Are you willing to 6 dollars for a gallon of gas!

[rb336]

You do know that there is only one reason that was "the largest EVER annual profit" for GM and it has absolutely nothing to do with the management of GM, it's products or the market.

If you truly believe that you haven't been paying attention. GM is actually building cars people WANT [[GM is again the #1 automaker world-wide), and it is selling them PROFITABLY thanks primarily to drastic cuts the evil old union accepted. Cadillac is building a sport sedan and coupe that can match up very well [[beat, in my opinion) with BMW in their own game, especially the CTS-V. Their new cars are doing very well in the marketplace

[Mikeg]

If you truly believe that you haven't been paying attention. GM is actually building cars people WANT [[GM is again the #1 automaker world-wide), and it is selling them PROFITABLY thanks primarily to drastic cuts the evil old union accepted. Cadillac is building a sport sedan and coupe that can match up very well [[beat, in my opinion) with BMW in their own game, especially the CTS-V. Their new cars are doing very well in the marketplace

And if you would take the time to actually read what I write before firing off a reply, you will find that nowhere did I dispute anything you just wrote. What I wrote is that even with all of the successes GM is having in the marketplace, GM would not have generated a record profit without the Obama Administration exempting itself from the law and allowing $3 billion to be sent to GM's bottom line instead of to the US Treasury. It was Geithner's "Notices" that allowed GM's to post "its largest EVER annual profit". Without that $3 billion "gift" from the Treasury Department, GM's 2011 profits don't even come close to setting a record.

[rb336]

And if you would take the time to actually read what I write before firing off a reply, you will find that nowhere did I dispute anything you just wrote. What I wrote is that even with all of the successes GM is having in the marketplace, GM would not have generated a record profit without the Obama Administration exempting itself from the law and allowing $3 billion to be sent to GM's bottom line instead of to the US Treasury. It was Geithner's "Notices" that allowed GM's to post "its largest EVER annual profit". Without that $3 billion "gift" from the Treasury Department, GM's 2011 profits don't even come close to setting a record.

well, then Geitner's notices were a good thing

[oladub]

rb336: No, we are acting like Iran is a country that repeatedly threatens our allies and our security. both of those are facts.

Libya did bomb an American Jet over Scotland. Some bombs were dropped on Libya in reprisal. That has long ago been resolved. Since then, Libya decided to rejoin the world community and ended its nuclear bomb program. Then Obama bombed Libya.

You keep bringing up Lockerbie but that has already been settled. " On 15 August 2003, Libya's UN ambassador, Ahmed Own, submitted a letter to the UN Security Council formally accepting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" in relation to the Lockerbie bombing.^[105] The Libyan government then proceeded to pay compensation to each family of US$8 million [[from which legal fees of about US$2.5 million were deducted) and, as a result, the UN cancelled the sanctions that had been suspended four years earlier, and US trade sanctions were lifted." -wikipedia

Once again, I point out that every example used is an EXTREME example and that the relevant context of the currency collapse is ignored/left out. I provided clear reasons why the collapse of other currencies you constantly cite were caused by reasons unrelated to the gold standard. saying "this currency collapsed" and saying it is because it had no gold standard requires PROOF -- and that would be by showing that there were not other reasons that the currency actually collapsed. you throw up an event level non causa pro causa argument. Then you ask "Which fiat currencies buy as much gasoline as they did 50 years ago as gold does? " which is an absurd question based on a false premise -- that being viable means there is no inflation. You have YET to show a single example of a country with a productive economy that had its currency collapse.

No, you made a blanket statement about third world countries and wars causing fiat currencies to collapse. If Nixon had not replaced silver certificates with fiat federal reserve notes, each dime would still have $2.54 of purchasing power as measured by our contemporary federal reserve notes. The silver certificates were redeemable for those dimes until the government broke its promise.

