Fight gas price gouging

[Tango]

Originally posted by Odee
Nice thought, and all that...  But nobody that was elected has listened to the majority of their constituants to date...  Fot that matter, the majority of the voter base are so g'damned missinformed, that were they ever to get a clue you would be astounded at how fast incumbents names would be replaced!

How else do you explain DeadHead Ted's, and other slackers continued successes?

Moveon.org is one of those reasons.

[ROC]

Surely we don't all agree.

You guys won't like socialism, you won't like it one darn bit, but just keep begging for it, you're making headway.

Fuel is Power.  Many of you are allowing the debate to go right over your heads.  Gas is Cheap, heck a bottled water and can of soda cost more, where's the outrage there?  The "leaders" are fueling your fight over fuel prices so you are distracted over the real fight, and that's the Freedom to do as you please.  This is America, and Industrial Nation, and we travel, we build, and we grow.  We need Fuel to do this, and the Only way to stop the nation is to cut off our fuel.  They cannot do it militarily, so they will twist the debate and cause a bunch of week kneed people to cry over the cost of fuel and YOU'LL do it for them.  Restricting, Rationing, Penalizing.

There is going to come a time where those of us that Do produce are going to get sick and tired of the stupidity, and then there's going to be a real problem.  Imagine the backlash when a bunch of meat eating, gun toting, SUV driving Red Blooded Americans have their fill of unarmed vegan prius driving nannies.

For the moment, to each his own, drive,eat what you want.  You're starting to annoy us though, just so you know.  The clear difference is some of us don't care what you do, just don't tell me what to do.  Some of you are crossing the line, tread lightly.

hehe, I had this same conversation with my mom in law after she was complaining about gas, Man did that make for an exciting mothers day lmao Mom's mouth gaping, eyes wide with horror.  Nephews going YA YA YA

[tedrbr]

As long as oil is the primary source of energy for the world,  and so long as about half of the oil supplies in the world come from unstable parts of the world,  and as the reality of oil production capacity is just over oil demand,  and as remaining oil reserves that can be economically exploited are dwindling....

... then the economies of the west are highly vulnerable to any disruptions or threats to oil supplies.  Real or perceived.

It is also a problem that a significant percentage of oil profits to many of those oil producing countries wind up funding anti-western organizations and terrorists groups, often in the same regions where the oil comes from.


50 to 100 years ago, this would have been seen as a threat to national security, and efforts on par with the Apollo Program or Manhattan Project may have been created to pursue and secure alternatives.  

Government today does not have that kind of leadership, and say things about allowing "markets" to pursue new technologies, but why would the oil, transportation, and energy industry invest serious time, money, or effort into developing alternative energy as long as governments are willing to spend money and lives in diplomatic, economic, and military efforts to secure the existing oil supplies?  Or wait until the government decides to fund the necessary research, development, and deployment under lucrative government contracts?

[indy007]

Originally posted by tedrbr
Government today does not have that kind of leadership, and say things about allowing "markets" to pursue new technologies, but why would the oil, transportation, and energy industry invest serious time, money, or effort into developing alternative energy as long as governments are willing to spend money and lives in diplomatic, economic, and military efforts to secure the existing oil supplies?  Or wait until the government decides to fund the necessary research, development, and deployment under lucrative government contracts?

We already have the alternative. People are just confused about it, and scared by it. Pretty sad since it's probably the best alternative we have, and it just happens to already work.

[Bodhi]

Originally posted by ROC
Surely we don't all agree.

You guys won't like socialism, you won't like it one darn bit, but just keep begging for it, you're making headway.

Fuel is Power.  Many of you are allowing the debate to go right over your heads.  Gas is Cheap, heck a bottled water and can of soda cost more, where's the outrage there?  The "leaders" are fueling your fight over fuel prices so you are distracted over the real fight, and that's the Freedom to do as you please.  This is America, and Industrial Nation, and we travel, we build, and we grow.  We need Fuel to do this, and the Only way to stop the nation is to cut off our fuel.  They cannot do it militarily, so they will twist the debate and cause a bunch of week kneed people to cry over the cost of fuel and YOU'LL do it for them.  Restricting, Rationing, Penalizing.

There is going to come a time where those of us that Do produce are going to get sick and tired of the stupidity, and then there's going to be a real problem.  Imagine the backlash when a bunch of meat eating, gun toting, SUV driving Red Blooded Americans have their fill of unarmed vegan prius driving nannies.

For the moment, to each his own, drive,eat what you want.  You're starting to annoy us though, just so you know.  The clear difference is some of us don't care what you do, just don't tell me what to do.  Some of you are crossing the line, tread lightly.

hehe, I had this same conversation with my mom in law after she was complaining about gas, Man did that make for an exciting mothers day lmao Mom's mouth gaping, eyes wide with horror.  Nephews going YA YA YA

Well said ROC.  It is comforting to know that somebody else gets it!

