If gas goes to $4.00, the US economy will go in the toilet.

[raccoon]

Anyone think otherwise?

[WI_DEM]

1. it's already there.

I mean in the toilet.

[acmavm]

2. Well, for 95% of the American people, it is. The top 5% doing quite well.

[gravity]

8. The top 5% still have an interest in the economy

Other than the energy sector, every other part of the economy is suffering from the energy prices. Just look at Walmart

[acmavm]

12. The only interest the top 5% have is how do they strip the rest of us of

what little we have left.

[Bandit]

21. What interest could they have? They already have enough money

Do you have any concept what it means to be in the top 5% of the nation financially?

[gravity]

30. Everyone wishes they were better off

[Richard Steele]

55. They didn't get where they are by embracing the concept of "enough".

For most of that top 5%, the main driving force of their persona is "want more".

[Bandit]

56. Has nothing to do with a vibrant economy

It has to do with almost the exact opposite. Money accumulates at the top because of a stagnant economy not a vibrant one. When the economy is doing well those at the bottom and the middle do well. That is not happening. The gap between the rich and the poor is growing rapidly and it isn't because our economy is doing well or our dollar is stron...These people in the top 5% have so much money their great grandchildren will never want for anything. Do you really think they care if Joe Blow sells their wickets to Mexico?

[Balbus]

3. Like they said at $2, then $2.50, then $3.

Forgive me if I don't start tearing out my hear and selling off my stocks quite yet...

[CountAllVotes]

4. we are already there

I was watching a local TV program (a city hearing) and they were saying that no volunteers were available any longer to drive sick people to town for serious medical needs (like chemotherapy).

They had no solutions and said the volunteers couldn't do it any longer because of the price of gasoline.

Their idea was to get the college students that go to the local community college based in their area to do the volunteer driving instead. However, they failed to mention as to how the students would pay for the gasoline to drive the sick people to/from the hospital.

Therefore, they have no plan as to how to get the sick people with no one to help them to get to the doctor now. I wonder how many will die?
:mad:

:dem: :kick:

[jojo54]

5. That probably also applies to the "meals on wheels" etc.

You're absolutely right. The poorest of the poor are being made to suffer from this absent-minded fool in office.

[CountAllVotes]

6. they had one option

They said a pick-up was $18 and after that $1.65 a mile to the town where they'd go to the hospital (one way). This equals about $50+ round-trip. They ruled this idea out as being not viable for most people (except the rich I guess and there are not many rich people where I live).

Tell me what person who is sick has money for the likes of this? :grr:

:kick:

[RevCheesehead]

11. WTF???

The IRS reimbursement rate for mileage is .485/mile. That is supposed to cover the cost of maintenance on the vehicle as well. And a pick up fee? I've never heard of such a thing... gouge the poor, who can barely afford their medical care!! :grr:

[CountAllVotes]

14. the idea is to call a taxi

That would cost over $50 r/t to go to the hospital and back. There is very little public transportation here where I live and no plans to devise any soon. However, I still see lots of huge SUVs and huge trucks on the road. Why don't these holier than thou people driving these vehicles "volunteer". Isn't that the "Christian" thing to do?

I find this so disgusting I can barely think straight! :mad: :mad: :mad:

And to think they want college students attending a two-bit community college to do this for free? :wtf: !!

[raccoon]

47. I heard they need "meals on wheels" volunteers in my area. The

shortage was attributed to summer, people are going on vacation, etc., but I wonder if it's the price of gas.

[asjr]

7. When it goes to $5 per gallon it is

approaching minimum hourly wage for a lot of people. Some people may have to devote 3 or 4 hours of pay to fuel their cars for one day.

[jojo54]

50. Holy crap, I hadn't thought about it that way.

But you are right, it would be just about what people make an hour. And if their job is an even a half hour away, that's a lot of money out of their paycheck.

[Marrah_G]

9. 'm trying to plan a garden to alleviate some of the extra cost

Maybe I should by a cow too....my nieghbors might bitch though.

Sigh....just not sure what I am going to do if the prices go up another 25%. I might just have to cancel the net, which sucks since as a single parent its one of the few ways I get to talk/listen to adults instead of moody teens.

[MissB]

38. How about chickens instead of a cow?

Most cities allow up to three hens. Free eggs.

[Marrah_G]

46. I've been kicking that around too. I had chickens as a kid.

[onehandle]

10. And the crime rate will soar. nt

[rocktivity]

13. I think otherwise

I think the economy is in the toilet ALREADY.


rocknation

[Javaman]

15. It has to reach that point as a national average. It's already 4 bucks in

some places and they are still driving.

