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by jstol3 from kansas city

Last Post 7 hours Ago


"ECONOMIC STIMULUS" AND GAS PRICES
Jun 1, 2008 | 5:56 PM
Category: News
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I will have been a member on this site for 2 years come this November 2nd. I have been blogging about gas prices and fuel economy issues ever since I became a member.

The current round of price hikes began right after Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The pice for a gal. of gas has spiked and retreated and then spiked again. It has been following this trend for almost 3 years now. I know that I can't be the only one who has noticed that each time it spikes and then retreats it never retreats back to where it was before the spike and I hope that I am not the only one who has noticed that each time it spikes the new spike is always higher than the last spike was.

Mr. Bush is going to exit his office in just over 7 months. What better present could he have given to the oil companies than our "Economic Stimulus Payments" so we could afford to purchase a few more tanksful of their exhorbitantly priced gasoline?

I'm sorry to say that I voted for the guy in 2004 simply because I couldn't see changing commanders in mid-course of our War on Terror but I did just that!

I still believe that the War on Terror is a worthy cause but I believe that the War on Drugs needs to be replaced with a War on Big Oil ( I want my stimulus check back from them).

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Member Comments Total Comments: 16
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spellcheckman read my blog
Jun 2, 2008 | 11:23 AM

exhorbitantly priced gasoline----$9.00/gal U.S. equivalent in Europe.

Can't do anything about it anyway, except whine.
jpbikerfreak read my blog view my photos
Jun 2, 2008 | 12:01 PM

Bush didn't pass the economic stiumuls package, congress did. Overwhelmingly.

There is no conspiracy to fix prices - the Supreme Court already ruled on that one.

Again, it's supply and demand, the fact that the congress and EPA REFUSE to open up our own land for drilling.

Who do you think is doing this price fixing?
jstol3 read my blog
Jun 2, 2008 | 12:02 PM

The European gas situation is not the same. Their gas has far more in taxes than ours does. I prefer to think that we can do something about it except whine. For starters we could all drive far more sensibly and stop driving vehicles that give poor gas mileage.

If everyone on this site used even half the fuel saving tips I've put out here they wouldn't be paying what they are paying to fill up their tank. I'm not saying that the price per gallon would be less - I'm saying that they would use less gas.

They aren't even my tips - I just study what I read, try them and if they work I put them out here.
jpbikerfreak read my blog view my photos
Jun 2, 2008 | 12:02 PM

Oh, and btw, you can actually BLAME the package stimulation for gas prices going up.

It devalues the dollar, which is another big reason for the increase in price.

Gov't prints more money, money is worth less. Simple economics.
jstol3 read my blog
Jun 2, 2008 | 12:10 PM

jp -

We have had this debate before on price fixing. Everyone says "don't look at me". Right now they are looking at possible manipulation by speculators. I don't believe that a Supreme court justice is really qualified to delve into something as complicated as the trail of product, and business, personal and government (all government) relationships that come into play between the oil well and my gas tank.

You and I will just have to agree to disagree on this issue. I believe that fuel prices are fixed and manipulated. You apparently do not.
jpbikerfreak read my blog view my photos
Jun 2, 2008 | 12:49 PM

All I'm asking is for you to say who is manipulating the prices and how. you have yet to be able to do that, but you keep saying you believe it. I'm not even asking for proof at this point, just the reason behind what you're saying.

And if a supreme court justice can't figure it out, when he has all day long and nothing better to do, how can anyone? They may not be economists, but they're not stupid.
jstol3 read my blog
Jun 2, 2008 | 4:18 PM

True, Supreme Court Justices are not stupid and neither am I. Neither I nor they have all of the "insider info" necessary to figure it out. It is a very complicated and convoluted process that oil follows from the well to my tank. It should be plain to anyone that not all of those gas stations just happened to raise their price 5, or 10 or 20 cents in unison. Someone is "telegraphing" that info to them. No other business that I know of raises prices up and down in unison as they do. I know that you don't buy that explanation because you rejected it when put forth by another blogger.

