Where is the leadership ? Gas prices are killing us!!!!

[gizmo1979]

The price of gas has gone through the roof and is only going higher.Gas prices affect almost all commerce.Cities already strapped for cash are going to have to come up with large amounts of cash to fuel police cars,firetrucks, garbage trucks etc.Yet you hear nary a peep from leadership on either side.Is this just another nail in the coffin of the middle class?

[tubbacheez]

1. Buckle down and readjust your budget.

The GOP and DLC leadership are getting exactly what they want... or at least what they're willing to accept in return for other priorities.





I'm retuning my personal budget to expect $4/gallon by summer's end. If it turns out that I overbudgeted, I'll donate the remainder to progressive causes.

[jdj]

10. i just saw a commercial that said "bet you never saw yourself in

a car like this...so soon."

tsk. tsk. they really think have us by the shorthairs. I get the feeling that the marketeers have all of our whole lives planned out for us.

I wish people would just turn away, especially when it comes to buying cars.

[tubbacheez]

19. Gotta love that tempting marketing.

From a certain perspective, the media is the new education system. Education has been privatized. It has been turned over to the major networks.

People of all ages spend several hours a day soaking up shows, movies, commercials, news, and other info-tainment pieces.

And this is teaching us to want, want, want. So we buy, buy, buy.

[TwentyFive]

2. Waaay overdue for new technologies. Kill the internal combustion engine!

Can you believe we're using the same basic engine configuration that was invented in the 19th century?

But then again, if the internal combustion engine was outmoded like the buggy whip once was.....what would all those HUGE, POWERFUL oil companies do with their MILLIONS of acres of now usless land, oil leases, etc.

You don't think massive political contributions from EXXON, HALLIBURTON, etc. has anything to do with this, do you?

[MichiganVote]

3. Leadership? In the USA? Sorry, we're working on freedom for the Iraqi's

[stubertmcfly]

4. killing us?

Give me a break. Gas prices are still a fraction of the cost Europeans pay. Get used to high gas prices, we are burning it up fast!

We are pretty much getting what we deserve as far as this goes. Carter we putting in place programs to really expand alternative fuel and transportation development but 12 years of Reagan/Bush1 put an end to that.

[jdj]

13. I'm so glad Carter has been vindicated.

It took long enough.

[gizmo1979]

14. Sorry but it's killing me.

I don't live in Europe.And I don't think I robbed or killed anyone for it.So how am I deserving again.All I know that a tight budget is even tighter because everything is going up except my pay.I probably deserve that too all those poor Chinese that work for a nickel an hour.I wasn't in any of the administrations since or before Carter so don't blame me and say I deserve this.

[Name removed]

23. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[gizmo1979]

45. This is a total misconception

the American worker is the most productive worker in the world we can compete with someone making 1.00 a day or whatever.What we can't compete with is the Chinese not playing fair with it's currency that alone amounts to a 27% advantage right off the bat,now you throw in no environmental laws,no labor laws what so ever,and the disadvantage grows.People in this country are far to agreeable to our jobs going overseas thinking that is just the way it is.That's dead wrong!If everyone is playing by the same rules we'll be fine,but if we are playing by the rules and everyone else has no rules it's quite an unfair outcome.So next time you think it's "just the way things are think again".THERE ARE PEOPLE IN THOSE JOBS NOT NUMBERS!!!!!

[stubertmcfly]

41. well...

no, i didn't vote for reagan or bush1 either as i was not yet of a voting age. "killing us" just doesn't sit too well with me. i do understand that the higher prices of gas are obviously going to effect us all. some of us much more than others. i was siimply trying to put a little perspective on the situation as a lot of u.s. citizens complain about gas prices and taxes when, realistically, both are low universally speaking.

gas prices are going to continue to rise. frankly, i don't really want the government to subsidize oil and gas and would prefer that any additional money spent on this (or fucking wars to secure this) go to alternative energy development, conservation subsidies and the like. short term yes, it is going to hurt but rest assured that if we don't change direction, a much larger hurt looms on the horizon.

[gizmo1979]

44. I concur with alternative sources of energy

But it's quite obvious with repugs in power this is not going to become a reality!So we have to live with what we got.Since they got us into this mess so they have to do something to ease the burden alittle so we have time to adjust our lifestyle's to fit the dynamic of 3 dollar a gallon gas.

