I for one am appauled by this whole situation. We are, as others have stated, right where they (oil companies) want us. I am sure there is no true reason for these astronomical price increases beside a nice profit margin for the controlling parties. These people are just full of bs excuses. Just on the radio it stated that there is a potential increase of $.30 a gallon due to the incoming hurricane, well the hurricane hit, it was very much less detrimental than expected and very little damage was actually done, especially to the oil rigs. So now they say just due to speculation of the damage the gas prices will rise... WTF kind of logic is that, they increase prices as a f'ing precaution... gee thanks.

I understand that oil is a business, but they must also understand that our society is a business as well, and when we run out of money, they get burned as well. I have already cut my driving in half; no more trips home for lunch, no weekend trips, and I have compacted all the driving that I can into single trips. I never drive my truck anymore, maybe once a month, I only start it every weekend. I only drive my protege, and as little as possible.

I simply can't afford driving for pleasure right now, and I await the day when many people are forced into similiar situations. If this continues I sure hope the American people don't stand for it. I know that there may not be much we can do as far as regulating prices but this is becoming an outrage. When the huge increases begin to drive small companies out-of-business forcing the unemployment rate upwards then consumer spending will take a huge plunge, and so will the US demand for oil, as well as already dwindling automobile market.... I am just angry, had to vent.....

 

Where from?

 

Mmmmmmmmmmmm......tuuunnaaa suuuub.....mmmmmmmmmm......

 

DAMN-SKIPPY!

 

I for one ain't buying into the victim role. I don't like paying $70 to fill my truck. I knew gas prices where only going to climb and still bought the truck. There were many reasons for my decision to buy my truck and gas prices certainly didn't change that fact.

Are oil companies making money? Yes.

Should they be? Yes.

If I was in their position I would be doing the same thing. It has been discussed here already but supply and demand are part of the equation. Futures trading and Wall Street play a part. The American consumer must shoulder some blame.

I'm not going to jump on companies for making money. I don’t hope for the day where driving for pleasure is cost prohibitive. To be frank, driving in and of itself is a choice for convenience and not a cost conscious behavior.

I ask people this question when they complain about fuel costs or any other item that is priced high at the moment. How much in Federal income tax was removed from your last check? Most people don’t know or only vaguely know. Net is all they care about. Why not cry about the biggest gouger in existence today. The government. I won’t complain about private industries as long as my government is screwing me over with each check.

 

Perhaps in Europe this statement is true, last time I checked the layout is a little different here, and public transportation sucks. Our society is too widely spaced to call transportation a choice for convenience. If most people do not drive how do you presume they will get to work??? Most people I know live at least 10 to 15 miles from work, would you ride your bike that far? How about go pick up a load of groceries... would you put on your back. Yeah right, Driving has become a necessary mode of transportation, it is not a luxury or a convenience. The type of transportation you use, aka type of car you drive, is a choice between utility and luxury, not the driving itself.

Oh and as for the other question you ask most people reagarding taxes, I lose 33% of my paychecks. This is only because; I don't own a home, I am a young single white male, and i have 3 jobs to support myself.

 

Yeah, I like it when they don't fight back...
Just lay down and take that ***** like a man! (Big Oil)
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Climb is one thing; skyrocket is another... What else in society has doubled in cost in the last two years, aside maybe from Health Insurance (those bast@rds- don't even get me started with them)?

PS- I don't like getting jacked for over $17,000.00 a year by Uncle Sam either.
I'm all for a flat tax- It's a dam*ed shame that I paid over $17,000 in Federal income taxes last year, My wife chipped in another $8,000. Even with a new baby, interest on two houses, and standard deductions- we still owed Uncle Sam money.

So, I'm all for flat tax.

It's focked up we pay tax on every penny we make, then pay sales tax on every farking thing we buy too...

They're double-dipping us at a state and federal level.

 

Nope -- never had any! I've just been furtively crunching the numbers all afternoon to see if there is a way I could justify to the wife that trading my old Ford Ranger in on a new Mustang GT would generate enough savings to pay for it!

