WCCO EYE4 LOGO WCCO Radio

Latest News

Reality Check: Bachmann’s $2 Gas Claims

Share this
View Comments
Pat Kessler

Reporting Pat Kessler

Today's Most Popular Video

High Winds Trash Cars At Minn. Dealership

Forever Hungry: One Family's Struggle With Prader-Willi Syndrome

124 Minn. Soldiers Depart For Afghanistan

Woman Shot To Death In NE Minneapolis

Good Question: Is Tossing A Cigarette Butt Against The Law?

ST. PAUL (WCCO) — Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann’s pledge to bring back $2 gas has the feel of a “chicken in every pot” political promise. Experts say claims like this are running on empty.

“Under President Bachmann, you will see gasoline prices come down below $2 a gallon again!” said Bachmann, campaigning for the 2012 GOP presidential nomination in South Carolina last week. “That! Will! Happen!”

That statement is highly QUESTIONABLE.

Bachmann says cheaper gas is doable if the US expands domestic drilling from Alaska to offshore. However, even if the US changed its drilling policy immediately, it wouldn’t lower gas prices for many years.

The Energy Information Administration estimates it would be 2030 before there would have a significant impact on the price at the pump.

Promising cheaper gas is a political strategy Bachmann has used before in Minnesota political campaigns.

“This is our goal: to get back to $2 a gallon, ” Bachmann said in June 2008, while running for Congress.

Here’s what you NEED TO KNOW.

Back then, Bachmann called it the “No More Excuses Energy Act” and, like her campaign for president this year, she promised $2 gasoline within 4 years.

“In order to get back to $2 a gallon, there is only one solution. It’s to explore here, and explore now, so Minnesotans can pay less,” she said.

Bachmann blames President Obama for high gas prices, which oil experts say is simply not true for Obama, or any president.

It’s worth noting that in this political season there’s a history of Democrats blaming Republicans for gas price hikes, too.

Now, gas prices are averaging about $3.50. When Obama took office at the deepest point of the recession, prices were at $1.79. That’s when oil experts say demand for gasoline plummeted, and prices dropped.

You might also be interested in reading:
CNN Money: Bachmann Gas Prices
Factcheck.org: Playing Politics With Gasoline Prices
Factcheck.org: Is Obama To Blame For $4 Gasoline?

Share this
View Comments
  • The Crux of the Buscuit

    Certainly gas prices will fall to under $2 per gallon. Once she institutes her fiscal policies 80 percent of the country will be unemployed and unable to buy anything, food, gas, clothes, anything. I’ll bet rib-eye steak sells for 49 cents a pound too.

  • Murph

    GOP so oily that they stink of it! So Bachmann says something so unlikely and off the wall that people just HAVE TO look at the messenger with total disgust.She just can’t keep her insanity under wraps.In fact they all have been spouting such stupid twisted lies that the public has to be utterly flaberghasted by it by now.If you are a GOP’er,why haven’t you told them to cut all the bull and help this country survive the party of no! ?? You can’t ALL be that rednecked and greedy as they make you seem to be,or can you?

  • sick of P K

    Pat Kessler.. YOU Sir are a complete and utter disgrace to broadcasting as a news journalist . You will stop at nothing to denounce Miss Bachmann. Your left wing slant is so obvious it is just ridiculous. You make me Puck!!!!

  • Former Democrat

    Uh no actually, instead of vacationing in Martha’s Vineyard with the rich and famous leftist, us little people go to work everyday so the President can preach to us about cutting back on our energy use while he uses more.

    If we could tax hypocrisy, we could pay off this debt in a hurry..

  • Dean Woodsend

    Please don’t even try to go there

  • BasicEcon

    $2.00/gal gas is very possible if we expand drilling and start paying down the debt. A sound Dollar is key to bring back prosperity to the USA.

  • Heysus

    Bachmann really knows how to make things happen. Just look at all the wonderful things she has done for MN. This is just another example of her wisdom and promise to make things better. I totally believe in her, completely, really! ;-) Just trust in God and Michelle and your world will obviously be better. She can make prosperity out of snow. She talks to God, so I’m sure he told her this can be possible… so you doubters get over it!

