Ya gotta love this man named SC

As I sat in the dentist chair this afternoon, CNN was reporting that Congress (scumbags) are having hearings about gas prices. There appears to be a theory running around that the high prices are due to "speculators" (who the F*ck are they) are the cause. It's all sleight of hand and profiteering shit. Wow, big revelation. One EXPERT said that in 30 days, prices could be down to $2.00 a gallon. And I'm going to have an erection that will last 4 hours - without Viagra! (three at the most).

You guys aren't over $4.00 yet??? Why are prices different everywhere? I don't see regular gas under $4.50 here, in fact it has come very close to $5 at some stations.

Prices vary by state due mainly to taxes. Here on Long Island we're averaging $4.32/gallon.

$5.00 is a scary number. I'm not expecting that price here this year, but next year is almost a guarantee.

We are at $3.83.

Blib, It's amazing how much it varies. I've seen prices everywhere from $3.95 in nearby New Jersey (where the taxes, and therefore the price, are lower) to about $4.50 here for regular.

The price of a barrel hit record highs today... it's up to $139. Look for it to keep going up in the immediate future.

Here in Corona it's between $4.46 - $4.63 and seems to keep going up. It can change a few cents in a matter of hours. The biggies can spin it all they want. I don't buy any of it. Somebody is making money hand over fist. They say bend over we all comply and we all get screwed. Now, didn't that feel good?

TIS

You guys gotta move to Texas - it's still at $3.83.

But, TIS, what does any seller owe the buyer? Why a lower price? They have something to sell and we want to buy.

Sorry Olivant, I am not buying any of it. Something is very wrong here and we are all puppets that can't do a damn thing about it. They have something to sell, we want to buy doesn't cut it with me. We HAVE to buy to get to our jobs. We are getting screwed, that's the bottom line.


TIS

I love my Prius, and I do get 45 MPG. When I got it 2 years ago the dealer said it would take 4 years to get the $$ back in gas savings. But 2 years ago the gas prices were substantially lower so I am sure I've about broke even now, and reduced my current carbon footprint too.

It is a perfect car for me, a small person that does mostly city-driving. And I love my "backup" camera. I live near an elementary school and little kids are always running behind me. I can see directly behind me on the screen.

Again, why is there something wrong? How are we getting screwed? At what price should fuel be sold? Should that price reflect one's ability to pay? If so, what determines one's ability to pay? Does such an approach apply to anything for sale? How about vehicle repairs and tires? What about medical care? In another post, Babe railed against the price of rice. Does that approach apply to all food?; most foods?; alot of foods? At what fuel price is nothing wrong or not screwing us?

Olivant, while I agree with you that it makes business sense, there have been several instances of good business models struck down because the do not serve greater good. For example, Microsoft had to face many lawsuits because it was trying to monopolize. According to me, monopoly is not a crime. Bundling free browser with Windows or making customers tied to specific Office products make business sense. Then why were all those lawsuits not invalidated?

We ARE being screwed. Sure they have a product, sure, they know we buy it (the reality is we HAVE to buy it which is a screw job in itself). So, they can ask whatever price they want, sure. So, say they want, oh let's see.....$10.00 a gallon. $20 a gallon? After all, it's legal right? they can ask what they want. We are getting fucked. I don't know any other way to say it.

You seem (Olivant) dead set on not even attempting to understand how in the world normal everyday people can be pissed off and continually try to make those of us struggling with high gas prices feel like, hey it's our problem, business as usual. When someone/company/person or whatever keeps uping the price to make a profit from a necessity of life (and someone IS making a profit), it's called getting screwed.

No need to break it down again, because obviously, we don't look at it the same. I don't buy your reasoning and you don't buy mine. To each his own.

TIS

Which is it TIS?: pissed off or reasoning? You stated both.

The shell station here is at 4.09 today but the other stations in Salem are 3.89.

You aren't getting screwed.

Your gas price just went from being really low, almost artificially low, to a more normal level. Given the circumstances, a price of let's say $4.50 is a very reasonable market price to pay.

There's a difference between being pissed off because you don't like to pay for goods you want to have, and being pissed of because a price is somehow wrong, or too high, which it mostly isn't. Of course there are market inefficiencies that cause a price to be artificially high, but that's really not the case with gas.

You have to view the whole gas expenditure as a fraction of your income. back home, I used to pay a significant fraction of my monthly income towards petrol (gas). And I used to be traveling much less. I am sure that is what everyone outside America does. I don't mean oil supplying nations. But America, in spite of fulfilling quite a bit of its oil need by the way of importing, had oil prices artificially low, like Enzo said. That is why there seems to be so much hue and cry over oil prices now.

We should all switch to these... levitating hover scooters.

No. These:

[img:center] http://k53.pbase.com/u25/r53lanc/upload/31611504.Cart1.jpg [/img] http://k53.pbase.com/u25/r53lanc/upload/31611504.Cart1.jpg

Bad link?

You can't see bulls-driven cart?

They lowered it to 3.99 today. How kind of them.

Hey, stop with the eyes.... at least it's going in the right direction.

True but it won't last.

What does (last)??

No, I just see the links and I click on them and it says "Forbidden"

Well, there is a slight difference in how the oil market works than a normal market works. There are three huge players in the market. There are producers of oil, there are consumers of oil, and there are speculators/traders. As much as we consumers drink up oil like a thirsty dog, the price is also being driven up by speculation --- guessing some middle men started to control the supply and making it less flexible, and reducing ability of the supply to meet the demand. Which means the current oil crisis is the result of manipulation and does not reflect the true value.


And these speculators doing extremely well with the exception and at the expense of the general population.

Well I see that Saladbar took Micro Economics 101... Clever gal.

Only because the professor was cute.