Ridiculous Gas Prices!

[rodeehos]

THESE FUEL PRICES ARE REALLY STARTING TO DIG IN EVERYBODY'S POCKET. I HAVE A DRIVER IN ST LOUIS RIGHT NOW AT THE PILOT ON I-55 AND DIESEL IS $4.03/GALLON FOR CREDIT. THE THING IS, LOADS ON THE LOAD BOARDS AREN'T REALLY PAYING ANYMORE PER MILE THAN THEY WERE A MONTH AGO. SOME LOADS ACTUALLY SEEM A LITTLE A LESS. WHOEVER IS BEHIND THIS RAPING OF AMERICA NEEDS TO REALIZE WHAT THEY ARE DOING TO AMERICAN ECONOMY. IT NEEDS A BOOST, NOT TO KEEP ON SLAPPING US IN THE FACE.

 

[copdsux]

I see no mention of the fact that no new refineries have been built, in the US, since the mid-70's.

 

[OntarioVanMan]

See post #17...SD will start the ball rolling.

 

[Falligator]

I see no mention of the fact that no new refineries have been built, in the US, since the mid-70's.

Refineries have nothing to do with high gas prices. It's just another excuse for big oil execs to keep the gas prices high. If there were more refineries the only difference is that our ecology would be even more screwed than it is now and we would still be paying 3.36 or whatever it is for gas. I once overheard an anonymous conversation where someone had said that the oil companies are profiting somewhere on the avg of $12,000 per second. If you pay attention to the news the oil companies posted a record profit last quarter and probably another record profit this quarter. Somewhere someone has to step in and demand change. Along the lines of a cap or something. Big car companies also shouldn't be buying out engine blueprints that make a car get more gas mileage. Or is it the gas companies or buying those blueprints. I'm not sure but it is still "Us" who get gouged. So while you're defending the need for more refineries maybe we should be also searching more fuel alternatives like electricity. I guess bush should tell that to the oil companies during the oil exec meeting that he had at the White House. Also, couldn't they be refurbishing the refineries that they got. With all the money that big oil makes they can afford to do this. It's also funny how years ago a cadillac would get better gas mileage than a cadillac today.

 

[greg334]

Shawn,
Refineries have a lot to do with it.

But more than that, the falling dollar is what is behind the recent hikes in fuel. Coupled with the lowering of the interest rate to 'save' people who are greedy (majority of them) and the lack of confidence on the international market, has force the dollar down even more. When the dollar goes down, the price of oil goes up because it is traded on the international market, not Chicago.

In addition to all that, the administration has been so concern with the problems of the home owner and the housing market it has ignored the need to be involved with the dollar and this is has been going on for a while.

I don't buy the environmental argument that we are damaging it, we are limited more and more but I don't any real improvements since the 90's but don't forget that we do live in the cleanest industrialized nation and even the ones who claim that they are cleaner have a lot of hidden pollution that they will not talk about.

However, I do fault the auto companies for not being proactive and looking short term (domestic companies). They are reaping what was sewn back in the late 80's and have to deal with the problem. If the case of buying up engine plans were true, then I would think that Toyota and Honda are also in that scheme to keep things off the market - but they are not. I like to use a quote 'We can put men on the moon in my life time but we can't produce a car that gets 50 miles per gallon' Lewis Black, and he is sooooo right.

Again, it is the government that is the real cause of all this, no one else.

 

[Falligator]

And it's also funny how neither of the candidates for either parties have mentioned that gas prices are the culprit of our low budgets. I'll bet if gas wasn't so high our economy would be better off than it is. I'm just so sick of the candidates the only thing they've been talking about is healthcare and NAFTA. Ok...let's change the subject. How can we come up with better ways to fuel our cars?! I'll bet the oil companies who are paying off the candidates will get the message when we start buying more alternative fuels. Just look at countries in South America who have learned to fuel their cars with sugar cane. I believe this was a feature story on CNN at one time.

 

[greg334]

Yep you are right, not one candidate has mentioned any concern which shows that they should not be up there. Someone said that the best bet for a candidate is to grab a hold of the falling dollar issue and run with that but this is another reason why I strongly feel that the primary 'election' should not be allowed, it gets so tiring by the time November that no one cares.

Brazil has been using Alcohol for years, I got articles from the 70's about how they became energy independent but that is Brazil and we are not Brazil. We have problem with our food supply since the government pushed the ethanol and everyone is dumping corn into the energy industry. We build subdivisions and strip malls instead of using that land for a better purpose, food. We are running out of land for farming but you know there is something called an apartment building.

