THansenite

I just got done watching the news tonight and am quite angry with our current gas situation. I am angry that there is nothing we can do to improve gas prices. When Katrina hit and gas prices were at what they are now, there were talks of opening the national oil reserves. But now when it is so high, the government just lets it keep rising. If they would take the money from Bush's war and put that towards helping the citizens IN OUR OWN COUNTRY with that money instead of throwing it at a government that probably won't work anyway...we would probably have sub-two dollar gas right now.

If anyone has any ideas other than "don't buy gas on this day," I want to know. The government isn't doing anything and it is hurting everyone in the US. It is time for the rest of us to do something.

lalagimp

"don't buy gas on this day" doesn't do anything for profit margins. You will eventually buy gas because you need it.

there is nothing you can do about it and we've actually got it alot cheaper than several other countries do.

Production costs rise and companies still are out to get their profit margins reached so no they will not hold the price because then they lose money.

Bush is going to be a lost cause...

Ps, when Katrina hit the gas was ALOT more than it is now.

Owning a car comes with owning costs and that's something to accept. Drive less. Carpool.

I can't believe you started a thread for this. . .

Gas still hasn't broken $3/gl

dp-_-

gas has broken $3/g in CA. As a matter of fact, gas is about 20 cents more than it was when Katrina hit.

You can also thank Bush and his made up war for sending 500 million dollars in gas every 3 months so that Iraqi's can have 25 cent/g gas. They almost when ape **** when, we stopped spending money to make their gas so cheap b/c it went up to 75 cents/g. Fun eh?

Nick06tC

Something to think about: (my thoughts on Gas)

Gas prices SHOULD go up because it costs more to produce. If the cost of production and purchase from the middle east goes up, then the companys need to charge more to make the same profit. That means that Exxon and all should not make any more money just because they raise prices at the pump.MAKES SENSE.
BUT, Exxon doubled its profits to something like $200 billion dollars. So that means that they raised prices, and production and cost stayed the same. DOES NOT MAKE SENSE.
SO, why do people blame BUSH for the price of gas at the pumps?
PEOPLE claim the war in Iraq raised price of ga becaue it now costs more to purchase from the middle east.
BUT, if this wa true, exxons profits would not have increased.
This must mean exxon raised the prices because they wanted to, not because they had to, to keep there profit.
So why does bush get blamed for the gas prices? Isnt it the oil companys who should be blamed?

Nick06tC

So reguardless of what bush is sending to iraq or what war Bush sends us to, it has zero impact on the price of gas OTHER than giving greddy american CEO's a reason to raise gas prices. The prices are not going up because there is a shortage and the people producing it are being affected.
The prices are going up because there is a war, and the media gices the impression that the OIL is going to run out. Laws of supply and demand say that LESS COSTS MORE, so the ceos of exxon, shell.... and all of them see it as an opportunity to raise pump prices.

If it was truly because of oil shortages caused by the war, then exxons yearly profits wouldnt have raised the way they did.

Hot06tC

Bah. Gas by the mall yesterday was $3.07 for regular.

phillycaster

Car pool. Or better yet, use public tranportation! I work in a bulding with 500 people and there are 10 parking spots for carpool folks. Why is that? Hmmmmm......

I started capooling 3 days a week when prices went up last year. Each day I carpool and I don't drive I save $7 in gas and $3 in tolls plus wear & tear on the car. That's a minimum of $60 per month or $720 per year. Plus it reduces my miles to work & back enough that I get the pleasure rate on my car insurance and I commute 50 mile roundtrip! Another couple hundred $$ The greatest perk is I never work late any more. When it's time to go, it's time to go - somebody else is depending on you leaving on time now.

The real joke is all the folks that drive into center city Philadelphia. They pay a couple hundred $$ a month to park, plus gas, plus sitting in traffic, etc. Meanwhile they could be on the train reading the paper, taking a nap, etc. But no - they b*tch about high gas prices.

Think what would happen to gas prices if only a 10th of the country switched to carpooling or public transportation. But - no - we Americans are too independent to have to sit next to a stranger for 45 minutes on train or with a co-worker in our car.

What I wouldn't do to go back to work in the city. Spent 8 years riding back and forth on the train. No driving headaches, saved tons of $$ and only put about 7,000 miles a year on the family car...........

Finally - do you know how much you are paying per gallon in taxes?? Here's a site that lists them for 2002. Californians were paying more than $0.50/gallon 4 years ago!
http://www.energy.ca.gov/gasoline/st...tate_2002.html

Another brief article on gas taxes. Bottom line - government makes more on gas than oil companies:
http://taxprof.typepad.com/taxprof_b...xes_excee.html

Brent_23M

i live 2.2 miles from work....sukas :op j/k

very interesting stuff here, i gotta agree with this guy ^ on the car-pool thing... too many good reasons not too.

if u live in cali, my advice is buy a longboard, lol, seriously though--way fun

HeathenBrewing

To sum my thoughts up quickly:

1) Gas prices SHOULD go up. We have it easy here in America. I think the mass majority of the people are too lazy and self absorbed to reduce their own fuel consumption (by walking to the store, riding a bike, carpooling...) so the only way to get them to use less is to FORCE them to use less. Gotta love democracy, huh?

