I hope gas prices go well over 4.00 a gallon this summer

[cali]

First let me say that I'm already effected by high gas prices, and such a spike would really hurt me personally. But it would hurt the repukes worses, and it would focus this country on real solutions. We'd finally stand a chance of getting an energy/conservation Marshall plan. I also believe we'd not only take back the House but we'd also take back the Senate.

No pain, no gain. I'm willing to sacrifice, even if it's scary to think about gas and heating prices.

[chaumont58]

1. I think maybe you are going to get your wish, in spades.

Its going to happen.

[hippiechick]

2. No, no !! I still don't know how to ride a bike!!

:cry: Almost broke my knee trying to learn last summer in anticipation of gas prices topping $2.50 ... it's too far to walk, and the burb I work in doesn't have mass transit.

:cry:

[Warpy]

9. Try one of these

http://www.egovehicles.com

I'm old and arthritic and I use it for most short trips when I don't have to haul a lot of stuff. Baskets on the back will carry two large canvas grocery bags.

[hippiechick]

43. Way cool, how much balance does one need for that ?

The problem with the biking thing was that apparently as a side effect of an auto accident & multiple breaks in my leg a bunch of years ago, my balance is off and I kept tipping over - to the LEFT, mind you :) - after 10, 20 yards.

I was a bruised up little hippie. :(

[Warpy]

45. It's really hard to tip over if you're going a decent speed

due to the gyroscopic effect.

However, in your case, I'd stick to the bike until you figure out how to use visual cues to balance. You probably can't go fast enough to kill yourself on this scooter, but you can certainly break bones and give yourself one hell of a case of road rash.

[mdmc]

49. hippiechick, i need you to make a hippiechick DU journal

NOW!
:)

[hippiechick]

52. I'm not nearly interesting or important enough to journal ...

... but I appreciate the command !! :hug: :hi:

[mdmc]

54. lol

:~) please! lol. :D

[hippiechick]

57. ... here you go ...

:hi:

[mdmc]

61. thank you hippiechick!

:patriot::yourock:

[earth mom]

58. How about a grownup tricycle?

I've been meaning to check em out myself. They may cost more than your average bike, but are probably safer and have nice big baskets to carry lots of stuff in. :hippie:

[kestrel91316]

15. Get one of those adult trikes if a bike is not feasible. I'm serious.

I am about ready to fill up my tires and start biking to work (3 miles) because traffic is much lighter these days. And for my trips up the coast to Santa Barbara to see the DBF, there is Amtrak (for now, until Bush destroys IT).

[w8liftinglady]

32. those are actually pretty cool..too bad I drive 26 miles to work.

[kestrel91316]

51. Well that would only take you, maybe, hmmmmm.....3-4 hours each way??

If it's highway, rather than city stop-and-go, maybe only TWO hours. Each way.

You don't really NEED a life outside of work and commuting, do you?

[Deja Q]

47. I know how - but an inner ear condition precludes me from riding one.

No mass transit either.

[H2O Man]

3. Though I understand

the thought about it hurting republicans "worse," I think that it is important to keep in mind that there are many, many others who it would hurt more than the republicans. They might lose some political elections, and a few might have the digits in their accounting books re-arranged. But there are many people who would feel it in their actual daily lives, including what amount of food they can afford, and how warm they can heat their homes when the cold season returns.

[cali]

7. I live in Northern Vermont

on limited funds. I'm one of the people that it would hurt. I know there are people that it would hurt worse than me, but if dems got the majority, I'm confident that we'd see a sufficient increase in in home heating aid to cover those most impacted.

[Bridget Burke]

18. How far must you commute every day?

I commute via bus & light rail here in Houston. But quite a few people in the area MUST drive to get to their jobs.

[H2O Man]

22. One of the things

that made Martin Luther King, Jr. a great leader was that when it came time to suffer, he never asked others to do more than he was doing. I'm not comfortable with advocating suffering for others when it will surely cause others greater pain and suffering. Thus your example of those who must drive to get to their jobs is right on target. There are also many "shut-ins," etc, who would absorb the largest share of suffering. I do not think that one can say with any confidence that the possibility of Democrats being elected in November, and then taking office, equates in any manner with the certainty of the leasts's suffering.

[PaDem]

34. where specifically in Vermont?

if you don't mind my asking.

