Where's the outrage?

This time last year, Gas prices were higher than ever (or close), Congress held hearings, consumers were furious and eventually gas prices went down to a two-year low at... election time. . After seeing gas prices around here higher than they were during Katrina, there's a steady murmur and nothing's changed...
I did get an email today asking people not to patronize exxon-mobil, figurring if their profits go down, they'll drop gas prices and others will follow suit...

fuckbuncha elected officials. Not running for office for 18 months so there's no outrage.. please, let your constituents continue to take it in the ass....
rant over...

 

I remember when gas first hit $2 per gallon. The scanner was filled with traffic regarding gas skips.
Now, not a peep.
I'm pissed. I scrimp and save and do what I can. Then I talk to a guy I've known for years. He is the owner of a company his dad handed down to him. : Of course, he had to purchase it, but still, it's a lucrative company and he was first on the list of buyers.
Anyway, this guy built a huge home out in the country. Owns a couple of big-assed vehicles. His attitude?
“I'm a consumer. I consume things.”
Money is no object.
Well, of FUCKING course it isn't an object. You have a boat load of it. I and others are living in abject poverty, pinching every penny, not consuming fuel because we're told if we don't use it the price will go down. Supply and demand thing. Then, you go raise the demand because you can afford to fill up any time you please because you are a “consumer.”
I don't begrudge him and his family all their stuff. I don't. I realize I could get a second job and thus get more income. But, my tired ass works too much as it is.
And Slappy, fuel prices continued their decline well after elections — into early or mid-January, I think.

 

I'm too busy hating fat people to get too upset, but I'll see if I can brew up some righteous indignation for you.

Or, maybe it's a case of, if you take it in the ass long enough, it stops hurting so much.

 

Slappster,

You are right. An unqualified right. Everything you say is correct. We need an election every week to keep prices down.

As to the missing hue and cry, they have beaten us down. Sure, gas prices are falsely high...because the oil companies can.

But what can we REALLY do about it. In the end, I still have to drive 40 miles to work everyday with no public transportation available. My daughter needs her car to get around as does my wife. While we try and consolidate trips and take only one car when possible, it isn't always reasonable.

My neighbor says he will still use his boat this summer as the alternative is a 40 thousand dollar paperweight.

There are some things we could change and some things we just can't change. But I don't believe any of it really matters. There is always another reason that the price per gallon goes up. "There aren't enough refineries". "It was storm damage in the gulf". "We are doing maintenance on the refinery".

It would just be easier if they said "we love multi billion dollar profits, that's why."

 

I think the outrage is gone because we've already become resigned to the thought of gas at these prices. Ten years ago, I drove a GMC Jimmy and filled the gas tank up at 89 cents a gallon. I drove an SUV at just the right time, because I wouldn't think about driving one now, especially with the commute that I have (35 miles each way).

I thought the Katrina prices would be a one-time thing when it happened. So much for that.

 

This really is ridiculous. These prices really cut down the number of times I can visit my friends in the Philly area b/c I have a '97 Explorer and live all the way in NJ. A 190-mile round trip hits you pretty hard in the wallet. If I had to drive into NYC to work, I wouldn't be able to save money whatsoever.

On a side note, will Mayor Bloomberg's decision to make all NYC taxis become hybrids have any effect, short or long-term, on gas prices? Will the oil/fuel companies just jack up the prices of the hybrid fuel anyway?

 

Americans just get used to it. Until our behavior changes, we have to pay what we have to pay. That said, our gas is still much cheaper than in most other industrialized countries.

http://www.eia.doe.gov/emeu/international/prices.html#Motor

Weekly Retail Premium Gasoline Prices (Including Taxes)

Date Belgium France Germany Italy Netherlands UK US

5/14/07 6.77 6.72 7.08 6.73 7.75 7.12 3.28


Although I hear it's 12 cents a gallon in Venezuela. Viva Chavez!

 

Gee, you conveniently left out the part about "free education and free health care" in those other countries, which is why their gasoline is higher.

Just an innocent oversight, I'm sure. :

 

I don't take your eye-rolling point, BT. The pretax cost per gallon is about the same, certainly, from country to country. And we use property taxes to pay for our "free education" here. So, other than the health care you mention, which, apart from their much higher income taxes, may or may not be in part subsidized at the pump, Europeans are still paying twice per gallon what we pay. They certainly don't earn twice as much. Their answer? They drive less. They drive smaller, more efficient cars. They build comprehensive mass transit.

 

I dont think they did.. .I thought they stayed the same or rose slightly until after the first of the year, then climbed.....

And Dirk... I know when the hue and cry will come -- right after exxon-mobile-shell-et al reveal their highest profit ever...

 

Those countries are small enough for comprehensive mass transit to work.

Here, the population density doesn't make it worthwhile, except in the largest cities or the Northeast Corridor.

 

Damn, I think I'm gonna agree with lyman on something.

Whenever the price per gallon from other countries is posted, the person posting it never explains the entire story. Not saying it's intentional in this case, just that there's much more to it than meets the eye. For one thing, those countries have mass transit systems far superior to anything you'll find here. In addition, the people of those countries have been conditioned to using that transit. Not here. The reason the gas is so high there has more to do with taxes, which are then used to provide things like healthcare and free college educations. Companies that depend on shipping products often receive huge tax breaks on gas.

The point is, it's two different situations. We, as a country, are completely reliant on gas. And I'm not just talking about Joe Citizen who's picking his kid up from soccer practice. I'm talking about the thousands and thousands of businesses that rely on gas to ship products, in addition to Joe Worker, who took a job 35 miles away from his home four years because the cost of gas hadn't changed much in the last 15 years. Now, those businesses are losing money out the ass and passing some of the losses on to consumers. And we're trying to pay for all of it -- the gas that's tripled and the higher prices on products -- while still making the same wages.

What's being done with these gas prices is criminal. And if it's ever really looked into, it'll make this attorneys bullshit look like a walk in the park.