People are not reacting to the high gas prices

[Paul G]

Filling up my Ram pickup yesterday the pump stopped by itself at $50. The tank wasn't full yet! Whats up with that? Gas at $2.69 a gallon here is going to kill me. Fuel for my pickup alone is going to cost me $200 a month now. I have stopped taking the Charger out to cruise nights this week because it takes $40 a week to keep it running.

On the radio they are saying that people are not reacting to these gas prices. They said that gas can go to $3.00 a gallon before people will start complaining. I don't get it. Why are we not raising hell over this?

[BB1]

Meh, I drive a Toyota 4 banger no big deal. 

[Arigmaster]

Because it never has and never will make a difference if the public complains...Bush is going out of office in 2008 anyway so for his last act he is allowing his supporters (Big Oil) to do what they want. Prices have doubled in one year and they will never go back where they were... Just the reality of it.

[69charger2002]

$200 a month?? my goodness, that's 3 tanks a month.. i use 3 tanks a week driving around baton rouge
travis

[PocketThunder]

i drop $40 a week in my 89 Ram.  Plus weekend honey doo trips.   time to get a TDI.

[Silver R/T]

I do complain but to who, I cant kick gas attendants ass, nope. Its not his fault, they only making $.03c approximately per gallon, If I could ya id kick some politician ass. If everyone just stopped and complained, that would be effective. But then theres rich folks that make enough that can pay $7/gallon gas price and they would NOT complain. Its the middle class that suffers most

[KMPX2]

Cheapest I found today was $2.62. Glad the Neon I am now driving get great MPG

[Silver R/T]

2.53 cheapest here

[jaak]

yeah i love mopars, but I'm glad now when i wrecked my v8 dakota about 5 yrs ago, I went with my 4 banger s10. (dont laugh, i had a friend at a local chevy dealer and i use to get gm employee discounts when i worked at a buick dealer) dont get me wrong i loved the dak, but she stayed thirsty, the s10 isn't much to look at but it'll make alot of rounds on a tank-o-gas.

as far as complaining....... who listens?

[69bananabeast]

yeah i've been getting stopped at $50 as well. my familys got an 04 suburban and went to the pump the other day and it cut off at $60 ................ And That Was Only 1/2 A Tank ! 

[Rocky]

Actually, people will not make a real stink until it reaches $4+ a gallon.  Until then (or somewhere there abouts) they will keep us drinking the koolade.  Even then, it will not really matter.  They have had us by the cajones for years now, their growing power is only making them bolder, now that they know we are their slaves.  It will take both japan and detroit years to make hybrids worth the extra price, and even then we are still stuck. 

  Any evidence of a shortage is a farce.  If you want to see the prices of gas drop, then the owners, execs and heirs of oil need to start dropping first.

[Sendero]

This price rise and future rises was forwarned about a year and ahalf ago by a top industry analyst in Barron's . His warning included that by end of 2005 we would be near $3.00 a gallon and by end of 2006 we would be near $5.00 a gallon. By 2010 we will be near $10 dollars. Why? He stated that the United States indirectly caused this world -wide problem. Our foriegn policy wonks ( and presidents BUSH,CLinton and BUSH II) believed they could convert communist China to democracy if they helped her build a world-class economy. ( See foriegn policy magazine for proof) The investors saw that they could invest their money in this new huge emerging market at the ground floor and reap the profits -  so the money poured in over the years.

Now China's economy is growing very fast and this huge market is demanding  a ton of oil oil along with a small growth of the rest of the world. In effect the demand for oil world wide is increasing near 7% a year while production output can only increase about 3%. That 3 % growth of oil output is not free, newer technology to get oil out of already matured oil fields comes at a new technology price.

So the world is not "running out of oil" but it ability to produce enough to meet yearly demand is failing so the price goes up. The eye-brow raising should be to the oil companies, there profits now are very very good. They are price speculating (on evidence) that the price is going to be higher so they charge more now to buy the more expensive oil later. If they specualte higher then the price actually becomes...they make more - for a time.