[cali]

37. The Northeast Kingom

or as the novelist Howard Mosher calls it; Kingdom County.

[PaDem]

41. I love it up there......

grew up in Central VT myself.

[JDPriestly]

4. Have Democratic leaders in Congress proposed an energy plan

If so, I haven't seen it. Or, should I say, I haven't seen anything that would solve our problem and looks feasible. Measures to remove federal taxes from gasoline are just a smoke screen. They don't deal with the underlying problem -- our dependency on foreign oil.

We need massive investment in research and development of alternative sources of energy and economical ways to use them, and we need huge tax cuts and credits for consumers and businesses that save energy and invest in alternative energy equipment or facilities. This is the big issue and the big chance for Democrats. I am not aware, however, that any Democrats are stepping up to the plate and taking the opportunity being given us to show that we can lead this country. The Democrats we have elected over the past 20 years are too timid to take the initiative on anything. For shame. We need new leadership. Bold leadership. We have to demand it.

[One_Life_To_Give]

8. Too late for research

We need to implement the solutions now! Research is a luxury we no longer have time for. Pick best option and execute.

[kestrel91316]

19. Kerry hooked up with the New Apollo Project a few years ago.

Nobody seems to have cared.

Ford Bell (running for US Senate in MN) is ALL for energy independence.

People who care about this are out there but the MSM and DLC won't let their voices be heard.

[bigtree]

26. Senate Democrats To Highlight Ripple Effect Of High Gas Prices

Senate Democrats To Highlight Ripple Effect Of High Gas Prices

5/3/2006 7:38:00 AM

To: Assignment and National desks, Daybook Editor

Contact: Jim Manley or Rebecca Kirszner, 202-224-2939, of the Office of Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid

News Advisory:

Americans across the country are struggling under sky-high gas prices, and not just at the gas station. The ripple effect of high gas prices has spread across the economy, and farmers and small business owners are feeling the pain of the Bush Republican energy policies that put oil companies before the American people. Today, Wednesday, May 3, 2006, at 11:00 AM, Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin and Democratic Senators Max Baucus, Kent Conrad, Byron Dorgan, Barbara Boxer, and Tim Johnson will join farmers and business owners to call for immediate help to Americans struggling with the ripple effect of high gas prices, and for a real plan to put America on a path toward energy independence.

WHO: Assistant Democratic Leader Dick Durbin; Senator Max Baucus; Senator Kent Conrad; Senator Byron Dorgan; Senator Barbara Boxer; Senator Tim Johnson; Tom Buis, president, National Farmers Union; Bill Glasgow, owner, Union Meat Company at Eastern Market

WHAT: Press conference on the ripple effect of high gas prices

WHEN: TODAY, Wednesday, May 3, 2006 at 11:00 AM

WHERE: Eastern Market (Open Air Market Area), 7th Street and North Carolina Ave, SE , Washington, DC

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=65044

[bigtree]

29. Pelosi and Reid: Democrats Release Devastating Report on Bush Energy Polic

Pelosi and Reid: Democrats Release Devastating Report on Bush Energy Policies

5/2/2006 2:32:00 PM

http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=64991

Contact: Jim Manley or Rebecca Kirszner (Reid), 202-224-2939 or Brendan Daly or Jennifer Crider (Pelosi), 202-226-7616

WASHINGTON, May 2 /U.S. Newswire/ -- Oil companies are raking in record profits while consumers are struggling to pay the price of gas, and the American people are asking why. Today, House and Senate Democrats joined together to release For and By Big Oil: A Special Joint House and Senate Democratic Report. The report, a blistering critique of Bush Republican energy policies that have put Big Oil before the American people, describes Democratic plans to provide immediate relief to consumers and to put America on the path toward energy independence.

The full report may be viewed by to going to: http://www.democraticleader.house.gov/pdf/ForAndByBigOil.pdf

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

5. I don't. The people hurt worst are neither republicans or democrats

They are the working poor and many don't vote because they feel no one represents them. I would rather see boycotts and carpools to drive down the business for oil companies than to see gas prices rise to a level where people need to choose between food and getting to work.

[ProdigalJunkMail]

20. hey, nsma...long time no see

hope all is well...hope those CA gas prices aren't killing you and yours...we have it pretty easy out here comparatively. I don't think $4/gal is the solution...if we had better transit systems in this country...then maybe...but not as it stands.

