Are you guys getting Shafted by your local Gas Station ?
Just me Ranting a bit , but I was just out getting Gas in one off My other Cars, 91 Miata, and was charged $5.249/Gallon , for Premium

I,m just getting a bit pissed off with local Stations here in Milledgeville ,Ga sticking it to us , every single time there is a Storm/Hurricane or a Butterfly flapping it,s wings in Outer Mongolia !
And the State Government does ZERO to stop it going on ?

It,s been all over the news that there is NO SHORTAGE off Gas , there are reserves for at least a couple off months,
Yes, I know IKE is a Major storm/Threat , but people , the Gulf is not the only place in the States where oil is refined .

Maybe i,m wrong ?

 

man i agree !!!!!!!!!!!like Ron Paul and Jesse Ventura we need a revolution!It is be coming very hard for the average family to live an that suks! but you can blame a lot of the gas price being high when barul of of oil is down on gas stations............

 

A friend at work was saying the same thing yesterday. I agree 100%. The funny thing is that we are on exact opposite ends of the political spectrum and we both agreed that the only reason gasoline prices are high is price gouging. Sucks.

 

I might be wrong, but my understanding is that the bulk of our fuel does come out of the gulf, and all of our refining comes from Texas. now there are bio refineries going up all over the place, and I believe some dino fuel refineries in other locations, but not enough to support potential losses in production from the gulf coast. Politically I am a conservative, not that should make any difference to any one. but the information I get is from conservative talk radio predominately, and truck industry talk shows, as well as personal observation. The single most important thing we should be doing right now is riding our elected officials, in particular that loon they have running the house pelosi, and dancing on their heads until they pass a domestic energy bill that allows us to use our own resources. That includes drilling in the continental shelves, and Alaska. We also need to develop a nuclear program in conjunction with solar and other renewable sources. Your represantatives are supposed to work for you, not the other way around. Just the opinion of a tired and grumpy trucker.

 

The FIRST thing is to get the oil futures traders under control, since they bear the primary responsibility for current fuel prices. I've said for a couple years that the easy way is to line up about ten of them, tie them up and make them kneel, then point a small caliber handgun at their temple. Ask them if the price is going down. For every "No" answer, pop a cap in his head.

After a couple, I can guarantee the price would drop precipitously in a matter of hours.

There have been hurricanes in the Gulf forever. The platforms and refineries would shut down, then make any repairs and be back up to speed soon after. Gas prices did not react to Gulf hurricanes as they do now, until Katrina. Then the spot market futures traders saw a way to make a pile of money in a hurry and they've been out of control ever since.

Gas went up 40 cents a gallon here overnight, and several stations ran out. A lot of that was because of a Southeastern convenience store chain jacking the price and limiting purchases to ten gallons, which sent everyone into a panic. (I encourage you all to not do business with any Pantry Inc.-owned business including "The Pantry", "Kangaroo", and "Rapid Fuel" stores www.thepantry.com .)

I filled up the K-Car this morning at the Exxon up the street, which amazingly right now is the cheapest 87 in town at $3.89 (up from $3.59 yesterday). Even the discount stations are at $3.95-$4.09 this morning.

It is closer than you think, my friends.

 

i could have not said it better my self !

 

I agree 100%. Although, I don't know how well those tactics would work.

 

Oh, they'd work. You better believe they'd work, just might not be totally legal. Though the words "justifiable homicide" come to mind.

The problem is that they're allowed to gamble the prices on margin, instead of having to put money up front to make the trade. Change the regs to where you had to put up say even 50% of your trade in cash or securities, all this flamboyant oil futures gambling would go away. Easy to spend someone else's money, or money that doesn't really exist.

Several months back some British trader jacked the price up over $100/barrel JUST TO BE ABLE TO CLAIM HE WAS THE FIRST TO DO SO. Wow, what a distinction to chisel into your tombstone.

What kind of mentality is that for any normal and sane person? knowing the cost of everything is ultimately tied to the cost of fuel used to produce and transport it? Seems these fools are intentionally trying to wreck the entire world's economy in their quest for wealth. I don't see how they sleep at night, or have any inner peace.

Yup. The world would be better off with these types of people dead. My daddy often said some people just needed killing. Someone who was especially sorry and trifling, he would say "that's a funeral I'd be proud to attend" meaning the sorry-*** in question didn't deserve to live.

