Average gas price tops $2/gallon for first time

[Redneck4sure]

I filled up a couple days ago. I won't need gas tomorrow. If ppl buy more today and more the day after tomorrow, what good does it do? None. <_>

[desdemona]

well red, you never know, it may cost them to have that boat sit out there for awhile because they can't unload :rolleyes:

[Redneck4sure]

well red, you never know, it may cost them to have that boat sit out there for awhile because they can't unload :rolleyes:

If the boat was sitting, that would cost em. I believe inventories are low now so that ain't gonna happen either. Maybe we could buy the captains a drink and let them run aground?? <_>

[Malicious Intent]

lol at not buying petrol for a day. There were plans to do that here a few years back. Americans had just done it with some success. It is laughed off here. I remember the daily telegraph publishing a cartoon. It had a man in his car being pushed by his wife, clearly as the man hadn't filled up to protest. The man is shouting out to his exhausted looking wife, "This will teach Gordon Brown!" Gordon Brown being the guy who sets the taxes.

More successful were the blockades, copied from the French. Lorries parked outside the refineries. There are only a few, so it didn't take long for the country to run dry. Other lorries drove side-by-side very slowly to block the roads during rush hour. There were erie scenes of the London ring-road completely desserted during rush hour.

I believe Gordon Brown kindly (lol) reduce tax by 2p. Well worth bringing the country to a standstill for. Mind you, it makes a statement as well. Despite no one being able to drive anywhere, I didn't hear any complaints. Despite the lorries doing the work, motorist felt like they finally had a voice.

There are reports that it may be done again soon. With prices now over 80p/litre, I'd be in full support of the protests.

[Malicious Intent]

80.9p/litre = $5.41/US Gallon

[Malicious Intent]

The guy who organised the protests last time said that he had no plans this time. He claims last time was a result of an increase in tax, not world markets. Perhaps someone else will do it. There is still an excessive level of tax.

[MxRob]

Sounds like someone needs to trade in the 4x4 for a Honda Insight -->Allow us(Honda) to cut to the chase, because the Insight once again boasts a best-in-the-U.S. EPA highway mileage of 65 mpg.*

:bigsmile: *coughs*clears throat* I gotta buy American, no imports for me. They are under powered and I cant haul any loads with a car. Plus I am 6'4 and I dont fit too well in import cars. My truck gets about 14mpg downhill, although 65mph sounds good.

As far as the boycott goes, they said it would hit OPEC in the shorts near a Billion dollars worldwide. I'll participate anytime.

[Malicious Intent]

Is pissing off OPEC really such a good idea?

I would have thought they would make the money in the day before and the day after. A pump boycott is just to cause supply chain problems. Almost self sacrifice.

[Redneck4sure]

:bigsmile: *coughs*clears throat* I gotta buy American, no imports for me. They are under powered and I cant haul any loads with a car. Plus I am 6'4 and I dont fit too well in import cars. My truck gets about 14mpg downhill, although 65mph sounds good.

Ditto except the 6'4". My Suburban gets 15.7 mpg under the best conditions. My Chevy van gets 13mpg if I never touch the brakes or turn on the air conditioning. In normal use it gets 11mpg but with a trailer it's less than 10. I have checked both vehicles mileage for hundreds of miles on several occasions. Neither vehicle will run properly on anything except premium gas. When either vehicle has a loaded tandem axle trailer hooked to it you can see the fuel gauge move proportionally to the speedometer. The Suburban has a 40gal tank and the van has a 34gal tank. I have to take out a loan to fill them up.

My wife has a 4Runner. Rides like shit, no acceleration, can't put anything in it, can't pull anything with it, and she refuses to check the mileage but it seems to be around 20. It might be 22. I have suggested she cut the top off and use it for a golf cart. I have never driven her 4Runner except on a test drive.

I will buy the gas for my hogs. The difference is only about $100 to $150 a month. For that kind of money I won't drive the toy. Besides, I can pay the difference in gas with the money I am not spending on cds. ;)

[joeyz]

:bigsmile: *coughs*clears throat* I gotta buy American, no imports for me.

