Gas May Soon Cost a Sawbuck!

[trusty]

What I haven't understood is....we are fighting the war in Iraq. Our men and women are dying for their independence. Why aren't they supplying the oil to us for all of our help?

Am I missing something here?
--Mel

borninok

Heard on the news today that Clinton wants to put a tax on the oil companies. Who does she think is going to actually pay for that

I recently sent a letter to my U.S. Senator (dem), asking why we were paying all the bills & what was happening to Iraq's oil income. She wrote back, but only talked about how much the war is costing & bringing the troops home.

I immediately replied that she had not answered my question. Haven't heard from her since.

Going to be an interesting election: I'm not voting for any of the presidential candidates. I Don't want to be responsible for any of them being elected. I also am not voting for anyone that is now in office.

 

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[Timberwolf]

Mel,

That is a very good question. Most countries that we help, don't repay the favor. I imagine Iraq will be no different.

I'm not a "Bush Basher", but I understand that Bush and Chaney are in pretty tight with Haliburton.
This is only my opinion, but I don't think Bush will do anything to help lower the price of gas.
I'm pretty sure it would have a negative effect on his wallet


Trusty,

I don't want to vote for any of those running either.
If I do vote, it will probably be for Hilary, only because I don't want the other two in office, and I figure she will run the Presidency as she did before, when Bill was President

TW

 

[trusty]

That's where we're different, TW. I wouldn't vote for her if she were running for dogcatcher. Not because she's a dem, or a woman, I just plain don't like her. And the other two scare me. Even if John IS an old Navy guy!

 

[Timberwolf]

Trusty,

I understand.
The sad part is, it probably won't make any difference weather you or I vote, or not.
I'm not so sure that our votes count anymore.

Here in Oklahoma, the majority of the people do not support Obama. Guess what was on the front page of our paper last week?
Our governor is supporting Obama! I was under the impression that we elected our governor to represent the people of this state. Guess I was wrong.

TW

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

Mel,

That is a very good question. Most countries that we help, don't repay the favor. I imagine Iraq will be no different.

I'm not a "Bush Basher", but I understand that Bush and Chaney are in pretty tight with Haliburton.
This is only my opinion, but I don't think Bush will do anything to help lower the price of gas.
I'm pretty sure it would have a negative effect on his wallet


Trusty,

I don't want to vote for any of those running either.
If I do vote, it will probably be for Hilary, only because I don't want the other two in office, and I figure she will run the Presidency as she did before, when Bill was President

TW

Cheny was the CEO for Haliburton before running for Vice Pres. and Bush has his shares in it! Also both have shares in Brown and Root!

 

[Glenns5900]

The price won't look so bad if they start selling it by smaller amounts.

Given a price of $3.50 / gallon

$0.875 / Quart
$0.218 / cup
$0.0273 / fl ounce
$0.0137 / Tablespoon


I had to laugh the other day. I went to Harbor Freight to check out if I needed to buy some more tools. Guess what was in one of the discount bins right at the front of the store?

Siphons for about $3.00. Do you think they were trying to make a statement?

 

[Smee]

The WPT enacted by Carter was disastrous for this country. It made us more reliant on foreign imports and increased the cost of gasoline to consumers.

Heinrich Himmler once said that if you say something loud enough and often enough, it will become the truth.

That is what the oil companies and their lackies have been doing when they talk about the WPT. If they tell us enough that it did not work, sooner or later we'll believe it. Not me.

When the WPT went into effect, I was between construction jobs . . . and working at an Exxon station. I remember at midnight going out and changing the $1+ (don't remember the exact cents) to $.56 9/10 for the crew that started at 6:00 AM.

Sorry the WPT didn't work.

Usually on threads like this we get EVIL BIG OIL profiteering rants. However if the oil companies gave away their profit to the consumers that would lower the price of gasoline- What 10 cents a gallon? So instead of $3.60 a gallon you would be paying $3.50 a gallon. Problem solved eh?

How many gallons of gasoline were sold in 2001? There was no big squeeze in the supply, no shortage or lack of capacity. Exxon Mobile posted profits of $17.7 Billion --- the most ever made by a U.S. Company to that point. Read, enjoy. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1615961.stm and if they pull the story, I have the page in PDF format to post on my site.

In 2007, a year of shortages and lack of capacity, Exxon Mobile posted profits of 11.7 Billion IN ONE QUARTER!!! If you extend that out, not taking into account the continuing RISE in profits, that is about 46.8 BILLION/PER YEAR. http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/01/news/companies/exxon_earnings/

That is getting pretty darn close to a 265% increase in PROFITS ONLY over the year 2001.

