I just paid less than two bucks a gallon for gas. I guess it really is election time

[Motown_Johnny]

I suggest everyone fill up in the next couple of days. Odds are it starts to go up again at about 8:00 local time on tuesday.

[tpi10d]

1. As I recall '04 gas prices went up shortly after the election.

I filled up today also..prices have been in freefall for the last few weeks.

[mohc]

2. You just paid less than $2...

because the economy is on the verge of collapse. Being happy about the current price of gas is like being happy about how much cheaper housing is now.

[Motown_Johnny]

5. I am implying price manipulation for the benefit of the Republican party

sorry if I was not clear

[Just-plain-Kathy]

22. You were clear, and you're right. Pumpkins and candy corn mean Halloween is coming...

...low gas prices and less banging on war drums mean it's election time.

[msallied]

7. I'm happy I can now pay my other bills as well as fill my gas tank.

This was not so much the case two months ago. So yeah, I'm happy. Maybe the lower gas prices will help consumers get the economy moving again. It's easier to spend money on other things when it isn't being dumped into your gas tank. lol

[mcg]

3. You noticed that strange coincidence too, eh?

I just thought of that yesterday, hmmmm, here we go again, prices dropping before an election. This sudden big drop in price at election time, and huge record profits for the big oil corporations *during bad economic times*, shows that prices didn't need to be that high.

There's also that strange coincidence of this happening while "oilmen" (including Rice) control the government.

Can we say PRICE FIXING? That's being allowed to happen?

[TheDebbieDee]

4. I paid $1.97 a gallon for regular unleaded here in Kansas City

yesterday. The prices have been dropping steadily here since just after Hurricane Ike. It was $3.95 a gallon just before Ike.

[Left Is Write]

6. I paid 2.569 on Friday - one month before that, I had filled up for 3.629.

The last price I saw was yesterday, 2.519.

I can't fill up, though, 'cause my tank is still full from Friday. :D

[msallied]

8. I paid $2.29 today in Olympia, WA. It's dropping about ten cents a day here.

Absolutely stunning. Not so sure I agree with the OP that it's being manipulated because of the election. I think it's because oil futures are in the toilet. But I'm still thankful for the relief.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

12. $2.45 is the lowest price I've seen in Everett

Olympia probably gets a discount because there's so many government bureaucrats there.:sarcasm:

[msallied]

16. LOL. I wouldn't doubt it.

Costco has it even cheaper, though. I like to store up the discounts on my Safeway card and use them. Last month I got a sixty cent per gallon discount. I wept as I pumped it, but they were happy tears for a change. lol

[Left Is Write]

17. Maybe a little from column A, a little from column B.

I think the prices were being manipulated before and were artificially high.

[soccermomforobama]

9. I paid $1.89 a gallon today in Texas

[happychatter]

25. I remember self serve in San Antonio at 19 cents.... wow, I'm old - n/t

[busybl]

10. told my neighbors yesterday

to gas up cuz Wednesday it'll be 4 bux again.

[ddeclue]

11. How do we keep the prices DOWN?

Regulate and investigate the hell out of the oil companies and wall street.

It's also how we restore confidence to the banking system so that they will loan money again.

Nobody trusts anything right now because they haven't just been lying to us, they've been lying to each other too.

Doug D.

[Motown_Johnny]

15. we could try invading an oil rich country in the middle east !!! Oh, Wait..... Shrub tried that

[scarface2004]

13. call off the drilling!!

we got more gas than we know what to do with all of a sudden!!

[Jakes Progress]

14. I'll top off both cars on Tuesday. nt

[quakerboy]

18. My boss and I have a wager

He says its all the economy, and OPEC will "stabilize" things somewhere near where we are now.

I say its the election, and gas will be over 3 again around inauguration day.

[Motown_Johnny]

21. I think you have the better side of that bet.. I would even say by Christmas..

[quakerboy]

23. that was my initial thought

But I decided to hedge my bets, based on the idea that the "they" might wait so that they can raise it after Obama is sworn, so they can blame it on him.

[geckosfeet]

19. OPEC is worried about Obamas talk of alternative energy initiatives.

That and dropping demand because of collapsing economies worldwide is causing OPEC to cut back on production and price.

I also think that prior to the economic collapse, hedge fund managers who bought credit default swaps pushed the price of oil up by relentlessly bidding on oil futures. The bought oil futures and drove up the price of gasoline. This in turn pushed sub-prime mortgage owners over the financial edge. Rising fuel and commodity prices accelerated mortgage defaults. The hedge fund managers who held the default swaps cashed in. The banks and financial institutions that issued the swaps fell flat on their faces cause they did not have the cash to pay out. Mortgage holders who lost their homes and mortgages end up paying these thieves with their tax dollars.

[parabolabear]

20. haha still $2.69 here in nyc! but much better than $4+/gallon

[my3boyz]

24. I filled my van up the other day for $40! When gas prices were higher it cost $72. nt

[Awsi Dooger]

26. Not going to happen

The pump price nationally is still far too high, compared to the futures price per gallon. Consequently the pump price will continue to drift downward, long after election day.

Right now the national pump price is about $2.40 and the futures price is roughly $1.50. The typical gap is 50 to 60 cents. So you can seen we still have 30 to 40 cents more to drop. The pump price will only shoot up if the trading price goes haywire upward, and there's no indication of that.

In other years your skepticism was valid. This is an extremely rare situation of an elongated slide in oil prices that has yet to fully hit the pump price.

[FlaGranny]

27. A study would be interesting.

In my memory, every time an election year rolls around with Republicans in the White House, the price of gas goes down just before the election. I don't remember that happening with Democratic White Houses. A comparative study would be interesting.

Months ago, when prices were at their peak, I told DH that they'd come down right before the election as that has been my experience.

[pampango]

28. Actually gas prices dropped more in 2000 than in 2004.

In 2000 gas prices peaked at $1.66 in the summer, declined to $1.50 by the first week of November, then continued down to $1.38 in the winter. In 2004 prices peaked at $2.03 in the summer, declined just to $1.99 by the election, then continued down to $1.75 by winter.

The biggest percentage declines from summer highs to early November prices was 29.5% in 2001, 28% in 2005 and 24.2% in 2006. While 2006 was a national election year, the other two were not election years.

Gas prices usually hit bottom in December or January (sometimes in February), rise in the spring, hit a high during the summer driving season and then decline in the fall to another mid-winter bottom. If we had our election in May instead of November, we probably won't see as much price manipulation speculation.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/wrgp/mogas_history.html

[wolverinez]

29. Demand is down 10%

A huge amount of people in the U.S. stopped buying and using SUV's.

[uponit7771]

31. That's what I think too, people stopped driving and the franchise stations were getting killed

[onenote]

30. yes those puppeteers that control everything have lowered the price of gas to help mccain

but at the same time they also arranged for 71% spike in the number of foreclosures in the third quarter of this year and for unemployment to hit a five year high.

Silly puppeteers.