I'm Finally Ready To Say It: Gas Prices Are Too Fucking High

[Dave Sund]

Here in the heartland of America, prices went up from $2.56 to $2.75 a gallon in the past day. And that's for ethanol. It's $2.89 for regular. And I know that many people in other places have prices even higher than that. A few years ago, when people were complaining about gas prices that seem a bargain by today's standards, I remarked to anyone who would listen that they had no idea how lucky they were. Gas prices weren't high.

Now, we're heading for disaster, gas prices are nearly double the level they were but 5-6 years ago. I remarked several years ago that gas prices would have to be really high before America really wakes the fuck up. With gas prices on the rise again, we may be heading for the 1970s again; Plus, it spills over to other areas. Food prices go up, shipping costs, etc. If we see a prolonged spike in gas prices, we're heading for some serious shit.

And no one will be held accountable for it unless we speak up. So, any time anyone complains about gas prices, make damn sure they know who's responsible.

[Maple]

1. Your gas is cheaper

than in most other countries.

However, you can expect it to double and triple now

[unschooler]

3. Which means everything else will double or triple in price, too.

:wow:

[Sandpiper]

4. Most industrialized countries tax gasoline heavily

And use the proceeds on things like quality public transportation, infrastructure, etc.

Any time the cost of fuel goes up here, the only place the money is going is into the pockets of the oil men.

[Maple]

13. True

Our gas tax goes to fund municipalities, but the basic price is going up as well.

Somebody on here mentioned $9 in Sweden I think it was. Ours is already over $4 and has been for awhile.

[fujiyama]

36. $9?

I'm guessing they have a hell of a public transportation system in Sweden.

Unlike here in the US.

[unschooler]

2. I filled up my tank today, and, geez, were the lines at the pump

LONG!

:thumbsdown:

[LittleClarkie]

5. $2.99

Some were still at $2.69 here and there, and they had some pretty good lines. But half of the stations had gone over to $2.99.

I got mine at $2.79 before I realized some were still at $2.69. Shoulda known better than to buy from a station where I knew the owners owned both the one I was at and also the one across the street that was at $2.99. So they were playing us, I think, having one station at one price and one at the other.

Too high.

[Rude Horner]

6. Gas prices are double what they were

TWO years ago, much less 5-6 years ago. Two years ago, we were paying about $1.50 per gallon. Recently, we were watching home videos from 2003 and in one of the scenes I caught a gas station in Iowa - $1.48 for regular unleaded.

[Chico Man]

9. It was 99 cents in 1996.

[sunnystarr]

19. I was paying .95/gal in KY in '99

It was just over $1 in TN and used to gas up in KY when I picked up my lottery tickets.

[Broken_Hero]

26. Yeah, i was thinking the same thing.

In june of 2003, i got gas at 1.30 a gal in Neosho Missouri's Walmarts gas station, now its 2.69, so its more than double, in just over two years, let alone 5-6, and this is the heart land, where its suppose to be cheaper....but i compared to other larger cities, i guess i'm lucky, i guess....

[Selatius]

7. It's high when you pay higher than Europeans.

We're paying much less than they do. It can be much worse.

[truebrit71]

21. You do know what the Europeans get because of that higher price, right?

Small things like, decent public transportation, decent education systems, free health-care..you know, little nuggets like that...

The only thing that happens over here when the gas price goes higher is that the oil companies make bigger profits...

[fortyfeetunder]

30. Ding! We have a winner!

And the folks here get their panties in a wad when the gasoline tax goes up....never mind the oil companies are making record profits. They aren't hurting....

[high density]

34. Yeah...

Last week I saw a report on the General Electric Nightly News where the reporter compared US gas prices to those in the UK, with no examination at all of where the money spent on fuel goes.

[FreeStateDemocrat]

37. Thanks, this needs to be repeated to bring some reality to comparisons

[tenshi816]

40. In the UK, those things don't all come as the result

of taxes on petrol. They're funded from income taxes (40% of my household's earnings go to income tax, and another roughly 10% to things like National Insurance). We pay 17.5% sales tax too (VAT, or "value added tax") on most purchases on top of our income tax.

Our National Health Service is not free - it's funded by the taxpayers. I'm fine with that. It still beats what the US has.

Unfortunately, public transportation has been largely privatised in the last several years, so we're having to pay through the nose for that nowadays, while having to accept piss-poor service a lot of the time. Tax on petrol has nothing to do with funding rail travel. The railways are run on a for-profit basis with the takings going to the owners.

Obviously I don't know how other European countries run their services (how much is nationalised vs. privatised), but I believe that UK pump prices could probably stand to come down. The petrol tax here certainly doesn't by itself fund the services you mentioned, and there's no way the oil companies aren't filling their pockets from the prices we pay to fill our tanks.

Edited to say: You've made me curious about the actual breakdown of UK petrol prices, so I did a little search and found a BBC link (quite an old one from 2000) that gives a handy little pie chart: http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/uk/newsid_921000/921304.stm

Interesting stuff. I didn't know that fully half of what we pay in UK pump prices goes to import duties. Where it goes after that is anybody's guess, but I know we as a nation have to fund the Royal Family's opulent lifestyle.

