| Lisser 01.04.2008 19:02 |
link Freaking bullshit...pay close attention to the last sentence in the story. BULLSHIT. |
| Micrówave 01.04.2008 19:06 |
You know, this kind of story was around in the sixties and late seventies as well. I certainly hope you're not taking this out of context and blaming Bush for something. I wouldn't support that bill either. I don't want the government playing favorites with one industry or another, and this would certainly open the door to that. By the way, Jimmy Carter was a Democrat. Go back and read the rhetoric that was written during that gas crisis. It's almost a carbon copy. So Obama's gonna fix all that, eh? Tell me how. |
| JoxerTheDeityPirate 01.04.2008 19:12 |
if its any consolation we are experiencing the same crap here in the UK.bigger profits and rising fuel prices.shell uk made £8 billion in profit then put its prices up at the pumps.customer fuel has gone up approx 15% here this year already for gas and electric for the home. and do i get a lollipop for guessing the last line before i got half way down the page? ;-] |
| ...assdude.... 39702 01.04.2008 19:12 |
this makes me want to listen to "Tool" in a dark room, maybe with just one candle. |
| JoxerTheDeityPirate 01.04.2008 19:15 |
^use the one from your birthday cake,be friendlier on the enviroment.. ;-] |
| ...assdude.... 39702 01.04.2008 20:23 |
ehehehe |
| Mr.Jingles 01.04.2008 21:20 |
Micrówave wrote: So Obama's gonna fix all that, eh? Tell me how.Let me check Lisser's post again... Nope, no mention of Obama there. |
| AspiringPhilosophe 01.04.2008 22:44 |
Though I agree that the horrendous level of profits the oil companies are making are evidence that they are taking advantage of the fact that they have something that everyone else needs (and thus control the prices), the problem of the prices itself started long before Bush and will continue long after Bush is gone. Believe it or not, he doesn't have anything to do with this, and even if he were to veto a bill ending their tax breaks, I think you know what that would do....prices would get raised even more so profits could stay level. The only way of fixing the problem would be to reduce demand to the point where the industry would take notice, but that isn't likely in America, where cars and driving are a part of the culture and it's a bit like prying a gun from someone's cold, dead fingers to get them to give up their own cars. So let's count that option out, just because Americans won't do it. |
| john bodega 01.04.2008 22:52 |
HistoryGirl wrote: The only way of fixing the problem would be to reduce demand to the point where the industry would take notice, but that isn't likely in America, where cars and driving are a part of the culture and it's a bit like prying a gun from someone's cold, dead fingers to get them to give up their own cars. So let's count that option out, just because Americans won't do it.That's almost universal among humans though, concerning the idea of giving up shit we don't need. |
| sparrow 21754 01.04.2008 22:57 |
^^^ well, i live in a town 45 minutes away from everything. i HAVE to drive to get to school or to get anywhere social. i wish i lived in the city so i could use busses and not need a car all the time. it would save an assload of money. i feel like all i spend money on is putting more gas in my car that would be gone in just a few days. if i had money, i would move out to the city to do that. yes my money would be going to rent...but at least i would be near everything and could use a bus if i wanted to. its just so frustrating. |
| Lisser 02.04.2008 10:38 |
I don't blame any one person at all. I just wish I could get a decent explanation for the constant HUGE raise in gas prices. There really is no need to inflate prices so high so quickly. The oil companies are showing huge profits, more than ever. It just seems like greed to me. I'm all for survival of the fittest and I disagreed with what congress did to Bill Gates saying he was monopolizing the software industry. He was the one who created the better product and no one could match it. I just don't see why it's fair or just that oil companies keep raising and raising and raising prices when it's a fact that the price of oil has not gone up to match what they are charging for gas. I'm all for make a profit, earn a living, have nice things...but at what expense to others? Should we steal everything from our neighbor so we can be rich and leave them with nothing? If this continues, what happens if farmers decide to jack up the price of milk to $5/gallon for three weeks then $6/gallon, and what happens if the people that make toothpaste decide it should now be $8/tube for two weeks, then make it $8.50? They have every ounce of control. In America we don't have bus lines and trains that we can chose to take. Only in major cities do we have this. In America if you work you must have a car 9 times out of 10 to get to your job! You can't ride your bike. I have two children that I take with me everyday in the car. One goes to the babysitter and one goes to school with me (I work at a school). I don't know what the answer is but I know that Bush shouldn't just decide to veto a bill or an idea that congress comes up with before he even sees it. Congress hear the people speak and what we are saying is we want to know why the gas prices keep creeping up at an extremely rapid rate. They come up with a possible solution and Bush automatically says NO. Without even seeing it or considering it??? Why? Because he's an oil man himself?????????? There has to be a happy medium somewhere where the oil executives can still have their private jets, fleet of cars, houses all over the world, wives with fake boobs, fake hair, and fake nails, etc. and so working class people can afford to get back and forth to work!!!!! |
