How to get gas down to $2 a gallon

[mrmpa]

I got this email from a friend. Read through it, see if you think it might help. I have absolutely no clue.

must admit that this plan might work. At least, it is worth a try.

THIS IS NOT THE 'DON'T BUY' GAS FOR ONE DAY, BUT IT WILL SHOW YOU HOW WE CAN GET GAS BACK DOWN TO $1.30 PER GALLON.

This was sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. If you are tired of the gas prices going up AND they will continue to rise this summer, take time to read this please.

Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.
This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May!
It's worth your consideration. Join the resistance!!!!

I hear we are going to hit close to $ 4.00 a gallon by this summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down?

We need to take some intelligent, united action.
The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas .

It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.
BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can Really work. Please read on and join with us!

By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $2.00 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $3.08 at Arco and Costco for regular unleaded in Salem, Oregon and climbing every week.

Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..not sellers.

With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action.

The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves.

How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas.

But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL.

If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people!!

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us send it to at least ten more (30 x 10 = 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 = 3,000)... and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers .
If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted!

If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all!

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you! Acting together we can make a difference.

If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $2.00 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN. THIS CAN REALLY WORK.

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. If I had a dollar for every time I've received this email

I'd be beyond wealthy.

[mrmpa]

2. first time for me & I'm clueless

[TheMadMonk]

10. Looks like a distorted representation of laze faire ecconomics.

And it's totally unworkable.

The whole point of government regulation is to enforce the collective "will" of the people on business, because individual self interest will always see enough people voting with their pocketbooks to undermine any such voluntary initiative to accomplish precisely the same ends through collective self discipline.


That said. $4 per US gallon is still a ridiculously low price in comparison to the rest of the developed world. Australia enjoys a price of roughly $5 per USG which itself is very low when compared to European prices.

Given my 'druthers, I'd slap on at least a 20% wholesale excise and divert every cent into a federal public transit network.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. The gas in the rest of the world is high

because their taxation of gasoline is much higher than in the U.S., Austria's being the equiv. of ~$U.S.1.50 per gallon ($0.38/liter) tax vs mean of U.S. ~$0.47/gallon (equiv. to ~$0.12/liter), where the AUS$1 is about the same as US$1.

Here, it's pure, unadulterated speculative greed going on.

[TheMadMonk]

26. Exactly. And the lack of excise is a hidden subsidy which perpetuates...

...your nationan dependence on individually owned and operated motor vehicles for almost all motive purposes.

Australia is physically larger than the US, with less than 10% of the population, and yet I can get from virtually any population centre of 1000 or more to any other in Australia, using ONLY mass transit services with far more ease than I could accomplish any similar journey in the US.

Our higher road and fuel taxes mean that we are also all minimally covered for life in the event of an accident on the roads regardless of circumstances.


If you want my opinion, the "pure, unadulterated speculative greed" you are seeing, is possible because your govenment is leaving so much room for speculation with its low tax regime.

[AlabamaLibrul]

23. Australia's minimum wage is $15/hr, and from what I hear, in nearly every industry

"nobody will work for that".

Therefore, it is irrelevant to discuss other countries' gas prices, when the minimum wage is double.

[proud2BlibKansan]

16. It's encouraging a mass boycott which is close to impossible

[Fridays Child]

3. Per Snopes, this has been circulating since 2006. I saw it a few years ago.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

[uppityperson]

5. Thanks for the snopes link, makes it easy to respond.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ikonoklast]

4. Total nonsense.

If one retailer sells none one day, you can bet the competitor across the street is selling twice as much; as long as the demand is constant or growing, and the commodity is growing scarcer, the price will rise.


Holds true for anything. Bread, beer, gasoline...


The person that took the time to write that nonsense has no basic understanding of economics.

[EstimatedProphet]

6. Or wants other people to misunderstand economics

[Ikonoklast]

9. But, but, but a Coca-Cola petroleum engineer said...or was it

a Halliburton Orange Julius executive said...or maybe it was that Army Admiral that said....crap, I get these 'so simple' e-mail guys confused all the time.

[CommonSensePLZ]

38. That's under the assumption that either of them is selling anything

If no one bought any of something, meaning the supply is there but the demand is down then the price goes down with it; The lack of sales forces them to lower their prices to make the prices more desirable to potential buyers. That, too, is basic economics.

In your model the buyers are idiots who would just buy their gas somewhere else (or more likely if this event happened, buy a lot of gas the day before), which probably would happen and the guy making sales could then raise his prices if he decided to because of the high demand for his product (or lower it, having a sale).

[pipi_k]

7. Well, not to be snarky or anything, but...

really, places like Snopes are your friends.

Whenever I hear some rumor or another I check on the veracity before getting all excited or passing it on.

Saves a lot of embarrassment in the long run.

;)

[SoCalNative]

8. I don't buy gas from Exxon/Mobil anyway

and haven't since they merged because of their homophobia.

[devils chaplain]

11. I loathe chain e-mails. N/T

[BumRushDaShow]

12. Old chain mail and no Exxons or Mobils near me anyway. n/t

[SidDithers]

13. And if you forward this e-mail to 7 friends, you'll have good luck for 7 days!!...nt

Sid

[kentuck]

14. I agree with that idea...

I will not buy gas from Exxon/Mobil. Count me in.

