The Gasoline Price Crises
Gasoline here in Northern California is over $4.50 per gallon! There is no end in sight and not a lot that we can do about it in the short term. While everybody wants to blame the oil companies and the speculators (and they are both partly to blame), the truth of the matter is that China and India with their expanding economies are now competing with us for supply and they have vastly more people than the U.S. to fuel that demand. Both McCain and Obama are proposing long term solutions and we can certainly debate their conflicting remedies. However, what bugs me is that neither are suggesting a short term action that would immediately reduce every citizens' gasoline costs and would also lead to at least a modest decrease in prices.
That is to LOWER THE SPEED LIMIT TO 55 M.P.H.!! If it was appropriate in the 70's to deal with gasoline scarcity, why not now, to deal with the high cost of gasoline? It would cut gasoline consumption by at least 10%, which would in effect drop half a buck off of the price of a gallon of gas immediately. It would also decrease demand, which would eventually bring the price down even more.
I am against simply encouraging Americans to drive slower because it is unsafe to have half of the drivers traveling at 55 and the rest at 70.
So, why is it it that neither presidential candidate is suggesting this. The answer is sad, but simple. They are afraid of catching Jimmy Carteritis. You see, Jimmy was not re-elected, so anything that reminds us of him is something these guys want to avoid.
It is very disappointing to me that the "straight talk express" and the guy who has pledged to us that he will be a "new" politician who will tells us "what we need to hear, not what we would like to hear" are not ready to ask us to make even a small sacrifice to deal with this crises. They would rather talk about the things like off shore drilling, a gas tax holiday, a second stimulus check from the IRS, or an excess profits tax. These all may be measures worth considering, but how about first having the American people make a little sacrifice?
I think that the American people are hungry for a leader who will talk straight and ask them to make sacrifices for the common good. Both of these guys talk a good game in generalities, but will either of them step up to the plate.
Just one more thing on this subject. I have heard from two different sources, the last being Senator Joe Biden on last Sunday's "Meet The Press" that our oil companies currently own 4000 oil leases on land that has been demonstrated to have oil, including off shore leases, that they are not drilling. Don't you think that Congress should be asking the oil companies to explain themselves? There might be a good explanation for this, but it a pertinent question to be answered under the current circumstances.
Well, that's a lot of writing for a first attempt. I don't know how regularly I will be logging in, but it will be at least once a week, and hopefully more, especially if you folks will dialogue with me.
That is to LOWER THE SPEED LIMIT TO 55 M.P.H.!! If it was appropriate in the 70's to deal with gasoline scarcity, why not now, to deal with the high cost of gasoline? It would cut gasoline consumption by at least 10%, which would in effect drop half a buck off of the price of a gallon of gas immediately. It would also decrease demand, which would eventually bring the price down even more.
I am against simply encouraging Americans to drive slower because it is unsafe to have half of the drivers traveling at 55 and the rest at 70.
So, why is it it that neither presidential candidate is suggesting this. The answer is sad, but simple. They are afraid of catching Jimmy Carteritis. You see, Jimmy was not re-elected, so anything that reminds us of him is something these guys want to avoid.
It is very disappointing to me that the "straight talk express" and the guy who has pledged to us that he will be a "new" politician who will tells us "what we need to hear, not what we would like to hear" are not ready to ask us to make even a small sacrifice to deal with this crises. They would rather talk about the things like off shore drilling, a gas tax holiday, a second stimulus check from the IRS, or an excess profits tax. These all may be measures worth considering, but how about first having the American people make a little sacrifice?
I think that the American people are hungry for a leader who will talk straight and ask them to make sacrifices for the common good. Both of these guys talk a good game in generalities, but will either of them step up to the plate.
Just one more thing on this subject. I have heard from two different sources, the last being Senator Joe Biden on last Sunday's "Meet The Press" that our oil companies currently own 4000 oil leases on land that has been demonstrated to have oil, including off shore leases, that they are not drilling. Don't you think that Congress should be asking the oil companies to explain themselves? There might be a good explanation for this, but it a pertinent question to be answered under the current circumstances.
