Here's what they could do about the high cost of gas......

:shock: well.. looks like im outta luck... i just got my first car.. 72 buick gs.. and well.. premium being 3.30 a gallon here.. and me out of a job for now. it doesnt look like im doing much this summer.

 

I think if I am not mistaken Exxon made much more . In one quarter thebig three made 500 BILLION in profits according to news reports . I imagine with Exxon's special accounting they only claimed 39 BILLION . but by my estimates they probably got a third of that 500 BILLION in one quarter . They are making probably 50 BILLION a month . Remember folks cars are becoming more fuel efficent , scientists are scrambling to come up with a viable alternative to oil which they should have done after the gas shortages in the 70's . The science is there but now we have to build the infrastructure to support it . Stop sending our grain overseas , everyone hates us already so lets use it for metahanol . Bio deisel and hrdrogen fuel cells are one answer b ut the oil shale fields in the north and the oil we have here and right off shore are enough for us for decades . The price is high and the opil companies aren't even putting any real investment into making this work . When we are drilling our own oil do you think the price will go down ? Not likely . I just hope that I am able to fuel up my Stage 1 when shes done .
John

 

Dana and Beth and Faster have made some of the wisest statements here ......it is about high time that we the american people get organized and do something about what is going on .... we have the internet something that wasn't around in colonial times communication was slow..... that would be a start everyone boycott Exxon and Mobil ... I have actually gotten emails suggesting this awhile ago ..... see where it goes ...... the govt and Big Money will put the pressure on some other way and they already are in case we didn't already notice ... taxes are outta this world ,food prices, people are losing their homes, they shove laws down our throats that no one is asking for ....all the same stuff the British did to our forefathers .... taxed tea ..... Rum .....and many other commodities that were needed and then taxation without representation .... yes there are rumors of Revolt being heard among the common man .... how much more are we gonna have to lose ????everything ????? the politictions are way out of touch with our realitys ..... they don't have to worry about putting gas in the car we are paying for it ... they don't have to worry about health care we pay for them to go to Duke .... they don't have to worry about food prices we pay for that to in the exhorborent salaries that they are paid ..... do you actually think that they are doing this because of patriotism or some other virtue like really caring about this country ???? Are they risking their lives like someone like Nelson Mandella did... he could have lost his life merely for what he said .... NO these men do this because they have the will to RULE OVER OTHER MEN ...and their money gives them the power to do this ..... the money we give them.... Best chance we have to see any change besides Revolt is to vote out every incumbent their is this election .... change the laws so that we don't have career politictions .... THEY HAVE SOLD US OUT PERIOD!!!!! Best thing we could do is "Shoot em with Sh*T and Hang em for Stinkin" .... Sad to say but I think it is going to come down to what Faster said about what is written in our Constitution ... it is everyone of ours responsibilitity to get rid of this Tyranny .....
Interesting fact ...back in the late 90's Jamacian govt raised the gas tax dramatically overnight ..... the people went OFF they started burning all kinda of stuff and literally tore the hell out of that place .... the govt. lowered the taxes immediately......when Martin Luther KING was murdered in 1968 the people went OFF there were at least a dozen major cities in the US that burned to the ground .... we have'nt had this type of thing happen since the 60's on any kind of large scale ... we had the HIPPIE Movement , Black Panthers , and Martin Luther King , and all .... sorts of groups protesting ... yeah it'll come to that again when we all lose enough... and rightfully so ......I myself am so sick of it I could throw up.....

 

So I get to burn stuff in the name of what I think is right? Where do I start!!!!??? :Brow: After all, whatever I think is right, must be right...errr, right?



Devon

 

for real cheap gas........EAT MORE BEANS !!! :laugh: :idea2:

 

"they" are making buttload of money selling gas at this price,why would they want to stop,the temporary price cut is just that,a small blip down but on its way higher,THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT HIGH COST OF GAS,you are living in some kind of dreamworld if you think there is anything you can do about it,you can stop buying it,china and India will pick up the slack keeping the price high,if demand drops too much "they" will just reduce production to keep the price high,you will NEVER see cheap gas again,sad but true:Smarty:

 

Didn't your mommy ever tell you to never say never? I'm sure people have said the same thing in past energy crisis.

 

yes, they did say the same thing during the last crisis but we did not listen,worldwide production of oil has peaked,the easy cheap oil is gone,we have lots of oil ,but,it will become increasingly expensive to extract,our prosperous american economy was based on cheap reliable oil,those days are done:Smarty:

 

Work for the oil companies, thats the only way I can come out ahead... A company truck with a fuel card and tripple the wages that I would make working in an another industry why not? I have been working at oil refineries for several years and although its hard work I never dreamed to make 150,000 per year like I am!

 

thank you Alan

 

I was born in 1951. One of those Baby boomers
As I grew up I noticed the many different brands of gasoline disappearing. Back in 1970 there were gas wars,gas was 19 cents.
But since then we have made it harder and harder to Drill for oil, build refineries. which has driven the small oil companies out of business. so now you only have a few suppling the whole world.
If they were to give you back all the profit per gallon they made off you it would amount to 7 cents. Now if the Gov.didn't take out the TAXES it would be over 40 cents per gallon less. Blame Bush all you want but he's not the problem. Congress is because they make the laws that won't allow DRILLING FOR OIL OR Building NEW REFINERIES.

Some of you need to read more and not just listen to the talking heads. Simple economics sez supply and demand control price, but everytime the goverment tries to fix things they just screw it up.
For you that think Hydrogen is the fix, it Takes electricity to produce it and we can't build a coal fired plant or a Nuke,can't drill for nat. gas. Where are we getting the electricity.:moonu: :rant:

 

Exxon made 11.7 billion profit last quarter.In 2007 they made $1300 per second. What you will not hear is that they paid $4000 per second in taxes to the government. And that they spend 1 billion dollars in daily operating expenses. The numbers should be put into perspective. Many industries made a better return on their investement than the oil companies.

