GAS PRICE INCREASE...

[ckhagman]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VTSTOMPER:
Thank god I pre-bought my home heating oil!

Something will happen - it always does. Remember the 70's? I don't, but my parants told me about it! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

The funny thing about the 70's oil crisis was the fact that the media and government led everyone to believe that there was a gas shortage and there wasn't.

[Klaus]

There were long lines at the gas pumps last night (police were having to direct traffic). Some stations have run dry.

The Colonial Pipeline as been restarted at 25% capacity, so that should start slowing down the prices.

Here's the story I posted on the pipline:

http://elcova.com/groupee/forums/a/t...1/m/7831061831

[Klaus]

Read 'em and weep!

[KenP]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by slgcmng:
new guy here.. this is pathetic. this is going to kill the economy. there is no way in hell that our already weak economy can sustain this more then 3 weeks. the retailers will suffer. the general public will only go to and from work. no more going out for dinner, shopping etc. bush better step it up. we spent billions of $$ and lost lives helping a worthless country when all the money could have been pumped into our own economy and helping us here. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>Our economy is not weak.

Excuse me? We didn't go to Iraq to help them. We went there to secure the safety of America. That cesspool was a breading ground for terrorists, just like Afganistan. Thank God for President Bush and his steadfast intolerance to terrorism. Another hit and we'd be ****ed.

[slgcmg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by Dan:
<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by desertfox:
Until you understand geopolitics and WHY America is at war, you should shut the **** up. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

</div></BLOCKQUOTE>



There sure are some angry/sensative people here.


I voted for Bush in the last term because there was no one else to vote for, and because I am a republican. What I meant about spending billions of dollars was that some of that money could have been used to build more oil refiniries here in the states so we would not have to be at the mercy of foreign countries that really don't like us anyways. I am not a liberal by any means what-so-ever. I am a republican and will always be, however I do not like what has taken place since Bush's term. Granted he had to clean up a lot of Clinton's mess, but we had the money to do that and chose to give it to another country to rebuild, when all that is going to happen is it being blown back up by suicide bombers. Iraq doesn't scare me but Korea does.

[JMV1210]

On the way to work at 715 am the prices were $251, on the way home around 4pm, gas was at $277 for 87 octane. Yet the gas company continues to make billons. Unbelievable.

[mr.jeepster]

[QUO
So if you lift up your dress, I bet you have a snatch under there, you little girl. Get in the box, fucixx new fish. You and your 50 posts………..pathetic[/quote]

Pathetic is having nothing better to do with your life than post here on this forum. I don't have many posts, true. I have a life. And I understand who builds refineries. And you, sir, are still quite the little moron. Have a nice day. Thanks for keeping me laughing.

BTW - You shouldn't be so interested in the snatches of little girls. You'll end up in prison. Now why don't you get off the computer and go for a drive? Maybe we'll meet on the trail and I'll buy you a beer.

[TBDAugs]

Price gouging: great article, thanks for posting it

BTW if you have a Maverick or Flying J in your area sign up for their club card. It's free and you get a 2 cent per gallon discount at the pump.

Regular unleaded here with club card discount is $2.63.

UtahAugs

[MUH_HUM]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by DennisAJC:
Shut the **** up Homely. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Fixed er up.

[VTSTOMPER]

ok, Today we had every station at $2.80, and then one station that stayed at $2.60...there was a line for 500 feet of cars/trucks bumper to bumper waiting for gas! I just laughed because my tank is full...when it runs low I will be in line probably.

[Hart1]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">BP is a true "GOUGER" and ought to be taken to it's knees for doing so. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Let ’Em Gouge: A Defense of Price Gouging

by Jerry Taylor & Peter VanDoren
Jerry Taylor is director of natural resource studies at the Cato Institute, and Peter VanDoren is editor of Regulation, the Cato Review of Business and Government.

Gasoline prices have gone up from a national average of $1.22 a year ago to a startling $1.71 today. The industry says it's supply and demand. Consumer activists say it's gouging. Who's right? Well, both are.

The supply and demand explanation is straightforward. On top of the Venezuelan labor strike and war jitters in the Middle East, the winter in the northeast — a region that relies heavily on heating oil — has been unusually cold. Refineries have accordingly been making heating oil rather than gasoline, so gasoline supplies are relatively scarce. Scarce gasoline = rising prices.