I hope gas goes up to $8/gallon.  Then I won't have to share the road with so many cars on the way to work everyday.

If you do not like gas prices, buy a bike, and either walk to places or stay home over the weekend, but don't talk crap about using the government to moderate a free market.  That is a recipe for nothing but trouble.

[Sandman]

Price controls don't work.

This just in.

You'd think these fools had never taken an economics class.

[storch]

Originally posted by Eagler
adjusted for inflation, gas is still too cheap for our own good

I agree.  I wish more folks would take public transportation and leave the roads open for those of us who will drive no matter what the cost.

[storch]

Originally posted by ROC
Surely we don't all agree.

You guys won't like socialism, you won't like it one darn bit, but just keep begging for it, you're making headway.

Fuel is Power.  Many of you are allowing the debate to go right over your heads.  Gas is Cheap, heck a bottled water and can of soda cost more, where's the outrage there?  The "leaders" are fueling your fight over fuel prices so you are distracted over the real fight, and that's the Freedom to do as you please.  This is America, and Industrial Nation, and we travel, we build, and we grow.  We need Fuel to do this, and the Only way to stop the nation is to cut off our fuel.  They cannot do it militarily, so they will twist the debate and cause a bunch of week kneed people to cry over the cost of fuel and YOU'LL do it for them.  Restricting, Rationing, Penalizing.

There is going to come a time where those of us that Do produce are going to get sick and tired of the stupidity, and then there's going to be a real problem.  Imagine the backlash when a bunch of meat eating, gun toting, SUV driving Red Blooded Americans have their fill of unarmed vegan prius driving nannies.

For the moment, to each his own, drive,eat what you want.  You're starting to annoy us though, just so you know.  The clear difference is some of us don't care what you do, just don't tell me what to do.  Some of you are crossing the line, tread lightly.

hehe, I had this same conversation with my mom in law after she was complaining about gas, Man did that make for an exciting mothers day lmao Mom's mouth gaping, eyes wide with horror.  Nephews going YA YA YA

 how true.

[AWMac]

The price of fuel?  

I blame NASCAR Rednecks!



Mac

[Odee]

Originally posted by Charon
Lets go back to a regulated market so we can pay even more per gallon and have rationing again!

Charon

You do realize that when we deregulated the phones, oil, and such... and all those promises of competition spurring lower prices to the customers and better service?

Never came true, now did it...  In fact, prices went higher and service got poorer.

Yeah I think it's about time we went back to regulation and monopolys again.  Wasn't broke in the first place.

[FBBone]

Originally posted by indy007
We already have the alternative. People are just confused about it, and scared by it. Pretty sad since it's probably the best alternative we have, and it just happens to already work.

YAY NUKE POWER!  think of all the carbon emissions we could have eliminated over the past three decades if it wasn't for the greenies hating nukes!  Global warming?  Blame Greenpeace.

[lasersailor184]

I hope Bush vetoes the bill.

[Charon]

Yeah I think it's about time we went back to regulation and monopolys again. Wasn't broke in the first place.

We were deregulated since about 1920 (after Standard Oil was dismantled) until the 1970s when Nixon regulated the downstream oil industry with price controls. That led to rationing, outages and prices higher than today at times adjusted for inflation. It was deregulated in 1981. That led to lower prices and regular supply. That is still the case today. You may not like the price, but then I would suggest that you regulate the commodities markets first.

Not even the major consumer advocates are calling for price controls and other direct intervention in the market today.

Charon

[tedrbr]

Price controls are certainly not the answer.  That people in the United States are looking to Congress to fix the rising price of oil is hilarious.  Its market driven and too much of that market is tied to highly volatile parts of the world.  You can't legislate Venezuela's retaking control of its oil fields away from foreign oil companies.  You can't legislate peace in the Middle East on African nations to secure oil supplies.  
More people with axes to grind against the west are beginning to realize how much they can hurt the west by disrupting oil.  Western economies and public perception are sensitive to it.  Expect this trend to continue and the price of oil to rise.

As long as we remain an oil energy driven economy, we will suffer price fluctuations.  Once we are well into the period of "Peak Oil", either by the market's perception or hard reality, these price increases will continue.

An alternative energy strategy is the only way out of this, but other than a few pet projects, I don't see any serious effort being put forth along these lines in the foreseeable future.

[lasersailor184]

Price controls are certainly not the answer. That people in the United States are looking to Congress to fix the rising price of oil is hilarious. Its market driven and too much of that market is tied to highly volatile parts of the world. You can't legislate Venezuela's retaking control of its oil fields away from foreign oil companies. You can't legislate peace in the Middle East on African nations to secure oil supplies.

It's not that hilarious.  The people completely misunderstand economics and even history back to roughly 30 years ago.

Just as much as you can't enact price controls, you can't legislate stupidity.