Ultimately, if the world does not find an alternative to oil/gas in a number of the larger market segments , the higher price will cause of world-wide economic depression. While we have technology that can offer alternatives ( nuclear, Hydrogen, solar, etc). It will take years to build them or build them economically were they are actually cheaper then a oil type system. As the Analyst said - it is a race against time.

My comment on prez's is that they all took the booty ( Bush I from American Investors hungry for new markets, Clinton from the investors and CHINA directly  and this prez from the investors and Oil interests now that they are making a huge profit.) Remember that a $5 a gallon price won't effect any of them out of office./ They have a massed enough wealth and will have a lifetime rich pension paying them to boot.

Americans who vote for these types of individuals are culpable as well as the guy with the "not my guy" attitude. Republicans and Democrats have been willifully or blindly repsonsible. ( Border crossing is another economic driven process where both parties talk but look the other way)  BTW, China got a great economy now but still managed to produce a internal treatise titled "unrestricted warfare" in which it plans out a war with the US through a less than direct military confontation.

What was it that  V.I. Lenin famously said ? ( paraphrase)  That the capitalist would sell us the rope that would be used to hang him.

[Telvis]

Wow...that's pretty insightful.

[hemihead]

Gas will hit a price where people do start to complain then they will drop the price $0.20 and people will say
Yeahhhh, gas prices dropped,and then that will be theend of the protesting.
  As far as Market Anylasis and all that crap,who do you think dreams up that stuff?They have no real idea how market will go.They are guesses dreamed up by big money guys.
  And as was stated before on this forum, check your little sticker on your pump,alot of this increase not only goes to the oil companies but also Big Brother  for taxes.Remember, they just gave themselves a nice raise.
Oh,also,how many of you had to buy that SUV because your neighbor or friend got one?Keep following like sheep people.

[myk]

I don't blame people who think and act like sheep, more than I blame the radical environmentalists and other tree-hugging lunatics that ardently lobby against the construction of more oil refineries in the United States.  Big Oil is obviously out to fill their pockets-that's a given, but the fact is, as long as the oil production and refinery is limited by the low population of oil refineries Big Oil companies will be able to charge whatever they want to for gasoline, as the American population in both people and machines that depend on gasoline continues to swell, while gasoline production maintains the same output of the mid-80's.
- Screw the environment, as none of us will be around to suffer any effects of a dying world anyways-let's get more refineries built and help put an end to this nonsense...

[70charginglizard]

- Screw the environment, as none of us will be around to suffer any effects of a dying world anyways-let's get more refineries built and help put an end to this nonsense...

Thats a nice additude.

[CB]

I pay $6.30 a gallon overhere.
This car costs me some dough to drive but hell, nothing beats the feeling... µ
And the company I work for pays most of the gas. I only pay the few extra gallons. 

But yur right, gas prices stink.

[DarkAngel0816]

I do not cruise much these days.  I have a Mustang I use as a daily driver and I typically put over 30 dollars a week into that alone for work.  My Charger...I have only driven maybe once a weekend and put about 20 in it each time lol. 

My Mustang is paid for and it does not make sense for me to find a car that is easier on the gas you know?  BUT I think I may go back to working from home (my company/job position is one that I can if I choose) if it keeps going up.

[Paul G]

Who can we complain to? There has to be some sort of outlet for this.

[Steve P.]

I get it. I understand it. I am still pissed about it!!

I have a bad back and cannot get in and out of these little micro shit boxes that get good milage.. I cannot work, therefore I don't get a bonus or have the opportunity to work any overtime.. I get a shitty little check every other week. It goes up every year by a few bucks. Nothing in comparison to gas prices, taxes on the house, insurance, medical, food, clothing, school supplies and so on and on and on......

If I had not made some wise investments before I broke my back I would be living under the bridge down the street from your house...