But what constitutes price gouging? To many, "gouging" is selling something at the highest level that the market will bear regardless of production costs. By that definition, we are indeed being gouged at the pump. Gasoline prices have risen faster than the price of crude oil.

But pricing goods and services at the highest level that the market will bear is what everyone in a capitalist economy does every day. Moreover, it happens regardless of whether prices are rising or falling. Oil companies were trying just as hard to charge what the market would bear in December 2001 when gasoline was $1.13 a gallon as they are now. Given present scarcities, however, the market can bear a higher price today than yesterday.

Why the constant government investigations only when prices are rising? Because to many, pricing significantly above cost is immoral and politicians and the press are in the business of finding immoral dragons to slay.

What has really set the moralizers off this time is the revelation that the gouging is often both tightly targeted and coldly calculated. The industry calls it "zone pricing." Essentially, oil companies examine small geographic areas, consider how much retail competition exists, estimate the willingness of motorists to look elsewhere for gasoline, and price accordingly. Consumer activists are aghast that oil companies would go so far to extract every penny they can out of a gallon of gas.

Price discounting, however, clearly benefits the consumers who receive the discounts. But how about those consumers who pay prices higher than the discount? Economists of all stripes who've studied the effect of differential pricing based on the willingness of consumers to search for lower prices have concluded that consumers overall are likely to benefit if sales are higher with price discrimination than without it. That's because those consumers less sensitive to prices pay more of the fixed costs of doing business.

Regardless, most people view the practice of zone pricing in gasoline markets as unfairly taking advantage of consumers. Yet many of those same people — who will curse a blue streak if you put them in front of a camera and ask them about "Big Oil" — are as we speak putting their houses on the market and enthusiastically gouging the living daylights out of anyone looking for a new home. And what's more, they're zone pricing! Surprisingly, however, no one ever rages against real estate price gouging. In fact, the opposite is the case. Business reporters gush about returns and politicians pledge to do whatever it takes to keep the real estate bubble afloat.

So is price gouging okay if you're the gouger but not the gougee? It would appear so. But in reality, price gouging — like spinach — may be unappealing at first bite but it's good for everyone in the long run. Gougers are sending an important signal to market actors that something is scarce and that profits are available to those who produce or sell that something. Gouging thus sets off an economic chain reaction that ultimately remedies the shortages that led to the gouging in the first place. Without such signals, we'd never know how to efficiently invest our resources. Moreover, we'd have no idea what to conserve. It's no exaggeration to state that, without such price signals, our economy would look like Cuba's.

There's a catch, however. If the government artificially restricts supply, those price signals will fall on deaf ears. Local zoning ordinances, for instance, often prevent real estate developers from answering the call from desperate home-buyers. They also frequently prevent new service stations from popping up to challenge the local micro-monopoly.

Blame not the price gouger. Blame the government that won't let the price gouger do his job.

This article originally appeared on NRO on April 1, 2003.

[RiverRacerX]

Heard it will reach $4.00 by Friday.

Checked the prices near me on the way to work: Burbank, CA.
2.99
3.09
3.19

Get this: $3.29 for Diesel!!

[slgcmg]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by desertfox:
I voted for Bush in the last term because there was no one else to vote for, and because I am a republican. What I meant about spending billions of dollars was that some of that money could have been used to build more oil refiniries here in the states so we would not have to be at the mercy of foreign countries that really don't like us anyways. I am not a liberal by any means what-so-ever.

Not a liberal, perhaps. But a ****ing moron? Definitely. The government doesn't build refineries. This is not a socialist country. Private busiuness builds them WHEN the leaf-lickers allow it. They don't. So they haven't. So here we are. A smiley face at the end of a moronic sentence does not disguise or excuse the ignorance of the statement. I'll stay out of the box. You just keep fishin'. *******. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

You are such a pleasant fellow.

[KenP]

It looks like half the retailers around here have already jumped in price.

[mr.jeepster]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by JMV1210:
</div></BLOCKQUOTE> BTW - You shouldn't be so interested in the snatches of little girls. You'll end up in prison. Now why don't you get off the computer and go for a drive? Maybe we'll meet on the trail and I'll buy you a beer.[/quote]

Buy me a beer? Split personality?[/quote]

No, not a split personality. I just don't take this **** too seriously. You don't really take this seriously, do you???

[KenP]

We're expecting about .60 increase tonight.