  • Unknown

    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012
    RON PAUL!!!! 2012

  • Dan

    Sorry to burst your bubble, but Bachmann is just another flash in the pan. A Palin-style get rich quick scheme at best. A dangerous counter-point to the country at worst. I wish the Republicans could stand up a REAL candidate! At this rate, just count on a Democrate re-election… There isn’t enough people to elect Crazy. Sorry.

  • Carole Rog

    Can’t stand the truth or facts?

  • Rick

    Yes you are correct. The gas prices will never fall to 2.00 a gallon. That’s because everyone says it will take so long to see it at the pump. Imagine if we all actually did something when the drill baby drill was being mocked. At that time they were saying it would be about 10 years to see it at the pump. well that was three years ago. So now we are three years behind. So in effect we are now 13 years behind.

  • Carole Rog

    You may want to check your facts before posting. Your beloved President Bush, at the same time frame in his presidency, had taken as much vacation, if not more, than President Obama. And believe me, he wasn’t hanging out at the trailer park!

  • reagan

    Please post your facts Carole! Now fumble some papers and say there here somewhere, just cant find them right now. hohohoh hehehe lol. Crazy Chick!!!

  • Obama 2012 REALLY???

    Bush went to his own ranch in Texas. I did say own. That means he actually paid for it and didn’t rent it for $50,000.00 per week and have the tax payers pay for it.

  • Brian

    I disagree. Crux is right on the money. Thankfully, this country will NEVER elect her to the Oval Office. Only MN voters are stupid enough to elect someone like Bachmann to anything higher than student council. The only place she should be is competing on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader. At least that way the nation could see her for the idiot she is. It’s interesting how Obama is to blame for gas prices at $3.75/gallon, but there was no mention of her boy Bush in office when prices were over $4.00/gallon. Pawlenty and Bachmann…one idiot down, one idiot to go. Hope your bags are backed, Chelle.

  • Obama 2012 REALLY???

    She learned how to talk to God from Obama. She also got her wisdom from the wealth of experience he had when he was running for president. I think she was a community organizer too wasn’t she. Oh wait a minute the community organizer is the President already. How’s that working out for you.

  • Truth Hurts

    Stupid is as stupid does. Only a Bachmann fan could be so dim. Lets go celebrate Elvis’ birthday!!

  • I see dumb people

    Good come back…for a tea party imbecile (“imbecile” is a synonym or “big word” for “moron” in case you’re wondering). I’ll try to use smaller words next time, Bachmann fan. P.S. how is John Wayne’s hometown doing?

  • A Voter

    Right, even if drilling is allowed we won’t see $2.00 gas in our life time.

  • Dunce Cap

    Ahh yes. He’s a disgrace to YOU because his article states FACT, something you mindless GOP’ers can’t stand (along with proper spelling, apparently).

  • A Voter

    A Republican by any other color is still a Republican.
    It’s the Big Boys in the smoke filled rooms that make the decisions not the dumb little peons that vote for them.

  • Phid

    Why is it that liberals have to be so mean? What happened to the whole “tolerance and compassion” line of the left?

  • marcus

    What the hell are you smoking, it was that a couple years ago and certainly can be again. Obama has attacked and promises to destroy the energy business through regulations, carbon taxes, environmental ‘concerns’, tax hikes, inflation, and propaganda. I have no idea what his agenda is but its real.

  • http://eurobrat.wordpress.com eurobrat

    I’m frustrated with his inexperience, but I still prefer inexperienced to religious wacko. If the Republicans don’t find a moderate candidate to put up, I’ll have to hold my nose and vote for Obama again.

  • Lonny

    And where does George Soros smoke his cigars?

  • Phid

    That bit about not seeing lower gas prices until 2030 was stated in a report about the Outer Continental Shelf (presumably new drilling sites). It was not about lessening restrictions on current rigs or drilling on land.

  • PatyKcantWrite

    Wait a minute..dumber than dumb Pat K….when GW was prez, the liberal media chastised him non-stop for rewarding his oil buddies with high gas prices. Now that NObama is prez and gas costs even more, you can’t find a media outlet willing to point the same finger. Just shows how liberal and stupid the media are. Your so called “experts” are dumpy-liberal-idots…why would anyone every believe anything you write (or should I say that you have your 10K a year intern write for you!) Loser!