Frankly, I think americans are just way to stupid or timid or whatever to do anything about the high prices except bitch about it.

I think the mission is indeed accomplished by moron*, he* has single handedly turned this nation into a bunch of apathetic wimps.

We bitch, we complain and the best we can do is call for an ill supported laughable single day boycott.

This is so fucking ridiculous. If you honestly want gas to go lower, buy less, period. boycotting it for a day doesn't do squat. If however there was less demand, price would go down, but frankly, since our gas reserves are at historic lows (lower in fact than they were back in 79 during the last gas "crisis") we are screwed and driving full speed for the cliff. We have roughly 11 days of reserves right now, in 79 there was 30 days, so why aren't people more pissed? why aren't their lines at the stations?

apathetic. mission accomplished.

[qazplm]

22. I live 25 minutes by car from my job

there is no public transportation to my job, and there is little in the way of housing between here and my job, or heck pick a hundred other reasons why it aint so easy as you seem to think for everyone to simply "use less gas."

The solution is alternate fuels. Problem is there are only two entities with the resources to make that a reality, big business and government. Neither will move until it is clear that oil is on the downward trend.

[Javaman]

32. the point is, we live because of oil.

it's running out.

so you drive 25 miles to work, what are you going to do when gas hits above 5 bucks?

What are you going to do when it's to expensive to afford?

We have built our lives around cars.

We have to learn to live with less, just a fact of life.

[THUNDER HANDS]

16. yeah, i think people will tolerate $4

Anything less than $5 a gallon Americans will put up with, at least for a while.

[AngryAmish]

17. Me

As a % of income, $4 a gallon gas is much less than the supply shocks of the 70s and 80s that caused recession. People can absorb this much more readily.

If one uses 15 gallons of gas a week, at $2.50 a gallon one's gas cost is $37.50 per week. At $4 the gas cost is $60.00 per week - a difference of $22.50 a week. A night at the movies for 2 is more expensive than $22.50.

22.5 x 52 weeks is $1,120 a year. Not much in the grand scheme of things.

[hunter]

31. That's $1,120 that won't be spent at WalMart.

You can buy a lot of crap at WalMart for that kind of money.

WalMart shoppers generally smuggle their own food and drinks into the afternoon movie, or wait for the DVD, which they share with friends and family.

A family of four at movies costs them $25, and the DVD just a few bucks...

It costs sixty bucks to fill an old mini-van. Time to move down from WalMart to the 99 cent store and the weekend clothing racks on the neighborhood front lawns and driveways.

The United States is rapidly becoming a "second world" nation in some places.

[NightWatcher]

18. so we've got....three or four weeks?

we will prob be above 4$ by July4.

eat drink and be merry for tomorrow we wont be able to afford to drive to the liquor store.

[BootinUp]

19. Its in the toilet, just hasn't all flushed down yet. n/t

[newportdadde]

20. Naw the Fed will just lower rates and inflate ourselves to happiness.. more credit for everyone!

Maybe we can start having installment plans or mortgages for gas money!
Credit Credit Credit, more greenbacks! Stock Market to 20,000 where a decline in the DOW of 10 points is a down day. We all live in a fairy tale.

[partylessinOhio]

23. It's already there.

Gas hit $3.49 today in Cleveland. Some are paying over $100 for a fillup.

How long can you go on 1 tank of gas? How many fillups will 1 paycheck buy? How do you get to work when your tank is empty and you have no money left to shell out another $100?

* and Congress are out of touch with reality and are failing to address the problem.

[CK_John]

24. Between $6-7 will be the tipping point, IMO. n/t

[GliderGuider]

25. I think otherwise

If your gas goes to $7.50 like it already is in Britain, maybe it would have some effect. But $4.00? Don't make me laugh. You guys have so much discretionary spending you could cut you wouldn't feel $6.00.

Ever hear of demand destruction? Try taking a bus or two.

Oh, and as others have said, your economy is in the toilet already. $4.00 gas isn't going to make much difference to that.

[raccoon]

27. For most people in the US, taking a bus isn't an option. nt

[GliderGuider]

34. Maybe we'll coin a new phrase in 5-10 years as pump prices go through $20.00 a gallon:

We'll call the new waves of DP's "Gas line refugees". People will start to flee in towards urban centers and services like you've never seen. Look up James Howard Kunstler's writing on this topic.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

28. In Britain, it's high because of taxes.

That money is benefits the people.