I think that first we need to relieve the problems we have with high prices, build more refineries, open up ANWR and especially the Gulf for oil (we know Oil is there in the gulf, Mexico and China will grab it all if we don't), replace our tax system to allow more research and more incentives to find new form of energy and then... we start with the solutions.

We need to build nuke plants, no way around that. We need to use desalination plants to help with water. We need to promote mass transit (the thing that the auto companies actually killed). Our electric infrastructure already exists, so electric cars, forget the idea of hydrogen for a while, it may not happen in my lifetime but electric cars are already here.

 

[johnpi]

Hey, I know there is no such thing as global warming, the earth is only 5000 yrs old and Noah had dinisaurs on the boat, ya ya ya. Oil is going nuts for a couple of reasons, I will stick to the simple one. Every time the value of our dollar goes down oil goes up. Every time we lower intrest rates our dollar goes down. Every time the Gov. borrows more money the dollar goes down i.e. $176,000,000,000.00 in Feb. Every day that our economy slows down i.e. .6% drop in consumer spending in Feb our dollar goes down. You get it. This is why we are stuck less laods and higher cost. One thing to keep in mind is that while the USA cost for crude is sky rocketing the rest of the world is not feeling the same preasure because the value of there currency is offsetting the increase. Their economy is doing better our dollar goes down oil goes UP.

 

[Falligator]

And I liked Willie Nelson's idea of contributing to the gas station there off of I 35 that is Biodiesel. Granted, biodiesel is not as good as diesel itself, but the environmental issue is another main concern. I would like to write both parties about the fuel concern, but my letter would go unanswered. "Guaranteed". Hell, the news is talking about it and it's right in front of their faces, but the Candidates are circumventing the issue. Who cares if the United States had all the jobs in the world. "We have to be able to afford to drive to work". With no employees driving to work this creates a dilema. My grandparents are on Soc Sec and can't even afford to go anywhere and are stuck at home watching tv all the time b/c gas prices are too high. I'm also worried b/c I can't seem to get enough runs to save towards my retirement and am almost living week to week. If I quit my job, there isn't much elso out there so I'm stuck doing what I do until things improve. That's another subject for the Politics forum altogether though.

 

[Scuba]

Well OOIDA says a lot of guy are going broke and the anger is high in the industry. And many people believe that a strike is coming and that it will start out with a small pocket but that it will grow real fast if that happens. I think if that does happen it will be more violent than the one in the 70's If it happend i will head to the house nothing is going to be worth getting shot at or to have someone throw crap off of a bridge at you

 

[DreamTeam44]

FYI- Georgia just north of Atlanta I-85, Exit #29 @ Pilot Diesel was $4.01 last night 3/12, this morning I-65 Exit #16 Indiana 'Loves' just north of Louisville $3.81, and tonight at I-80 Truck Stop in Walcott,IA $3.91

Barrel up to $111.00 is the last we heard....

OMG

Can we only go up? or back down? from here?

 

[dieseldiva]

We paid $4.05 at the J last night in Ashtabula......$450.00 to fill up!

 

[Falligator]

Well, if the price of gas keeps going up, pretty soon, noone is going to be able to afford it at all, therefore there will be a (huge) gas surplus which may drive the price down. ha! I say!

 

[simon says]

Wrong again. Congress could only do something like a socialist measure. Stop speculation in commodities markets. Think that will happen anytime in our lifetime under capitalism?
Money flows to where it makes profit. If no profit in sub-prime mortgages, move to bail-out Carlyle (oops, too late) maybe Bear-Stearns... then lower fed rate and spur inflation. More money seeks higher return as dollar plummets. Investors run to pour money into gold (now $1000 an ounce) and guess what: OIL. No other explanation for a $.30 rise in March, and month only half gone.
Oil-price.net says $137 a barrel by end of year. Heck, at this rate, at that price, diesel will be $5.00 a gallon. I can see that happen by Memorial Day. Bottom line- crisis of dollar and credit crunch. You are right about Bush- much as I hate him and oil company buddies, all this is out of their control.
Strike needed, maybe: probably happen in some form regardless. Or- we will just shut down and file for Chapter 13. I cannot sustain this, and over year to go on truck payments. See yu at the apple line...

 

[simon says]

OOPs remarks made for Greg's benefit. He always manages to weasel around the facts and confuse everyone. Perhaps he is a speechwriter for Sean Hannity in his spare time. It's the falling dollar and the commodities trading: period. Supply is not the immediate culprit now!
OPEC has no control of this either- out of their hands. I see depression and possible collapse of financial system. Think twice if you think it cannot happen...