  • Jake

    Just look at all of the idiotic comments presented so far, triggered from the idiot “Mr. Garrison Keillor” supporter’s stupid article, and it’s no wonder this country is being driven off a cliff. First of all, obama has NO energy, (i.e. OIL policy)..
    Second, a high oil price is like a huge tax increase in just about 90% of all consumers in this country, in one way or another. For Kessler to even try to pretend that he is being ‘middle of the road’ is an insult to even the average, educated citizen. His credibility is steadily rolling downhill.

  • Richard in Minneapolis

    Inflation? Has anybody seen any sign of inflation lately?

  • Times up Obama

    thanks Michelle. Gas was around $2 when the savior was elected.

  • babs1947

    He owned the ranch but we paid for Air Force 1 round trip, secret service, because the ranch was being picked. And he took 6 week vacations. Now how did that save money?

  • marcus

    you been to a store lately? Its from the fed pumping money into the economy. I could go through the list of increases but coffee bugs me the most at 40% in last year.

  • I’m Just sayin’

    so lets repeat some of President Obama’s promises: Economy, Jobs, Fix Environment, .. And of course there is the famous nobel peace prize. We could talk about killing Usoma bin Laden, but of course that was the military machine that the left hates so much. Education, hmm tuition is going up again double digits, ….. Housing bail out, Bank Bail out, cash for clunkers, tarp, double an already completely rediculous national debt in two years…. Anything else anyone wants to add? So while Michelle Bachmann made what may be an outlandish claim, it appears our current president is fairly good at doing the same thing, but of course none of this is his fault, he got the country in this shape and is only reacting to things that are coming up from the prior president right? He had nothng to say or do about this the 6 years he was in the senate and voted present how mant times? Hey Pat, will you let this post stand, or am I banned due to calling out both the right and the left?

  • Minnie

    You know, you only get one vote whether it’s for Ron Paul or someone else.

  • Minnie

    Gas costs More? It’s $3.73 in my town. Not good but not as high as it got under Bush.

  • Reality sucks

    Price of crude oil is set by the three major international petroleum exchanges, ours is the NYMEX. The others are in London and Singapore. You can go ahead and blame a bunch of Wall Street traders, but it would be foolish to blame our government in total. As for Obama not having an energy policy, that’s just false and you know it. I, in no way, agree with the oil aspect of the package but it is available for you to read if you need proof that it exists. Jake, when will you learn? You are always the one with the comments that ooze idiocy. There are a lot of intelligent individuals that post here, so if you can’t step up to the plate with substance, you need to post on Colbert Nation.

  • X

    Exactly which policies of hers will cause this to happen?

  • Reality sucks

    Dr. I’m Just sayin’, I will give you credit for calling out both sides. Though your statements are not grounded, yet state the facts at the same time through sarcasm, I have to give you partial credit for truth. Strange that if you take away the sarcasm, it actually becomes fact.

  • Kevin

    please show us all where Obamas oil policy is because no one else knows and I don’t mean a speech.

  • Pat

    Always Bush…. this Bush that, blah, blah blah.

    You libs can’t admit a fact so you pull out the Bush card. Ok he did it, now s it right for Obamy to do it?

    Blah blah blah. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  • Obama 2012 REALLY???

    Like I said Obama 2012 REALLY??? when the mind is taxed with critical thinking and lack of understanding it will signal a defense reaction and begin to lash out at the source of reality. This is usually indicated by an effort to elevate ones knowledge or their perception of knowledge by calling their opponent names that they feel will bring them to the same level of the aggressor. It is also know they will often refer to a group of people rather than one person. As far as John Wayne’s hometown. I would say it is doing as well as the 57 states Obama visited during his campaign. Or the many hero’s he saw during a Memorial Day speech. Oh what a minute those hero’s are dead. WOW he really is God he can see dead people.

  • Chris

    Wooooooo

    Let’s go visit the 57th Obamy states

    Woooooooo

  • Obama 2012 REALLY???

    I am glad you don’t own your own company.

  • Flavor

    I heard he got his cigars from Clinton, special dipped.

  • Obama 2012 REALLY???

    Where can you read the plan?

  • Reality sucks

    His policy is “chill baby chill” rather than “drill baby drill.” I have had difficulty in the past with posting large blocks but if you search something like Obama energy policy, you will find it. There has been a ton of oil found recently on the east coast and elsewhere on our mainland and Mr. Obama is very hesitant about permits to retrieve.

  • http://thehomerunporch.wordpress.com mauerfan

    But drilling in Alaska would make sense so that won’t happen.

