[WASHINGTON -- The prospect of sharply higher fuel prices, including $4-a-gallon gasoline, may not have made it into Oval Office briefing books, perhaps explaining why President Bush was surprised Thursday when a reporter mentioned what energy analysts are saying could happen soon in many parts of the country.
"Wait, what did you just say? You're predicting $4-a-gallon gasoline?" Bush responded to a reporter who said some analysts expect prices to soon climb that high. "That's interesting. I hadn't heard that. . . . I know it's high now."
But even before the recent surge in oil prices, analysts were predicting that the average price of a gallon of gasoline could reach $3.75 nationwide in the near term and top $4 in states such as California and Hawaii.
"When I hear George Bush say that he doesn't think we're in a recession, when somebody tells him that, you know, gasoline prices might reach $4 a gallon and he says, 'That's interesting. I didn't know that'. . . . That's a sign we have a Washington that is out of touch," the senator [OBAMA] from Illinois said to cheers and laughter from a crowd of about 2,000 at a campaign stop in Beaumont, Texas.]-LAT
November hurry please. . .
