Sky High Gasoline

“From the 2000 GOP platform:

What happened? Eight years ago, the nation was energy confident. Our standing in the Middle East was at its zenith. The oil cartel was in retreat; gasoline was affordable, even as automotive progress reduced emissions from cars. Today, gas prices have skyrocketed, and oil imports are at all-time highs.
[...]
This agenda will reduce America’s dependence on foreign oil, help consumers by lowering energy prices, and result in lower carbon emissions than would result from the current administration’s policies... All in all, it is a dramatic reversal of the nation’s present course, and that’s just what America needs: a balanced portfolio of energy options that is stable, secure, and affordable, with minimal impact on the environment.”

“Isn't that curious --

A few planks seem to have sprung loose.”

“gas in the UK is over $6.00 a gallon, 3/4 of which is taxes.

i'm sure it's bush's fault though. let's think of a way to blame solar flares on him too......”

“You must have at least 5 broken strings Dude.”

“Oil extends slide below $40

Crude prices continue to fall after oil cartel OPEC agrees to hike its production output.

June 3, 2004: 3:56 PM EDT

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices extended a slide Thursday after producer group OPEC agreed to hike its crude output to slake voracious global demand, soothing widespread fears of a fuel supply crunch this summer.

Light crude for July delivery closed 68 cents lower at $39.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, while London's Brent crude slid 46 cents to $36.40.

The losses were tied to an agreement among OPEC members Thursday to lift output limits by 2 million barrels per day (bpd) immediately and another 500,000 bpd starting in August, to counter the spike in energy costs.

OPEC's plan undershot market expectations that Saudi Arabia would lead the cartel to an immediate quota increase of 2.5 million bpd, or 11 percent, but dealers said they were nonetheless convinced of the group's intentions to cool the red-hot market.

High oil prices have rippled across many sectors of the economy, sparking fears over inflation and raising costs for airlines, manufacturers, truckers and the average driver in the early days of the summer driving season.

"Saudi Arabia is serious about lowering prices, and oil markets ... are likely to reflect that message eventually," said Deutsche Bank's Adam Sieminski.

Other analysts have said the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is already producing about 2.3 million bpd above its old official supply limit of 23.5 million bpd, so the rise in the ceiling may be cosmetic.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) said on Thursday that national crude oil supplies rose last week to the highest level in nearly two years, helped along by near-record imports of 10.7 million bpd.

The U.S. is the world's largest energy consumer, accounting for roughly a quarter of global oil demand.

The DOE said the tide of imports, which fall just short of a record flow of 10.76 million bpd hit last September, was accompanied by a surge in cargoes from Mexico.

The DOE said in a separate report that record high energy costs could start to ease in the coming weeks, helped in part by the expected increase in crude oil shipments from OPEC producers.

Retail gasoline prices in the U.S. average roughly $2.05 a gallon. Because of lower fuel taxes, pump prices remain at about half of those seen in parts of Europe.”

“How come no one praises Bush when prices drop? They only want to bash him when they rise.”

“Come on people make up your minds already. First everyone says the problem isn’t caused by a lack of oil production, it’s caused by a lack of refining capacity , but now the problem will be solved by increased oil production without an increase in refining capacity. Sounds like pretzel logic to me.”

“Sorry about that last post I just remembered this is Trail Talk and logic does not apply here.”

“Actually, it's the Dutch driving up the price of tulip bulbs.”

“JIHAD DUTCH!”

“real classy guys....dissing regan on the day he dies.


A Time for Choosing, aka The Speech

Given as a stump speech, at speaking engagements, and on a memorable night in 1964 in support of Barry Goldwater's presidential campaign. This version is from that broadcast.

I am going to talk of controversial things. I make no apology for this.

It's time we asked ourselves if we still know the freedoms intended for us by the Founding Fathers. James Madison said, "We base all our experiments on the capacity of mankind for self government."

This idea? that government was beholden to the people, that it had no other source of power is still the newest, most unique idea in all the long history of man's relation to man. This is the issue of this election: Whether we believe in our capacity for self-government or whether we abandon the American Revolution and confess that a little intellectual elite in a far-distant capital can plan our lives for us better than we can plan them ourselves.