[mr.jeepster]

I voted for Bush in the last term because there was no one else to vote for, and because I am a republican. What I meant about spending billions of dollars was that some of that money could have been used to build more oil refiniries here in the states so we would not have to be at the mercy of foreign countries that really don't like us anyways. I am not a liberal by any means what-so-ever.

Not a liberal, perhaps. But a ****ing moron? Definitely. The government doesn't build refineries. This is not a socialist country. Private busiuness builds them WHEN the leaf-lickers allow it. They don't. So they haven't. So here we are. A smiley face at the end of a moronic sentence does not disguise or excuse the ignorance of the statement. I'll stay out of the box. You just keep fishin'. *******.

[Spike]

I just got back from the gas station. I paid $2.75 per gallon. The gas station was a zoo, I think people are starting to panic from the news. I saw on the news today that gas was going for $6.09 per gallon in Atlanta.

[h2co-pilot]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by VTSTOMPER:
Holy NINJA 250 batman! </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

[MUH_HUM]

VIENNA, Austria - From papal prayers to telegrams from China, the world reacted with an outpouring of compassion Wednesday for the victims of Hurricane Katrina in messages tinged by shock that a disaster of this scale could occur in the United States.

Islamic extremists rejoiced in America’s misfortune, giving the storm a military rank and declaring in Internet chatter that “Private” Katrina had joined the global jihad, or holy war. With “God’s help,” they declared, oil prices would hit $100 a barrel this year.

Venezuela’s government, which has had tense relations with Washington, offered humanitarian aid and fuel if requested.

The storm was seen as an equalizer — proof that any country, weak or strong, can be victimized by a natural disaster. Images of flood-ravaged New Orleans earned particular sympathy in central Europe, where dozens died in raging floodwaters only days ago.

“Nature proved that no matter how rich and economically developed you are, you can’t fight it,” says Danut Afasei, a local official in Romania’s Harghita county, where flooding killed 13 people last week.

Mourning for 'European' city
Throughout Europe, concerned citizens lamented the loss of life and the damage caused to New Orleans, often described as one of North America’s most “European” cities.

French President Jacques Chirac and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder sent messages of sympathy to President Bush. Chirac, who has famously quarreled with Bush over the Iraq war, addressed this letter, “Dear George.”

Pope Benedict XVI said he was praying for victims of the “tragic” hurricane while China’s President Hu Jintao expressed his “belief that that the American people will definitely overcome the natural disaster and rebuild their beautiful homeland.”

Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II also sent a message to Bush saying she was “deeply shocked and saddened” at the devastation caused by the hurricane and expressing her condolences, “especially to the families of those who have lost their lives, to the injured and to all who have been affected by this terrible disaster.”

The U.S. Embassy in Bern, Switzerland — a capital at the foot of the Alps hit by flooding last week — said calls were rushing in from Swiss individuals and institutions looking for a way to donate to relief efforts.

“We are getting calls from the Swiss public looking to express their condolences, (and) people are also asking for an account number where they can make donations,” said spokesman Daniel Wendell.

Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz called President Bush offering condolences to the victims of the disaster.

On Monday, Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources Ali Al-Naimi said that Saudi Arabia was prepared to immediately increase its crude oil production to ease the effects of Hurricane Katrina and stabilize world crude prices.

Arguing over aid
The Internet-edition of the Vienna daily Der Standard had recorded 820 postings commenting on a front-page story on the hurricane. One posting asked where money could be donated to the victims, but the question sparked a debate about whether a rich country like the United States needed such aid.

A response argued that hurricane victims who are poor still needed support.

Amid the sympathy, however, there was criticism.

As U.S. military engineers struggled to shore up breached levees, experts in the Netherlands expressed surprise that New Orleans’ flood systems failed to restrain the raging waters.

With half of the country’s population of 16 million living below sea level, the Netherlands prepared for a “perfect storm” soon after floods in 1953 killed 2,000 people. The nation installed massive hydraulic sea walls.

Amid sympathy, criticism
“I don’t want to sound overly critical, but it’s hard to imagine that (the damage caused by Katrina) could happen in a Western country,” said Ted Sluijter, spokesman for the park where the sea walls are exhibited. “It seemed like plans for protection and evacuation weren’t really in place, and once it happened, the coordination was on loose hinges.”

The sympathy was muted in some corners by a sense that the United States reaped what it sowed, since the country is seen as the main contributor to global warming.