Miss chatting with you,
subjectProdigal (Dave)

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

21. Hi there...on my way out the door

and the prices aren't killing me but they aren't helping....I am on the road a lot with my job

[SmokingJacket]

6. If I was SURE it would hurt them, I would agree.

What would really stink is if prices went up and up and up until, oh, about late August -- then the pres announces some policy and the prices all drop and everyone celebrates...

High gas prices hurt the poor more than anyone, though -- and help fatcat republican CEOs. We'll see if they hurt republican politicians... I'm just not sure...

[ProfessorGAC]

10. So, You're Hoping That The Working Poor Get Hammered?

Ends justify the means, huh? Pretty compassionate stuff, cali.
The Professor

[cali]

17. Try reading what I wrote.

Let me put it in even plainer terms. At that price, I wouldn't be able to afford heating fuel without assistance. I'm brainstorming about next winter already, getting in touch with people who I know have a woodlot, trying to lock in the best price for gas, etc. I've already had to cut down on driving, getting creative with ride sharing and just not driving when I can avoid it. Fortunately I work within walking distance, something that's incredibly rare in Vermont.

[Lars39]

35. You have the option to walk to work, while others would lose their jobs

because they could not afford to get there.

[deaniac21]

11. What about the poor....

[tom_boy]

12. "We must destroy the village to save it"

was what they were seeing in Viet Nam.

On the other, in order to obtain your worthy and lofty goals, a lot of mothers and fathers have to suffer.

I don't know how bad things are for you, but there are clearly a lot of people living closer to the edge than you are.

[bowens43]

13. Yeah, fuck the poor.......

[converted_democrat]

14. That's just ridiculous, mean spirited, and selfish..

You aren't going to be hurt too badly, because you were telling us a few months back that you own a house outside the country, so obviously you aren't "hurting" too badly. Families are getting to the point where they are having to make tough choices, food or gas.. You really think it's worth making children go hungry, and seniors die of heat stoke just so a point can be made? Why on Earth would you "hope" for a situation that is going to hurt so many?

edited for clarity

[cali]

33. Point of clarification:

My family owns a home outside of the country. They are well to do. I'm the blacksheep and I don't have the type of funds they do. Yeah, if things got really bad, I imagine I could go beg from them, but I've managed to avoid that for years.

[converted_democrat]

38. That's not what you were quoted as saying.. Even if what you're stating

now is true, you have options.. Many of the people you're wishing this on don't have someone to bail them out.. It's pretty low to wish hard times on anyone.. People are having to make tough choices, and people are going to go hungry, and die of heatstroke over this shit, if it does happen. How could you "hope" for a situation that would hurt so many?

[LoZoccolo]

16. You need to spend less time coming up with stuff like this...

...and more time reading the paper and engaging in the real world. The price of fuel affects a lot more than whether or not you get your "energy/conservation Marshall plan". Farming, for instance, is getting hit hard.

I am sick and tired of people on here with nothing better to do than come up with these Pol Pot-style plans for improving things which involve widespread suffering from underneath the shelter of their computer den. It's the same mentality behind "let's vote for Nader so the country collapses and people will come running to a real progressive" thing. Take some real responsibility for the world for crying out loud.

[bigtree]

23. great. another one willing to sacrifice us for their ideology or politics

I can't see how anyone can be so sanguine about others' struggle to cope with high prices, notwithstanding the poster's shouldering of their own burden.

I really don't think cali's this naive or even this callous. It's just a stupid thought that shouldn't have reached the sharing point.

But, I have to ask if cali has considered all of the services, products, foodstuff, etc. that are affected by the prices? I really hate folks fiddling with other folks lives for political gain.

[insane_cratic_gal]

24. The Problem is even if we manage to make a renewable

source of energy, how are the working poor going to afford the new cars that run on it? Or the middle class for that matter.

A toyota prius starts at 22k

I don't know about anyone else but I'd be unable to afford a 600 to 300 a month car payment. Now factor in the cost of new solar panels for the house and heating system. That's another 20 to 30k (plus some change due to demand)

I don't have an extra 40k laying around to become efficient, that terrifies me. I don't' think the dems can afford to fit every poor and lower middle class family with a new solar panel roof and bio-car that comes out.