[lastliberalintexas]

22. I'm really tired of posts like this

The vast majority of people on DU have and continue to support mass transit and the research and development of alternative technologies, and have done so with both their money and their votes.

Gas prices are really hurting a large segment of the population, namely the people we as liberals are supposed to try to represent- the poor, working poor and middle class. Are some of them getting what they deserve for voting as stupidly as they did? Certainly, and that should be pointed out to them. But that wouldn't apply to anyone on DU, I would imagine.

And even the Bush voters who are poor and working/middle class and non-religious freaks might be reached with this issue. We don't have to compromise a single solitary principle of liberal, progressive and Democratic ideals. We can just win them over with good old fashioned **economic populism**. Imagine that.

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

26. Not when you factor in the costs of oil wars and subsidies to oil

companies paid via federal taxes...add those in and the price of gas increases substantially

[BamaGirl]

29. I'm getting sick and damned tired of reading crap like this on DU

Aren't we the party of populism? Check the numbers. The majority of the vote making under 50k a year went to Kerry. That makes us Democrats! My family is hanging on by the skin of its teeth. Forty percent of our income goes to taxes, pensions, 401ks, insurance, and union dues. Yeah, union dues. The one thing I abso-fucking-lutely refuse to cut out of my budget. It will be the last fucking thing to go. Probably because my grandfather was a Teamsters organizer, and I just know he'd haunt me for the rest of my life if we dropped it. ;) I have no credit card debt and no loans. My mortgage is almost 8 years old, on a house bought before the housing bubble. We have optimized for energy efficiency in a 1300 sq ft house. I do not own a McMansion. We have done everything "right".

I am an Army vet. So is my husband. He's still in the Guard and works for a police department. He hasn't had a cost of living raise in 4 years. We do not deserve this shit! The majority of people in our income bracket did not vote for these idiots, and we do not deserve this shit!

All of you, stop wishing misfortune on the lower and lower middle class in this country! We are going to make right around 30k this year. We'll see about 18k of that. About 11k goes to fixed bills--mortgage, elec, etc. About 5k goes to food. That leaves me a whopping 2k a year for medical deductions and co-pays, gas, and whatever kind of crisis comes up. The skin of my fucking teeth. And we're "middle class America"???

I weep for everyone else.

I don't deserve this and neither do they.

[kath]

31. Pretty much the first thing Ronnie Rayguns did when he got in office was

to take the solar panels off the WH roof. Alternative energy programs disappeared, as did efforts for more fuel-efficient cars, etc. Asshole.

[kliljedahl]

5. Just thank the 51% who voted for

Smirky & Sneery, one who failed in every business he ran & the other that's f**kin' greedy.


http://www.kliljedahl.net

[mermaid]

6. I Have A Better Idea....

Those who COULD, technologically, work from home, that is, telecommute...should not only be allowed...but in fact, compelled...to work at home. businesses should be COMPELLED to allow those employees who can work at home to do so.

this would ease traffic congestion, and it would reduce stress for everyone, as no one would be in rotten traffic jams two hours a day...and it would be a great relief to the average American worker in terms of not having to buy gas to go back and forth to work.

The resultant drop in DEMAND for gas would ease the pressures as we approach peak oil...and thus the supply would be more plentiful, resulting in a drop in price for those who still had to commute to offices or other workplaces. Additionally, with fewer drivers on the roads, traffic congestion would ease, resulting in better gas mileage and less stress for commuters.

Also, roads would last longer, be easier to maintain, and we would have to spend less on building new roads.

The time is NOW to begin the clamor for government to intervene and COMPEL...or seriously incentivise...telecommuting for many workers.

Most American office workers could very easily telecommute. This would be a preferable solution, because of the side benefits that would come from telecommuting (lower demand for gas-thus lower prices, less congestion on highways-thus less stress for those who must drive and better fuel economy, less usage of roads equals less maintenance and new road projects equals less money spent on these projects.)

Telecommuting as many workers as possible is the answer we really need in order to address the gas-prices problem. The main thing driving high gas prices right now are higher demands and lower supply. Thus, it stands to reason that if you lower demand, then supplies are not as tight, and the price drop for those who MUST consume gasoline to go to work.

Comments?

