. I’m not even sure if that would give me a half a tank of gasoline. Excuse me, but businesses are losing more than that in just a week due to the higher costs of transportation – on materials, shipping, freight, etc. – $30 gas tax relief will buy a relief of another kind. Tums, please?