John Stossel: "Gasoline is a bargain!"

[VolcanoJen]

I was just reading this article, not realizing it involved uber-idiot John Stossel. Get a load of this:

Gasoline Prices in Perspective

Stossel contends that by failing to account for inflation and by disregarding federal and state taxes, the media and politicians exaggerate the real price of gas. He claims that this distorted perspective has frightened consumers into believing gas is more expensive than many of the products they purchase daily. To illustrate his point, Stossel showed that on a per-gallon basis, bottled water sold for three times the price of gas at a gas station.

This is one of those right-wing distractions that drives me insane. Since steak sauce is $66.00 a gallon and toothpaste is $35.00 a gallon, we're supposed to shut the hell up when it comes to gasoline being $3.00+ a gallon. Do they really think we're that stupid? When's the last time any of you bought A GALLON of steak sauce? When's the last time any of you bought 10 GALLONS OF STEAK SAUCE per week?

[ComerPerro]

1. He is just now getting around to writing this?

It proves what a hack he is.

He stole this from a RW email that's been going around for years.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. He must be getting desperate for attention.

[VolcanoJen]

He's a Grade A Jerky.

I wonder how much he costs per pound?

Here's another one of those right-wing myths, from the article:

But after accounting for inflation, gas today is no more expensive than it was in 1981 when President Reagan deregulated energy markets. The point is that politicians and the media are successfully convincing consumers that gasoline prices are exorbitantly high — creating a false sense of crisis — and that government can provide the remedy.

Ahhhh, I see. Gas really isn't that expensive, no matter what my checking account tells me. My checking account isn't depleting more rapidly this year than last, you see. It's the politicans (Democrats, of course) and the media. It's all smoke and mirrors. Gas is cheap!!! Up is down!!! Blue is black!!

[xultar]

3. OK something is wrong with this guy. He's gotten stranger and

stranger after getting weirder and weirder.

[rucky]

4. Who signs his checks, anyways?

I'd love to see this corporate hack's offshore bank statements.

Could it be more obvious.

[WI_DEM]

5. perhaps to somebody who makes $3.5 million per year from ABC

[Elidor]

6. His book is aptly titled: "Myths, Lies and Downright Stupidity"

Who says truth in advertising is dead?

[gratuitous]

7. Gasoline is a negligible expense

When you're paid a six-figure salary and your company pays for your gas. Sucks to be the other 98% of the population, though.

If Stossel truly lived in the sort of minimal government and law paradise he claims to support, like, say, the Old West, Stossel would be the town fool who dances when the gunslinger shoots at his feet.

[Jim__]

8. "Gasoline is a bargain," and John Stossel is an asshole! -n/t

[Yavin4]

9. You Can Function Without the Bottled Water, The Steak Sauce, and Stoseel

but you can't function without gas in America.

[VolcanoJen]

15. Exactly

One of my coworkers was trying to tell me to stop complaining about gas prices since even milk is more expensive than gas per gallon.

Since when did Americans need 10 gallons of milk per week to survive? Why do so many people cling to these apples and oranges comparisons?

[Salviati]

20. Gold: 1.5 million per gallon!

fire back with that fact, and ask them what the hell any of that has to do with the cost of driving to work every week...

[calico1]

25. If I could afford to buy 15 gallons (or equivalent weight)

of gold every week, I guess I wouldn't be complaining about gas prices.:eyes:

[Johonny]

40. pretty much

The whole American modern life style is designed around the relatively cheap price of gas and not the price of steak sauce.

[RedStateShame]

10. And an evening with a street prostitute can cost as much as $35....

...but I'll bet that prostitute's more enlightening than John Stossel.


Did anybody ever find out of the wrestler that kicked the crap out of Stossel has any free time?

[Skittles]

11. I don't get to work on steak sauce and toothpaste, asshole

what a republican whore; he is a f***ing joke

[gatorboy]

12. But they always conveniently forget.

That minimum wage's are still stuck far behind inflation. So what's his point?

[stop the bleeding]

13. when was the last time a gallon of toothpaste got you to and from work

just asking?

[zbdent]

14. Maybe he should do one on how much the average person's salary is

compared to what the 70s was, "adjusted for inflation" ... just for some "fair and balanced" comparisons ...

[zbdent]

16. Remember also, that the Repukes were concerned that, under Gore,

gasoline could go up to (shudder) $1.50 a gallon ... and they were PISSED!

[MadHound]

17. And what's really sad

Is that this inane, insane talking point has been making the rounds. I've already heard the same drivel from more than one conservative fool that I know. And thus, they keep driving their gas guzzling SUVs, paying through the nose for gas, happy as hell that they're not having to fill their vehicle with steak sauce, and counting their blessings that the price of gas is "so low":crazy:

[Penndems]

18. "Gasoline is a bargain"? Maybe on the planet Romulak

Certainly not here in Northern Virginia. Regular is over $3.25 a gallon.

But, then again, not everybody makes John Stossel's salary. Maybe to him that's a "bargain". x(

[truebrit71]

19. John Stossel is a farking idiot and a right-wing propoganda whore...

....No-one with more than a modicum of common sense listens to a word that moron spews...

[Deja Q]

21. If only oil was as cheap as water, Stossel is a real dumbass:

And the minimum wage was even more tolerable back in 1983, which is comparable to where prices are now - getting close to the 1981 high -- as if people think it will go back down once it reaches that point??!

