Topic: $6 gas

[spaldy]

Latest projection by some "experts" is $6 this summer.

[sleeinwv]

I say the hell with the tree huggers and the middle east....let's start tapping into north/south dakota/wyoming area....reports say there is more oil there than all of the middle east.....

[GreenBison60]

Yea the tree huggers suck. They can blame Bush all they want, but Noboma isn't doing anything to help. He is only making it worse by off shore drilling moratorium and his green gocarts. DRILL BABY DRILL and FRACK BABY FRACK!!!!! Let's get back to America and bring jobs to this country and become energy independent. Piss on liberal tree huggers!!!!!

[_sturt_]

This thread is lacking intelligence.

Presidents have almost nothing to do with gas prices... "oil buddies" or not.

The price of oil is a matter of current and projected world oil inventories vs current and projected world demand.

[Herd 90]

This thread is lacking intelligence.

Presidents have almost nothing to do with gas prices... "oil buddies" or not.

The price of oil is a matter of current and projected world oil inventories vs current and projected world demand.

Ahh.  A sign of intelligence.

[herdfan429]

Hmm it has to do with world supply and our president won't allow us to drill our own oil thus increasing supply. Yep you are right the president can't do anything to increase supply.

[spaldy]

The US is somewhere between #1 - #5 in proven oil deposits.  However,  due to regulation and bans on drilling they are not even in the top 10 in oil production. 

Obviously the president sets the tone and congress writes the law but in the end it's the petty little washing bureacrats that are not elected and answer to no one that pretty much ensure we'll never be energy independent.   

Congress seems unable to take on these regulatory dictators.

[luvherd]

While folks argue over social issues (gay rights, guns, abortions,etc), both parties know our eye is off the MONEY and we get stuck with what the lobbyists want.

[_sturt_]

Hmm it has to do with world supply and our president won't allow us to drill our own oil thus increasing supply. Yep you are right the president can't do anything to increase supply.

We don't have enough supply to make that much difference, though, 429. As it is, it's my understanding that we actually don't get but about 10-15% of our oil from the middle east to begin with. Sure, do what you can... I agree we can and should drill in ANWR and elsewhere... for the long-term good. But don't pretend that this recent price inflation is about anything other than the volatility of the market due to the political pressures that have risen in Libya and other dictator-run nations.

One small correction... our president doesn't get to decide those things on his own, of course... there's the matter of having a Congress that for now is half Dem.

[_sturt_]

Ahh.  A sign of intelligence.

90, I'd sure like to think you were among the "intelligent" libs who, indeed, took issue with all the lefty piling-on that occurred, criticizing Bush as-if he were imparting a last-go-round gift to his "oil buddies" as he left office... somehow, though, I get the feeling from your other posts that evidence of your exercise of common sense on that one probably is lacking...  :P

[herdfan429]

Sturt the congress has nothing to do with presidential orders and the epa

[Herd 90]

90, I'd sure like to think you were among the "intelligent" libs

I could out-think and out-reason most cons even if I were under the influence of horse tranquilizers.   :P

[GreenBison60]

Herd90 you couldn't out think a conservative if you had to. Nothing on the LIB side works. This country was founded on conservative ideas and that is why this country became the greatest country on the face of the earth. Now some so called conservatives have lost their way and Bush sure lost his way. Never vetoing a spending bill his first 6 years in office and not keeping his eye on the ball at times. But everytime a Gov't becomes to big and intrusive the worse things become. When you become a nanny state you start going downhill, PERIOD!!! Because you end up with so many people that sit back and accept a low income lifestyle that the Gov't will give you and the other half has to support them. And eventually there are more that needs supported than there are supporting. And then you have a problem (see Europe). And we are heading there. We need to get back to TRUE conservatism, not what Bush or some of the so called conservative repubs of the past claim. Self resposibilty, Low taxes and a reason to want to start a company and small business, simplify the tax code and get rid of the deductions or faze them out over time. Yes Ryans plan is to cut taxes on all. But getting rid of the loopholes and deductions. That should make you happy!!! Then the mean ole rich guy can't find ways to beat the tax system. I'm all for that. Another words if you are in the 10% bracket and made 20k you will pay 2k. If you are in the 25% tax bracket and you make 500% you will pay 125k. Would you think that would be fair? everyone would pay something into the sytem, while the wealthy would be paying a LOT more than the avg joe. Simplify the TAX CODE and stop the deductions and loopholes and classwarfare!!!!!

