Even as snowfall whitens horizons across the U.S. today, the economic skies are brightening for many American households. Two key hurdles consumers faced last month have dissipated: gasoline prices are on the retreat, and delayed cash returns from the Internal...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Bloomberg
Shoppers in San Francisco.
Cheaper Gas, Tax Refunds: Consumer-Spending Pocket-Power
Photograph by Jim Mone/AP Photo
The interlock ignition system which requires the driver to blow into a tube to prove sobriety before driving.
Ignition Interlocks for First-Time DUI Offenders?
AAA, the motorist group with more than 53 million members, is endorsing the National Transportation Safety Board’s call for mandatory use of ignition interlock devices for all drunken-driving offenders. AAA issued its statement five days before New Year’s Eve, which...
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Photograph by Thomas D. Mcavoy
The Energy Information Administration said today households that use heating oil to fend off winter’s chill can expect to pay record amounts for the fuel.
Heating Costs Rise — Thermometer Holding Past Nov. 6?
As gasoline prices remain stubbornly high even after the summer driving season, consumers in some states are facing another hit to their pocketbooks: Higher home heating costs. The Energy Information Administration, which tracks and analyzes energy data for the U.S.,...
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Photograph by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
A gasoline delivery in San Anselmo, California.
Magic Number of the Day: 40
That’s the drop in cents of the average price of a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline in the past 10 weeks. The price was $3.532 yesterday, a four-month low down from a 2012 high of $3.936 on April 4. Declining...
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Photograph by Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images
A Barack Obama supporter in Los Angeles.
Obama Singing `Call Me Maybe’
Among all the trends reported in our data dive today, including: – President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney in a dead heat still. – Obama’s approval rating at 46 percent. – Gallup’s jobless rate, by its own survey, sliding to...
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Photograph by David Paul Morris/Getty Images
A gas station in San Francisco.
Gas Prices: This Isn’t Summer ’08
There are economic data, and then there are pocketbook data. Filling up the gas tank — as expensive as it is lately — costs less that it did one year ago. The average price of unleaded gasoline fell to $3.585...
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Photograph by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Fears of $5 per gallon gasoline are being heard as summer approaches and some feel that would hurt the economy just as an economic recovery appears to be getting traction.
The Drop in Gas Prices People Still Don’t See
Oil prices have dropped 16 percent from their high this year, and yet fuel economy is still the No. 1 thing people say they’re weighing when they buy a car. It’s one more way American consumers, with their love of...
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Contributors
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Al Hunt
is a columnist for Bloomberg View and host of the weekly show "Political Capital with Al Hunt" on Bloomberg TV. -
Mark Silva
is deputy managing editor for government news in Washington and editor of Political Capital. He has covered the White House and national politics. -
Emma Fidel
is political editor for Bloomberg.com in Washington. She previously covered financial regulation as a Bloomberg intern. -
Don Frederick
edits political and government coverage for Bloomberg News. He previously worked for more than a decade at the Los Angeles Times' Washington bureau. -
Gregory Giroux
analyzes elections, financing of congressional and presidential elections, political advertising and demographics in Bloomberg's Washington Bureau. -
Julie Bykowicz
covers the influence of money and lobbying in Washington, and covered the state legislature and city crime for the Baltimore Sun for 10 years. -
Jonathan Salant
covers campaign finance and lobbying in Washington. He was president of the National Press Club and started in Washington in 1987. -
Richard Rubin
covers federal tax policy. He worked at Congressional Quarterly and The Charlotte Observer before joining Bloomberg News in 2010. -
Julie Hirschfeld Davis
is a senior political reporter for the Washington Bureau. She covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News and previously covered the White House for the Baltimore Sun. -
Lisa Lerer
covers the White House and covered the 2012 campaign for Bloomberg News. She covered Congress, lobbying and the 2008 campaign for Politico. -
John McCormick
is a national political reporter looking forward to the 2016 presidential campaign, which will be the fifth he's covered. He's also reported for The Des Moines Register and Chicago Tribune. -
Julianna Goldman
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Hans Nichols
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and Bloomberg Television. -
Margaret Talev
covers the White House for Bloomberg News and covered the White House for McClatchy Newspapers. She has covered California and Florida politics. -
Cary O'Reilly
is Editor at Large at Bloomberg First Word and is Washington Daybook columnist for Bloomberg Government and Bloomberg News.
