We all know that gas prices have come down suspiciously in the months before the election. The average per-gallon price in most U.S. markets is today about a dollar below where it was in early August.
Have the oil companies been pushing prices down before the election as a favor to their GOP friends, to try and put a damper on anti-GOP voter sentiment?
Gas prices are about to start going up, right after the election:
Pump prices set to take off
The price of gasoline available to unbranded retailers rose sharply this week, prompting predictions that the long cycle of declining pump prices is ending.
Since Monday, the spot gasoline price for unbranded retailers in San Diego County has jumped about 20 cents a gallon, a dramatic increase even in an industry increasingly accustomed to volatility. The increase pushed the regional wholesale spot price to about $1.82 per gallon.
The spike has renewed suspicions among consumer groups that refiners held prices in check to defuse gasoline costs as an election issue, a contention vehemently denied by a national refiners trade group.
Charles Langley, who directs the gasoline monitoring project for the Utility Consumers' Action Network, said he expected consumers to start seeing pump prices rising sharply beginning Election Day.
But as of yesterday, UCAN's survey found that regional average prices for regular were steady at $2.37 per gallon, exactly where they were one week ago.
One month ago, UCAN's regional average was $2.54 per gallon. Prices have generally fallen since its survey price hit $3.43 per gallon last May.
. . .
The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in Santa Monica said a study it had commissioned found a pattern of oil refiners cutting profits before three national elections, including this year.
Gasoline prices have fallen suspiciously far in the months prior to the election, following a wave of public discontent over obscenely high prices that corresponded with a free fall in GOP politicians' popularity.
This gasoline price database and chart creator can be used to show the suspiciously large drops in gasoline prices in the last few months.
Los Angeles average retail price, Aug. 8: 3.21/gal
L.A. average retail price, Nov. 3: 2.33/gal
Richmond, VA average retail price, Aug. 8: 2.96/gal
Richmond, VA average retail price, Nov. 3: 2.02/gal
Kansas City, MO average retail price, Aug. 8: 2.96/gal
Kansas City, MO average retail price, Nov. 3: 2.00/gal
If gas prices shoot up starting next week, as this news article says they will, then we will have our answer. The numbers certainly look very suspicious.