Better Fill up today

[W. Gray]

It could get worse, and it just might.



Overseas folks buy gasoline at the pump in liters.

As of March 3, 2008, price calculated per equivalent gallon. These governments tax gas to help pay for socialism.

Belgium 8.22
France 7.91
Germany 8.13
Italy 7.99
Netherlands 8.85
United Kingdom 7.51

A couple years ago gasoline in Venezuela was 12 cents per gallon.

[frawin]

Crude Oil traded to new highs over night and topped at just under $114.00/Barrel, it has all of the indications to go higher.
Frank

[W. Gray]

As gasoline prices hit 75 cents a gallon in the seventies, I was rooting for $1 a gallon because I thought that would spur the market into development of a cheaper alternative.

As $1 came and went, I began thinking $5 and then $10 per gallon before there would be any really serious effort to develop a cheaper alternative automobile power source.

Looking at European gasoline prices, though, indicates this is not realistic. While there have been some efforts with electric, hydrogen and hybrid powered cars, those alternatives are still more expensive than what is available.

The only really serious alternative effort made by Europeans has been to go to smaller more fuel-efficient cars.

So, maybe one day it will take $20 per gallon before....

[frawin]

Waldo, the Europeans have never been as wasteful energy consuming nation as we have. No other country  compares to the US when it comes to energy consumption on a per capita basis, on a per mile basis, on a vehicle basis. The tragedy is the damage that will be done to the US Economy and the World before we wake up and take the necessary steps to change.
Frank

[Wilma]

I heard something on national television this morning about the federal government maybe lifting the federal gasoline tax for the summer months.  Do you think this will happen?  They also said the federal tax is 18 cents.  Not much help, is it?

[frawin]

I think they may lift it but that is like putting a bandaid on a shotgun wound. Kind of like the Government Checks they are going to mail out to "Boost The Economy", it will do little for our economy and some for the Chinese.
Frank

[sixdogsmom]

I agree, there isn't much that can be purchased that is produced in the U.S. We knew that some day it would come to this. You cannot keep exporting jobs and then expect to sell the product back to those that were layed off from those exported jobs. Same as you cannot expect a guy earning minimum wage to buy a car that was produced with $30.00 per hour labor. We are having a wake up call, hope it comes out okay without too many folks etting hurt.

[W. Gray]

This is all designed to gain votes.

McCain has suggested the 18 cents federal gasoline tax be temporarily lifted. Perhaps, they should be increasing it. The state should increase it also. If we keep willfully filling up, the governments should be getting a bigger share.

He has also suggested the standard federal income tax exemption be raised to $7,000 from the 2008 3,500.

You can bet a democrat would be willing to one up McCain by suggesting even larger amounts.

In response to the stimulus checks, I won't turn it down but it really is a rather stupid idea.

[frawin]

You are on the right track, it is bigger than that. Neither America,  the American Oil Companies, or The Government has any control over the world price of oil. If we want everything cheaper and accept that we can have it by letting the Chinese, India and all of the other so-called developing countries manufacture everything then we have to suffer the consequences for turning those countries into higher energy consuming nations. Cheaper items at Walmart translates into higher energy costs.
Frank

[frawin]

Thought someone might find this of interest.

Crude Oil Rises to Record Above $114 a Barrel as Dollar Plunges
By Grant Smith
April 16 (Bloomberg) -- Oil rose to a record above $114 a barrel in New York for a second day as the dollar plunged to an all-time low against the euro.
The appeal of oil and other commodities as hedging instruments grew as the dollar sank as low as $1.5752 versus the euro. Oil is also gaining on demand from China, the world's second-biggest crude consumer, where the economy grew 10.6 percent in the first quarter, government statistics showed today.
``In the short run this rally hasn't come to an end,'' said Hannes Loacker, an analyst at Raiffeisen Zentralbank Oesterreich AG in Vienna. ``We still see crude as a safe haven as supply is having problems keeping up with the pace of demand.''
Crude oil for May delivery rose as much as 62 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $114.41 a barrel, the highest since futures began trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange in 1983.
Brent crude for June settlement also advanced to a record climbing 85 cents, or 0.8 percent, to $112.16 on London's ICE Futures Europe exchange.