| High gasoline prices spawning songs, signs, symbolic acts |
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Americans facing rising gasoline and diesel prices are cycling about, saddling up, singing out and, sometimes, going to extremes.
Dozens of Alabama students are bicycling up to 10 miles each way to their rural high school. An Indiana man was arrested for belting out a protest song from the roof of a convenience store. A sign-maker in Kentucky is riding his horse on business errands. And a Tennessee sheriff is investigating a more disturbing protest: a slain deer hanging from a gasoline station sign.
A Purdue University professor who teaches a class on the sociology of protest says most protesters aren't just working toward the goal of lower gas prices. Rachel Einwohner believes they're also making a statement "about their collective identity, as environmentalists or however they see themselves."
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Posted: 1:51pm EST May 13, 2008
| Federal government surplus for April shrinks |
By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The federal government ran a budget surplus of $159.3 billion in April, smaller than a year ago.
The Treasury Department reported Monday that the budget surplus for April was 10.4 percent lower than in April 2007.
The government traditionally runs a surplus in April, the month that tax returns are due. However, the weak economy has been dampening growth in revenues this year.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Posted: 2:39pm EST May 12, 2008
| Postal rate hikes kicks in |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- An extra penny for your thoughts.
Mailing a letter costs a little more, with the price of a first-class stamp rising to 42 cents today. People who planned ahead and bought Forever stamps for 41 cents each can still use them without extra postage.
Forever stamps also are going up to 42 cents. But buyers may want to stock up anyway, looking ahead to next May when prices are expected to be adjusted again.
The cost to mail a post card also goes up a penny, to 27 cents. Certified mail costs a nickel more, at $2.70. Priority and express mail also are getting more expensive.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Posted: 4:13am EST May 12, 2008
| Price of gas continues to rise |
NEW YORK (AP) -- The surge in the price of oil continues to push gas prices higher.
A survey of stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service finds that the price of a gallon of regular gas jumped 2.6 cents overnight to a record of $3.67.
The Energy Department expects prices to peak at a monthly average of $3.73 in June, though many analysts say national average prices could rise as high as $4. Consumers in many regions, including parts of California and Hawaii, are already paying that much.
Oil today rose above $126 a barrel for the first time.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Posted: 11:05am EST May 9, 2008
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Democrat calls for GOP to alter energy policy |
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Democrats want the public to pressure Republicans to change directions in the country's energy policies.
In the party's weekly radio address, Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow (STAB'-ih-now) says the rising price of oil is no longer just a burden, but a "crisis for every American family."
Oil rose above $126 a barrel for the first time yesterday and gasoline prices rose above an average $3.67 a gallon at the pump.
She used the address to promote Democratic proposals for changing energy policy. Those include ending billions of dollars in tax breaks for big oil companies. Forcing the oil companies to invest some of their profits in clean and affordable alternative energy, and temporarily stopping the diversion of oil to the national Strategic Petroleum Reserve are among other proposals.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Posted: 12:22pm EST May 10, 2008
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