$2.29 a Gallon!!

[deliriousga]

Originally Posted by longislander1

Rove's probably working on it right now.

Is there any other response from the left side of the aisle out there?

There have been no new refineries approved in over 20 years. I know it's convenient to leave out other past administrations to try and create a conspiracy, but the environmental nut cases are the ones who have made it impossible to get a refinery approved and I don't believe they support the current administration. Elementary economics shows any company that makes X cents per unit would want to have more units to sell. If their cost is less and they can sell it for less and make the same profit per unit but sell more units, they will (see WalMart for reference).

The gas prices are below where they should be when accounting for inflation over the last 20 years. They were much lower, until we stopped domestic exploration and China and India started exploding in growth. We have a find in the midwest U.S. that would make us 100% energy independent for the next 100+ years, but that last President's mad dash to try and screw up things for the next guy signed a billion last minute executive orders including one making the find completely off limits. Now there's some brilliance.

10 years ago we had legislation to start extracting from Anwar defeated, but of course the "problems" voiced by the opposition were "It will take 10 years to actually get oil out of the ground so how will that help?" and "It will harm the wildlife in the area." The latter has been proven false by the explosion in wildlife around the Alaskan pipeline (same arguement used against that) and it seems to me that it is now 10 years later and the same people are griping about the price of gas.

We also have great finds off our shores in the Gulf of Mexico that are not allowed to be extracted. Oh yeah, that is exept for by Cuba. They can extract all the oil they want off of OUR coast because they are intelligent enough to know if you need it you go get it.

Btw, your higher than average price "close to the refinery" includes the raping of the citizens of NY through the state and local tax system. One of the reasons they're all moving down here and my price is $2.22/gal with no refineries I know of in the state.

I bought regular unleaded yesterday in Chester, IL (home of Popeye) for $2.06/gallon.

[longislander1]

From today's paper:

"WASHINGTON, Sept. 20 — Four government auditors who monitor leases for oil and gas on federal property say the Interior Department suppressed their efforts to recover millions of dollars from companies they said were cheating the government.

"The accusations, many of them in four lawsuits that were unsealed last week by federal judges in Oklahoma, represent a rare rebellion by government investigators against their own agency.

"The auditors contend that they were blocked by their bosses from pursuing more than $30 million in fraudulent underpayments of royalties for oil produced in publicly owned waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

'The agency has lost its sense of mission, which is to protect American taxpayers,' said Bobby L. Maxwell, who was formerly in charge of Gulf of Mexico auditing. 'These are assets that belong to the American public, and they are supposed to be used for things like education, public infrastructure and roadways.'

"The lawsuits have surfaced as Democrats and Republicans alike are questioning the Bush administration’s willingness to challenge the oil and gas industry."

Please focus on the last sentence. I rest my case.

[Perfectlap]

doesn't matter if you are Republican or Democrat you are still being screwed by the Oil and Gas Industry who have the politicians in their back pocket.
You can close your eyes to it and say its a free capitalist society and there are no corrupt practices going on whatsoever in this industry, if you believe that there's a bridge here that just went on sale.
Doesn't matter if we explore and find more oil we'll just come up with new ways to consume at record levels with big stupid SUV and pick up trucks.
This country is out of control with consumption, corruption and indiference.

Meanwhile we owe more than we have ever owed in our entire history as a nationand we ship more of our manufacturing jobs to China then we have ever. These twin deficits have acclerated at an unprecedented level while the country is too busy being either apathetic or partisan.

We've dropped half a trillion on a war to install a democratic government in Iraq that will 99.9% likely be just as anti-american as the previous not-so democratic government(brilliant thanks! any other great ideas??).

each day the financial world see us less capable of handling our finances with more than a four year outlook in mind. Anybody that has had anything to do with our current foreign/fiscal situation, democrat or republican, needs to be sent on a permanent vacation. A bigger collection of clueless clowns have never been assembled in Washington and wait until it all starts to bite our long term fiscal future in the arse. Michael and LaToya Jackson could do a better job of managing our wealth then the morons we elect.

p.s.
I live in Jersey near some major Exxon refineries, the right likes to reference "tree huggers" and "eco extremists" but when you have lived with poor air quality your whole life (very very bad at times) you know its bigger than left vs. right politics, its a daily real world experience that we are in fact destroying our clean air and water. Its no myth.

[Brucelee]

For the conspiracy guys out there.

How much should gasoline cost and how do you know that?

If the oil companies are manipulating this, tell me how they control the spot market for oil prices?

If OPEC can't control oil prices then how can the gas refiners?

If the price of gas follows the price of oil and even the pumping nations can't control these prices, how do the oil companies act as a monopoly.

Bueller, Beuller?

[Brucelee]

The price of gas is falling due to reduced demand. Happens every fall.

The price increases in summer due to increased demand. Happens every summer.

How does the oil company control prices again?

[z12358]

brucelee:
"The price of gas is falling due to reduced demand. Happens every fall.
The price increases in summer due to increased demand. Happens every summer."

Bruce, do I see a hedge fund in the making?
Z.