The gas station owners say they aren't making any real money so someone else is pulling their chain.
linecrosser read my blog
Jun 2, 2008 | 4:22 PM

It been said "follow the money" who benefits from higher prices. the producers. Be they Arab sheiks or oil company executive and stock holders, world peace would stabilize the market more than any other factor. Hypothetical situation, Iran wants more money to take their nuclear program further underground, they speed some small cigar boats near some US ships or tankers, maybe launch a flare or missile, not really caring if it even comes close to hitting its target. Maybe some Saudi prince convinces some high ranking politician to invade a neighboring country, by telling 935 lies to his people and the UN. Greedy and power mad people don't care one cent about individuals or their lives.
jstol3 read my blog
Jun 2, 2008 | 4:34 PM

Didn't want to run out of space.

If someone else is pulling their chain who is it? Is it one person? I doubt that. Is it several people - perhaps each head of each cartel or oil co? Do they get together in person or by wire and vote on what the next hike will be? If they do that's conspiricy. If they don't then they are all telepathic because they all arrive at pretty much the same figure at the same time. Franchise owners have a little leeway on price but if you go to a company store you pay the company price.

I know of no other industry where there is zero price competition to encourage me to buy one product over another.

I can shop around for cars, beef, chicken, milk, beer or cigarettes but I can't really shop around for gas because there is NO COMPETITION!
mnaines read my blog view my photos
Jun 2, 2008 | 5:37 PM

In terms of competition for gas, its the same with every other product on the market...Go to Wally's World, look at TVs, then go to Best Buy and look at TVs...I can guarantee you they all sell the exact same things as everyone else, but they add their own little features and additions to call it their own, then they put their own pricetag on it and claim "our price is lowest" to get you to buy "their" product, when in fact it is the exact same product as the other guy.
mnaines read my blog view my photos
Jun 2, 2008 | 5:38 PM

Its the exact same way with gasoline...Each company puts their own additives into the gasoline to call it their own, then they put a price per gallon on it. The reality of it is, it is the exact same gasoline from the exact same well as all the other gas stations sell.
BasehorLady read my blog view my photos
Jun 2, 2008 | 9:02 PM

Got my check today, and the amount is what was promised beforehand. Thank God. It's going straight into savings for emergencies.
jpbikerfreak read my blog view my photos
Jun 3, 2008 | 12:03 PM

We've been over this, jstol. Gas is a commodity. Just like gold, there's a spot price. Gold is gold, oil is oil. Since the product is the same, the market price is the same. The person who is willing to sell the cheapest sets the trend. The others follow or quickly go broke.

TVs and everything else you mention are not commodities. There are many different makes and models, the stores that sell them have various levels of service, etc. Therefore there is a price difference.

If all TVs were exactly the same, you can bet the prices would be the same.

There is competition in the business. Again I ask you to show me a company that controls the majority - or even close - of the market.

Maybe there's not enough, I'll give you that. Mostly that's because the EPA will not allow us to open up our own areas for oil drilling. So we're relying on other countries.
Galanthias read my blog view my photos
Jun 3, 2008 | 7:42 PM

The U.S. has 4 times more oil then the arab countries but our liberal minded congress will not allow us to pursue the oil here because we might kill a woodpecker.

And then everyone is crying about the oil companies that they are making too much money when Exxon spending $8 billion of its profits on the Kearl oil sands project in Alberta, Canada. This project alone is aimed at recovering between 4.5 and 6.5 billion barrels of oil.
jstol3 read my blog
Jun 3, 2008 | 8:41 PM

Galanthias -

Where have you been? Good to see you again!

It would be nice if we could avail ourselves of all of our bounty. We still need to develop alternatives though.
Yvonda read my blog view my photos
Jun 3, 2008 | 11:07 PM

if anyone here thinks for half a second that the congress or any other state or federal entity can not be munipulated you are sadly mistaken. Its happen time and time again with many presidents before and it will happen again just as it has happen NOW . president bush will go out of office and he set himself up pretty sweet . Along with all his accomplices. My opinion! while its still a free country.
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jstol3

independant. If anyone wants to correspond directly with me you can do so at jstol3@netzero.com. I see myself as both a conservative and a conservationist. I despise wastefulness but I don't want environmentalists telling me how to live my life. I'm all for a free market system except when it comes to energy. This is a monopoly thast needs to be regulated! I diverge from most conservatives when it comes to abortion and stem cell research as I belive in freedom of choice and scientific progress as I believe that we were given a brain to think with. Knee jerk reactions and one issue politics turn me off. I am both a Vietnam veteran and former Vietnam war protester (we should have been allowed to win). I am an advocate of the war in Iraq (as long as we do what we have to to win) and the war on terror.

Member Since: 11/2/2006