[_sturt_]

Sturt the congress has nothing to do with presidential orders and the epa

429 to your comment:

True, Congress has nothing to do with presidential orders.

False, Congress does have influence with the EPA, and have the legislative ability to broaden or restrict their powers, as well as their budget.

But to the point of this thread, Congress would have to approve drilling in ANWR and other currently protected areas.

[_sturt_]

I could out-think and out-reason most cons even if I were under the influence of horse tranquilizers.   :P

Amusing, but not responsive to my comment.

Consistency, objectivity and balance are good aspirations to have, no matter whether you lean left or right.

[Herd 90]

Amusing, but not responsive to my comment.

Consistency, objectivity and balance are good aspirations to have, no matter whether you lean left or right.

I do agree.  But I like to have fun at times and load a post with hyperbole just to blow off smoke or get a rise out of some.  :D

[Johnnyherd]

Presidents have almost nothing to do with gas prices... "oil buddies" or not.

After all the price of gas raising out of control will only cause a huge jump the price of every good, product and service produced or used in America.  Long term effects of inflation, higher costs of goverment, higher taxes, downsizing and unemployment are completely out of his hands and not his responsiblity.

His main responsiblities as President are fumbling around, playing with his dog, playing basketball, taking vacations and doing homework with his children.

[phillyherdfan]

What a fun pack o' lies that keeps cropping up like clockwork every few years when gas prices rise: That if we'd just open up all of that sweet, sweet American coastline and heartland for drilling, prices at the pump would come tumbling down! Politicians can be expected to make this claim every time gas prices climb to the $4 range -- which, of course, is still really, really cheap, considering. We hear the asinine calls to Drill, Baby, Drill, or whatever variant is currently being touted, whenever pols sniff an opportunity in the air to award their oil buddies some more prime real estate ... but of course, the underlying justification is simply not true.

The current iteration of the pro-drilling blitz is the misguided notion that Obama is somehow holding the nation in a regulatory stranglehold -- without which cheap oil would be flowing into gas stations everywhere! That's the notion that House National Resource Committee chairman Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) has been pushing, but as this nice little takedown from http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2011/04/pr20110425/ shows, it's simply not true:

• The oil and gas industry has failed to use more than two-thirds of the offshore leases they hold in the Gulf of Mexico and more than half of those they hold onshore.
• The industry has almost 7,200 drilling permits on federal lands that it hasn't used yet, according to BLM data obtained by E&E news.
• In Wyoming alone, the oil and gas industry has idled nearly 12,000 natural gas wells that were actually producing. The cause? A "downturn in pricing" - in other words, low natural gas prices, according to Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission supervisor Tom Doll.
• As the head of the Energy Information Administration told Hastings' panel the other day, opening up more federal lands to oil drilling will have at best a marginal impact on gas prices and even if there is a reduction it could be erased by OPEC cutting production.
• The United States has 1,738 drill rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and gas right now, a 20 percent increase over a year ago. That's more than the rest of the world has combined, not including Russia and China

So, please turn off FOX news and understand issues before you spout off that Obama should be run out of office for what ever FOX comes up with this week.

[_sturt_]

What a fun pack o' lies that keeps cropping up like clockwork every few years when gas prices rise: That if we'd just open up all of that sweet, sweet American coastline and heartland for drilling, prices at the pump would come tumbling down! Politicians can be expected to make this claim every time gas prices climb to the $4 range -- which, of course, is still really, really cheap, considering. We hear the asinine calls to Drill, Baby, Drill, or whatever variant is currently being touted, whenever pols sniff an opportunity in the air to award their oil buddies some more prime real estate ... but of course, the underlying justification is simply not true.