Honda, Toyota and Nissan all have plants in North America. American made! ;)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/953869/posts

[Redneck4sure]

:bigsmile: *coughs*clears throat* I gotta buy American, no imports for me.

Honda, Toyota and Nissan all have plants in North America. American made! ;)

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/953869/posts

GM, Ford have plants overseas too! I'm not going to mention Chrysler since they are German owned.

I don't think Japanese cars are "made" here. They are "assembled" here with imported and domestically made components. Since they are foreign owned most of the profits go overseas. A larger percentage of "American" cars are actually made in the US although it is getting harder to discern a difference between domestics and imports. I still prefer my American branded vehicle as opposed to imports.

It's the Redneck way!!

[desdemona]

I work for Delphi Packard, it's part of Delphi Automotive Systems, we do the electrical work for all 3 automakers but mostly GM, we were a subsidiary of GM until recently then Delphi broke away. When I started at Packard there were 15,000 employees, that was in 1993, now we're down to 2,700. The map of Mexico is polluted with dots that show delphi plants, it's a global company but almost all of our labor intensive work is shipped to mexico or china. About the only thing american made in your car is the battery harness as far as electrical components. It's hard to compete with 74 cents an hr. our manufacturing base has deteriorated, I don't think it's healthy to be reliant on countries that could be adversarial for military hardware or basic construction .

[Malicious Intent]

I think some people need some basic lesons in economics. Everyone should buy what is best for them. If you start getting caught up in politics of trade, then you will lend up with inferior products at a greater price. Then some guy keeps his job on false pretenses and the company he works for is not ever forced to adapt, making the products increasingly inferior. In the long term, everyone is screwed.

And as is pointed out - what is an American company? You complain that jobs are lost to Chineese being paid 74cents an hour, but they may well be being paid by an American company anyway. Hence the $6 (or whatever) saving makes its way back to the USA. And cheap components lend up in Dell computers, which can be sold to the rest of the world for twice the cost of the imported parts.

Being scared is not the way forward. Germany does just fine. They work with the cheap eastern labour markets, instead of fearing them. I believe America works with the labour markets too, it is the attitude which is different. Germany can therefore compete against cheap import cars. By importing cheap cars, they make the Japanesse et al richer, creater a bigger market to sell BMWs and Mercs. This makes the Germans richer for the Japs to sell electronic pets, which makes them richer for the Germans to sell fridges....

But if you are still scared of the world markets, why not go back to the protectionism of the late 1920s? After all, America had never been so rich.

[desdemona]

malicious, the money the american companies make on cheap labor does not trickle down to the consumer, do u see the price of cars going down? we're losing thousands of jobs, and there's nothing to replace them. I truly believe there's an economic divide being created in america. there's a huge trade imbalance, americans pay more for products than anywhere else in the world.

[moonglow]

:) we live out in the country and we have a mare.........as much as gas prices are rising...............I would consider takin her to the store

[Malicious Intent]

Ok, don't even get me started on how much more the English have to pay for everything!

You make it sound like America is getting the short end of the stick. The countries with the cheap labour markets have a lower standard of living than Americans. Also, America is not the only rich country in a huge pool of cheap labour. The Europeans, Canadians, Australia/NZ and Japan, amoung others, are all in the same boat. The EU has just opened its borders to the labour markets of Eastern Europe. That is because we don't see these places as a threat. They are an oppotunity.

Like wise, how can America be scared of free trade with a country of 1.3billion potential customers? China is a hugh market and hence will become rich with or without America. You may as well be with. Or when China has all the latest technology and best products, would you rather be sitting in your chevy?

[desdemona]

and why is the standard of living lower? huh? why do u think american companies are there, to take advantage of low wages, no environmental surcharges, tax breaks, they could care less about these people, these aren't the people buying $35,000 cars. I'm not trying to endorse isolationism but there has to be more of an even balance, our cost of living is high and our wages are stagnant or gone. all the jobs that paid a decent wage are leaving. you can't retrain all those people for new jobs when there's nothing to retrain them for, ask college graduates, they're having a hard time finding jobs today. we're at war and the govt is giving tax breaks, lol and not for the average citizen but for the rich, I'm sorry if I sound pessimistic but ..............