You and I are told we must choose between a left or right, but I suggest there is no such thing as a left or right. There is only an up or down. Up to man's age-old dream-the maximum of individual freedom consistent with order or down to the ant heap of totalitarianism. Regardless of their sincerity, their humanitarian motives, those who would sacrifice freedom for security have embarked on this downward path. Plutarch warned, "The real destroyer of the liberties of the people is he who spreads among them bounties, donations and benefits."

The Founding Fathers knew a government can't control the economy without controlling people. And they knew when a government sets out to do that, it must use force and coercion to achieve its purpose. So we have come to a time for choosing.

Public servants say, always with the best of intentions, "What greater service we could render if only we had a little more money and a little more power." But the truth is that outside of its legitimate function, government does nothing as well or as economically as the private sector.

Yet any time you and I question the schemes of the do-gooders, we're denounced as being opposed to their humanitarian goals. It seems impossible to legitimately debate their solutions with the assumption that all of us share the desire to help the less fortunate. They tell us we're always "against," never "for" anything.

We are for a provision that destitution should not follow unemployment by reason of old age, and to that end we have accepted Social Security as a step toward meeting the problem. However, we are against those entrusted with this program when they practice deception regarding its fiscal shortcomings, when they charge that any criticism of the program means that we want to end payments....

We are for aiding our allies by sharing our material blessings with nations which share our fundamental beliefs, but we are against doling out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism, all over the world.

We need true tax reform that will at least make a start toward I restoring for our children the American Dream that wealth is denied to no one, that each individual has the right to fly as high as his strength and ability will take him.... But we can not have such reform while our tax policy is engineered by people who view the tax as a means of achieving changes in our social structure....

Have we the courage and the will to face up to the immorality and discrimination of the progressive tax, and demand a return to traditional proportionate taxation? . . . Today in our country the tax collector's share is 37 cents of -very dollar earned. Freedom has never been so fragile, so close to slipping from our grasp.

Are you willing to spend time studying the issues, making yourself aware, and then conveying that information to family and friends? Will you resist the temptation to get a government handout for your community? Realize that the doctor's fight against socialized medicine is your fight. We can't socialize the doctors without socializing the patients. Recognize that government invasion of public power is eventually an assault upon your own business. If some among you fear taking a stand because you are afraid of reprisals from customers, clients, or even government, recognize that you are just feeding the crocodile hoping he'll eat you last.

If all of this seems like a great deal of trouble, think what's at stake. We are faced with the most evil enemy mankind has known in his long climb from the swamp to the stars. There can be no security anywhere in the free world if there is no fiscal and economic stability within the United States. Those who ask us to trade our freedom for the soup kitchen of the welfare state are architects of a policy of accommodation.

They say the world has become too complex for simple answers. They are wrong. There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right. Winston Churchill said that "the destiny of man is not measured by material computation. When great forces are on the move in the world, we learn we are spirits-not animals." And he said, "There is something going on in time and space, and beyond time and space, which, whether we like it or not, spells duty."

You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done.”

“And it has nothing to do with the price of gas --- Unless he got his nickname from Royal Dutch Shell.”

“Whoa!”

“2.48 and 2.49 here”

“Regular just went up to $2.35 in NE PA. 2 weeks ago it was $2.19.”

““2.48 and 2.49 here”
Crash Bang
8:04:25 AM
8/10/05
ignore this user

Same price here.”

“I think I paid $2.27 yesterday. Well, at least the economy is kickin' butt.”

“Went from $2.09 (!!!) here two weeks ago to $2.39, HOLY SHEEYAT!!”

“Until that time price becomes enough to significantly cut world demands price jumps will continue. Of course, in the long run the high price will certain bring about more good.”

“we all need one of these

http://www.greasecar.com/

as soon as i get my car paid off this is gonna be my next project”

“Oil spent some time over $65 barrel for awhile in the trading day.”

“On a "per-ounce" basis, people spend more for bottled water than they do for gasoline, and there is NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER, FROM ANY STUDY EVER CONDUCTED, which indicates that tap water is any less healthy than anything you buy in a bottle.