 

[quote=rocketraider;43588]The FIRST thing is to get the oil futures traders under control, since they bear the primary responsibility for current fuel prices.
This has been a major issue in the trucking industry for the last 6 years that I know of, most particularly in the last two. I agree with you that they are a problem, and legislation was on the floor to address that. The thing you need to understand is that we as a nation have castrated ourselves as far as energy exploration, and production. In doing so we have made ourselves vulnerable to predatory tactics that futures traders have been using. If we had more energy than we could possibly use. It would effectively have little to no value. If it were of little value, the traders would have no leverage to drive the prices up. At least no one is screaming it bushes fault anymore. He has done a lot of stuff that has caused my eyes to bleed but this one isn't one of them... even if my eyes are bleeding over it. My *** and a few other parts as well

 

well i have to say this... people have gotten lazy an don't want to fight to make things right sooo i would have to blame some of this on us as well....

 

If we can not torcher the Muslims trying to kill us, we darn sure can't stop the open market even if it is rigged. My in-put, they are trying to bankrupt the country so the one world government can take use over without a fight. Next thing you know they will let millions of cheap labors in the country to lower wages, rise the cost of everything that we need to survive (gas, food and utilities) and start telling us we can not defended our selves in our own homes by taking our guns. Either way I am all in for a Revolution. Note: it all went to crap two yrs ago when the Demo-craps took over the Congress. Check you calender.

 

If we can not torcher the Muslims trying to kill us, we darn sure can't stop the open market even if it is rigged. My in-put, they are trying to bankrupt the country so the one world government can take use over without a fight. Next thing you know they will let millions of cheap labors in the country to lower wages, rise the cost of everything that we need to survive (gas, food and utilities) and start telling us we can not defended our selves in our own homes by taking our guns. Either way I am all in for a Revolution. Note: it all went to crap two yrs ago when the Demo-craps took over the Congress. Check you calender.

 

Nope, don't think you're wrong to feel this way. Heck, I'm paying 5.29 a gallon for REGULAR. I believe everyone except the rich and famous are all feeling this pinch. Oh yeah, I forgot some of them are starting to bitch about how much it costs to fuel up their private lear jets now. And I should care about that because.....??????. Heck it costs me over 160 bucks a week just to feed my wifes car and mine.

So, from my point of view we are all being held hostage not by terrorists, but by the Gov't and the stock market. One doesn't have the ***** to regulate, and the other doesn't care what you think when they regulate. If there's such a damn problem with oil and gas futures because the stupid refinery is in "toronado alley" why the hell don't they build new refineries out of the storm paths? That would just make too much sense. And they say it takes about 10 years to build and get a refinery up to speed. HELLO???? Do they need a crystal ball to realize that we're getting p.o'd? Sooner than later, if there's no relief this whole economy is going to fall apart because there won't be anyone buying gas anymore. We'll start using free solar energy or wind/battery energy. I think that the oil industries arrogance is going to bite them in the *** one day soon.

It's getting so depressing watching the last real independance we have slip away... the right and freedom to take a drive. I'm starting to use the bus and train to go to work. Takes longer, but costs less than a gallon of gas a day.

One more thing, since when did the Oil Producing Economic Community (OPEC) become a dictatorship? Never used to be like this when I was a kid. Wasn't until 1974 or so that we were sold out to Saudi Arabia. Energy analysts say that it's the third world countries "emerging" , demanding and getting personal transportation and low cost fuel that's causing our prices to spike. Sorry, screw em. THey want the luxury of driving? Let them pay the same prices we do.

There, I've done my rant too. Not that it makes me feel better, but at least I don't feel alone in my frustration. Thanks eh?

 

well i agree with 90% of what you said but not all of the muslims are trying to kill us. an i really don't like to think of groups democrat or republican.I like to think we are all Americans who think what we no whats best for are country an just maybe its not.I think when Americans put down the labels an start listening to each other it would be a lot better place. +we are a capitalist country.example outsourcing an most of the realestate in Chicago is being bout by china...

 

you get the leadership you deserve. if you don't elect pond scum-you won't get pond scum. republican or democrat, it does not matter as they are two sides to the same coin. if you want "change", you have to do something about it-nobody's going to do it for you.

where is all this gasoline in storage? you're not referring to the spr, are you? that's crude, not gasoline. hurricane gustav took out about 15% of refinery capacity and ike has taken more off-line. shortages-yep, we got 'em. that's what happens when you have no spare capacity in the system. also, the crude terminals in the gulf have been mostly shut down for the past 3 weeks. the colonial pipeline that is a major transit line for refined products has been shut down due to a lack of refined products. this is why there are shortages in the southeast, and these will move up the east coast also.

for those still bitching about speculators, do you have a retirement plan? are you positive it isn't in any way invested in this "speculation"? and are you into socialism? or free markets? yes, the goobermint manipulates the markets and they are the single biggest profiteer from oil too. the biggest banks are the ones most guilty of "speculation". they have been allowed to do this to help rebuild their balance sheets due to the sub-prime scam.