Never mind all the other things you and others have said that Stossie forgot to mention, the comparison is weak AS water.

[valerief]

22. Every time I see Stossel and his moustache, I think of gay porn.

Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course.

[Benhurst]

23. Benhurst: "John Stossel is a corporate-whore asshole!" NT

[calico1]

24. Wow!

Imagine that! Visine costs $1,000 a gallon! The only thing is I can't imagine me or anyone else going through 15 gallons of Visine a week. And Il like steak sauce, but 15 gallons a week? Not that much. These comparisons drive me crazy because they are totally unreal and impractical. They'd be good comparisons only if people used THE SAME AMOUNT AS GASOLINE! Stossel really is a shill for the right. :grr:

[bleedingheart]

26. This is how you debunk this bullshit from an engineering prospective

when you package steak sauce, there are far more costs and procedures involved than in the mass production of fuel oil from crude.

Oil is shipped in massive containers and is directed to facilities where it is refined in great quantities to save money. It is then shipped to facilities around the country in large containers on either trains, trucks..etc or even pipelines....From oil you get gas and a number of other side products...some of which are shipped to different facilities to make products like vaseline. Gas/oil can be stored for fairly lengthy periods of time under proper conditions.

Steak Sauce is created out of multiple different ingredients that must be procured, and shipped to a facility. Because it is a food product it falls under more regulation for your safety. Sterile containers are used to brew it and typically when they do a steak sauce run, they produce a lot because the same containers are more than likely used for other products like tabasco sauce..etc so it isn't like there is one facility in america dedicated to just steak sauce. Turn around costs are factored into these operations...the sauce is then individually bottled and labeled and packaged. Those containers are then stored and prepared for shipment and must be shipped or the product will expire.

I absolutely detest Stossel and the retards that bring up this rhetoric...

[Hubert Flottz]

27. When is the last time you could afford a steak?

Hell, we've been fighting over that little piece of meat in our pork and beans! Me and the dog!

[Hubert Flottz]

29. Freepers save a bundle on tooth paste...

They don't have (m)any teeth.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

28. I hate to say this, but on a global scale, gasoline in the U.S. is cheap

It's $4-$5 a gallon in most Western countries outside North America.

That's why you see such tiny cars and trucks in Japan, for instance, and why so many people use bicycles and scooters to run local errands.

[bullwinkle428]

31. Lydia, I totally agree with what you're saying; however, people

(for the most part, read that as "Ignorant Freeptards") need to realize that the additional $$ paid for a gallon of gas in other countries goes towards social programs and other things to promote the common good of the country that are either non-existent here or minimal at best. There's also no question that the prices have helped to foster a much more proactive conservation attitude...

[calico1]

32. True, and in most of Europe

you have an excellent public transporation system. You only get that here if you live in NYC, Chicago or some other big city. Because the US unfortunatley went from mostly city living pre war to suburban living after the war, more people need cars because of the way everything is laid out. A car may be optional for many Europeans but it isn't for most Americans.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

33. But suburbia was deliberately encouraged by the car companies

The nation was not naturally divided into one-acre lots.

And using smaller cars and trucks and even scooters would be possible in much of suburbia.

Here in Minneapolis, I'm seeing noticeably more scooters on the street than in previous years, and that's a good thing from the point of view of conservation.

[calico1]

35. Yes, I am sure that the car companies had a lot

to do with people moving out of cities into the suburbs. I also see a lot more people nowadays using bicycles to go to and from work, or scooters. But depending on where you live its not always very practical. What do you do during a snow storm? Unless its really bad they don't cancel work so you have to get there. A good public transportation system would be good. If there is one good thing I can think of coming out of increasing gas prices is maybe more resources will be put into that. We are way behind other countries, except of course in the big cities. NYC is excellent as far as public transportation and having a car there is more a nuisance than anything else. :)

[warrens]

30. Is he still claiming global warming doesn't exist?

He's a real wingnut, a liar, and panderer to the brain-dead fascists throughout the country.

[dysfunctional press]

34. stossell IS an idiot, but gasoline IS cheap in the u.s....

nt

[Ravenseye]

36. The price of a gallon of gas is meaningless

It's a totally and completely irrelevant unit of measurment in this regard. Why? Because gasoline is just one part of the equation.

What should be looked at is relative energy costs for transportation. How much did it cost someone to live their lives 10 years ago, 20 years ago, 30 years ago, and so on. How many miles did they have to drive on average to get to work, the grocery store, etc. What was the total energy consumption based on that. How much was it a percentage of their food costs from the transportation of food.

Compare that to today. I don't know the statistics but I would wager that today people pay a greater portion of their take home paycheck than any time in the past for transportation.

Comparing it to water, toothpaste, or hot sauce is ludicrous.

[newportdadde]

37. Didn't Stossel do anti-corporate consumer advocoy stuff years ago?

I'm not sure what happened to him. Anyways John when I use up 10 gallons of BBQ in living for a week then we can make comparisions.. ass hat.

[VolcanoJen]

38. Yeh... he'd do some kind of "Give Me A Break!" segment on 20/20

Kind of a consumer watchdog thing he had going on...

[SoCalDem]

39. If your income is high enough, it doesn't matter how much a gallon

of anything is..