It's going to hit people hard the cost of even upgrading, making it seemingly impossible to achieve. They won't be able to afford to due it, nor will they be able to not do it. A big catch 22 heading our way with no viable solution even on the drawing board

[meisje]

25. Do you also hope more troops die as well

sure, ok

[Dora]

27. Ah, nothing like stirring the pot on a fine morning.

28. I would be happy to see cars go the way of the dinosaurs

I think the individual transportation in the form of a car has taken over the way our society functions. Jettison them all to outerspace. Try riding a bicycle from one destination to another and you take your life in your hands. I welcome the end of the gasoline era.

[NewJeffCT]

30. It may hit $4/gallon this summer - but you know what?

What will happen after Labor Day is the price will plummet downwards to under $3/gallon. The media will then perform fellatio on Bush and congratulate him on getting the oil companies to lower their prices. Then, right after election day, prices will shoot up again due to "the holiday season" and tensions over Iran, etc.

Big Oil won't mind eating profits for a few months if it will help their buddies Bush & Cheney.

[corporate_mike]

31. We should "hope" for bad things, so we can "take back the House & Senate"?

Count me out.

[lutefisk]

36. Let's hope the ice caps melt this summer, too.

Hey, I live about 900 feet above sea level in the center of North America. I'm willing to let those sea levels rise and sacrifice if it draws attention to the bad policies of the current Republican administration and Congress.

[ComerPerro]

39. The Republicans it will hurt (the FReepers) are convinced its our fault

they believe that prices are high because of Democrats, taxes, and Environmentalists.

Rush told them so.


And they will keep believing it.

[area51]

40. You can cope? How nice.

What about those of us who are working poor or unemployed? How nice of you to sacrifice us on your altar. :eyes:

"But it would hurt the repukes worse.... I also believe we'd not only take back the House but we'd also take back the Senate."

Aren't you forgetting about Diebold, ES&S & Sequoia? The nazi vote tampering needs to be stopped before democrats will be "taking back" anything.

[Mr.Green93]

42. Bill Clinton and the Democrats gave us eight years of DOLLAR GAS

I'm ready for another DEMOCRATIC era.

[corporate_mike]

44. Simplistic and unrealistic

No matter who the next President, prices will never go back to $1/gallon

[partylessinOhio]

46. I'm willing to give a shot though and see if gas prices go way down!

[mdmc]

48. I want it at $5,00

then I'll carpool. Until then, let me eat octane!

[BiggJawn]

50. By the time it gets high enuff that Those in Power even NOTICE...

Poor fucks like me will have long been forced to move to the Cardboard Condos under the highway bridge.

How many times I gotta say this? $100 crude? Raises gas to $8 a gallon, which to Il Douche's "base", has as much financial impact as $2 a gallon would have on me.
IOW, something you notice in passing, but it doesn't rattle you much.

Why not just slaughter us by the millions? I think the Movers and Shakers would notice the stench from all the bodies long before they'd notice their gas getting "expensive".

[Jamison]

53. I agree, this doesn't hurt the rich.

Someone making over a million dollars a year would have no problem gassing up their Hummer with gas at $5.00 or even $10.00 a gallon. Shoot, even $25.00 a gallon would be a drop in the bucket with that kind of income.

It's gonna really kill the working poor when the price of a gallon of gas reaches the price of minimum wage.

[Beelzebud]

55. People in the cities just think the rest of us don't exist don't they?

I've seen a few threads like this lately. 100% of the time they're made by people that live in a city, and can rely on public transportion.

I guess the rest of us out here in "fly over country" should just go fuck ourselves?

I'll say it. I'm getting tired of you city snobs that act like the rest of America is just dumb hicks, that drive their hummmers a half a mile to get to work..

If you're looking to turn away a HUGE segment of America. Keep repeating crap like this thread...

[corporate_mike]

62. Good point.

Most people have no access to public transportation.

[DemReadingDU]

56. why do they always interview people about high gas prices

who drive those huge SUV's. Most are Republicans anyway, and will pay whatever the price because they HAVE to have those huge vehicles to drive around their kids.

Why don't they interview ME? I drive a small Cavalier. I used to pay $15 to fill up my tank, now it's $30. It sucks.

[lectrobyte]

59. I'm not even sure a Marshall Plan effort would save us now, but I see

where you are coming from. Too bad we spent all our money on Iraq.

[Psephos]

60. Yeah, let's keep all those poor people off the roads, and cold at home.

The first rule of medicine is to do no harm.

Peace.