opec has always been a cartel-they aren't our friends and they never have been.

the oil companies aren't deserving of all the blame as far as building refineries go. you need permits from the goobermint for this and the goobermint isn't allowing any. there haven't been any new refineries built since 1978 because of this. the oil companies have only been allowed to expand and improve the existing refineries. thank the enviro-****'s for this.

for more factual info:http://www.theoildrum.com/node/4526


bill

 

socialism

'Social and economic doctrine that calls for public rather than private ownership or control of property and natural resources. According to the socialist view, individuals do not live or work in isolation but live in cooperation with one another. Furthermore, everything that people produce is in some sense a social product, and everyone who contributes to the production of a good is entitled to a share in it. Society as a whole, therefore, should own or at least control property for the benefit of all its members.'


i like heheh !

 

Personally I like the idea of being my own man. As soon as you buy into the collective concept of life, you are giving up your autonomy. You are only allowed to be as good as the "group" and you must conform to the group, for good or ill. I have owned all of my failures, I want to own my successes as well. I don't want the government telling me what I can do, earn, or how I can, or can't live. Pay attention to what you are being told, and then check up on your history. Certain peoples are using scare tactics and lies to fool you into thinking they are right. No one is blameless in politics, but I for one can only see America remaining a world power if we continue to follow the founding fathers vision of a free America. Freedom to succeed or fail on your own two feet, and to have the incentive to take the risk. Socialism in any form, or dilution is still socialism, and I can't see any thing good coming out of it. also keep in mind if the people who are promising to take care of you have their way...you can kiss your Olds away cuz it's a gas guzzler... and that is not P.C.

 

Human nature wont allow it to work, and it never has.

 

Gas in MAine is about 3.63 to $3.75 a gallon.
My freind from North Carloina said teh state AG will be looking a 2,00 gas stationsfor price fixing.

 

I deliver pizza, how do you think I feel. The customers seem to tip me less and less as gas prices get higher.

 

there is more to socialism.It seems that you were defining communism?

 

Wow! This post went south fast!

 

Of course when the only choices are pond scum and raw sewage, I would choose the former...
I have noticed this more often than I would like.

 

I have a friend who owns an 8-pump independent gas station/convenience store. She's caught in a spiral. She was running out of gas Saturday, so she took a gas delivery at $4.95/gallon wholesale instead of refusing it as her station is pretty busy. (Independentsdon't enjoy the price protections branded and chain stations do.) Since then, every other station near her has dropped back to $3.85-$3.95 range so she's pretty much stuck with a load of high-dollar gas she'll have a tough time moving. Her alternative is to drop her pump price and lose $1.00 a gallon on it, which would destroy her profits for the year.

So here's a small business owner who's gonna take it up the poop chute too, just because somebody saw a chance to make a quick buck. She told me yesterday if she had it to do over, she'd have risked losing the business over the weekend because she'd have come out better in the long term. But, like a lot of others, she figured wholesale gas prices would be up several weeks.

Easytobedead- socialism, communism, capitalism, whatever economic system- someone has to make the money to pay for it.

I don't like busting my *** to pay taxes that end up going to social programs for people who are able to work, but won't because they feel entitled. Somebody genuinely needs help, I will do anythng to help them, but if you can work, you better be at least looking for employment. And you better not be a baby factory. We're paying taxes to support public health departments, and they can help with family planning/birth control, so no excuse for having a pile of children with as many different fathers.

 

A few thoughts and rants of my own: The problem with trying to regulate oil speculators is that they are not unique to the United States. It is like trying to regulate gambling on the internet. If you made it illegal here, what would stop the scum from trading somewhere else? It would be like herding cats. The good news is that the speculators hav probably taken a bath in the last couple weeks as oil has dropped from $147 a barrel to about $91. That is probably about right--oil might be correctly priced for the market now. Funny how the market always makes those corrections... As for me, my 15 mpg Olds stays parked in the garage except for special occasions and I drive my 4 cylinder ecobox a lot less. I pay the equivalent of $9 per gallon here in London so I'm pretty sensitive to this issue. I also have to say that the USA is lagging far behind Europe when it comes to conservation and common sense for this exact reason. The end of cheap oil is going to force us to get smart and it is not such a bad thing. Again, the market will adjust to make Chevy Volts and Toyota Prius' practical--even if they drive like a sack of potatoes. I love economics!!

Now, as for the idiot mortgage lenders, investment bankers and the idiots in Congress who empowered them, but refuse to accept any accountability for it...