So you're comparing apples and oranges.

[GliderGuider]

33. When you go to pay your bill at the pump,

Does it matter to you (financially speaking, of course) where that money ends up? $6.00 is $6.00, whether the embedded taxes are $4.00 or $2.00. I'm just saying that as an American consumer (where the poor among you would be rich in most other nations), paying $6.00 or $7.00 a gallon is really no big deal. Pump prices of $7.50 haven't collapsed the British economy, why should $4.00 toast yours? Complaining about $4.00 gasoline is about the most self-indulgent whine I've ever heard.

If you're worried about the state of your economy overall and its ability to withstand market shocks, OK. You should be, because your economy has lost almost all of its resilience. Laying those concerns off on gas prices, though, is intellectually lazy.

[high density]

35. If paying $7/gal in gas meant my yearly $3,000 health insurance premium went away

...then by all means, tax the hell out of gas. However, paying $7/gal so that ExxonMobil can increase their dividend doesn't sound like a good use of my money.

[GliderGuider]

42. What is XOM's dividend, anyway?

Do you really consider a $0.35 dividend on an $83 share outrageous?

The last I heard, their profit margin was 10% or so - hardly out of line. They're a BIG company, so the profit numbers are likewise BIG. But they're an easy target, I know. They have a lot of faults as a company, not the least of which is suppressing public debate on any subject that touches their bottom line. I may have to turn in my Progressive Liberal card for saying this, but I really, really don't think they're gouging anybody. I've never seen a convincing argument for that position, just a lot of dark suspicious fulminating.

It's good to hate them, but at least hate them for the right reason - it's not gas prices, it's the fact that they are preventing most of the people in the United States from preparing to survive to coming energy catastrophe, or even from knowing that there is one coming. That's not just a crime against your wallet, it's a crime against humanity.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

43. Absolutely.

I'd much rather have that extra five bucks per gallon going back into public infrastructure- roads, mass transit, etc. than some oil baron's bank account.

[GliderGuider]

44. Fair enough, but that's a political decision, not a purely financial one

You may care where it goes, but your bank account doesn't.

[raccoon]

48. Two things, one, the UK has much better public transportation than

most places in the US. Also, the US being a bigger country, some people travel greater distances to commute to work. Or for other reasons.

[depakid]

26. Not at $4.00

but somewhere up the line- maybe at $5 or $6, many petroleum based activities will become uneconomic- and those with the lowest margins will contract first, followed by a ripple effect in other sectors.

It's just a matter of time.

[sheerjoy]

29. Prepare to flush then. n/t

[Jim Warren]

36. A slow crawl across the bathroom floor

for a while, things grind down, people get mean....then nasty..... then empire ends not with a bang but a whimper.

[Jim Warren]

37. First a slow crawl across the bathroom floor

for a while, things grind down, people get mean....then nasty..... then empire ends not with a bang but a whimper.

[blues90]

39. Since fuel prices affects everything

Then that decide what everything costs as you know , so there is an effect mostly felt by the people who live on a strict budget or fixed income . Even if you don;t drive you still pay the costs .

I don;t know what the breaking point is . People just seem to accept the high price so far .

[hlthe2b]

40. WalMart is already screaming....

per an article posted a few days. Seems they've found that people won't shop even their crap if they have no disposable income-plus it is costing them far more to ship the crap. Expect other merchants to sound their own hysteria...

I feel for the independent truckers--- I don't know how they are doing it.

[firefox_fan]

41. Don't worry, inflation is under control!

... After you don't count food, gas and all the important stuff people need to live. Regarding food, they are not included in the index because they fluctuate seasonally. Right? So, why is it that my food costs 25% more this May than last May, same season? It's a big scam, folks.

[leftofthedial]

45. The US economy IS in the toilet

and will be for at least a generation

The rich have won the class war

[Quantess]

49. The uber-wealthy are standing outside the toilet, flushing. (no text)

[Beelzebud]

51. No it won't. The sheep will line up like docile farm animals and keep buying it.

[madmunchie]

52. Why NOT boycott Mobil/Exxon and buy gas from other suppliers?

If everybody did that the biggest company would have to do something to sell gas, and that just might be ...drop gas prices, then the others would follow.

[Matsubara]

53. How is an economy running solely on massive foreign investment...

...personal debt, corporate debt and government debt not in the crapper already?

[jollyreaper2112]

54. When the log rolls over, we'll all be dead!

When the log rolls over, we'll all be dead!