It doesn't look like I'm gonna be able to make it work on that trade, unfortunately!

 

Yeah; it doesn't work when you upgrade, unless you find a vehicle that retains its value very well, and has good gas mileage... Perhaps I could interest you in a new Toyota Camry? My boss lives 60 miles from here, and just traded his F-250 on a Toyota Prius Hybrid. Nice little car...

I hate to see our F-150 go (We haven't decided yet- we have until Sept 6th when Ford family pricing ends; as will I'm sure- all others..) We're considering the following as replacement vehicles:

Ford Five Hundred (Family & X-plan)
Chrysler 300 (Partnership Discount)
Nissan Altima 2.5S (Vehicle Purchase plan Discount)
Honda Accord EX (4 cyl) HArd to match in the bang-for-the-buck avenue
Honda CR-V: Useful space, and fuel economy.
Toyota Matrix
Ford Focus ZX3 or ZX5
Mazda 3 (5-door) Don't ask me why I love this little car.

We'll keep the Expedition for family trips and weekends, until gas goes down- or I get a big raise. I didn't hesitate to buy the Expy, but- when I bought it, gas was $1.29 a gallon. I had no idea that within 2 years, gas would go up by 100%.

 

I don't know your political stance, but if you like supporting liberals Progressive is a great choice, Peter B. Lewis is the quiet version of George Soros. No I'm not a Bush bot either, I have a number of issues with which I disagree (strongly) with him.

 

Oh, now don't play the victim, you should feel lucky that they want your money...

It would be one thing if the $15,000 in income tax alone, I paid last year actually went to something meaningful. Instead I don't even know where the hell it goes. Social Security that I will never see, or maybe to maintaining the destroyed, pot-hole filled roads that I drive on every day, perhaps it goes to medicare where my dad spends $6500 a month to keep my grandmother in a convelescent home. Oh wait, I know where it goes, duh it probably goes to those poor F*CKING illegal immigrant families that have 10 kids and no way to support themselves in the form of welfare, yep that must be it... oh what a wonderful cause!!!!

I sure love my government, I mean wow they must really care about me, yep. I feel so happy that I am used as source of income for all those high-rate politicians and all there very important decisions to take care of me...

Regardless of the government's much unwanted intervention it does not make it okay for the oil companies to add to the issues by thriving for 300% profit margins.

 

I got some stuff I'm conservative about, and I have some things I'm liberal about.

When it comes to paying high-@$$ gas prices, I'm conservative. When it comes to paying cheaper rates on my insurance, I'm liberal.

When it comes to school uniforms I'm conservative; when it comes to out-lawing the proposed banning the sight a pubes in women's hip-hugger jeans, and eliminating the viewing of cleavage and midrift with crop-top shirts; I become liberal (Let's see it baby!)

Murder: I'm Conservative
Prostitution: I'm Liberal

Beating someone's **** in the parking lot for commenting on my parking skills: I'm Conservative. (j/k Jamz)

Chasing some bast2rd down Dallas Parkway the other night because they almost hit my car, almost running me off the road- while jawwing it up on their cell phone. I'm Liberal

 

Shoot, CIA, you are just Confused. You are Indepenent!

 

Yep, I am very much on the fence...

 

A liberal would not chase anyone down the street unless there were 200:1 at a protest an the single persona was disabled. Pubes are nice, but that's indecent and not to be out in the general public, pay a quarter for a peeop show, go to a tittay bar, or move to Phrance. I don't need to explain pubic hair to my sons. Sometimes people in parking lots need their assed kicked. Such is life. Cleavage is good, petter suited for public than crotch hair. There's a place and time for everything. Since I tend to stick to my political beliefs like Jenna J on a pecker on OT, I choose not to spend my $$$$ with companies that atr anti-whatever my position is. Sucks too because I loved Levi's Silver Tab jeans, but they're anti gun so I spend my $ elsewhere.


Personally for every 10 sub compacts that I run off the road and into a water filled ditch, that's like a free tank of gas from lack of competition.