[obreaslan]

35. ANd we're lucky that cars don't run on White-Out, Nyquil or Oxy-Contin....

It's all these bull shit cliches that I am so tired of hearing on TV and from people here on DU. These don't mean a thing. We live here, we pay almost double what we did 3 years ago, and all of this money we spend on gas goes right into the pockets of the oil companies. They are making record profits every quarter, and we are getting poorer and poorer. This is just the Corporate MSM trying to make you feel like things aren't that bad, and you should just accept it because Europeans pay so much more than us and you should be glad that you aren't there and glad you're not French and blah blah blah. Close your eyes!! Go to sleep!! This won't hurt a bit!!!

At least kiss me first. I like to be kissed when I'm getting fucked!!!!!! :grr: :nuke: :grr:

[gasperc]

8. expect another superspike to $3.50 or more

wholesale gas prices hit $3, so that will mean high high prices in the days ahead

[tedoll78]

10. Your line about waking America up rings with me.

For you and other Democrats who tried to stop this, I feel sorry that we're going through this. But for everyone else, I have much less pity on this issue - maybe even no pity; they voted for the policies that resulted in this scenario.

[GoneOffShore]

11. Gas prices aren't nearly high enough

When we get to $5 or $6 a Liter then we're in the right range. That's when people will start to understand that decent public transport, railways and river transport are more efficient than motor transport. (sorry to all the truck drivers)
We've subsidized petrol in this country for too long. If the rubber and oil industries in the 30's and 40's hadn't destroyed public transport, we'd have a decent infrastructure today.

[Imagevision]

14. GoneOffShore; -Twisted Logic you must also support Bush's phoney war

[Lindacooks]

29. That isn't twisted logic at all.

We've had 30 YEARS since the oil 'crisis' in the 1970s to come up with alternative fuels. And it hasn't been a priority BECAUSE GAS AND OIL HAVE BEEN SO CHEAP.

That's the way America and Americans are. They are NOT proactive, they are reactive. They REACT to problems, they don't try to solve them before they get to crisis stage. This is exactly what we need to wake up and do something about our sick dependence on fossil fuels before it's too late.

[Nederland]

44. I agree

Gas prices are not high enough to really spur the development of alternatives.

BTW, petrol is not subsidized, it's taxed.

[mtnsnake]

12. The people who have the power to do something about it don't give a shit

They can afford to drive if it costs them $100/gallon.

[djg21]

15. 11:00 pm Local News on NBC Affiliate . . .

just predicted that within the week gas will top $4.00/gallon in the Capital District of NY. I paid $2.96 this morning.

[Gregorian]

16. There's another side to this, though. It's very cheap for what it does.

Cheap gas allows us to continue doing what we've been doing. Which is melting the polar caps. I am only posting it this way because it's well known that humans only respond to a crisis. I would rather have gas prices skyrocket, and have people scream for alternative energy, than cheap gas and continued ecological disaster. Not to mention wars.

Milk is much cheaper. Would you rather stop drinking milk, or start walking? I am not being mean, I'm trying to get people to realize the incredible value we get from gas. It moves us around with no effort. It brings stuff to our communities that would never have happened 100 years ago. And it's virtually destroyed our society.

Gas is cheap at ten bucks a gallon.

edit- I've been paying $2.75/gallon for the last three years. Some rural areas have to pay more to transport it. I haven't made a single complaint. But then I don't use much.

[Warren Stupidity]

18. True but...

for the moment, screw that. This is an issue that can take the Cabal down.

[Gregorian]

20. Haha.

I love it. The environment can go on hold for a bit. There's time for being a purist, later. CHIMPEACH!

[Warren Stupidity]

22. Indeed. We all need to get to work. nt.

[Warren Stupidity]

17. See my post "Gas Pump Agitation"

This is an opportunity that we cannot let pass. On both the foreign and domestic fronts the Cabal is in trouble. We need to push these issues: the Iraqi disaster and the crisis and the pump. We need to push them until the Crawford Coward and his hideous Cabal panic and make the situation even worse.

[FormerRepublican]

23. Considering the fact that stations only get gas from tanker trucks...

...once or twice a week - the speed at which prices have risen is just plain gouging. But don't expect BUSH to do anything about it!

I'm so sick of our government that I can't stand it. If I hear one more 'puke spout crap about how we shouldn't be helping people because they shouldn't be living in New Orleans in the first place (or some other offensive thing), I think I'm going to scream.

Bush and his bots are what's wrong with this country. They're responsible for gas prices rising before there's any reason for it (like having to pay for the NEXT tanker truck of gas, rather than the one in your underground tanks that customers are pumping from today that you paid less money for last week). These guys are all about looting from the public. And smirky Bush is all about giving the American people the finger when we're hurting.

Listening to them talk makes me want to smack someone.

[TheFarseer]

24. I want to know why ethanol is rising as much as regular

no matter what gas costs, ethanol is only 10 cents cheaper. The price of E10 should rise at a lesser rate than regular. I bet most people don't realize that farmers pay a fee at the elevator to help pay for ethanol production and these ass-bags can't even give us a break at the pump. Alot of factors are going into high costs at gas stations but DON'T underestimate oil company greed. E10 rising at the same rate of regular PROVES than gas prices have no relation to the cost of making gas.