 

We're paying about US$4.50 a gallon here in Canada for regular. It's worse on Aus and in Europe.

 

Believe it or not this has been an ongoing thing that we have been fighting. The trucking industry any way, but we are a small part of the population. You need to get involved as well as everybody who lives in the states. I don't know how much of that socialistic stuff you threw out elswhere in this thread, but if you love your country you better reconsidder it hard, because that is exactly what is destroying it, contrary to the crap they try forcing down our thruoats now adays. Pelosi has big money invested in natural gas for cars , and I forget what else off the top of my head. in order for her to profit from it fuel needs to stay expensive. over 71% of the nation is pushing for a domestic energy policy now. The speaker of the house whohas all her money tied up in natural gas, has been and continues to push the vote on domestic energy off the docket is a dem. These are the people who want you to pay more taxes, for illegal immigrants and the poor. The only poor I have ever met that were worth helping didn't need or want a hand out, and they werent poor for long. I know from personal experiance as I was scraping bottom rung not that too long ago. Think long and hard when november comes around read as much as you can on the issues. then look at the people running for office and their records. Then vote your concience. Considder the good of the country first. In the long run, it will be for your greater good. voting is not a privelige, it is a responsability. A heavy one that requires you to know a little at least about what is happening under your nose and the world. I'm talking local as well as national elections.check some history, go to factcheck.org, look around and read the lies some of these pukes spew will make you want to hurl yourself once you see what they are doing to this country. and right under our noses, all while pointing the finger at someone els. Change my fat hairy tail. Sorry if I sound emotional, I probably spend too much time listening to politics and do get involved and emotional about it.

 

I don't know about Canada but in Europe i have heard that the price of gas is artificially inflated (read taxed) to reduce the amount of driving the populous does. I have not confirmed this though.

 

Partly that, and moreso the fuel taxes help pay for the social programs.

Like I pointed out earlier- somebody has to make the money to pay for these programs.

When taxes are eating up the income you worked hard to make, the incentive to work hard and make you some money kinda goes away. Especially when you see some lazy unemployable *** making a substantial living off social programs. Plus the under-table money they're making on the side to pay for their vices.

But I'm a big proponent of a flat rate income tax, no matter how much you make you pay the same percentage. US Federal income tax is borderline illegal anyways; didn't exist till the early 20th century and resulted from some Constitutional finagling.

 

I agree with the concept of the flat tax, but like the Idea of the fair tax better. You might want to check it out. www.fairtax.org I think is the site they are talking about doing away with income tax all together, and implementing a national sales tax of 23% or something like that. Details are fuzzy. but the whole concept is great, you get rewarded for your labor, and penalized for gluttonous consumption. Works for me Either way when we are paying in excess of 43% of our income in assorted taxes, wasted on inefective and wastefull social, and financial injustice programs This still works out to a whole lot better deal to me.

 

Reg. went to $3.08 yes 308 today, guess the shortage is over here in NJ. Course we are not very social here so we don't need money for those programs.

 

Not fair.

20% of $250,000 is a lot more than 20% of $25.000. Those who are in the lower brackets, should be made to pay their "fair share".

Norm

 

I think it IS illegal and not within the original intentions of the framers of our constitution.

 

Well, here I am getting involved in a "quasi" political thread. I may have to censor myself . What would be fair then? I really don't know but always thought that if everyone paid the same percentage of what they owe it would be the "most equitable". If everyone paid the exact same amount it would be something like $5.00 because some people can't afford much more because they purposefully keep themselves in the poor category (on paper) as rocketraider indicated so they can be on the Government payroll. The government would go broke then. I really don't see a solution to the problem Congress and the Senate have gotten us into.

 

And 20% of any figure is a damn sight cheaper than current taxation rates!

I'm in the 40% bracket right now, and I look at what I made vs what I brought home and ask myself, where did all the money go?

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080922/..._ge/oil_prices

 

Poor people need to be taxed more heavily, so they will have the incentive to work harder, and advance themselves into the lower brackets.

Norm

 

OMG tell me about it, especially after 70+ hr weeks not counting the maintainence and repairs done on the week ends. I spent almost 50k in fuel 30k+ in payments and roughly 29k in fee's and taxes. when every one else got paid there wasn't a whole lot left for me and the tolls the tolls of course I spend alot of time in that hellhole they used to call the pungent onion.

 

I like

 

sounds like a good incentive to me but it would be labeled as UNFAIR and you would be called a "hate monger" or at the very least one who encourages class prejudice; ironically from those who daily encourage class envy by the poor against those of us who work daily for a living.