Survey: $4.50 gas will pull commuters off the road

Jerami wrote:

<quoted text>
Price Freeze would work...this excerpt was from Business Service Industry....
With war under way, U.S. Rep. Bob Filner demanded an immediate freeze on gasoline prices nationwide. Filner accused big oil companies of gouging the public. Besides the price freeze, his bill directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct an investigation into rising prices. Also, the bill would make it illegal for anyone to sell gasoline at a price higher than the price on March 10.

psst,

price freezes lead to energy shortages....

Im not saying we should follow that model because that failed...but I am saying the President does have the power to do something...he has the most power in the country and you don't think he can stop the gas prices to keep rising. REALLY????

MEL Saint Paul wrote:

Why bother writing all these stories about what commuters are doing and what they will continue doing? Who really & truly care??? The BIG people are gonna continue playing their gas price raising games and sit in the corner and laugh.
Someone needs to step in and put a stop to this game playing! All the raising gas prices is a BIG racket and game playing! The ones responsible are making BIG profits off us hard working middle and poor class people! It needs to STOP!!

Mel, Mel, Mel...yes, the oil companies are making bigger profits. But they cannot drill and refine per government mandates and regulations, so whose fault is this? Can you say, GOVERNMENT? The ones responsible are sitting in D.C. deciding where you will live, how you WILL live and what you can do. How? because they can control your energy use, food costs and pretty much everything else and they want you to be poor and dependent on them to survive. These are sick people and most of them are Democrats. Try this...did you know Congress is voting on additional energy increases today? Do you realize that if this bill is passed, everything will cost you about 7-10% more, year after year and who's driving it? You need to read more and pay attention to what's happening.

Jerami wrote:

Ever hear of the:
Wage-Price Freeze of 1971

Yes, and it drove gas prices up in the end.

You can freeze the price but you cannot freeze the cost. When the cost of something goes up and you freeze the price you will end up with, among other unintended consequences, shortages or less quality.

Jerami wrote:

<quoted text>
Price Freeze would work...this excerpt was from Business Service Industry....
With war under way, U.S. Rep. Bob Filner demanded an immediate freeze on gasoline prices nationwide. Filner accused big oil companies of gouging the public. Besides the price freeze, his bill directs the Secretary of Energy to conduct an investigation into rising prices. Also, the bill would make it illegal for anyone to sell gasoline at a price higher than the price on March 10.

Jerami wrote:

<quoted text>
If we didn't have such a bad relationship with the Mid-East...yeah he could. But the fact of the matter is that The Bush's have declared war on the leaders in the Oil Industry...limiting the amount of Oil we receive from those countries.
Now don't even come with the BS about Terrorism...Terrorism occurred with Al-Qaeda not Iraq...oh...and most of those terrorists were from Saudi Arabia...Bush had an agenda for Iraq when he went into office...finish what old pops didn't...and that is the reason we went to war in Iraq. Unfortunately, Bush used 9/11 as an excuse for the War on Iraq.

I hate to say it, but you are seriously in la-la land. Unbelievable.

Nothing will make motorists drive less. . .heck, today's nearly $4/gallon retail gas price is the equivalent of about 55 cents/gallon in the 70's. . .so, from an economic standpoint, today's gasoline retail prices, when related to inflation, are not too dramatic at all. . .in order to get people to make systemic changes in how they get around, we need to have fuel prices like Europe (which would be more in the $10 per gallon ballpark). Because the only way to significantly change driver behavior is through price, the only control available is the gas tax. In reality, there should be a $5-7 per gallon tax on motor fuel and it should increase through indexing on a regular basis --- this would be very wise social policy, however, the reality is that getting our legislators to increase the gas tax a nickle was like pulling teeth. Consequently, green house pollution, the melting of the polar icecaps, growing congestion, and increasing air quality problems will be with us until the globe sucks the last drop of petroleum out of the ground.

Josh V wrote:

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I hate to say it, but you are seriously in la-la land. Unbelievable.

How so? Please explain to me why we are in Iraq then? For democracy? lol...if you really think that they you are the one in lala land

Here's the way it'll really work. Employees will demand higher wages so they can get to work as LRT and busses can't get most people where they need to go. The employer must increase prices on their products to absorb the increased wage demands, as they're not going to reduce their lifestyles. The consumer will pick up the additional costs. But wait, there's more. Government employs and/or supports about 48% of the general population. They will also need more $ to pay for gas, food, clothing, etc, so taxes will have to be raised. Hmmm, more money to live, more taxes to pay...I know, I'll become a ward of the state and let those who work take care of...me. Pretty soon everything has to rationed because 30% of the people are supporting 70% and the 70% are demanding more and more while the 70% continues to shrink until the economy collaspes. How do I know this will happen? Because it's happened repeatedly in the past and for thousands of years. Gee, I'll bet they didn't teach you that in school, right? They wouldn't as they're a major part of the problem and none of the solution...period.