[Qanisqineq]

25. I spent $2.89/gallon in Nebraska a week ago

I went home to see my new niece and drove over 850 miles one way (CO to ND) and spent well over $100 for the total trip (and my car gets excellent mileage). But that ($2.89) was the worst price I found. I'd hate to see what they are charging in that town now!

I haven't driven anywhere today so I don't know what gas prices are now in Co Springs but I'm glad I filled up the other day ($30 for less than 12 gallons).

[cindyw]

27. Can I get some of that gas? We drive farther to get gas that price

paid 3 and more.

[KBlagburn]

28. Here in Alabama

it averages 2.48 to 2.55

[windbreeze]

31. 2.89 9/2.99 9 /3.09 9

In my small town in Wash state today...makes me sick...I keep thinking about how my kid/with 3 children of her own, is going to get to work, if this continues...?? oh and to me, when they charge 9/10 of a cent...it's 2.90/3.00/3.10 period...why not just say so..if it takes you 10 gallons to save one cent..why bother?? wait, I forgot...that's what honesty means...allowing you to think it's a big savings when it really means nothing at all...
windbreeze

[gokar]

32. Europe average gas price $6.00

and inflation adjusted price record was reached in 1980....

[tenshi816]

38. I paid UK90.9 pence per litre yesterday to fill up my jeep,

which works out to UK£4.10 a gallon (I only know that because they put little conversion charts on the pumps).

UK£4.10 a gallon, at yesterday's exchange rate, is US$7.32 a gallon. You've got a ways to go yet before you catch up with us.

[NVMojo]

33. $2.71 around here but we've been told it will be over $3.00 by Saturday

...and isn't it just like Bush's haves and have mores to fuck Americans during a disaster?

[Sparkly]

39. It's still cheaper per gallon than a nice Cabernet...

Just helpin' the Bush apologists, since the milk analogy seems to be out of order...

[gristy]

41. At least core inflation remains pretty low!

:evilgrin:

[gristy]

42. Still cheaper than when Carter was prez!

:evilgrin:

[RightSightBrightLite]

43. . 18 cents in Venezuela , cheap in Brazil

we are slaves to the oil companies

these countries have leaders who work in the public's interest

uprising now

someone posted a list on DU of all the known oilfields and the millions of millions of barrels waiting to be recovered it was awesome

and this other news from Alberta

but since Iraq did not get on line is this why the high prices?

corner the market on a resource deemed a national security issue and also to sell to developing china and india at high prices, is this why it is kept artificially high?

and it is REMARKable that one of the most vital sought after Earth gifts in the world used in plastics, clothing ,roads, solvents, paint ,tires, etc including fuel, nascar,aircraft carriers, tanks ,airplanes, military use dwarfs domestic use, need excess oil to justify expenditures on such wasteful weaponry, which have no good, maximum social economic spin-offs ? the origins of petroleum are still a mystery to some

then again control a society's energy flow = control society

big profits = big subterfuge
myths of scarcity
resource depletion allowance scams
would be silly to think there is not a disinfo campaign around oil and of course going way back to the early 1900's

but they have bought the government, we must start a campaign to contact our Rep's and challenge them to uphold the law, decency and citizen's interests and wellbeing

Red or Blue no one can stand this gouging ! my future is turning black and blue, trying to get out of the paycheck to paycheck grind but continually bruised by gas + UTILITIES

and the economy sucks cause people are not happy, scared, hoarding, desparing and losing hope

this is an emergency we need a change for Heaven's Sake !



think diamonds = abundance ...emeralds = scarce

there has not existed in antiquity enough fromerly living organic matter to account for the amount of oil used up to date
*****

The perception of scarcity, as was said, gave rise to competition for resources--success in the competition went to those most cunning, diligent and/or ruthless. Winning conferred power and status--the winners gained control of the resources. Those most useful to the winners were granted access to a greater measure, or share, in the resources--those successively further removed, less useful, received proportionately less--until they were so far removed that they received no share and no access. Thusly, hierarchies of access (to resources) were "born", and the now familiar drawing of the pyramid to represent those hierarchies was developed--with the winners, the richest, at or near the top, or peak, of the pyramidal diagram, and the losers, the poorest, distributed at the bottom along the great pyramidal base. Social dis-ease was born, spawning eons of suffering, conflict and wars.

The generally held belief that scarcity is Nature's design continues to rationalize and therefore justify, competition as the most effective strategy for survival, given the perception of resources as being both finite and scarce. Persons at the top levels of the pyramid control the distribution of resources to those below--this is called a scarcity driven "distributive" system.

Our new discovery of plenitude as Nature's design signals the opportunity to shed forever human behaviors and actions based upon a belief in scarcity--and with that, will arise a truly global and enduring peace.

http://www.geni.org/globalenergy/issues/global/myths/scarcity/paz.shtml

ENOMY? = MONEY$
People First ! in the 21st