  • http://thehomerunporch.wordpress.com mauerfan

    If GWB was president still and he was doing everything Obama has done everyone would be calling for his head. The dems won’t admit it though b/c I’m right.

  • Kevin

    whats the government link? Not some b.s. talking point link.

  • Reality sucks

    Which simply displays your lack of knowledge of exactly what Bush did. I’m not a lib but I am informed and do not in anyway appreciate the disaster that Bush and his entire administration blanketed our country with. He was a disaster of a President and we will pay for his 8 years with another 10

  • clark

    sounds like his debt ceiling plan no one ever saw

  • Reality sucks

    You’re a strange cat Kev. You tell me not to give a speech then you tell me not to give a b.s talking point—which is, if I may say so myself, not my character. THEN you continue with asking for information that is available to all after insulting me. Huh? Be nice and I may throw you a link.

  • Florence’s Machine

    Where to start? Hmm, Nobel Peace prize – didn’t nominate himself, Osama bin Laden (spelling), bank bailout was W. – not Obama, ridiculous (spelling), cash for clunkers was a huge success, national debt, yeah, it took a big hit from Obama but a lot of it came from the two wars that W wasn’t adding to the deficit, Michele (one L) Bachmann, wow, I’m exhausted.

  • Me

    Obamy? Your comments have no value.

  • Me

    What you state doesn’t matter because it not only isn’t happening, it could not happen. W. could not get elected again due to term limits and for Obama, it’s his first term, not his third as you suggest in the scenario with Bush. You’re speaking with imaginary situations that could never be.

  • Reality sucks

    Just to get back to reality though, Florence, did you read the most recent? Obama, so strapped with the inability to rack up new debt, has called his new stimulus plan the action for expanding/continuing food stamps and unemployment bennys. That’s a sad state of America.

  • Reality sucks

    I was thinking about that the other day Marcus! Coffee bugs me the most too. All things in account, I get PIS@ed about coffee the most. I finally have reference to understand that original tea party.

  • Reality sucks

    Nope, Soros is in the Caymans, smokin them goodies knowing he got out when the gettin’ out was good. You know when Soros hangs it up on the stock market—it’s over with a capital O.

  • Reality sucks

    Strange story about Mauer you may appreciate. He used to date a girl that I knew from a family I knew. So we are talking distant right off the bat here. Anyway, she needs to drop something off at our house, and brings this guy that is her boyfriend. I didn’t know him, his name, or anything about baseball–I’m an NFL guy, but I offer him a coke, great guy, never knew. Funny huh? Hey, Joe if you’re reading this, I lived in the log home!

  • Reality sucks

    But it doesn’t make mauerfan wrong. George W. was the impetus. Sure he was working on the failed efforts of Presidents before him. But, George W. turned a campfire into a full on 5 alarm world catastrophy. If he did have extended term limits (hypothetical), you can bet any farm that the chickens have come home to roost. Party over with no thanks to Georgy.

  • Sarah Michelle

    BACHMAN PALIN 2012
    BACHMAN PALIN 2012
    BACHMAN PALIN 2012
    BACHMAN PALIN 2012
    BACHMAN PALIN 2012
    BACHMAN PALIN 2012

  • Reality sucks

    You should really ask that question not of politics but religion itself. The crazy christians that have wiggled out of the woodwork are the most intolerant individuals I have ever seen. Compassion? They don’t get it and don’t show it. Equality, they created the concept and look at them now! Equality is no longer a christian concept. And mean. Yeah, very mean. Strange how they found the way to the Republicans.

  • Rush’s Supplier

    Mr. Limbaugh
    You are off your oxycodone again.
    What’s the matter? Couldn’t steal someone else’s prescription?

  • Reality sucks

    that’s crazy talk

  • RS

    This was in reply to the comment TWO above from “That One”
    i hit reply to that comment… but it did not work….

  • Jenny W

    She need a to cut back on the whatever it is she puts in that tea.

  • That Tea should be outlawed

    Yes she’s just another idiot in the tea party

  • Pucker up

    well both of you pucker up and…..

  • Can’t spell imbeciles without MB

    Just like she learned all she knows about taxes from the bad guys(IRS) suing all those folks in federal tax court taking them for all they had. Thats how she miraculously grew a conscience. Wish she’d grown a brain instead.