So,... quit your #&%!$in & gain some perspective.


signed...
Wanderer... the troublemaker :)”

“I never ever buy bottled water. Know what those damn bottles are doing to our landfills?! Filling them up. There should be a $.25 deposit on them. Deposits on cigarette butts too! Wooo-HOOO.....

Gas was $2.47 here today.”

“NO EVIDENCE WHATSOEVER, FROM ANY STUDY EVER CONDUCTED, which indicates that tap water is any less healthy than anything you buy in a bottle.

i should put this in the pet peeve thread. i want to beat people about the head and breast with their own 1.25 bottle of water when i see them. and flavored water? yuck!”

“I'm not sure, but I think we're all (CB, sass & me) saying kinda' the same thing?

Gas in the states is about 1/2 what it is in Europe, we have it good & just don't know it, and I live in one of the worst possible areas for gas prices (Northern CA).”

“VIENNA, Austria (CNN) -- An Iranian official has warned European countries against "coercive" measures in the diplomatic standoff over its nuclear program as Tehran removed the U.N. watchdog agency's seals from its Isfahan nuclear processing facility.

Cyrus Nasseri, Iran's chief delegate to the watchdog agency, told CNN that European countries should "think twice" before taking any action that might be considered "coercive."

"That would be a course of action that would lead to a situation where everyone would lose," he said.

In talks Wednesday, Nasseri dropped a not-so-veiled hint that Iran could push world oil prices higher if the West tried to block its nuclear program, according to a Western diplomat who attended discussions in Vienna.”

“Gas is $1.08Can a liter in Montreal today. Takes 4 liters to make a gallon...that means $4.32 a gallon. Converting to U.S dollars...gas is about $3.54U.S a gallon.

Supposed to go up another $0.06 before summer is over.”

“even with the huge jump in fuel prices, US consumption is up 2-3% this year. It is what it is.”

“Redding, Northern CA

Diesel $3.09
Regular $2.65”

“I watched the CBS evening news last night and they said one gas station was charging $4.04 per gallon on a stretch of California highway. It was the only station for 65 miles so the owner said he charged that much because it was a privilege to have gas at his location. They also said that people seem to be willing to pay high prices and aren't really driving less. They are starting to replace cars with models that have better mileage though.”

“we drive a lot more and use our cars a lot more than those in Europe Wanderer. They have better mass transit systems than us. So we don't have it so good. Sorry good bye”

“Oil prices have to climb another 25% to equal the highest oil prices have been, adjusted for inflation.”

“Truckers said they are starting to feel the pain of high prices and if prices keep increasing they will be forced to go on strike.”

“Right on que.”

“Exactly Sarge, remember when it hit about $1.50 in 90 during the first Gulf War and the prices were crazy? They pretty much stayed there until the current price spike that's gone on for about a year now.

I filled up at $2.40 yesterday. About 6 weeks ago it dipped under 2 bucks in my area.”

“somebody is getting rich.”

“How many things can you think of that have not increased 25% in price in 25 years?”

““Oil prices have to climb another 25% to equal the highest oil prices have been, adjusted for inflation.”
Sarge
8:18:50 AM

The difference here is duration. That didn't last long. This is here to stay and who knows at what point this will peak...”

“It isn't just the increase in the price at the pump that has people concerned. It's the effect it has when goods start going up in price because of shipping costs. Businesses are starting to raise prices now and also starting surcharges. If it continues it will start to have an impact.”

“Rich B is correct. And, that's not to mention the prices that will rise for other petroleum based products...”

“Another factor is that the average automobile is more fuel efficient than in 1980. Since 1975, cars have increased in fuel efficiency by 100%. Factor that in as well.”

“With the amount of SUV's on the road? Are you kidding me? That's flawed, at best...”

“NEWSFLASH: Prices go up. So do paychecks.

You liberal environmentalists should be asking for a QUADRULAPLING in gas prices to save the planet to keep automobiles off the road. How many of you guys complaining are riding your bikes to work? Nobody is forcing you to drive a car. Or are they?”

“somebody is getting rich.”

“For your information, I ride mass transportation to work every day. So, put a lid on it!”

“And stop with the labels already. You cry when things get personal on here, right?”

“Yep, the Saudis and Venuesvaleans, among othes.”

“Oh, that really is...




...precioussssssss!!!!!!”