# Clinton plays Santa Claus--Again! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 17, 2000, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300 "2000-02-17T03:56:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/1 "2000-02-17T03:56:00Z")
From Yahoo News: > [@](#): > > Clinton also responded to political pressure from Northeastern lawmakers by releasing federal funds of $125 million to help poor families pay their heating oil bills. He said he would ask Congress to approve $600 million more for similar use. I don’t get this. Let’s see, it’s February, and it’s cold, in MAINE! Ohhh boy, call out the Feds, and let’s give away a bunch-o-money while we’re at it! ---
**Author:** ![PUNdit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@PUNdit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PUNdit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/2 "2000-02-17T04:03:00Z")
## Um, I don’t know if you have been following crude oil prices, but they are at a 25 year high. So people that budgeted for heating oil based on last years cost are up a creek this year. I do suppose you have noticed that gasoline prices are higher this year? “You can be smart or pleasant. For years I was smart. I recommend pleasant.” Elwood P. Dowd ---
**Author:** ![milroyj](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a88e57/32.png) [@milroyj](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/milroyj)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/3 "2000-02-17T04:09:00Z")
Um, I have noticed that gas prices are way up this year. But I don’t see the President or Congress clamoring to give me money for it. ---
**Author:** ![PUNdit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3da27b/32.png) [@PUNdit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PUNdit)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/4 "2000-02-17T04:17:00Z")
In some areas fuel oil prices are double what they were last year. Gasoline prices in most areas are up about 30%. However, if you can’t afford as much gasoline there are many ways to conserve. You can save trips up and do them all at once, you can take mass transportation, you can trade the SUV in for a Neon. There are not as many options to conserve on heating oil. You could re-insulate the house and put in triple glazed windows, but that is very expensive. You can set your thermostat lower, but there is a level you cannot go below and remain healthy, especially for the elderly and very young. BTW Clinton is considering releasing some of the Strategic Stockpile of gasoline in hopes that will lower gasoline prices. -PUN ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/5 "2000-02-17T05:46:00Z")
**Millroyj,** Have a fucking heart! What do you suppose dairy farmers in the north do when their cattle start to die, for example? And what do you suppose would happen to the price of milk? When it affects _you_, you’ll stop bitching, right? * * * “Don’t look at me–I’m irrelevant.” ---
**Author:** ![Freedomx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4af34b/32.png) [@Freedomx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freedomx)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/6 "2000-02-17T13:23:00Z")
There is a reason we have Strategic Oil Reserves, and it is not to keep oil prices low. It is this kind of “give it away” mentality that is leading us further away from a free society and towards a parental government that will take care of us from the cradle to the grave. Schools to work Universal health care gaurunteed income welfare for the unemployed etc…etc… ---
**Author:** ![Freedomx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/4af34b/32.png) [@Freedomx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freedomx)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/7 "2000-02-17T13:24:00Z")
Oh yeah, just to keep this out of the GD, Fuck Clinton. And his hairy wife too. ---
**Author:** ![manhattan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manhattan/32/7_2.png) [@manhattan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/manhattan)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/8 "2000-02-17T16:06:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by Freedom: > \*\*There is a reason we have Strategic Oil Reserves, and it is not to keep oil prices low. \*\* The current funding is from the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, a program separate and apart from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, none of which Clinton has (yet) allowed to be released. This General Questions moment has been brought to you by the Natural Gas Merchants of America. Oil Heat’s a dinosaur. * * * Livin’ on Tums, vitamin E and Rogaine ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/9 "2000-02-17T16:07:00Z")
Oil prices are nowhere near a 25 year high. NYMEX light sweet (the benchmark you most commonly hear on the news because it’s usually the highest) closed at $30.05 yesterday. It’s been a few cents higher in the last week, but it’s as high this week as it has been all year. An average 1980 price of $23/bbl is $51.22 in 1999 dollars. That was not a spike year, either. The 1981 average of $32/bbl is approximately $60 in 1999 dollars ($62.78 from the [inflation calculator](http://www.westegg.com/inflation/), and $58.65 from NASA’s [Consumer Price Index (CPI) Inflation Calculator](http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/bu2/inflateCPI.html)). We hit $40 during the Gulf War. We _did_ see a 64 year low 14 months ago. ---
**Author:** ![G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c67d28/32.png) [@G.B.H.Hornswoggler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.B.H.Hornswoggler)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/10 "2000-02-17T17:58:00Z")
I’m with **manhattan** on this one: Oil heat is not a great idea. The tanks eventually leak, and environmental regulations keep getting tightened, making it harder to sell a house that’s _ever_ had an oil tank in the yard. When oil’s cheaper than natural gas, it’s only a little lower, but when it’s more expensive – watch out! (Natural gas prices don’t fluctuate much at all; it’s a large resource that’s tapped entirely locally .) Of course, as was pointed out on an oil thread in GQ, many benighted souls don’t have the option of natural gas because they live in the boonies. Sorry, kids – bet you can’t get cable TV, either. Better move to a real town. Oh, and for all those people who need federal $$ to pay for their skyrocketing heating bills, I’ve got two wonderful inventions for you: the thermostat and the sweater. Use 'em. * * * …but when you get blue, and you’ve lost all your dreams, there’s nothing like a campfire and a can of beans! ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2000, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/11 "2000-02-18T16:28:00Z")
NYMEX heating oil dropped ~20¢/gal over two weeks ago (from ~95¢ to ~75¢/gal). The fed action is not easily understood. ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [February 19, 2000, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/clinton-plays-santa-claus-again/4300/12 "2000-02-19T02:59:00Z")
Just a bump, but at least I’ll throw in a tidbit. NYMEX light sweet closed at $29.46 yesterday (not enough change to draw any conclusion).