    Can’t spell imbeciles without MB.

  • Simple College students

    I know I’m just some college student who doesn’t know much but here are few thoughts me and my friends had concerning politics.
    How about everybody blaming each other and actually listen to the American people. Both sides are to blame for this debt problem but one thing nobody ever thinks of is that we have been in debt since before we were a nation. Just little things can help like stop taxing an arm and a leg for everything so people can pay their bills and then go out and actually spend their own money. I think I can find better ways to spend my own money and get commerce going again then the government. Another thing to get everything going again is to stop taxing cooperation so much that they have to lay off people or move to another country. By doing this one simple thing we can create jobs again. As for Minnesota, instead of adding tax to property put a tax on clothing that way everyone is helping us get out of debt. Just some thoughts you might think about or not. Agree or disagree we really don’t care. We just thought we should be heard too.

  • @college students

    College students–welcome to the libertarian party. Keep it up. Just know that when your old enough to have a house and kids, things change. That taxing corporations thing…starts sounding like a pretty good idea when you can’t make ends. Your ideas will change as you age and owe. Regardless, good job on staying in the middle and paying attention to both sides!

  • @college students

    “you’re” THERE’s spelling police on this board!

  • Sean

    Oh goody, you found one misspeak by Obama. It gets pulled out every other week after a fresh new Bachman.

  • Paul Solinger

    Yet every single thing he stated was backed up by factual sources.

  • Paul Solinger

    Give me one link showing the “liberal” media chastising Bush for high gas prices. I guarantee you can’t do it.

  • Sean

    “planned parenthood is the Lenscrafters of abortion”
    “members of congress have no health insurance”
    How about the shot heard around the world in Lexington and Concord New Hampshire
    How about her saying John Quincy Adams was a founding fathers and worked tirelessly to end slavery
    Her claim to have never received a penny of money from the family farm despite tax records.
    The there is the comment about one being the number of ofshore oil permits issued under Obama when the number is 254
    Another great quote “Carbon dioxide is portrayed as harmful. But there isn’t even one study that can be produced that shows that carbon dioxide is a harmful gas.”
    Need more from Bachman? there are tons of them out there. All the Obama haters can come up with is 57 states

  • mike olson

    I would like someone to show me A receipt for the last time they paid under 2.00 dollars A gallon for gas.

  • quotes

    As oil prices continue to climb,increasing the fuel mileage is the best way to protect your pocket book. fuel additives not only save your fuel but also have the following benefits Improve fuel stability when the vehicle sits for extended periods of time. Decrease hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions in the exhaust . Reduce engine knocking .

  • Clark

    Gas was 1.80 a gallon Bushes last month in office.

  • jimmy

    @Phid

    Hey Phid what’s your first name stew?

  • mike olson

    As I said Clark show me A receipt According to my memory it was in the 2.75 to 2.95 range.

  • barf

    Rush pumping on MB?
    gotta be doing more than just oxy to make that happen …. ;-)

  • Clark

    Just google gas prices over last five years and you will find all kinds off charts. Like most libs, your memory stops working when you realize you miss Bush.

  • Redneck Purist

    Amen. Prices spiked for a time under Bush then came back down under, which is where they were for most of his two terms. Now the Obama acolytes seem to have resigned themselves that we’ll never have two dollar gas again. I don’t think they want it. They think we Americans have been getting too many breaks while the rest of the world has been paying 6 bucks a gallon for years, and we’re just finally getting our due punishment for not driving little wind up econo-box death-traps and of course our evil capitalistic ways.

    It would be as easy to start driving oil prices down as making some oil friendly overtures to business and the markets. Yeah, it wouldn’t go down overnight but it would begin pretty quickly. Alaska, fracking, the Gulf and other sources could add supply and send some positive signals to the markets. Everything Obama has done has helped drive and keep prices up starting with his demonizing and chasing oil out of the Gulf after the BP spill which the doom and gloomers promised was going to be the end of all life on earth, only it wasn’t. But it sent a signal to the markets and here we are. Then of course nothing he’s done in the middle east has added stability. That hasn’t helped. He helped oust Mubarak, one of our few allies in the region, and now we have the Muslim Brotherhood running Egypt. What’s that likely to do for the markets? Now Qaddafi is history and no one knows who’ll replace him. That should help out a lot. Not!