Evil Big Oil? You're damn straight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't whine about the greedy folks in the oil industry and how they're being talked about unfairly. They aren't! They deserve a lot more criticism than they are getting.

It is greed like theirs that is going to be the downfall of this country, and they don't give a rat's bum about it as long as they have theirs.

46.8 Billion. That's only Exxon Mobil . . . not the other greedy Oil Barons.

Destroy this country? They don't care. They have theirs.

BTW, my pay didn't increase three fold in the past 6 years --- did yours? Did anyone here see that big of an increase in income? I don't think so.

Don't talk about what you don't know. The oil companies did try to scam us with faked shortages while the WPT was in effect, but it didn't last. Also, if it was such a bad thing, why did "Ronus Magnus" allow it to go on for almost his entire 8 years in office?

Oil Company Profits. It is all about greed and the destruction of the working class in this country. BE REAL!!!

We need to be producing 2 to 3 million more barrels of oil a day in this country. It would make an incredible difference in the price of oil. It would tell the world we are serious. However, 85% of our coastline is still offlimits to oil exploration. We are forever debating when we can drill in Anwar. Perhaps when gasoline does reach $10 a gallon, we will be finally allowed to fully develop our national resources. At present people think that protecting their views from oil derricks and not harming Mother Earth with oil wells is more important than energy development. Thank BIG GREEN for the philosophy.

We could be producing much more than we do. On a recent trip from Crossett, AR to Texarkana, AR I noticed that 1/2 of the wells were not pumping. They were turned off. The wells are not dry, if they were that expensive equipment would have been sold or moved elsewhere. They were not producing for the same reason that farmers are paid NOT to plant crops. To keep the prices of oil artificially high.

 

[Smee]

I'm not a "Bush Basher", but I understand that Bush and Chaney are in pretty tight with Haliburton.
This is only my opinion, but I don't think Bush will do anything to help lower the price of gas.
I'm pretty sure it would have a negative effect on his wallet

Might have a negative effect on other parts of his life too, depending on how desperate they are to continue the status quo. BTW, Dick Cheney was an officer with Brown and Root in the late 1970's when I was working on the Shell Norco Refinery expansion. His signature was on all of our payroll checks.

 

[Smee]

They're hard at it . . . 20 cent jump to day here in southeast Arkansas . . . went from $3.45 9/10 to $3.65 9/10 overnite.

 

[Timberwolf]

Smee,

It sucks to be us

TW

 

[Timberwolf]

Hillbilly,

What you say may be true, but for me and my family the price of gas pretty much eats up the rest of my paycheck!
We don't do credit cards anymore, so when we are out of money, we are done

TW

 

[jeff of pa]

it would take a Nationwide strike by all workers.

I don't mean by not buying gas for a day.

I Mean from going to work Until the price of gas drops
or until wages beat the costs of working.

 

[Smee]

The comparison is absurd.Exxon oil alone average net profit for the last 26 months= $1,000,000,000.00......... PER MONTH........thats billion with a B!

Actually it's a bit more . . .

3.9 BILLION DOLLARS NET PROFIT PER MONTH.

(46.8 Billion divided over 12 months = 3.9 BILLION)

How many people own only fuel efficient vehicles?

I do. 2.3 liter 4 cyl in my standard mini pickup and 2.4 Liter in my wife's car.

How many people drive only when it's absolutely necessary ? How many people actually make an active attempt to carpool ?

To work and back, but I do splurge and go to church twice a week. Wife just grocery shopping once per week. If other errands need to be run, we combine as many as possible into one trip. Carpool? I live in a small town, no way to carpool with anyone who's schedule is even close to mine, and on the opposite side of town from my coworkers. Why live here? Only piece of property I could afford and not go into debt over.

I don't sit around & crunch numbers but I wonder what coca cola's profit is , ect.

Isn't that comparing apples and oranges? Coke is a luxury, not a necessity.

My family has always worked hard , saved , lived within our means & looked ahead.

Mine too, except that with the low pay in small town America -- and now the downsizing because of increased costs threatens even more jobs -- it's usually "hand to mouth". Probably less than $1,500 in savings after a recent move just to put me closer to my job . . . and haven't been able to add to it since that move because I am spending so much more on EVERYTHING as a result of the Gas prices. Peanut butter has almost doubled in the last year (that's what's for lunch here).

People that spend themselves head over heels in debt & don't plan & save will always be the have nots . Frankly I don't give a da#n how high the price of crude & gas goes .

Cool! Glad someone is getting something out of this. So, why are so many wells at a standstill right now? Is it to drive the price even higher? I think so . . .