[SheilaT]

17. One good rule of thumb is that if you get a chain

email that strongly encourages you to pass on the email to everyone in your address book, it's probably some sort of urban legend.

Snopes is your friend. Always, always go there if something you get by email or see anywhere at all, seems a little strange. It's probably not true.

[phylny]

18. Eh, don't buy from Exxon or Mobil.

They'll just sell their excess product to their competitors. Silliness all around.

I always buy from Exxon or Mobil. My husband works for them (started with Mobil, then of course works for ExxonMobil due to the merger). The company has a bad reputation, and I've never "come out" here on DU, but he's worked for them for 30 years, has a pension, health insurance, and a 401K. We will retire with health and dental insurance.

I know there are many who hate the company - I had a hard time, too, with the merger due to the Exxon Valdez and the fact that Mobil was a wonderful company in and of itself. But this company has compensated my husband's hard work with a good salary, good benefits, and a guaranteed retirement income.

[Shagbark Hickory]

19. But of course they have.

They better have at these freakin prices!

If you told me he didn't have an benefits and the pay was lousy I'd be really pissed!

What I would like to see, to the detriment of Exxon unfortunately, is to nationalize the oil so that rather than just your husband getting heathcare and a retirement plan, the whole entire country gets those things.

[phylny]

36. I don't disagree with you!

I think that the natural resources in OUR country are owned by us.

[PBS Poll-435]

20. it's called a Prius

Deal with it.

[Shagbark Hickory]

22. Yeah. Or.. just drive half as much, right> Then it's like gas being only $2 a gal.

:silly:

[PBS Poll-435]

24. YMMV nt.

[doc03]

25. Checked out the local Toyota dealer this morning, they have

had the same 7 or 8 Prius models on the lot for months. Not today they have one left a $35000 Prius V model. The American people never learn, a Prius didn't sell a couple months ago now they are hot items. Say 6 months from now the gas goes back below $3.00 people will switch back to SUVs and pickups just like nothing ever happened. I would like to get a Ford Fusion Hybrid but have never seen one in stock on any lot.

[PBS Poll-435]

27. Driven a FFH. I was really surprised.

The interior was really nice and the hybrid transition nearly equaled Camry Hybrid.

Ford has really come a long way.

[doc03]

28. Can't find one. They do have some Lincoln MKZs on the lots

and Lincoln charges no extra for the hybrid. There is a catch though they load them down with every option imaginable and they carry a $40000+ price tag. I am on the fence for either the new Focus (28 city 38 Hwy and 31 combined) or a Mustang V-6 (305 HP 19 city 31 hwy and 23 combined). That Mustang is one sweet ride for a V6. The new V6 outperforms last years V8 GT. With the unemployment the way it is I would just rather buy the Focus or the Mustang, they are both made in Michigan.

[PBS Poll-435]

30. A family member is a Ford sales consultant

The Ford engines of as late are amazing.

The 3.5 Ecoboost in the F-150 is facinating.

[doc03]

31. I saw one at the Cleveland Auto Show 365 hp 420 torque

and it gets better MPGs than my 236 hp V6 Toyota Tacoma, amazing.

[PBS Poll-435]

32. It honestly doesn't make any sense.

But I am so glad that efficiency is now a huge priority.

[doc03]

34. The new V6 Mustang bests the old Boss 302 by 2 seconds in

a 1/4 mile and probably doubles the MPGs.

[Shagbark Hickory]

21. The funny thing is Exxon and Mobil tend to have the lowest prices when I find them and

if they don't, they are usually cleaner and less crowded and worth the extra pennies a gallon.

If you want to boycott one of the companies, how about Shell? They're some of the stinkiest turds in the barrel, wouldn't you say? I mean they put stations in the most remote locations and gouge the hell out of anyone who's had the misfortune of not knowing there's no competing gas stations around.

[white_wolf]

29. I'm in favor of setting a price celling of 2 dollars on gas at the least.

To be honest though I'd rather the government seize t he oil companies holdings in the U.S. and pay them for it and nationalize the industry. As long as the government provides just compensation its perfectly legal under the Constitution.

[Warren DeMontague]

33. Save electrons

don't forward emails.

[Scuba]

35. Won't work. You'll just end up buying Exxon/Mobile gas at the mini mart, or Shell station.

[CommonSensePLZ]

37. bookmark to read soon /nt

[LynneSin]

39. I pay $35 a month total for gas, and that's at the current price of $3.50 here in Wilmington

I was smart.

I could have bought an oversized gas guzzling SUV just to make me feel all important but instead I got a smaller car with decent gas mileage. To me, a car is the means of getting from PointA to PointB in the most convienent ways possible, not a way to make my penis/ego feel bloated. (My Legacy gets 26MPH)

I could have bought a fancy house in a sprawling neighborhood miles and miles away from where I work. Sure I could have had a bigger back yard and more house then I need, with other suburbanites looking for the same deal but then I would have to spend more time on the road commuting each day and that means more gas. Currently I live 2.6 miles from work. My house is smaller and my neighborhood is a a good neighborhood with interesting neighbors, but my need for gas is very low. And if the prices get too crazy I live near not one but 2 bus routes that take me right by where I work. Plus I earn an extra 2 hours of my own time at home to do things since my communite to work takes about 10 minutes each way instead of an hour each way.

People need to use commonsense when making purchases for their cars and houses.