Well, that's a lot of writing for a first attempt. I don't know how regularly I will be logging in, but it will be at least once a week, and hopefully more, especially if you folks will dialogue with me.
posted by Paul at
7:21 PM
7 Comments:
Good points. The problem is that this country is run by admen and marketing geniuses not policy makers. What matters most is the "selling" of ideas to the American people. The sad truth is this is what America wants. It is hard to say who is to blame but its become increasingly hard to blame politicians when there is no public outcry for accountability and leadership. The price of oil is a small problem compared to the ignorance, greed and complacency that put us here. We are still fighting a needless war, we are still living beyond our means, we still have a broken healthcare and primary education system. We still have no idea what our goals are for protecting the environment. What we have is a reality TV show where the cameras are turned on us... we are witnessing our own decline brought on by nothing but our own lack of vision and caring.
The best thing that we can do as individuals is lead by example. Drive less, save more, and stop killing innocent people in foreign lands in unprovoked wars.
Wow!!, David, you are right on target. I couldn't agree more!
Just want to make a correction and a comment or two. It was implied that President Carter initiated the 55
m.p.h. law. It was President Richard Nixon that this bill signed 2 January 1974. The problem is the people.
How dumb can we be? China is subsidizing gasoline for its people with our money. Next time you shop at a Wal-
Mart think about the $4.00+ cost of gasoline and how much of what you are spending is going to help a Chinese
person fill their tank. . Greed is rampant. We buy at these mega stores without a single thought of your
neighbor's struggle to keep their mom & pop open and paying sales tax. They open these huge stores with tax
credits that never pay off for the local or state government. We are thrilled when Toyota builds a plant in
Mississippi but could careless if GM goes out of business. Longshoremen are losing their jobs to automated
material handling equipment. We are getting rid of all of our jobs that don't require a college degree. We
can't wait to lock up people. My "honor roll" daughter was suspended from high school for having a cell phone
(not ringing) in her purse. The kids that really cause problems have to go to a school labeled "alternative
school." These kids are already having problems couldn't they come up with a friendlier name. We must be the
most mean spirited and uncaring people on the planet. The sub-prime problem is on-going. An we as a politicians
are afraid to help out the individual because they might be investors , house flippers. I say we help
speculators in the interest of helping the millions of just regular ole people who are losing their one home.
Let's run the risk. We can bail out Bear Stearns but G-d forbid we help John or Jane Doe. They don't live on
"K" street they live on main street. B of A is buying Country Wide for the tax break. The Fed keeps lowering
interest rates to banks. But do banks pass these low rate on to their customers. The banks don't have to loan
money any longer because that is not where the money is. It is too much work. They just charge higher fees for
bounced checks and late payments and credit card interest rates at 25%+. If the mafia could have charged these
rates they could have been legitimate. Well I need to take another blood pressure pill and get back to work.
Michael Behr
Mobile, AL
Congratulations on your new opening.
What we need is a long term policy which will take us away from oil.
In the short term we are going to be stuck with high gasoline prices.
Off shore drilling has its own problems, primarily environmental.
There are other sources for oil which can be taped such as oil shale. At the present price of oil it would probably be practical. There could be environmental problems with its use.
The only problem with a lower speed limit is enforcement. 65 mph is hard to enforce, 55 would be more difficult.
Good Morning Paul,
I like your ingenious title.
Here in NH, we haven't reached $4.50 for a gallon of gas, yet! But we are working on it. Living in a tourist state, we rely on tourium to enhance our economy. The high cost of gas will certainy hurt us.
Judy
Hallo Paul
you did a good deal.
I could not comment about politic, but it's sure that the petrol price encrasing is due to the high finince.
Take care
Danny your Friend from Switzerland
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