Using a 1965 gasoline price of $.35/gallon
A March 2012 gasoline price of $3.77/gallon
and the melt value of $1 of pre-1965 coins to be $24.43

I don't know if you would call it a currency collapse but $3.77 of federal reserve notes will buy one gallon of gas.
$3.77 of pre-1965 US coins will buy $92.10 of federal reserve notes [[3.77x$24.43) which in turn buys 24.43 gallons of gasoline. However, when something like gasoline becomes 2433% more expensive in fiat currency relative to commodity based currency over 46 years, we have an "example of a country with a productive economy that had its currency collapse."

Since I answered your question, maybe you could try a little harder to answer mine. "Which fiat currencies buy as much gasoline as they did 50 years ago as gold does? "

[rb336]

I don't know if you would call it a currency collapse but $3.77 of federal reserve notes will buy one gallon of gas.
$3.77 of pre-1965 US coins will buy $92.10 of federal reserve notes [[3.77x$24.43) which in turn buys 24.43 gallons of gasoline. However, when something like gasoline becomes 2433% more expensive in fiat currency relative to commodity based currency over 46 years, we have an "example of a country with a productive economy that had its currency collapse."

Since I answered your question, maybe you could try a little harder to answer mine. "Which fiat currencies buy as much gasoline as they did 50 years ago as gold does? "

biggest load of pure bullshit I've heard in my life. Get a grip

[ghettopalmetto]

Using a 1965 gasoline price of $.35/gallon
A March 2012 gasoline price of $3.77/gallon
and the melt value of $1 of pre-1965 coins to be $24.43

I don't know if you would call it a currency collapse but $3.77 of federal reserve notes will buy one gallon of gas.
$3.77 of pre-1965 US coins will buy $92.10 of federal reserve notes [[3.77x$24.43) which in turn buys 24.43 gallons of gasoline.

Give it a go. Post your results here.

Are you also going to limit your income to the 1965 median family income of $6900? Just curious.

http://www2.census.gov/prod2/popscan/p60-051.pdf

[vetalalumni]

How would you like to have .10/gallon?

[Zacha341]

Up, UP it GOES! Gas prices soaring! Best get the 'cho-cho's' rolling out so we can drive to them with our teaspoon of gas in our tanks then climb aboard to get to our final destinations!

Ouch! Get ready for another spike in gas prices

Read more: http://www.wxyz.com/dpp/news/get-rea...#ixzz1oj69md6J

[oladub]

Kinder Morgan pipeline company is already directing Canadian oil to the Chinese market. Kinder has just announced plans to spend $5B to triple it's west coast capacity. This will be good for Canadian producers who no longer have to depend on the whims of US politicians and can get a better price from China.
http://fuelfix.com/blog/2012/04/13/k...nada-pipeline/

[jiminnm]

OneOK has proposed a new pipeline from North Dakota to the Cushing OK hub. Federal approval is not required for this project. If this proceeds, I would expect a post-completion request for Federal approval to cross the Canadian border because none of the issues holding up the Keystone would apply.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-04/D9U1MDK00.htm

[old guy]

Even though the population increase has been slowing down since the mid 60's, the world population is still growing at a rate of about 75 million people a year. I just don't see the price of oil or any type of energy going down.

[ghettopalmetto]

Even though the population increase has been slowing down since the mid 60's, the world population is still growing at a rate of about 75 million people a year. I just don't see the price of oil or any type of energy going down.

As China and India [[together, one-third of the global population) continue to industrialize, and the supplies of this finite resource continue to dwindle, it's only rational to make such a conclusion.

In the long-term, the price of oil is only going to keep increasing, no matter how badly the Baby Boomers wish otherwise. The way I see it, we can either embrace an impending economic apocalypse head-first wth no helmet [[i.e. "Drill Baby Drill"), or we can start figuring out how to restructure an economy and infrastructure without reliance on dirt-cheap gasoline.

[coracle]

I remember the last time the price of gas was circa $4 gall that the price for a barrel of oil was round about $140 [[that was when it was George Bush's fault). Now gas is approaching $4 gall again [[we know it isn't Obama's fault because he said so) and the price for a barrel is only $103/$106. I wonder why the discrepancy. I bet its those wicked Oil companies and/or China. It can't be our weak foreign/energy policies because we would then be able to pin the blame on the blameless. Then I remembered George got it down to $1.80 gall so I expect we'll see the same happen again soon. Should be a piece of cake for the blameless one.