    Gas will never come down under Obama. If it does he’ll just do something stupid again. He likes gas prices up so he can force radical environmentalcase policies on his subjects.

  • Redneck Purist

    It was up and down with Bush too, but he didn’t push for more drilling much more than Obama did, which was not at all. Bush was not that conservative about energy policy. He was no energy hawk. He was actually quite progressive. We need someone to actually champion the cause of finding and using more of our own energy help bring back sane gas prices. Not tip-toe around the environmentalcases and destabilize the markets. That’s Obama’s legacy.

  • gdog

    Do they ever fact check anyone else or just Bachmann? Lot’s of canditates promise ridiculous stuff, but I never hear about it unless it’s Bachmann.

  • gdog

    Wow, that is a completely sexist and offending comment. I am a woman and she has always had my vote and will again if she becomes the republican nominee.

  • eugoogley

    pshh, women….

  • gdog

    Unfortunatly, the most religious in politics are the liberals. They are always screaming about what would Jesus do and it’s our moral responsibility to care for those that don’t like to work. They alway pull out scripture when lecturing how we should care for the weakest among us.

  • Pete

    I thought the coffee price increases had been caused by an increase of demand world wide especially India and China. Once production catches up prices should fall. Right now coffee costs a lot so tea is popular, once coffee prices drop the tea will lose it’s popularity.

  • what?

    Um…. GAS WAS NEVER $1.79 during the recession.

    Gas has been over $2 for the last 6 years.

  • Pete

    It seems to me that it is “all us voters” who over the years have voted in people who have done what we wanted them to do because we tend to be short sighted here we are in our world of hurt because of our actions and our wishes being carried out by those we have elected it is not they who have done us in it is we.

  • Pete

    We do not exist at a point in time but we occupy space in a chain of events.

  • garage illogic

    Yikes, you got that wrong. That is why they called it the moral majority and now it is the baggers. You really need to think before blogging.

  • frozenrunner

    It is his way of not having to change his opinion when presented with facts or a logical statement

  • Sean

    Short term memory problem. Gas prices were at an all time high nationally the summer of 2008 then somehow dropped in time for the election. Then shot back up a dollar a gallon over the next few month.. But why let a little reality ruin your thought process.

  • Formerly had a brain, is more like it.

    You forgot to mention where the money for the ranch came from. Special interest money, daddy’s influence, crooked deals.

    Oh, I also recall Bush being on vacation for about a month prior to the attacks on 9/11. Of which he was explicitly warned in his presidential briefings. He then had the guts to deny know anything at all about a possible attack on the homeland using airplanes. That is why C students should not be President.

  • just sayinm

    Gas was never $1.79 when Obama stepped into office…….
    It was over $3 dollars! Lies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Xavier

    He didn’t know anything about the attacks because the moron never read his briefings. His presidency was an 8 year vacation.

  • Get Real

    yeah and his wife didn’t take a party to spain……….Grow up babs…..the name fits you. blah blah blah blah

  • Claritin can’t treat Truth Allergies.

    Pat Kessler, please stop telling the truth about MB. Her poor fans are allergic to the truth, they’ve been known to develop some life threatening reactions when confronted with the truth.

    Reactions include but are not limited to:

    Cramps or pain in the abdomen
    Chest discomfort or tightness
    Diarrhea
    Difficulty breathing
    Difficulty swallowing
    Dizziness or light-headedness
    Fear or feeling of apprehension or anxiety
    Flushing or redness of the face
    Nausea and vomiting
    Palpitations
    Swelling of the face, eyes, or tongue
    Weakness
    Wheezing
    Unconsciousness
    Hives (especially over the neck and face)
    Itching
    Nasal congestion
    Rashes
    Watery, red eyes

  • Richard in Minneapolis

    According to InflationData.com annual inflation was below 3% in 7 of the last 11 years, including 2009 where we actually had DEFLATION. Coffee is a single commodity and is not reflective of press levels in the overall economy.

  • Richard in Minneapolis

    It is so sad to see what could have been an informed discussion descend into nothing more than an infantile shouting match.

    For anyone who thinks gasoline will come back down to $2/gal please consider the following: Since the 1970s we have been in a sellers’ market. Prior to that time oil companies flooded the market with oil and looked for buyers. Now the reverse is true, the buyers are out there looking for supply. Also about this time national governments became more savvy about oil markets and took over ownership as opposed to charging a royalty for each barrel extracted.