2) Simple protests will never work. Sorry to break it to you if you do not already know, but $3.00 a gallon is going to seem cheap 12 months from now.

shorberg

Man, I am getting gas for .86 a gallon still . . . where are you all shopping?! Sheesh!

Hey I know gas keeps going up, but the bottom line is if you get angry about things you can't control or do anything about, life will be sad for you. Focus on doing something about the things you can control and you will do a lot better!

THansenite

.86...I think I will start driving down there to fill up with gas.

I know it is not something that I can control, however, it is something we should be able to control. When railroads were being built across the US, the government stepped in to regulate prices to make sure citizens weren't getting gouged. I believe we are getting gouged now with the current prices.

Another thing that grinds my gears is the price of Ethanol. Iowa has several Ethanol plants to transportation costs shouldn't really factor into this, but why is the price of Ethanol going up just as fast as normal Unleaded? Ethanol doesn't need nearly as much oil and we have plenty of corn around.

By the way, I wasn't saying that the war is causing the high prices, just that if we took the money from the war to help our own citizens, I believe it would be money better spent then on a government that is probably going to fall apart anyway.

ack154

iTrader: (7)

Just because gas is more expensive elsewhere in the world DOES NOT MEAN that it should go up here. It's always been cheaper in the US - there's no reason (or need) to even them all out. So I don't agree with saying that we should accept it b/c it's still cheaper than other parts of the world. Yes... it is cheaper - that's just how it is.

And it's certainly past $3/gallon here... even for 87 at most places.

I don't think the war has anything to do with it - it's no a shortage or supply prices going up b/c of a war - the oil companies are jsut gouging everyone b/c they can. If anything, it's either the oil companies or the government that people should be complaining to. If the oil companies won't stop their greediness - the government should step in and either release these mysterious "reserves" or they should put a ceiling on the price.

Bottom line: drive as little as possible, combine trips, make sure your tires are at the right pressure, make sure your car is aligned properly and get out the vasoline.

HeathenBrewing

Why should America be the only country in the world with cheap gas? Because you want it to be cheap? The world does not work that way.

When I was in London, gas was about $6.00 a gallon.

When you have an every shrinking oil supply, of course prices will go up...thats Economics 101. Another 101 lesson is this: prices reflect what the market will bear. Since we keep buying this gas (overpriced or not), they will keep raising the prices. And we will continue to buy, until we can no longer afford it.

Why would the government step in to stop the oil companies? They are in bed together.

ack154

iTrader: (7)

But my point about other countries is that, unless their prices are going up the same as ours - there's no point for JUST our prices to go up b/c they're lower than some other place. They've always been lower and there's no real reason to make them the same.

And if the prices elsewhere in the world aren't going up at the same rate as us, it's not a supply issue. No where has there been a "shortage" reported - especially if we have all these "reserves" to use.

Yes, we keep buying gas. And yes, it will go up b/c there is still demand (and likely it's growing). But it's the rate of increase that's not acceptable. I don't think going up $.50 cents in under a month is because of what the market will bear. It's just being greedy.

And the government SHOULD step in if necessary - in bed with them or not. The government is in bed with everyone - and that's part of the problem. But that shouldn't stop them for actually helping the people they represent (even though it might).

ricktoyota73

All this, and I installed a supercharger on my tC 2 months ago that requires me to burn premium! Highest I've seen for premium around Grand Rapids so far has been $3.08. I can handle that. $4 a gallon, which willl probably happen, is going to suck. However, if you want to play, you gotta pay. I'm mostly mad because the cost of gas is cutting into my beer money

Brent_23M

$.50 in a month, i remember passing a station goin to work last summer, on the way home it was $.15 higher

HeathenBrewing

But theyhave been held lower artifically.

Where does most of the oil come from? The mid-east. Then it should cost more in USA than Europe simply because of the transportation costs alone.

I think you are trying to apply to much logic to this problem. Im not saying you are incorrect when you say theres no point for just our prices to rise but, again, if the market will pay it, why would big oil NOT raise their prices. They are a business, and as such are there to make money. If you dont want to buy their product, you doont have to. But they know we will continue to buy, and will keep buying even when we are paying $6.00 a gallon.

Im not saying its morally right, but it is reality.

HeathenBrewing

Yup. And they will continue to be BECAUSE WE PAY.

Ahh....to be young an naive....

That was not an attack on you by the way. Just saying the way it is.

theSciontologist

but see london has public transportant, out in CA where the gas is up the wazoo, there is no public transportantion and the only alternative is carpooling which alot of people are adverse to... i mean if CA had a decent public trans system that ran around the whole bay area i would take it instead of driving but where i live... the closest station is a good 10 miles away

HeathenBrewing

Public transpo works there because the city (as with most of Europe) was built AROUND P.T., but here, cities were built around the car. Hence why everything here is so square, and you see crazy, twisting streets in Europe.

CA has a decent P.T. system. The problem is no one uses it. We are addicted to the personal automobile, and hence pay the price for our addiction. Why is the govt going to put more money into a system that no one uses? So they are forcing us to consider PT buy hiking up gas prices.