$6 [[or $8/$10/20) per gall. is a Socialist's wet dream. They will 1) control your driving. 2) Give your money to those that don't earn anything so they can afford it [[and vote for them). 3) Make it more expensive than fuels that they want you to use from wind, algae et al. 4) At the same time arrange to be on a Public "service" expense account so they don't have to pay it themselves.

[coracle]

If we continue to spend at the rate of $4/5 TRILLION per 3 years to fund our non producers and the other layabouts brought on by socialism we will soon have to catch up with England and other European States [[some already down the tubes) where gas is over $10 per Imperial Gall [[over $8 per US gall.) to pay for it. We now wince at paying $80 to fill our tank but soon we would have to pay $160 as per Europe to fund Obama's "Change". We'll certainly never get enough money by penalizing the "rich" no matter how popular that is to the people with their hands out.

[old guy]

$6 [[or $8/$10/20) per gall. is a Socialist's wet dream. They will 1) control your driving. 2) Give your money to those that don't earn anything so they can afford it [[and vote for them). 3) Make it more expensive than fuels that they want you to use from wind, algae et al. 4) At the same time arrange to be on a Public "service" expense account so they don't have to pay it themselves.

If you can't understand that we need to embrace technology and increase the use of alternative energy, coupled with oil, natural gas and coal, I think you're missing something. There just isn't going to be enough oil in the coming decades to go around. This is all so incredibly simple to understand that I just don't see your point.

On a side note, those two wars we've been fighting have been a large part of our growing debt.

If you don't understand how new technology takes us forward, consider the fact that it wasn't that long ago that people were using whale blubber to light homes and horses for transportation. "Whale oil's predominant place in society was mostly eliminated with the development of kerosene from coal in 1846." I wonder how many people were complaining about that and saying it would never work.

[ghettopalmetto]

If we continue to spend at the rate of $4/5 TRILLION per 3 years to fund our non producers and the other layabouts brought on by socialism we will soon have to catch up with England and other European States [[some already down the tubes) where gas is over $10 per Imperial Gall [[over $8 per US gall.) to pay for it. We now wince at paying $80 to fill our tank but soon we would have to pay $160 as per Europe to fund Obama's "Change". We'll certainly never get enough money by penalizing the "rich" no matter how popular that is to the people with their hands out.

I don't see what the price of a gallon of gasoline has to do with the social programs a country enacts. Do you care to illustrate this connection?

European nations have higher gasoline/diesel costs because they [[gasp) levy taxes on it in order to fund their transportation infrastructure. Our lousy gas tax only covers half the cost of building and maintaining roads...to say nothing of our third-world rail system and our overdeveloped-yet-clogged air travel system.

If you think we suddenly became a socialist nation on January 20, 2009, then I have a bridge that might interest you.

[coracle]

In the end its not possible to prove which actual tax [[gas, value added, Private Sector etc) is spent on precisely what social project. It all goes into the big Socialist pot to be spent on what is "wanted" to maintain power.
Yes, I do think we embarked on the socialist path when your Community Organizer was voted in; and no I don't need your bridge thank you; but I do have a solution for where you can do put it.

[ghettopalmetto]

In the end its not possible to prove which actual tax [[gas, value added, Private Sector etc) is spent on precisely what social project. It all goes into the big Socialist pot to be spent on what is "wanted" to maintain power.

I presume a scholar such as yourself can support this with documented facts, yes?

For instance, in the United States, there are separate pools of money that one can track:

1. Gas tax revenues
2. Highway Trust Fund expenditures
3. FAA appropriations
4. Amtrak appropriations
5. Transit appropriations.

I presume that most civilized countries have similar budgeting mechanisms. Hell, most civilized households have separate budgeting categories. Maybe, in your extensive research [[and totally not off-the-cuff opinion), you have come across some of these numbers?

Yes, I do think we embarked on the socialist path when your Community Organizer was voted in; and no I don't need your bridge thank you; but I do have a solution for where you can do put it.