[DudeAsInCool]

I don't think we need any economic lessons - we live them everyday. While it's true that the world has become more tied together, that offers both opportunities as well as disruptions in the marketplace. The problem here in America is that as corporations look to remain competitive and protect their bottom line, numbers have taken precedent over loyal employees--loyal employees with familys to feed. This kind of unwelcome certainty in people's lives is not a healthy thing--of course, if companies looked after their employees rather than rudely discarding them, that would be another story--they dont. We live in a different world today, and I for one, could give a hoot about the laws of economics, when they only benefit corporations and stockholders, but thumb their nose at the people who helped make them.

[Malicious Intent]

I will be a graduate next month. As a graduate, I can assure you that I would rather be graduating into a managerial position in a high value industry, than graduating into a coal mine because Margret Thatcher gave in and protected mining jobs.

You seem to be going into the whole America is doomed thing again. My country is also in a war we can't afford and I pay more for products than my American couterpart. When I get a job, I will also be paid less.

What makes me more optimistic is that the UK is constantly upgrading and moving on. If you look closely, America is as well.

I don't want to go back to the days of a Britain of greasy motorbikes, unreliable cars and coal pits. I suspect in a few years we will be pleased that all the call centre jobs moved to India. It will make us more efficient.

You should read up on your Adam Smith, the father of free trade (the wealth of nations). Although in his lifetime he never saw it happen, he fought long and hard for Britain to import anything that another country could do better. In particular, food imports. After his death, the Corn Laws were removed from UK law. The flood of cheap food lead to many farmers losing work. However, it allowed the UK to specialise in manufacturing, paving the way for the industrial revolution.

He went into more detail about the effects of one country being cheaper and better at doing everything and the effect on the country which is crap at everything. It is still beneficial for open borders. This was called an absolute advantage, rather than a comparitive one.

[Malicious Intent]

I don't think we need any economic lessons - we live them everyday.  While it's true that the world has become more tied together, that offers both opportunities as well as disruptions in the marketplace.  The problem here in America is that as corporations look to remain competitive and protect their bottom line, numbers have taken precedent over loyal employees--loyal employees with familys to feed.  This kind of unwelcome certainty in people's lives is not a healthy thing--of course, if companies looked after their employees rather than rudely discarding them, that would be another story--they dont.  We live in a different world today, and I for one, could give a hoot about the laws of economics, when they only benefit corporations and stockholders, but thumb their nose at the people who helped make them.

Companies can't go dishing out jobs for nothing. It costs companies more to employ Americans. If Ford only employed Americans, do you really think they would be the success they are today? They would have been killed by the world markets, cheap Japanesse and classy German cars would have taken over. This way, America can sell Fords in Europe and Japan. Some people are keeping their jobs. It also does wonders for America's balance of trade.

Companies don't like firing people. It isn't fun.

You talk about the bottom line, but you also have to think what makes up that number and keeps it out the red. Yes, loyal employees are valuable, but if the company can't compete in other areas so they can sell products, where is the money to pay those employees suppose to come from?

Todays hire and fire culture is exactly the same culture that allows those that want to succeed to reach their potential. In the old days of job security, people would get a job, 40 years and two promotions later, they retire. That isn't enough for me. I want opportunity.

[DudeAsInCool]

You missed my point, MI. That point was that companies have a responsibility that goes beyond their bottom line-- to the employees who helped build their companies and the local communities which housed it. Otherwise, both would be devastated without such a committment. In the economy I'm talking about, there would still be opportunties for people like you--and there would be real support for former employees during the transition who are lost in the shuffle of a worldwide economic revolution. Responsibility is the key word... What's the point of living in a world that is more interested in the numbers produced than the people who live in it?

[DudeAsInCool]

I dont have a source, but I read today that gas prices have started to trickle back a bit lower today...

[Malicious Intent]

I saw it for less than 80p/litre yesterday, so you could be right about us getting back on track.

[Redneck4sure]

The nickel drop in the price of gas is not a trend. I just didn't fill up the suburban or my van last week so there is a slight surplus. This week I will fill them both up so there may be a shortage which will cause the price to go up a dime. Stay tuned for more details. :)

[Potato]

$1.75 here. Sure beats $2.19.

Edited June 15, 2004 by Potato