| Micrówave 02.04.2008 11:11 |
Well, let me try a stab at a easy reason why. Our economy is in serious trouble. A lot in part with the mortgage crisis, we gave loans to people who didn't have any business getting ones. And those loans were sub-prime, 2nds, home equities, etc... not 30 year fixed loans with manageable payments. Small business is under the strain, because a lot of people can't afford to buy anything. The price of milk has jumped just as much as gas. Things cost more. The one industry that is NOT taking a hit and is continuing to make a lot of money is oil. They raise the price and still are able to turn more profits. Punish them by taxing them more? They're about the only thing stimulating this economy, while the dollar continues to plummet. So if gas is going to end up costing about $3.50, so be it. I need to get to work, so I'll pay. But I'll also enjoy my monthly statements, since I started buying stock in Citgo, Exxon, Shell, and Dubai Int'l and ditched my US bank stocks. My advice: By up all the oil stock you can, and then start looking at foreign banks... ones that will come in and by the troubled US banks. They're going to get those "Bank Of Americas" for pennies on the dollar, and they've got enough capital to stick in and get it back on track. PS: You think those oil execs are bad? Look at these banking CEOs, especially the ones that got the $50 Million Dollar severance packages to quit before the next write-offs come up. |
| Brandon 02.04.2008 11:31 |
Sum it up in two words: supply and demand. Not that I am blaming anyone but, does no one remember OPEC? An oligarchy/ cartel responsible for the "pricing" of oil? Also, what would you have the oil companies do? Shut down? Or would you have Big Brother come in and "fix" the problems and make them unprofitable forcing them to shut down? Not that I agree with tax breaks(or taxes anyway). But, no worries, as I was telling a distinguished member of this BB last night, soon someone will realize all the oil shell that sits waiting to be harvested. That will show the anti-free-marketeers. |
| Lisser 02.04.2008 11:52 |
I don't expect them or want them to shut down at all! I know I need the oil companies. I just wish that when prices go up they would balance out the increases instead of go up .30 to .50 per week. That is a huge shock to budgets, more than what some people can afford. Its a fact of life that prices go up and not down but gradually increasing would be the better way to do things in my opinion. I'm not sure that my opinion counts for much but I consider my household to be a normal working middle class family. I just feel bad for people that don't make as much money as I do, which isn't a lot, but it allows me a nice lifestyle. I can't imagine being in a situation where I couldn't afford to put gas in my tank to get to work or to get to the grocery store bc the prices have jumped so much in a short amount of time. I guess I want my cake and eat it too. |
| john bodega 02.04.2008 13:05 |
Micrówave wrote: PS: You think those oil execs are bad? Look at these banking CEOs, especially the ones that got the $50 Million Dollar severance packages to quit before the next write-offs come up.Long live the Golden Handshake, huh? Those guys amaze me. "We're walking away with your money", and they can do it too. Hehe. |
| Knute 02.04.2008 16:02 |
Oh relax. It's trickle-down ecomonics. See the more obscenely wealthly these stalwarts of capitalism become, the more likley some crumbs will fall off the edge of the table and land on the floor near their feet. That gives us filthy peasants a fighting chance to taste just a bit of what they do. But we must hurry! Supply is low and demand is high! |
| Music Man 02.04.2008 16:16 |
Unless they are colluding with each other (which is illegal), oil companies cannot dictate monopoly pricing (i.e. creating their own prices); prices are determined by the market, through supply and demand. A lot of the aggravation derives from the misconception that corporations arbitrarily decide the profit and prices they desire. Profit is always a maximization function, and prices are always a function of supply and demand. This is especially true since the product (oil) is completely fungible. I am against most tax breaks, but if it comes down to giving tax breaks when the industry is doing poorly, and taking tax breaks when it is doing well, that's simply pointless. |
| Brandon 02.04.2008 16:33 |
Re: Monopoly I meant the OPEC nations' attempts to set a "reasonable" price. |
| Ms. Rebel 02.04.2008 18:13 |
I heard so many BULLSHIT today. |