Please send us photos from Fantasyland. Or rather, don't. It sounds like quite a miserable place to live, what with all the pennywise poundfoolishness and blaming of others for your problems.

You wouldn't know Socialism even if you had the free college education that comes part-and-parcel of the package.

[mjs]

If you think we suddenly became a socialist nation on January 20, 2009, then I have a bridge that might interest you.

Obama already made anybody with a job today or into the next few decades buy several along with buying every incompetent bank and auto company and houses people should have never been given and vehicle trade-ins they didn't deserve and appliances they wouldn't have otherwise bought and companies they shouldn't have started and . . .

Socialism is when the government controls the means of production such as Government Motors and Government Sachs and Solyndra and . . .

[Zacha341]

^^^^ Governance, social and political "Change" is often incremental, and seemingly most reasonable in certain areas, and outworkings.

That is as the form and nature of gradualism. It's rarely sudden.

[coracle]

VW Passat 78.5 MPG [[Imperial gallon) 65.2 MPG US gallon in the Uk - YouTube

[ghettopalmetto]

Obama already made anybody with a job today or into the next few decades buy several along with buying every incompetent bank and auto company and houses people should have never been given and vehicle trade-ins they didn't deserve and appliances they wouldn't have otherwise bought and companies they shouldn't have started and . . .

Socialism is when the government controls the means of production such as Government Motors and Government Sachs and Solyndra and . . .

So which government employees constitute the Board of Directors and COO of each of these "now-Socialist" companies?

That's what I thought.

How soon you [[intentionally and selectively) forget the massive S&L Bailout that St. Ronald of Reagan conducted during the 1980s.

But yeah, that Obama guy. He's a GD socialist. Whatever.

To be honest, I wish we really were a Socialist country like you say we are. At least then, we'd all have paid health insurance [[at lower rates than we pay now), five weeks of vacation, a transportation system that consists of more than Drive-Everywhere-for-Everything, dirt-cheap college education, and a system of laws not based on what one guy in Nazareth was reported to have said over 2000 years ago. But we can't have those things, because we're all about "freedom" in this country--the freedom to be broke and stupid.

[oladub]

Gp, I would have chosen the word 'corporatism' rather than 'socialism'. Then it works although mainstream Republicans are as corporatist as Democrats; your example of Reagan being a case in point.

Otherwise, are you describing the democratic socialism [[the key word is 'austerity') now collapsing in much of Europe or the more orderly socialism that collapsed in the Soviet Union and it's satellites? Wait until President Rand Paul expects Europe to defend itself on top of paying for all the social programs Euroland can no longer afford. Marxism was also based, in part, on Judeo-Christian goals. If you calculate taxpayer contributions into health care and education, such social programs suddenly seem less magically dirt cheap. That's one of the great things about Obama. He shifts the costs of his magical dirt cheap programs to our children so we don't have to pay for them in our life times. Good luck kids!

[ghettopalmetto]

Gp, I would have chosen the word 'corporatism' rather than 'socialism'. Then it works although mainstream Republicans are as corporatist as Democrats; your example of Reagan being a case in point.

Otherwise, are you describing the democratic socialism [[the key word is 'austerity') now collapsing in much of Europe or the more orderly socialism that collapsed in the Soviet Union and it's satellites?

It's not the social programs that are collapsing the Eurozone, but in fact the "austerity", or decrease of government spending in the face of recession. In other words, Germany is forcing the same measures on the Eurozone that the Republicans want to use here. Except I don't know that any of the affected European nations have enacted Magic Tax Cuts.

Ireland, which the GOP held as a model of fiscal responsibility not too long ago, is entering a double-dip recession thanks to its austerity measures.

[Jimaz]

Corruption Accounts For As Much As 14 Dollars Out Of Every Tank Of Gas

You pay a hidden premium every time they fill up your gas tank. The prices are high at the gas station, but part of the price you pay is directly caused by commodity speculators. And you can thank lobbyists for why the government has been unable to do anything to solve the problem....

Reforming the way big money influences government might be the last thing on your mind the next time you fill up your tank. But remember, corruption is one of the reasons you’re paying so much.