    Most, it not all major oil fields in the world are declining in output. To see this in action drive through Kern County, CA, or any other oil producing are and take notice of how fast the pumps are pumping – not very. Why should we believe that expanded exploration will do anything more than (partially) offset depletion in other fields?

    The U.S. accounts for about 9% of the world’s oil production. Why should we believe that actions on our part to reduce prices won’t be offset by actions to increase prices elsewehere? It takes years to bring a well to production and only a phone call to slow one down.

    If the world market price is high what incentive would there be for any producer to sell at a price low enough to produce $2/gal gasoline?

  • Mike

    L M A O … best post I’ve read all week.

  • frozenrunner

    Unless the federals nationalize the fuel distribution gas will not go down. Oil profits are at a record high with lower demand. Drop the price back to $2 and demand will go back up. There will never be enough production in the US to meet the demand unless there was a radical change in society or a change in alternative energy cars. The latter is a long way off.

  • Reality sucks

    Inflation now is over 3% and rising. Though each commodity has an index, coffee is increasing due to bad crop yields and overall demand. When you have a world, 2 billion over populated and rising, we will see price increases across the board. A rise in demand with a shortage in each commodity.

  • gdog

    I don’t think so. It’s all my left leaning friends that say I’m selfish and heartless and they are rightous and know what’s best for everyone and it’s their moral responsibility to make sure we all care for whoever they deam as less fortunate.

  • easyrider

    Sad state indeed but needed action. Consumers are the engine, money the fuel, corporations are part of the framework holding the fuel, along with the government. Cut off the fuel and this plane isn’t going anywhere but down.

  • SnowFire

    Simple college Students – “stop taxing corporations” you must be in middle school, let me explain. The only corporations paying a lot of taxes are the ones that are highly profitable after using every loop hole they can find in the tax code and who are over charging (greed) customers. If they really wanted to pay fewer taxes they can increase their tax deductable expense such as by hiring more employees but they won’t because increasing their wealth (greed) is their god. Also, corporations that are hurting are not paying taxes as their profits are little or none. What is needed is customers to buy products/services as they are few because so many are unemployed and profitable corporations would rather hord the wealth then hire employees which creates customers and increases sales. They are using the bad economy as a bargaining chip and you are just a lemming. Tell us what college you are attending.

  • Reality sucks

    Well, at the very least, I’ve never heard of a bunch of Democrats gathering in a large mass to pray away our debt. I’ve never heard of a bunch of Democrats get together and protest/kill in regard to Roe v. Wade. I’ve never heard of a bunch of Democrats preach that they have a direct line to talk to God and have God lead them in their decisions to become politicians. Huh. Yep, I’m right.

  • hard rains

    Yer a real depressing guy, you know that? You seem to be saying if we drive 6 mpg cars demand goes up and we’ll spend less at the pump. And no matter what, Mubarak and Qaddafi was all that was holding prices down and human rights be dam*ed…ya redneck!

  • easyrider

    I have to agree with that. The most vocal ones are the least compassionate and the most fundamental conservative. Not nice people. It seems that they exclude Christ in their concept of what it means to be a christian. It’s as if they’ve been led astray!

  • just sayin

    Well Minnesota was pretty stupid when they were the only ones to vote for Mondale in 84. LOL

  • Burpee slurpee no belching plzzzz

    Bachmann slurpees will be performed inside am1500 building from 4-10pm daily all thru the Fair.
    Come one come all – leave your load behind lol

    I fret diseases myself ,,,,, and she’s mighty old and all. If one spends enough time in the Beer Garden I suppose it might ……… naaaaaaaaa

  • furry mutt

    gdog …. clean up the terds you left behind please and go lay down in the corner with the rest of the MB puppets. NOW
    good boy there flea dog, good boy. MB will be with you shortly to clean your fur

  • Garage illogic.

    Stay on point, the article is on Michele Bachmann and her inability to get her facts right.

  • Matt

    i see the truth is mean. why are republicans always calling people who tell the truth mean?

  • Matt

    ROFL….

  • Reality sucks

    Haha Pete. I get it but dude, you need to step away from PBS and put down “Black Holes and Tiny Universes”. A little mindless vacation will do the trick.

  • Reasonable

    politifact.com

    Lot’s of candidates ridiculous statements.

