Gasoline price status report

According to AAA, the cost of a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline nationwide averages 10.8% less than the record high price in mid-July.

The price today is still 30% higher than it was a year ago.

Average for unleaded regular September 11, 2008: $3.671.

The price of a barrel of crude oil is down 31% since July.

HOWEVER, this from AP:

The wholesale price of gasoline ranged from $4 to nearly $5 a gallon at the U.S. Gulf Coast on Thursday, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. That was up significantly from about $3 to $3.30 a gallon on Wednesday, Kloza said.

“We’re looking at the highest wholesale prices ever for a huge swath of the country,” he said. “People understand that regardless what happens with Ike, it’s going to shut down the biggest refining cluster for a period of five, six, seven days.”

The wholesale price of gasoline is what refineries charge retailers. Retailers then mark up those prices for the customer so they can make a profit — so if these wholesale prices hold, it could mean that pump prices for U.S. drivers easily break through the July 17 record of $4.114 a gallon.

Where in the world?

This is kind of fun: World Names Profiler.

9-11

Poynter.org has a gallery of front pages from September 11 and 12, 2001.

September 11

Two immortal football coaches share this birthday. Paul “Bear” Bryant was born on this date in 1913. Tom Landry was born on this date in 1924.

Musician Leo Kottke is 63.

One-time Oscar nominee Amy Madigan is 58.

Sportscaster Lesley Visser is 55. Visser was the first woman to receive the Pro Football Hall of Fame’s Pete Rozelle Radio-Television Award.

Oscar nominee for best supporting actress for her performance in Sideways, Virginia Madsen is 47.

Kristy McNichol is 46.

Harry Connick Jr. is 41. He grew up in New Orleans where his father was D.A.

Ludacris is 31.

William Sydney Porter was born on this date in 1852. We know him as O. Henry. According to The Writer’s Almanac last year, “He wrote his most famous story, ‘The Gift of the Magi,’ in three hours, in the middle of the night, with his editor sleeping on his couch.” NewMexiKen had posted that story in its entirety. Another particular favorite is The Ransom of Red Chief.

McCain’s Health Care Tax Increase

John McCain wants to tax your employer-provided health care benefits. He wants to replace those benefits with an insufficient tax credit–$2500 for individuals and $5000 for families (the average cost per family is for health insurance is $12000).
. . .

Obama campaign has let things go this far without pointing out that McCain–who opposes the energy bill because it would increase taxes on oil companies–is actually proposing a tax increase on health care benefits for American workers. But that is precisely what the Senator from Arizona is doing.

Joe Klein

What’s your Obama Tax cut?

Calculate an estimate at ObamaTaxCut.com.

(All numbers are from the non-partisan Tax Policy Center.)

Best line of the day, so far

“General Petraeus kept saying, ‘Things are going to be worse before they get better.’ . . . He wasn’t trying to sell anything. He was very adamant about telling it like it is: ‘Don’t put lipstick on the pig.’”

From “The General’s Dilemma” in last week’s New Yorker. Quoting Petraeus is his executive officer, Peter Mansoor.