I can't ride a bike. Can't walk very far.. Can't get in or out of Taxi's very well. I do have a family and I do like to go on long trips..

I own a V-10 F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab. It's loaded. I also haul cars as often as I can to try to put some extra bones on the table.

Small businesses are going under due to the gas prices. I've heard of delivery fees at DOMINO'S.. The US Mail is screaming. Most delivery companies are upping prices.. It doesn't stop at the pump as we pay for OUR gas. It is stretching our wallets far beyond OUR gas bill..

So you can see this is not just affecting the middle class worker. It's hurting most everyone..

[Lowprofile]

I get it. I understand it. I am still pissed about it!!

I have a bad back and cannot get in and out of these little micro shit boxes that get good milage.. I cannot work, therefore I don't get a bonus or have the opportunity to work any overtime.. I get a shitty little check every other week. It goes up every year by a few bucks. Nothing in comparison to gas prices, taxes on the house, insurance, medical, food, clothing, school supplies and so on and on and on......

If I had not made some wise investments before I broke my back I would be living under the bridge down the street from your house...

I can't ride a bike. Can't walk very far.. Can't get in or out of Taxi's very well. I do have a family and I do like to go on long trips..

I own a V-10 F-250 Super Duty Crew Cab. It's loaded. I also haul cars as often as I can to try to put some extra bones on the table.

Small businesses are going under due to the gas prices. I've heard of delivery fees at DOMINO'S.. The US Mail is screaming. Most delivery companies are upping prices.. It doesn't stop at the pump as we pay for OUR gas. It is stretching our wallets far beyond OUR gas bill..

So you can see this is not just affecting the middle class worker. It's hurting most everyone..

I feel your Pain, Bro.
I Own/Drive a Truck for a living. In the last year, my fuel cost have doubled! It costs me over $600 to fuel , 2 to 3 times a week. And of course, those costs are passed on to the consumer. Everything that we use in our lives has at one time or another, come to us by a truck.
Many thousands of truck owners [small businesses] have closed up shop because of fuel prices. I believe this is going to get a whole lot worse.

BTW....I have been working "injured" for the past 11 months....I am finally going home 2 weeks from now for surgery. I hope your situation changes for the better as you get ready to move North. Good Luck Bro.

[Nacho-RT74]

Have I said before that I fill a tank with around US$2,5 ?


And is the same Gas that you buy at CITGO ( since Citgo is a Venezuelan Brand in USA )

[6pkrunner]

They are playing with fire in the guessing where people will snap at. Gasoline is one of the inelastic commodities in that it is hard to truly cut back. However, it has the nasty habit of falling in the "demand destruction" category. This is when people do react, they react with emotion and will change their habits, and permanently. So playing the guessing game of $3.00 a gallon may jump up and bite.

[74ChargerDrummr]

Man, you all have some great opinions here! I commute 60 miles a day, which isn't much, but like you all, have felt the pinch in my pocket. Some of you may have received these in your e-mails, but they say to buy gas at stations that are non Exxon, Mobil, and so forth. Whether or not it will work is anyone's guess, but something's got to give, and I hope it's soon...hang in there!

[Troy]

They are playing with fire in the guessing where people will snap at. Gasoline is one of the inelastic commodities in that it is hard to truly cut back. However, it has the nasty habit of falling in the "demand destruction" category. This is when people do react, they react with emotion and will change their habits, and permanently. So playing the guessing game of $3.00 a gallon may jump up and bite.

That's a pretty interesting point and I believe it. I'm sure there are lots of very bright inventors hard at work in garages and basements that see a demand for an alternative. Somewhere along the line the bigger companies with nearly unlimited resources will dedicate entire research teams to finding solutions. I think that when people do snap we'll see a lot of changes (hopefully good ones that don't require me to plug my car in overnight just to drive 50 miles). There generally has to be a need/demand before there's really a market for something new and this might kick it off.

Troy