Listen: I work 7 days a week, 6 on my regular job and run a small business. If anyone thinks the hardships are because of sloth or lack of savings, you're wrong.

How far can savings go? Talk about a "transfer of wealth", this situation is transferring the little wealth that working people have into the pockets of folks who don't actually produce anything themselves. They have workers who do the actual production, and they stiff them on wages and eat up what they do pay them with higher and higher commodity prices. The farmer isn't doing any better. All this greed is disgusting.

The CEO of Exxon doesn't produce anything except profits. His employees and equipment do the work, the shareholders take the money and laugh about the whole mess.

I don't want a handout. That is why I work. But how do folks who work hard explain to their kids that we don't have enough money to take a trip to see their grandparents because of the HUGE increases in fuel and food prices? Savings won't do because you may need it to pay the rent or to eat next month or the month after.

WV, not angry with you or anyone else here. The problem is that many of the people who DO produce, many of the people who DO work, many of the people who DO behave responsibly are now having problems.

I am a debt collector. I get to see how you have taken care of your business before your name crossed my desk. I have never had as much business involving responsible people as I do now. My business thrives in the bad times, but the folks who normally would never show up in my list are now there and they have never been in this position before.

Problem is, too many people who USED to be able to save have now exhausted their savings after losing their jobs or having their hours cut. Too many people who USED to be able to make it through the hard times are no longer able to because of the high cost of EVERY NECESSITY.

The luxury items don't count. I don't care what GM makes. I don't have to buy a new car. They aren't as efficient as my 87 ranger. 30mpg and the new Rangers get about 25mpg. I don't care what Coke makes.

WARNING: The "haves" of today are eventually going to be thinned out too, by the "I have a little more's". Survival of the fittest or greediest? Until those who aren't hurting yet realize what is happening and get off their high horse and see how these things are affecting RESPONSIBLE WORKING ADULTS and their families, they can't see what's coming . . . until it's their turn to get screwed, and by then it will be too late.

 

[WV Hillbilly]

Although I am fiercely independent , I am also by nature easy-going & laid-back . Therefore I
decided to remove my previous posts in this thread as the topic of this thread is complaining about
gas prices & not what we as individuals should be doing to help ourselves . I'm sorry if I've offended
anyone by suggesting we brought it on ourselves . The only thing I have left to say is , if you're
hoping our goverment is going to solve your problems ( GOOD LUCK ) .

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

The comparison is absurd.Exxon oil alone average net profit for the last 26 months= $1,000,000,000.00......... PER MONTH........thats billion with a B!

Actually it's a bit more . . .

3.9 BILLION DOLLARS NET PROFIT PER MONTH.

(46.8 Billion divided over 12 months = 3.9 BILLION)

How many people own only fuel efficient vehicles?

I do. 2.3 liter 4 cyl in my standard mini pickup and 2.4 Liter in my wife's car.

How many people drive only when it's absolutely necessary ? How many people actually make an active attempt to carpool ?

To work and back, but I do splurge and go to church twice a week. Wife just grocery shopping once per week. If other errands need to be run, we combine as many as possible into one trip. Carpool? I live in a small town, no way to carpool with anyone who's schedule is even close to mine, and on the opposite side of town from my coworkers. Why live here? Only piece of property I could afford and not go into debt over.

I don't sit around & crunch numbers but I wonder what coca cola's profit is , ect.

Isn't that comparing apples and oranges? Coke is a luxury, not a necessity.

My family has always worked hard , saved , lived within our means & looked ahead.

Mine too, except that with the low pay in small town America -- and now the downsizing because of increased costs threatens even more jobs -- it's usually "hand to mouth". Probably less than $1,500 in savings after a recent move just to put me closer to my job . . . and haven't been able to add to it since that move because I am spending so much more on EVERYTHING as a result of the Gas prices. Peanut butter has almost doubled in the last year (that's what's for lunch here).

People that spend themselves head over heels in debt & don't plan & save will always be the have nots . Frankly I don't give a da#n how high the price of crude & gas goes .

Cool! Glad someone is getting something out of this. So, why are so many wells at a standstill right now? Is it to drive the price even higher? I think so . . .

Listen: I work 7 days a week, 6 on my regular job and run a small business. If anyone thinks the hardships are because of sloth or lack of savings, you're wrong.

How far can savings go? Talk about a "transfer of wealth", this situation is transferring the little wealth that working people have into the pockets of folks who don't actually produce anything themselves. They have workers who do the actual production, and they stiff them on wages and eat up what they do pay them with higher and higher commodity prices. The farmer isn't doing any better. All this greed is disgusting.

