Are you willing to pay $6.00 for a gallon of gas?

[devman1983]

Here is a good article I just read - -

Israel's Electric Car Network: Can It Change the World?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2011042...08599206697500

[Danny]

Michigan is now the 2nd U.S. state that has the highest gas prices next to California. Most of it is in Western to Northwestern part of the state.

[Jimaz]

13 states now with $4 a gallon gas after tornadoes shut seven refineries

Michigan looks higher than even California now.

[ghettopalmetto]

I'd be willing to pay $6/gallon [[or more) for gasoline if the price were the result of taxes that were used to construct means of transportation other than "drive your damned self".

In Europe, high gas prices go toward building high speed rail and maintaining the existing transportation networks. Our high gas prices go to the oil companies, and gas taxes only cover 46% of the costs of building and maintaining freeways. Americans rightly perceive themselves as getting screwed.

[Dent]

3WC has a good grasp on how markets work; most people don't as economics to this extent are not taught in school. As long as there is a good amount of 'uncertainty' [[this time Libya), prices will be bid up. Also the devalued dollar that oil is traded in has a big part in the barrel price. This uncertainty can easily be countered by allowing drilling here in the U.S. and smashing the printing press. Works every time.
Right now I don't drive any where that I don't have too. I never have, even when gas prices were much lower. I'm a big fan of walking, but work is 20 miles away, and there is no bus routes to get me there at the time I start work. I would never buy a car such as the Volt, which runs on coal, a fossil fuel. I drive a pick up truck for good reason: I haul stuff. When gas prices reach $7.00 or $8.00 a gallon, I will buy less of everything that doesn't keep me alive, like movies or vacation travel. Right now I'm spending every buck I have on silver and bullets.

[old guy]

I paid $4.13 a gallon for regular in Wisconsin yesterday. What are you going to do?

[Dent]

You will do just what you are made to do: suffer until the middle class is no more. There will be two classes in the U.S. : The Ruling class made up of wealthy politicians, and poor surfs.

[maxx]

Dear Rep. Levin, Sen. Levin and Sen. Stabenow:

As I understand it in 2008, the CFTC was charged with writing rules to curb speculation in oil and gas. As of today there still are no rules. The CFTC are dragging their feet as they listen to a barrage from special interest lobbyists. Please tell the CFTC to quit entertaining lobbyists and get to work.
.

[3WC]

Maxx: nobody is or can regulate "speculation" in a meaningful way. The only thing the CFTC can do is impose rules limiting the amount of money one can borrow to speculate with; in other words, margin rules. The markets regulate themselves in that respect. Besides, market players, users or gamblers, can always trade on foreign exchanges, unregulatable. Oil s fungible.

We all speculate in oil and gas. Every week.

Say, you're driving along and notice your gas gauge shows half full [[I'm a positive thinker.) Some folks think prices are going up so stop right away and fill up. Others may think prices will finally drop and put off filling up until they're running on empty. Speculators both.

[Django]

If the god damned government would just let loose with alien technology so we could get our energy for free we could let the Saudis rot.

Fuck a $5 gallon




But yeah, Ill pay it.

[ferntruth]

Yes, and fortunately I am able.

[maxx]

http://www.businessweek.com/investor...419_786652.htm

"...Goldman Sachs [[GS) advised its clients on Apr. 11 to get rid of their commodities holdings, including oil. The Guardian quoted Goldman's advice as warning: 'The record levels of speculative trading in crude have pushed their prices up so much in recent months that in the near term, risk reward no longer favors holding those commodities'..."

3Wc : Putting the average citizen on a par with investment houses is like saying that the person who throws out his newspaper once a day pollutes the earth as much as Dow Chemical.

Django: Alien technology???

[maxx]

Here is a good article I just read - -

Israel's Electric Car Network: Can It Change the World?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/2011042...08599206697500

I still like the idea of the air car.

http://www.mdi.lu/english/

[old guy]

http://www.gasholemovie.com/

Looks good.