The current iteration of the pro-drilling blitz is the misguided notion that Obama is somehow holding the nation in a regulatory stranglehold -- without which cheap oil would be flowing into gas stations everywhere! That's the notion that House National Resource Committee chairman Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) has been pushing, but as this nice little takedown from http://pr.thinkprogress.org/2011/04/pr20110425/ shows, it's simply not true:

• The oil and gas industry has failed to use more than two-thirds of the offshore leases they hold in the Gulf of Mexico and more than half of those they hold onshore.
• The industry has almost 7,200 drilling permits on federal lands that it hasn't used yet, according to BLM data obtained by E&E news.
• In Wyoming alone, the oil and gas industry has idled nearly 12,000 natural gas wells that were actually producing. The cause? A "downturn in pricing" - in other words, low natural gas prices, according to Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission supervisor Tom Doll.
• As the head of the Energy Information Administration told Hastings' panel the other day, opening up more federal lands to oil drilling will have at best a marginal impact on gas prices and even if there is a reduction it could be erased by OPEC cutting production.
• The United States has 1,738 drill rigs actively exploring for or producing oil and gas right now, a 20 percent increase over a year ago. That's more than the rest of the world has combined, not including Russia and China

So, please turn off FOX news and understand issues before you spout off that Obama should be run out of office for what ever FOX comes up with this week.

philly, I'm typically in your corner on most things, but of every point you made above, there is actually only one (see bold) that is relevant to the thread.

As for the others, the degree to which companies are drilling in areas that have already been fairly well-established doesn't actually say anything beyond that the companies do not perceive sufficient profit at this point in time to make use of the permits they've obtained... that may occur later, but for now, that's not the case. What is right about the "drill baby drill" push is that there are coastal areas (not "federal lands" per se) where we have not drilled that potentially could be extremely lucrative, and, aggregated, could have impact on world oil supply. I'm not arguing in favor of it necessarily, but I think it's going to continue to be a worthy debate.

[GreenBison60]

What a stupid bunch of LIBS. Yes let's don't drill at all in this country. And let's let Obama and the EPA shut down coal. Let's not go after the huge natural gas reserves we have in this country. We are going to use these things but let's just by them from other countries. What a bunch of MORONS we have in this country. EVERY little bit helps and we should be drilling and mining and going after every ounce of natural gas we have. It would not only create jobs in THIS country but when you add it all together it would help our dependency on foreign energy. Bunch of leftist tree huggers. I hate the SOB's!!!!!

[phillyherdfan]

philly, I'm typically in your corner on most things, but of every point you made above, there is actually only one (see bold) that is relevant to the thread.

As for the others, the degree to which companies are drilling in areas that have already been fairly well-established doesn't actually say anything beyond that the companies do not perceive sufficient profit at this point in time to make use of the permits they've obtained... that may occur later, but for now, that's not the case. What is right about the "drill baby drill" push is that there are coastal areas (not "federal lands" per se) where we have not drilled that potentially could be extremely lucrative, and, aggregated, could have impact on world oil supply. I'm not arguing in favor of it necessarily, but I think it's going to continue to be a worthy debate.

I think all points were relavent... "Drill, Baby, Drill" was mentioned in this thread... and many Americans are crazily calling for a president's head because they some how think he's responsible for gas prices rising.  My point of listing FACTS is to show that a simple fox news 15 second nugget is not enough to gain an understanding of the real cause of gas prices rising... it's NOT because we're failing to drill our coastlines and federal lands.

Gas prices are rising not due to shortages... but, due to greed and profits.  Yes, even american oil companies are "gouging" americans.  It's not a middle east problem... it's a capitalism "problem" and the oil companies are making far more money now than they did at $3.00 a gallon.  Usage has not been affected (to any degree).  

The real reason the oil and gas companies are not drilling us land and waters is because there is no need to drill... they're getting all the oil they need from the middle east and drilling in US lands is NOT going to lower prices, so why make the investment.  Until the oil reserves dry up in the middle east (or they start serious embargos) it's simply not going to happen.

As a consumer, the simple answer is to use less... sell the Navigator, live closer to where you work or work closer to where you live.

[Johnnyherd]

As a part of an agreement of the US attorney general, he could allow Exxon to escape criminal prosecution for the Gulf Oil spill by supplementing the US with gas to avoid inflationary spikes in fuel prices.

He could "Sell" all the billions of dollars of concrete, buildings and resources that we are leaving in Iraq as we withdraw.  Or if they do not with to purchase it, destroy it.  He could mortgage it to them for 30 year of discounted oil.

He could issue executive orders, followed later by Congress with legislation that pressure the oil companies to sell to the US at reasonable prices.

He is the leader of the free world.  His leadership and voice are required to make monumental changes.  