Marcell trapper wrote:

Nothing will make motorists drive less...heck, today's nearly $4/gallon retail gas price is the equivalent of about 55 cents/gallon in the 70's...so, from an economic standpoint, today's gasoline retail prices, when related to inflation, are not too dramatic at all...in order to get people to make systemic changes in how they get around, we need to have fuel prices like Europe (which would be more in the $10 per gallon ballpark). Because the only way to significantly change driver behavior is through price, the only control available is the gas tax. In reality, there should be a $5-7 per gallon tax on motor fuel and it should increase through indexing on a regular basis --- this would be very wise social policy, however, the reality is that getting our legislators to increase the gas tax a nickle was like pulling teeth. Consequently, green house pollution, the melting of the polar icecaps, growing congestion, and increasing air quality problems will be with us until the globe sucks the last drop of petroleum out of the ground.

Have our driving habits changed in the last 5 years? Not really...so why the drastic increase in price now? Limited supply...more then increased demand.

The NTSB has already stated that Americans have driven 1 Billion less miles this year, due to the high cost of gas.

GJB wrote:

I suggest you read this article first:
http://wcco.com/business/gas.price.breakdown....
And maybe, just maybe, you'll figure out how the real world works.
The value of the dollar to the rest of the world's currency would have to improve. For that to happen, both the Federal budget needs to be balanced (and neither Republicans or Democrats are going to make enough changes for that to happen) and consumers need to stop buying stuff made overseas.
That would be the first step. But there is a lot of other countries involved in the process where the President has no say about what happens. He can just ask nicely to get things changed. And he's done that. What more would you have him do?

Thanks for the dose of reality!

Apparently if it was up to these environmentalists I would walk 20 miles to get to my job huh...there is no public transportation from Hugo to St. Paul yet...so I don't have a choice...i drive to work.

And before you go off about choosing where to live I am a consultant so unless I want to move every 3-6 months I can't better locate myself for my job so get off your high horse on that one.

Jerami wrote:

<quoted text>
If we didn't have such a bad relationship with the Mid-East...yeah he could. But the fact of the matter is that The Bush's have declared war on the leaders in the Oil Industry...limiting the amount of Oil we receive from those countries.
Now don't even come with the BS about Terrorism...Terrorism occurred with Al-Qaeda not Iraq...oh...and most of those terrorists were from Saudi Arabia...Bush had an agenda for Iraq when he went into office...finish what old pops didn't...and that is the reason we went to war in Iraq. Unfortunately, Bush used 9/11 as an excuse for the War on Iraq.

Jerami- Iraq isn't even in the top 4 countries that we import oil from. So, first of all, don't blame our relationship with Iraq for the high oil prices, and secondly, educate yourself a little more before shooting off at the mouth.

Canada is where we import most of our oil from, followed by Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.

aff wrote:

<quoted text>
Jerami- Iraq isn't even in the top 4 countries that we import oil from. So, first of all, don't blame our relationship with Iraq for the high oil prices, and secondly, educate yourself a little more before shooting off at the mouth.
Canada is where we import most of our oil from, followed by Saudi Arabia, and Mexico.

I realize that we get most of our Oil from Canada...but I ask why aren't we able to get oil from Iraq? They are a big oil exporter, correct?

Now I have to admit I don't know everything about this topic as most you don't either despite what you claim but KISS MY A S S about your education comment...what do you add? That we get most of our oil from Canada? Wow...thats it...thats as much as you add to the topic?

And if I remember correctly...Iraq is not the only exporter in the Mid East...

77deadhead wrote:

good. unfortunately money is the only really good wake up call for most americans. We need alternative energy sources, and maybe now that we're feeling it in the pocketbook, we can unite as a country (world really) and figure out what's gonna power the future.

Yes Deadhead...we need to wake up AND realize that we have centuries worth of oil, drill and refine it until we can develop 'real' renewable energy. Ethanol, wind farms and solar panels require emore energy to make and/or maintain than using other fuels. We waste more than we gain. Clean coal is cheaper than all else except nuclear, hydro and geo-thermal, has extremely low pollution (mostly CO2, which is NOT toxic) and we have mountains of it in the U.S. Why not nuclear? Ask the Demo-dummies. Comon', get a clue...this is not about a lack of energy sources or climate change, it's all about dupe, control and conquer. People from both parties are involved and I'm convinced their either profiting from it or mentally ill.

Jerami wrote:

And if I remember correctly...Iraq is not the only exporter in the Mid East...

Your comments were specifically about Iraq. And the next importers after the top three are from South America. The only other import from the Middle East that we receive other than Iraq is Kuwait almost at the bottom of the list for amount that we import. I just don't understand where people are getting the idea that the war in Iraq is what is causing our skyrocketing gas prices.

While I did know that we received most of our Oil from refineries in Canada and for some reason I think in the Gulf somewhere...Im not sure if Iraq has ever exported oil to us? I don't know maybe someone else does...I assumed they did. Now if they did in the past I would be curious when it stopped? Right around Desert Storm? I don't know...just guessing.

My comments about Iraq were mainly about Bush's agenda when entering office not as much about us not receiving oil from them. I stated we don't get enough oil from the Mid East and then talked about Iraq.

The survey is a waste of time: people lie.

$4.50 isn't nearly high enough to make a dent in our gasoline usage. Think more like $8 or $10 -- check on the cost in "real dollars" and you'll be surprised at how cheap gas still really is.