[Wingnatic]

Part of an e-newsletter from Sander Levin :
As Gas Prices Soar, Oil Companies Post Mammoth Profits
Last week, as the price for a gallon of gasoline rose above $4 in many areas, the major oil companies announced huge profits for the first three months of 2011. Exxon Mobil posted a first-quarter profit of $10.7 billion, a 69 percent gain from the previous year. BP reported a profit of $7.1 billion, a 17 percent increase. Royal Dutch Shell, earned $6.3 billion, up 30 percent. Chevron's profit grew to $6.2 billion, a 36 percent increase. Conoco Phillips reported a first-quarter profit of $3 billion, up 44 percent from a year earlier.
Rep. Levin called on House Speaker Boehner and Congress to repeal the largest taxpayer-funded subsidies going to the five biggest oil companies: "We need an equitable tax system. As part of this, repealing the three largest tax breaks for the Big Five oil companies - which together recorded profits of $77 billion last year alone - would raise over $3 billion a year." At a time when consumers are feeling the pain of rising gas prices, it is unjustifiable that the tax code subsidizes Big Oil to the tune of billions of dollars a year.

http://sanderlevin.congressnewslette...23741.13&gen=1

[3WC]

Maxx, your view that I was putting the average citizen on a par with "investment houses" indicates you have no concept of speculation or how the real world works.

I merely intended to illustrate the very concept of speculation by showing how we all do it.

The major speculators are airlines, which use billions of gallon of fuel a year, and other large consumers. If the airlines, for example, think fuel prices are going up they buy futures at today's prices and sell if they think prices are going down. They hedge to lock in prices/costs; when they do, if prices of the actual fuel goes up, they make money on their hedges. That's why SWA made so much money the past few years when most all other airlines lost money. SWA lost money on operations but made it in the market by betting correctly. In order to do that they had to have excellent credit and free assets in order for the counterparty to deal with them, in case of losses, and none of the other airlines could do what SWA did because their balance sheets were so bad.

If it were not for the futures markets, where hedging [[speculation) takes plae, we'd really be in a mess..

[Dent]

3WC is again very concise with the futures markets example [[above). Airlines, as well as other large transportation companies use speculation as a way to help build stability into their pricing schedule's,

[Wingnatic]

So the speculators when they speculate ..........figure in the billions of dollars in tax breaks whilst porking us all at the pump ? Maybe we should all speculate our future individual schedule's [[expenses) and get us a tax break from the Government . Anyways you've done a great job in explaining how big oil w/the Governments help on how we get porked in the ass lol

[DetroitTeacher]

I guess I'll have to pay what they charge since we don't have a subway system and I refuse to ride the bus...it's too unreliable.

[1KielsonDrive]

Willing? Who's willing? No one that I know is willing. WTF do we have to say about it? And what is our presidente doing about all of this? Yeah, I know the company line; the Presidente has very little power over the price of gas. BULL! Where are all of the people who were hollering about gas prices when Bush2 was in office? At the very least, I'd think NO!Bama would be using his bully pulpit. Oh, I forgot, he has NO!Bully pulpit. This guy is totally lacking cahones. We are getting just as screwed, just as sure, as when Bush2 was in office.

[oladub]

I'm all for ending all corporate subsidies even though that would increase the price of fuel. The Obama administration is also beginning to also look at the idea of a mileage tax that would somehow get paid when purchasing fuel. This idea is not yet being seriously considered but is being looked at.

Obama floats plan to tax cars by the mile

[HistoryNotHisStory]

When Gas finally reaches $6 and $7 a gallon, we will finally see the Change we need in our environment.

We will finally see the end of oil.

Meanwhile, I will ride my bike.

[1KielsonDrive]

I'm all for ending all corporate subsidies even though that would increase the price of fuel. The Obama administration is also beginning to also look at the idea of a mileage tax that would somehow get paid when purchasing fuel. This idea is not yet being seriously considered but is being looked at.

Obama floats plan to tax cars by the mile

Let's see here.......I commute about 80 miles, round trip, to my business and back. I was commuting more than that to the jobs that were available to me before the economy was sabotaged by multi-national corporations. I chose to 'risk' or 'gamble', if you'd care to call it that, in a business to gain a job, invest in my community, provide myself a job and maybe benefits at some date in the future. The money I risked came from my retirement and is actually a stimulus investment. So, I should be penalized for all of this because I commute as much as or more than........how many miles? If a bus or train was available, I'd take it, at least occasionally. But, the same politicians that are taking everything else away from us, the working class, have chosen not to invest in transit. I'm curious where the 'Change' is in this equation.

[Detroitej72]

The Obama administration is also beginning to also look at the idea of a mileage tax that would somehow get paid when purchasing fuel. This idea is not yet being seriously considered but is being looked at.

If I were you, I wouldn't buy into everything some right wing blog tries to serve up as news.

[Whitehouse]

Just today the price of European Brent and US Crude oil sunk 10 percent in one day.

Causes:
- Lower demand in the US
- the US dollar was worth more.