[phillyherdfan]

As a part of an agreement of the US attorney general, he could allow Exxon to escape criminal prosecution for the Gulf Oil spill by supplementing the US with gas to avoid inflationary spikes in fuel prices.

He could "Sell" all the billions of dollars of concrete, buildings and resources that we are leaving in Iraq as we withdraw.  Or if they do not with to purchase it, destroy it.  He could mortgage it to them for 30 year of discounted oil.

He could issue executive orders, followed later by Congress with legislation that pressure the oil companies to sell to the US at reasonable prices.

He is the leader of the free world.  His leadership and voice are required to make monumental changes.  

Even though GreenBison thinks I'm some flaming liberal (I'm not)... so, you won't get any argument from me that more needs to be done. 

But, I also don't think Exxon should get a pass for their failures... the states will be left with the bills and that is completely unacceptable.  I also don't think our govt should be making deals to lower gas prices... I would argue that would be collusion and the other oil companies would sue our govt into oblivion.

On the Iraq buildings.. how do you make the link from abandoned american buildings there to global oil companies lowering their prices at the pump?  So, Iraq lowers their per barrel price... do you really think the oil companies will lower their prices as a response?  Why, when their profit margins will increase?  Whats the forcing mechanism for them to do this?

On legislation - THIS (In my opinion) is the answer.  You can trace nearly all of this back to The Commodity Futures Modernization Act of 2000 (brought to us by R's and D's) in the Clinton Administration, This one act is ultimately responsible for the soaring prices of gas and food around the world.  Basically... we deregulated oil, gas, food industries in one far reaching law.  Prior to that deregulation (which brought us the Enron Loophole as well as the financial crisis of 2007/2008), govt regulated the way some food and oil and gas were traded. That was done away with.  In the 70's ACTUAL shortages were the cause of gas and food prices rising.  Now it is speculation and profit mongering that is making prices rise. It is the oil corporations (and nations) which are manipulating the market to make prices rise, because there are no "cops" to monitor and check against their behavior.

[GreenBison60]

Let's just buy everything over sea's you FKN LIBS!!!! Did i say i hate a FKN LIB?????????I would LOVE to see a civil war in this country LIBS VS CONSERVATIVES. whoever wins can have it and either let's get back to what made this country great or let the gays, tree huggers, bay killers and atheists have it.

[phillyherdfan]

Let's just buy everything over sea's you FKN LIBS!!!! Did i say i hate a FKN LIB?????????I would LOVE to see a civil war in this country LIBS VS CONSERVATIVES. whoever wins can have it and either let's get back to what made this country great or let the gays, tree huggers, bay killers and atheists have it.

GB... this has nothing to do with Libs and Conservatives and if you think it does... well, you are part of the problem.  The problem with the ENTIRE government (R's AND D's) is deregulation and pandering to corporate and other country interests.

A prime example:  In Sept of 2010 our republican-led senate voted to block legislation that would remove the tax breaks that US corps get for eliminating US jobs and creating jobs in brazil, India, china and Russia (this has been in place since the Clinton administration).  It also would have awarded companies that bring jobs back from abroad by offering a two-year hiatus from payroll taxes for those positions.

ALL Republicans voted Nay to block the bill. All Dems except 5 voted Yea.  Why?  Because the corporations who donate money into election campaigns and give kick backs to our elected officials wouldn't allow it to happen because it would eat into their profits too much... oh, and because India and China have two of the largest PAC's in US politics and both are pushing a bunch of money into election campaigns as well.

S. 3816 (Creating American Jobs and Ending Offshoring Act )
Text of the Bill is here:  http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3816
Vote is here: http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=2&vote=00242#state

Bet you didn't even hear about this bill on Fox news did you?  Of course not because they had no way of describing the hypocrisy.

The political agenda the past 10 years is about dividing us... the US citizenship... into thinking it's liberals vs. democrats.  What you fail to realize is us vs. us solves none of our problems... it just keeps us preoccupied.  The real fix is us (ALL of us) standing up to a government that is so completely broken.

And for the record... I do not buy anything that is not made in the US if given a choice.  The ONLY items not made in the US in the past 3 years that have entered my home are computers and cell phones as NONE are made here.  I also refuse to shop at Wal-Mart (which, in my opinion is an act of treason).  I will bet money you cannot say the same.