This Pic Kinda Says It All.... $100 gas fillups just around the corner! LINK

[Blackhatjack]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/04/23/gas.prices/index.html

.... and we have not even reached the summer driving season yet.

Of course, the shut down of refineries 'for maintenance' helped push the gas price up.

I wonder how many large SUVs are 'parked' in garages across the country because of the price of gas?

Stay tuned!


Just wait until the independent truckers just give up and park their rigs... then you will have food shortages across the board!

[Seeking Serenity]

1. Money grafs

Nearby, Dolly Sarlo fills up her black Mercedes. She says it's time for Americans to "vote with your dollars and to stop using gas" and use public transportation more.

"That would really, very quickly bring down the price," she says.

She then drives off.

[Blackhatjack]

2. Allowing the price of gas to rise to these levels is a form of 'rationing' gas ....

... available supplies will be reserved for those with the cash to pay for it. That way they won't be inconvenienced by scarce supplies or having to wait in lines or fill up on alternate days.

Anytime government officials decide to raise the price of an essential commodity to discourage overuse of it, that means those with the least money will be first cut off from supply.

[samdogmom]

3. I was sitting in my local auto repair shop's waiting room last week when the owner of a huge pickup

truck walked in and asked to talk to the shop owners. It seems that it costs too much to keep his truck full of gas--he was looking to trade it in on a more fuel efficient vehicle. The shop owners refused to trade for his truck and sent him on his way. I guess no one wants a gas guzzler anymore!

[The_Casual_Observer]

4. I laugh.

[TommyO]

7. Go right ahead and laugh

Laugh at the cab driver who both rents his cab, and pays for gas, directly cutting into his income.

Laugh at the single mother who has the make the choice between gas for her car to get to work, or food for her family.

Laugh at the senior citizens who are on a fixed income, like my mother, who can't walk to the store for groceries.

Laugh at all of the people who are hurting because of rising fuel prices, which are also the cause of rising food costs.

Keep laughing!

[OwnedByFerrets]

17. Ditto.

[gimberly]

21. Laugh and laughing, fall apart

[uppityperson]

9. Thank you for caring about my grocery bill and my income

I really appreciate it when people understand that my business may go under because people cannot afford to pay for health care because they are needing to buy food. I really appreciate it when others understand that this means I can not afford anything beyond basic food also.

Thank you for caring.

[Blackhatjack]

11. You are far from alone... and all of us will have to pull together to weather this ...

I just hope that everyone in a similar position can hang on until real changes can be made by the next Administration. Until then, it will certainly be a difficult challenge...

[uppityperson]

16. Yes. It is not just car gas that is costing more.

And the effects are spreading out from person to person. As 1 person's income drops and outgo raises, it affects the next. I've been yelling about watching food costs for the last yr when people say "just drive less". I hate being right.

[Missy Vixen]

25. I wonder to myself what kind of person would find this funny

The fact that higher gas prices impacts those who can least afford it should be an indicator that maybe those who're driving the gas guzzlers won't be feeling the pain. It's those who are living check to check, have high medical bills or other extenuating circumstance that will suffer the most.

Julie

[Blackhatjack]

5. Keep in mind... very little that you buy in a store has not been on a truck....

... and independent truckers have to make a profit to make their payments on their trucks and put diesel in them.

One independent trucker last week said he made only $700 after expenses on a long trip out and back. If they have engine trouble or need a new tire, they are not only working for nothing... but going further in debt.

Without trucks, everyone will notice the empty shelves...

[defendandprotect]

14. There is still railway transportation . . .

[kineneb]

18. if there is access to one

where I live, the locals have been trying to get a rail line in since the 1880s, and we still don't have one... it has become a joke

[orangerevolution]

6. the shut down you speak of

could it be to switch of to the special blends that the oil companies are required to produce during the summer months because of global warming?

[Blackhatjack]

8. the Oil Company CEO characterized it as 'routine maintenance' ...n/t

[orangerevolution]

10. do you think it was routine

just like the maintenance that American Airlines had to do in response to the FAA?

[Blackhatjack]

12. I know that Enron called it 'routine' every time they shut down a power plant to raise prices...

... do you doubt them?

[defendandprotect]

13. When do we nationalize oil and get ELECTRIC CARS . . . ????

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

15. I just saw a story on CNN about a $115 fill-up in San Francisco

They showed a guy at a gas pump filling up with $4 a tank gas. He looked shocked when he noticed that the previous driver at the same pump had paid $115 for a fill-up.

[trof]

19. Some pumps here stop at $75.

I guess they don't want to risk too much to lose from drive-offs (which are increasing).
So if you have a gas tank bigger than 20 gal. you have to get them to reset your pump.
:-(

[Blackhatjack]

20. The truck stops supply over $1000 at a time.... CNN showed the trucker's check ...

... but I doubt they will accept a check from a consumer.

[Blackhatjack]

22. So what good is gas being available if you haven't the $ to buy it at the inflated price?

The poor and working class are always the first to suffer... and gasoline rationing at a reasonable price would allow us all to 'share the pain.'

But that would mean 'the super wealthy Bush tax cut recipients' might have to go without even though paying for gas is no problem to them.

[Toasterlad]

23. This Says It All...

"Nearby, Dolly Sarlo fills up her black Mercedes. She says it's time for Americans to "vote with your dollars and to stop using gas" and use public transportation more.

"That would really, very quickly bring down the price," she said.

She then drives off."

I'm hearing TONS about high gas prices, but next to nothing about people switching to public transportation. Who has stopped driving, and started bussing or training it to work? Where is the push to make public transportation more extensive?

I work just over four miles from my office, and to take public transportation to get there, I'd have to take a 25 minute bus ride to a town 8 miles away, then another 15 minute bus ride to my office...and THAT bus only runs 3 times in the morning, and twice at night. Miss it and you're fucked. Yet, there's a rail line not 3 blocks from my house that runs right to another station about a mile from my office. This line used to be a passenger line, but now carries only freight. A few years ago, there was a plan afoot to return passenger service to the line, but the county, state, and fed couldn't agree on how much each would pay to cover it. Consequently, a huge chunk of the Philly suburbs is left with no realistic way to commute to the city without driving.

How much longer are we going to let our oil-controlled government hold us hostage? Until there's absolutely no more oil left?

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

24. I live in the L.A. area - more than four hours by bus to get to the office

A couple of years ago, when my car was in the shop for awhile, I tried taking buses to my work which is about 48 miles away (seems like a long distance but it's absolutely nothing for Southern Californians because the area is so spread out). Three buses and more than four hours each way. Also, since the bus routes go through different counties, sometimes they didn't hook up and I had to walk for a couple of miles from one bus stop to another. Eight hours+ of bus travel is very tiring and you have to get up an hour before the crack of dawn in the morning although it's not that expensive.

[Missy Vixen]

26. My husband has started taking the bus

It's an hour each way. We've parked his sport truck.

I have an economy car, but it's used for errands a couple of times a week.

Julie