The CEO of Exxon doesn't produce anything except profits. His employees and equipment do the work, the shareholders take the money and laugh about the whole mess.

I don't want a handout. That is why I work. But how do folks who work hard explain to their kids that we don't have enough money to take a trip to see their grandparents because of the HUGE increases in fuel and food prices? Savings won't do because you may need it to pay the rent or to eat next month or the month after.

WV, not angry with you or anyone else here. The problem is that many of the people who DO produce, many of the people who DO work, many of the people who DO behave responsibly are now having problems.

I am a debt collector. I get to see how you have taken care of your business before your name crossed my desk. I have never had as much business involving responsible people as I do now. My business thrives in the bad times, but the folks who normally would never show up in my list are now there and they have never been in this position before.

Problem is, too many people who USED to be able to save have now exhausted their savings after losing their jobs or having their hours cut. Too many people who USED to be able to make it through the hard times are no longer able to because of the high cost of EVERY NECESSITY.

The luxury items don't count. I don't care what GM makes. I don't have to buy a new car. They aren't as efficient as my 87 ranger. 30mpg and the new Rangers get about 25mpg. I don't care what Coke makes.

WARNING: The "haves" of today are eventually going to be thinned out too, by the "I have a little more's". Survival of the fittest or greediest? Until those who aren't hurting yet realize what is happening and get off their high horse and see how these things are affecting RESPONSIBLE WORKING ADULTS and their families, they can't see what's coming . . . until it's their turn to get screwed, and by then it will be too late.

THAT IS EXACTLY THE POINT! I am GLAD someone put it in a rational, explainable text for other to read! People just need to quit buying gasoline for 2 weeks all together. Think what would happen if we ALL did that across America!

 

[Ray S ECenFL]

I keep dreaming about having a nationwide sick out. Just for one day. Shut the country down for one day. NO, not the hospitals, fire dept , police etc... Just most of the other jobs.

It will never happen, but we could dream.

I found the question about what Coke a Cola makes very amusing. I rarely drink soft drinks and I do not NEED a coke to get to work. If coke shut their doors tomorrow, I could still get to work and feed my family. The price of gas is hurting all the working families. Those who were barely making ends meet are now in a bad way due to the increase of groceries and services brought on by the price of gas. All price increases, ultimately, gets passed on to the consumer. We have started this upward price spiral due to the increase in gas prices. Until the price comes down the trend will continue.

You can not work 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Working 7 days a week is bad enough. No time off will affect your health in time. Stress has it's own hidden dangers.

I still think that the people need to keep pushing for alternative fuels and ANY other methods of getting off the oil addiction that the USA has developed. It will not be easy but this country will have to do something before we have an economic collapse.

Ray S

 

[handy]

sssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhhh what ever you do dont tell bush he will not belive you

 

[Mike Moutray]

We are all just a bunch of mushrooms.... ignorant of the REAL world and how it is crushing us into oblivion each and every day. Our worthless government exists for it's own glory at our expense. Our "elected" "representatives" are a bunch of worthless idiots. They hand pick these fools for the elections and force us to vote them into office. NONE of them "represent" the average hard-working American. They are puppets for their party and throw their vote to the highest bidding special interest.

They are quite aware of our suffering in the current RECESSION and turn a deaf ear to our complaints.
The ancient Roman empire existed under similar circumstances with the "Bread and Circuses" theory - keep the people fed and entertained, and they wont care how the government is run. In our case, fill us full of fast food, made from tainted meat, and let us worry about buying all the status symbol gizmos being rammed down our throats by mass advertisement media. We're too damn busy with SUVs, Ipods, bluetooth phones, Wii games, wireless internet, myspace, digital cameras, GPS locaters, flat screen TVs, microwave cuisine, text messaging, burning MP3s, and scores of other "modern" technological marvels that we are programmed by Society to need and to acquire at our own personal and financial expense. We are so busy with life, we would never have the time to make any concerted and organized effort against our government for desperately needed improvements in our country and our lives. Look at the rebellions in other countries... the people there have no distractions and are easily moved to rise up against their oppresive government.