  • Yuuuuuck

    The “point” wanders all over – like her tiny brain furtz do.
    I get the itchy’s just think about her touching me …. if ya get me drift. lmao

  • http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2011/08/24/pat-kesslers-mailbag-on-bachmanns-2-gas-claim/ Pat Kessler’s Mailbag On Bachmann’s $2 Gas Claim « CBS Minnesota

    [...] check the resources for Kessler’s Reality Check, click here to see the original story. Share this No comments [...]

  • Julie

    Pat
    Thanks for telling the truth about Bachmanns false statements. When are people going to get it that she is nuts and does not get it! Thanks for clarifying issues.
    Your the best!

  • PK

    Claritin can’t treat Truth Allergies.

    Pat Kessler, please stop telling the truth about MB. Her poor fans are allergic to the truth, they’ve been known to develop some life threatening reactions when confronted with the truth.
    Reactions include but are not limited to:
    Cramps or pain in the abdomen
    Chest discomfort or tightness
    Diarrhea
    Difficulty breathing
    Difficulty swallowing
    Dizziness or light-headedness
    Fear or feeling of apprehension or anxiety
    Flushing or redness of the face
    Nausea and vomiting
    Palpitations
    Swelling of the face, eyes, or tongue
    Weakness
    Wheezing
    Unconsciousness
    Hives (especially over the neck and face)
    Itching
    Nasal congestion
    Rashes
    Watery, red eyes

  • Amy W

    Christina, stop using so many different names using the same old tired 57 states line, get a life, looser.

  • Jim Horak

    Are gas prices really going down? Yeah, right! I’ll believe that when it hits MY pump! All I know is that I am tired of paying huge gas prices. I found a new type of Auto Club. I use their membership gas card by sticking it into gas pump and it gives me 10% right back to my account for the gas purchase. It is really no hassle, a no brainer. With money we save, we enjoy more trips, movies and family fun stuff. You can check them out at http://gaspainrelief.mygasdiscount.net , the more that are doing this the more they can discount – its kinda like Cosco or Sam’s Club in that way.

  • Simple College students

    I didn’t say stop taxing corporations but lower some of it. and for your information my dad owns a small company where he couldn’t keep a third of his employees because of how much he has to pay the government for having him in his employ. If you think they are just taxing the big companies a lot you should look into these smaller companies. They are what was really helping the economy and now they are either going out of business or laying people off. Everybody is using the bad economy as an excuse for either not paying taxes on time or going out and creating economic flow. Like we’ve said before everybody is playing the blame game.

  • http://eurobrat.wordpress.com eurobrat

    A company is not a government….as far as I know, employees of companies usually don’t have the power to change the company into a theocracy….the govt, if headed by a fundamentalist, could do that very thing.

  • onepass

    As oil prices continue to climb,increasing the fuel mileage is the best way to protect your pocket book. fuel additives not only save your fuel but also have the following benefits Improve fuel stability when the vehicle sits for extended periods of time.Decrease hydrocarbon and carbon monoxide emissions in the exhaust . Reduce engine knocking .

  • Steve

    Right, Michelle. That’s EXACTLY what we need. Cheaper gas, more highways, more pollution, more stress, more sprawl, destruction of natural habitats. This woman is insane. REMEMBER: this is the woman that said “we should keep the ‘nuclear option’ open” when referring to North Korea. What person in their right mind thinks nuclear weapons should EVER be used again???

  • http://www.thejokesite.net/michele-bachmann-i-believe-in-god-and-2-per-gallon-gas Michele Bachmann: I believe in God and $2 per gallon gas » The Joke Site

    [...] off some of those resources, thus disproving the fact check that finds her claim to be “highly questionable,” and analysis that wonders whether Bachmann is “naive, or simply making dishonest [...]

  • johnPatrick

    Bush went to his ranch.

blog comments powered by Disqus
Listen Live!

Follow CBS Minnesota

wccoradio podcastbanner3 WCCO Radio

Meet WCCO-TV’s Anchors

Amelia Santaniello Frank Vascellaro Chris Shaffer Mark Rosen

TV Schedule

Full Program Grid
7:00 PM Undercover Boss
8:00 PM CSI: NY
9:00 PM Blue Bloods
10:00 PM WCCO 4 News at Ten
10:35 PM Late Show with David Letterman
11:37 PM The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson