Bodman sees up to three years of fuel pain, tells lies and blames Hugo Chavez

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Industry profits defended
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin of Illinois said the price of gasoline had almost doubled since Bush took office. “All of these things were predictable,” he said, pointing to provisions of the energy bill Bush signed last year, which did not shield producers of cleaner-fuel additives like MTBE from legal liability, thereby slowing the transition and squeezing gas supplies.

“We’ve had a failure in our nation’s energy policy,” Durbin said.

At the same time, U.S. oil companies are reporting record profits even as motorists struggle to deal with the rising prices. Chevron Corp., ConocoPhillips Ltd. and ExxonMobil Corp. combined to earn more than $15.5 billion in the first three months of the year. But Bodman and Cavaney said they saw no problem with the profit reports.
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Energy
Who pays what
Energy prices affect some people more than others. Here's how rising costs hit Americans as a percentage of their income:

Income Energy Costs* Percentage of budget
Less than $5,000 $1,460 28 percent or more
$5,000-$9,999 $1,554 15 percent to 31 percent
$10,000-$14,999 $1,954 13 percent to 20 percent
$15,000-$19,999 $2,215 11 percent to 15 percent
$20,000-$29,999 $2,556 9 percent to 13 percent
$30,000-$39,999 $2,905 7 percent to 10 percent
$40,000-$49,999 $3,231 6 percent to 8 percent
$50,000-$69,999 $3,689 5 percent to 7 percent
$70,000 or more $4,645 no more than 7 percent