Monday, December 19, 2011

Typical American household spent 8.4% of income on gas in 2011; Obama's "Energy" Secretary wanted to artificially boost gas prices enough to raise that figure to nearly 20%

Missing $4,155? It Went Into Your Gas Tank This Year - US Business News - CNBC

When the gifts from Grandma are unloaded and holiday travel is over, the typical American household will have spent $4,155 filling up this year, a record. That is 8.4 percent of what the median family takes in, the highest share since 1981.

 Gas averaged more than $3.50 a gallon this year, another unfortunate record. And next year isn't likely to bring relief.

Flashback: Remember when Obama's Energy Secretary wished for $8 gas? Never mind

TESTIFYING BEFORE the House Energy and Commerce Committee last week, Energy Secretary Steven Chu was asked about something he said in September. "Somehow," the Nobel laureate had told The Wall Street Journal, "we have to figure out how to boost the price of gasoline to the levels in Europe." At the time, gasoline in Europe was going for around $8 a gallon. Did the secretary, Florida Representative Cliff Stearns inquired, still want to see US gas prices rise that high?

 

1 comment:

Sean said...

As bad as this sounds, it's nothing compared to health care. A NY Times editorial earlier this spring indicated that the average household expenditure for health care related expenses is now $19,400. That's pushing 40% of the median household income.