Limbaugh asserted that "gas prices didn't start going through the roof till [Democrats] took over the House in 2006"

Summary: Referring to criticism of President Bush by Dick Gephardt over rising gas prices, Rush Limbaugh asserted: "[G]as prices didn't start going through the roof till [Democrats] took over the House in 2006." In fact, average monthly gasoline prices (adjusted for inflation) began to climb several years before Democrats took control of Congress.

On the May 12 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Rush Limbaugh, in reference to criticism of President Bush by former House Democratic Leader Dick Gephardt over rising gas prices, asserted: "[G]as prices didn't start going through the roof till your buddies took over the House in 2006." In a May 10 speech at the Missouri Democratic convention, Gephardt reportedly said: "George Bush is, by far, the worst person who's ever been president of the United States. ... Gas is $4 a gallon, on its way to $8 a gallon, and this man sits there, clueless."

In fact, according to data from the Energy Information Administration, depicted in the graph below, average monthly gasoline prices (adjusted for inflation) began to climb several years before Democrats took control of Congress, and have continued to climb since then.

From the May 12 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: "Ike Skelton, Democrat from Lexington" -- which is outside Kansas City -- "is a Clinton supporter, sought to ease concerns from the Obama camp about his decision Friday to go public with his concerns about Obama's electability." You know, a lot of people have started to do this now. Well, not a lot, but there's some starting to be concerned here about Obama's electability.

"Richard Gephardt, another Clinton supporter, won the strongest ovation at the Missouri State Democrat [sic] Convention, when he said this: 'George Bush is, by far, the worst person who's ever been president of the United States. Gasoline is $4 a gallon, on its way to $8 a gallon, and this man sits there, clueless.' "

Hey, Little Dick, all well and good, but these gas prices didn't start going through the roof till your buddies took over the House in 2006. And remember, this is supposedly why we elected Democrats to the House of Representatives two years ago. They were going to fix this. They had a plan to bring gas prices down, and we haven't seen the plan, Little Dick. Sit there and blame it on Bush. I mean, through six years of the Bush administration, oil was low, gas was low for the most part. Only when the Democrats got in there did the world markets panic and start going through the roof.

"In an interview" -- here's the last paragraph of the story -- "in an interview, [Sen.] Claire McCaskill simply smiled when she was asked if Obama's choice of Cape Girardeau, Missouri, for tomorrow's stop had some particular significance." She just smiled.

—A.C.S.