So we will live each day of our life, powerless to change it, until this country perishes in an inferno. And up from the ashes will arise a new nation, flying the Chinese flag since they already own half of our country.
Our forefathers were wise in that they provided in our Constitution the language that will save us.... the ability and the right to abolish our government when it no longer serves our benifit, and to do it by force if necessary. Anarchy? Revolution? Sounds like insane ranting, but think about it.... what else can happen to radically reform our government into a true democracy and restore our country to it's former and rightful glory before it's too late? Our current government and everyone in it will NEVER solve our problems... Politicians, by nature, are self-serving and ineffective. The rare individuals who truly stand for our country and are willing to sacrifice for it will never see a day in an elected office because they are weeded out early by the political parties. Freethinkers and true heros are the worst enemy of a greedy political system and allowing anyone like that to hold office would be a direct threat to the very existance of our current partisan system.

Take a look sometime at the things you buy at the stores... every other item comes from the unregulated, sweat shops of China. Look at our traditional industries fleeing over seas or south of the border.... Americans used to be defined by proud hard-working people who were able to support their family and contribute to their nation. Now we are being forced away from an industrial nation to a consumer nation. A nation that produces less and less for export and imports more and more consumable items. We are investing our hard earned dollars in crap consumer goods instead of our countries industry. What money we do "invest" flows over seas to enrich the economy of other nations. Those nations are seeing an exponential improvement in their industry and society and ours is declining. Eventually we will be the third world country being exploited by those countries we helped build up.

Don't be fooled by the hogwash that this society is trying to forcefeed us... about how great America is, how wonderful and prosperous our lives are. People think we have it better than other people in poor countries... it's all relative. If someone is living in a straw hut somewhere with no possessions or freedom and living off the land for sustenance, they have a simple life with few distractions except staying fed, clothed and alive.
Our lives are FULL of distractions - far more than we need or were ever meant to deal with. We spend all our time, effort, and money serving these distractions... we just have the freedom to choose our distractions, and a health care system that is able to repair our broken bodies and minds to continue with the hopeless fight against life. In the end our mind, body, and spirit is crushed beyond comprehension

Dont get me wrong! I love this country and what it stands for, but in my eyes WE are America and not our government. Too bad they are ruining our country's image for us. And until WE get off of our fat, lazy, indifferent a$$es as a collective people and take back this country from the idiots in government, America is going to eventually perish... you know it will!

Things like the skyrocketing cost of life, wars we shouldn't be fighting, and the decay of our society are the only thing that is going to spur some serious action for serious changes. I sure wish I could believe that the majority of Americans were able to be inspired to action necessary to change this course of demise. Unfortunately many Americans are going to allow our country to slip away without more than a whimper.

I work my a$$ off every day to support a wife and child. My work is hard on my body and mind and I'm drowning in medical bills between the 3 of us. I am one paycheck away from bankruptcy court, so each and every day and week of my life I have to find the will and strength to keep earning an income to prevent what may end up being an inevitability. The cars we drive are living on borrowed time because we can't afford a car payment. We have credit card debt up the wazoo from trying to cover living expenses every time I end up in the hospital. The prospect of me retiring with any savings to live off of is non-existant. You can't save money when you don't make enough to cover expenses. My paycheck is LESS than what I made 5 years ago when the cost of living was a lot lower. I could go on and on, but I'm sure most of you can identify with some or most of this. The government didn't put me where I am directly, but indirectly it is preventing me from staying on an even keel. Sometimes, I regret bringing my son into this world knowing what he will have to deal with as he grows up and trying to make it in life. I'm through ranting now, all I can do each day is pray to God to provide for us, and to find at least one positive thing each day in life.

Well, I guess i'll go nuke some frozen pizza rolls and sit in my recliner and read the Walmart ad while Survivor is on the tube.

 

[Timberwolf]

Mike, A very good post, thank you.

Sadly, there are many of us that are in the same situation as yourself. I'm not too proud to admit that I am one of them.
My wife can no longer work because of her health. Our son was born with a heart defect and requires surgery every few years.
With medical bills, car and house repairs, the price of gas and food...there is nothing left over to save

I miss the good old days when you could make a living with just the husband working. Now it takes both the husband and wife working....just to survive.

TW

 

[TheHarleyMan2]

I still think that the people need to keep pushing for alternative fuels and ANY other methods of getting off the oil addiction that the USA has developed. It will not be easy but this country will have to do something before we have an economic collapse.

Ray S

About ALTERNATIVE FUELS. It takes 1 gallon of FOSSIL FUEL to PRODUCE 1 gallon of ALTERNATE, (corn), FUEL.

So in REALITY, WE STILL USE the SAME AMOUNT OF FOSSIL FUELS to MAKE ALTERNATE FUELS, and PEOPLE DON'T GET THIS . Want an ALTERNATIVE FUEL source? Make YOUR CAR ELECTRIC with SOLAR PANELS on the roof for the batteries to run the car, anything else is going to make us use fossil fuels regardless!