[tapper]

35. Already doing that -- telecommuting 4 days/week

Thanks to Microsoft's Remote Desktop application (and the Internet). I make a 35 mile commute one day a week, in a 35mpg Civic, to meet with the guys at work (IM and phones just *don't* entirely replace RL interaction.) I also usually have two other events on tap for the same day.

And as soon as I can afford it, I'm buying a recumbent tricycle for the short trips around town.

[osaMABUSh]

36. exactly - telecommuting is so right for many

I work in Information Technology for a large bank. We have about 2,000 IT jobs and 85% could easily work from home. Hell, most of us do so at night and weekends anyway (checking emails, installing changes, checking on systems, etc.). Of the other 18,000 employees, fully half could work from home 75% of the time.

My company does not discourage telecommuting (part time) but they don't go out of their way to encourage it either. I still think there is that "if I can't see my employees they must be goofing off" mentality.

The reality is, that with IM, cell phones, pagers, blackberries, high speed VPN you are never away from work and always 'monitored' no matter where you are.

[maveric]

7. Bu$h/Cheney = Big Oil

Simple as that.

[kentuck]

8. It has reached the point of pain....

People that live in Colorado Springs and drive to Denver each day (60 miles each way) and drive vehicles that get 15 miles per gallon are paying $20 per day for gasoline. Stick your heads out the window and scream, "I'm mad as hell and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

[briang5000]

11. people who have SUV and other fuel wasting vehicles should pay more.

A big part of the higher cost is higher demand.

A big part of the higher demand is urban sprawl and people driving very inefficent vehicles.

We should have lower gas prices for people who choose to drive more fuel efficient vehicles and for those who have shorter commutes to work.

If a person drives 15 miles to the gallon each day and they live more than 15 miles from their workplace. They should pay higher gas prices.

[gizmo1979]

17. Please SUV's are the reason for this I don't think

so.That is a drop in the bucket in real world terms.China and India's economys are going balls to the wall and using energy like never before.We need some kind of break from this however temporary so we have time to adjust budgets make lifstyle changes or whatever to adapt.

[Yupster]

40. We could cut our use by 5 %

and we should, but that won't begin to solve the problem because the rest of the world will increase their use by 30 %. India and China each have 4 times the population we have. As they start demanding more and more energy, it will overwhelm any shavings in demand that we can accomplish.

[punpirate]

9. Might be...

... but the essential problem is that the middle class in this country can't absorb increased energy costs because their wages have been virtually flat against inflation for three decades. If there's no cushion, no savings, every increase in the cost of living, even if temporary, is a calamity.

Ask yourself why Europeans, even with some difficulty, manage gas prices 2-1/2 to 3 times as high as ours.... They have superior mass transit systems, which their governments subsidize, energy conservation programs that minimize other energy costs and social safety nets which protect them from disaster when there are bumps in the economic system.

It's not just the cost of gasoline at work here....

[gizmo1979]

21. Thankyou that was very well said.

I could'nt agree more!

[Speck Tater]

"Leadership" can't trump the laws of physics and geology.

We're on the brink of cataclysmic change. Get used to it. Twenty years from now everything we take for granted today will be a dim memory.

[smitty]

12. Expensive oil

is something we're going to have to live with as world wide demand continues to increase. There are currently 20 million motor vehicles in China and it's estimated that there will be 100 million by 2020.
Meanwhile, Americans appear willing to pay any price to keep their SUVs on the road.

[maxsolomon]

15. suck it up, bitches.

the pain is just starting.

be sure & write howard dean demanding he do something about it!

[indepat]

16. Pimping for higher gasoline prices to help buddies in the oil patch?

Remember when in 2001, someone (you know who) said in effect that he felt OPEC's pain and thereby green-lighted the spiraling of oil prices. Hasn't adding to the strategic reserves been timed to foster rising prices?

[B Calm]

18. Can you imagine how loud the right wingers would be if Kerry

was running the show.

[derby378]

20. How many Democratic reps and senators...

...have stock in Repug oil companies?

That might be your answer.

[KlatooBNikto]

24. If gas prices stay up long enough at this level or higher,it will not

merely affect our pocket books today,it will kill the U.S. auto industry with GM and Ford leading the way.Ironically, when that happens, gas prices will be the last thing we will have to worry about.