 

If the fed wants people to use less fuel they should add a dollar or 2 per gallon tax. This would promote conservation and make the development of alternative fuels and other power sources more cost effective.

The main reason that no hydrogen fuel or other type of power sources have been invented and\or perfected is the cost. Since fuel is really not very expensive (even at 5 bucks a gallon compared to some other countries) companies do not see the development of altenative power and fuels as a good investment.

If GW Bush wanted to help things out in the US he could have spent the 800 billion (I like to say 800,000,000,000.00 "eight hundred thousand million dollars" since it sounds like a bigger number than just 800 billion) that he has spent on the wars in Iraq and Afganistan and offered it to US companies and US citizens\individuals to come up with new energy solutions. The US would have whipped the whole middle east and some other oil rich countries with out ever firing a shot.

I don't think the oil companies are making an unfair profit margin when judged as a percentage of costs (especially when compared to other industries).

The investors\speculators are currently driving up the cost. So if you invested in oil like someone else suggested you would just be adding to the frenzy which is raising prices.

Mike

 

Its not the speculators / investors who are driving up the prices. It is the no drill obstructionists / environmentalists that are causing a shortage of domestic oil production with no relief in site.
The speculators are just betting that the United States congress will continue to cater to these special interest groups, and inhibit increased domestic supply. Nothing willl replace oil for many many years if ever. If all of us stopped driving our cars today. And never used another single drop of oil for transportation, the United States would still consume 5 million barrels a day for other uses.

 

1) Enact term limits in Congress- no more fat cats year after year running our show, they aren't representing us- they're after their own self interests.
2) Make lobbying a felony with a steep penalty. Don't just make it illegal, make it dangerous- jail time.
3) Impose the windfall tax on the oil companies. Trust supply and demand to balance out, it's basic economics.
4) Use the windfall tax to offer economic stimulus to low to low-middle income families.
5) Use another portion of the windfall tax to fund R&D on such promising technologies as clean burning deisel (blu-tech, high mileage, great power, low emissions).
6) Drill in Alaska. Drill deep offshore (the tech is there to find the oil and harvest it) so we aren't so reliant on other countries exports. Sorry, not a tree hugger to the extent of zero drilling. There's a balance in there somewhere.
7) Continue long range R&D into "carbon neutral" supplies like corn or sugar cane. Build hydronic farms up into tall "building" to reduce foot print per BTU produced (save land for food production).
8) Build more offshore wind farms to harvest what nature provides. Also, invest in R&D in solar and other natural energy sources (incentivize).
9) Give tax rebates to companies that offer 4-10 hour days rather than 5-8 hour days (this is already happening, but federalize it and let the states adopt it- who wants Fridays off? raise your hands, please)
10) Tax private jets heavily. It's a ridiculous notion to think they are really necessary except for maybe less than 10% of the time.
11) Big gas guzzler tax on pleasure craft- if you can afford the boat, you can afford the tax.
12) Stop policing the world. What's the total $ spent in fuel for the armed forces? Cut it in half and maybe we'd have more friends rather than being viewed as bullies. Instead, let's send troops to Georgia (the nation) and rile things up a bit (being sarcastic)
13) Every US citizen should try to make their home more energy efficient. If you can't afford much, put some gaskets in your exterior wall outlets and switch plates or plastic ovr the windows in winter. If you can, re-evaluate your homes insulation, including windows and doors. Wear a sweater in the winter, and use ceiling fans as much as possible in the summer to avoid AC use. Have your heating systems (and AC system) regularly serviced for optimum efficiency. Unplug chargers and other power hungry electronics when not in use (It all adds up). Set your computer to go into hibernate and shut-off your monitor when you're done. Install compact flourescent bulbs. Insulate your ductwork or heating pipe insulation in areas like the basement or crawl spaces where heat loss doe you no good. Etc, etc, etc....

Ok, I started with the governent and worked my way down to your own home. I give a lot of thought to energy because the cost chaps my ass. I hope it chaps yours too and you do something about it.

 

A "windfall" profits tax will raise the price of energy, its exactly the wrong thing to do. Taxes are nothing but an increase in the cost of doing business, the government is allready getting $4000 to every $1500 the people who produce oil get, and they need to pay more? Its the consumers who pay taxes, not the corporations. Its basic economics.

 

The corporate United States(the Federal Government),makes more $ off of oil than the oil companies do. No wonder why the government is AGAINST alternative energy sources. The oil companies are profiting in the billions? Imagine the amount that the "for profit" federal government makes. They(gov) don't have anything invested. The oil companies do ALL of the work and WE(consumers) pay for all of it. Remember, the federal government is a ficticious corporate entity. The gov. does not give a rat's ass about you or me or how much we have to pay for stuff. Their bottom line is profit and control/regulation. They even report a CAFR ( comprehensive annual financial report) every year,like most other incorporated businesses do. Ever since the bankers and lawyers have hijacked our government,they have found many ways to circumvent the Constitution and "we the people". We will never have our real constitutional republic back again. It has gone from a republic,to a democracy and now a fascist communistic state. Next stop is dictatorship. I am glad that fuel prices are going down for now. Another $1. or so, and that would be great. But very doubtful. Wait until the "elections:error: " are over with. I also hope that Bush doesn't push Russia's buttons any more. That man is dangerous and he will end up getting us nuked.

 

I sure am glad they got rid of the political forum.

 

I sure wish they would have kept it.

 

I'm with you Ken :TU:

Peace WildBill