[WI_DEM]

25. there is a good and bad side to this

the good: people might drive less and use public transportation more. Bad: There are many people, especially the working poor, who depend on public transportation and inevitably the high price of gasoline will increase bus fares, ect. Also, some people do have to travel a distance to get to work, and can't simply walk or take the bus--it is killing them. There is a single mom of 4 in my office who drives 30 miles round trip to work and it is killing her budget.

[Ladyhawk]

37. Also figure in poor / disabled people in rural areas. n/t

[Carni]

38. What public transportation?

In a lot of areas there ISN'T ANY the car companies killed that in the 1930's

[ignatius 2]

27. Our "leadership" is laughing all the way to the bank making

tons off defense and oil while they screw the middle class.

Isn;t it such an odd "coincidence" that the last time oil prices were this high was in 1991 when another oil man sat in Wadhington?

Even though Greenspan tried to calm markets a few weeks ago by saying higher oil prices don't effect the economy the same as they did back in the oil scare days in the 70's, I think he is full of shit. Chain store sales in most of the lower end stores inclufing Walmart,K mart and Pennys were down (Target was up 10%..good democratically owned company) I heard on NPR today a farmer talking about fuel costs for his operation up 55% from last year, hence, food prices will increase.

Inflation will go up at a time when people are getting gouged at the pumps giving them less to spend and to add serious insult to injury, 36% of homes in the country are financed by adjustable rate mortgages which will go up as rates are increased.

This country is in incredibly bad shape and to think just a few years ago we were so full of hope and promise.

The Bush legacy, turning everything he touches into a heaping pile of hot,smelly shit.

[mermaid]

43. Yep...Just Call Bush "King Sadim"

As in...reverse "Midas."

[anakie]

28. How clever is Iran then

to investigate and institute alternate energy production. Why not develop nuclear power stations (pros and cons about nuclear energy abound of course) and sell their oil reserves for huge amounts of cash from competing nations.

As long as America remains addicted to the internal combustion engine you can all expect to be paying ever increasing gas prices. Europeans are already paying 5 to 6 bucks a gallon.

[nytemare]

30. I sent e mails to congress and senate

About 3 weeks ago. I asked why Bush criticized Clinton for going into the national reserves to relieve prices back when they were 1.50 while saying that he would just cut the federal tax on gas. And I asked why the federal tax on gas has not been lowered, as Bush said he would do back when prices were 1.50 a gallon, 75 cents a gallon less than they are now.

I just got this bullshit response, we will continue to be more concerned with your wombs, gay marriage and a personal right to die issue more than the price of gas, but we will continue to try to fight for lower gas prices, with no real examples of how they are fighting, blah blah blah.

We need to bombard their asses with this and with the nuclear option. This is what people are really concerned about.

[SujiwanKenobee]

32. My take...

We bought a smaller cheaper commuter car just before the prices began to rise--thank goodness.

I know there are lots of people patting themselves on the back for living closer to work (lifetime employment at the same company somehow?) and taking mass transit.

We don't have any mass transit available--maybe ride sharing options for some. My husband commutes almost 1 1/2 hours each way to get to work. We would have liked to live somewhat closer but the cost of housing rises exponentially the closer one gets to the DC metro area (increasingly larger metro each decade). When we did live closer, the commute was still horrendous on secondary and tertiary roads and the quality of life was lower albeit "wealthier" with many consumer options.

Frankly, there's too many people all crammed together and I think it's unhealthy living near metro areas physically, emotionally and mentally--especially in the DC area. So, I weigh the costs of long commute against affordable housing and open spaces with less traffic. I agree that the solution is much more telecommuting to ease up on cars on the raod.

[B Calm]

33. George, release some of the oil reserves...

[osaMABUSh]

34. I'm lovin' it - can you say Hybrid?

short term pain - long term gain. check out the latest Wired magazine where the No. 2 automaker in the world, Toyota, aims to make the internal combustion engine obsolete.

[hollowdweller]

39. I hope they go up more. Maybe it will encourage local manufacturing

Instead of trucking stuff across the country we will go back to when most towns had manufacturing jobs instead of stuff being cheaper to ship in from China like it is now.

[all.of.me]

42. do you think it will ever go back DOWN?!

like... what goes up must come down?

[Bake]

46. Price is not perfectly elastic

Very elastic on the way up; "sticky" going down.

Bake