Gas Near $3/gal is good for the economy?

[red states rule]

CNN says gas at $3/gal is a sign the economy is improving. Could the bias of CNN be anymore obvious?





The return of oil price shock

Higher energy prices are a sign the economy is getting better. But with oil nearing $80 and gas inching toward $3, some fear a further spike could derail a recovery.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil prices are back around $80 a barrel for the first time in nearly a year. But is that good news or bad news for the economy? Let the debate begin.

Of course, the knee-jerk reaction is to declare that rising oil prices must be a bad sign. After all, increased energy prices could be considered the equivalent of a big fat tax increase for an already cash-strapped consumer.

Even though people don't have to pony up four Andrew Jacksons to buy an actual barrel of oil, rising crude prices obviously hurt consumers at the pump.

And in just the past week the nationwide average price of a gallon of gasoline increased by 10 cents, or about 4%, to $2.58, according to motorist group AAA.

On the other hand, oil prices were hovering around a low of near $30 a barrel back in February. And at that time, the average price of gas was below $2 a gallon. But how good did you feel about the economy back then?

Fears about a massive wave of big bank failures and another depression were running rampant. So cheaper oil and gas were little consolation.

It's hard to deny that things simply feel better now than they did seven months ago. The economy may still be in rough shape but few are predicting a financial apocalypse.

Stocks have soared in the past few months because of renewed expectations of a global economic recovery, and the spike in oil prices is also a reflection of these hopes. Sure, there are some out there who are writing off the rise in oil as another example of momentum traders playing the evil speculation game.

http://money.cnn.com/2009/10/20/markets/thebuzz/index.htm?postversion=2009102013

[Jeff]

CNN says gas at $3/gal is a sign the economy is improving. Could the bias of CNN be anymore obvious?

Diesel is more than gas, how can that be, it has always been cheaper than gas, it has been that way for a while though, wonder if the Government realizes ya can park cars and take transit in allot of cases but ya have to buy diesel to keep freight moving


Also I was listening to the trucker channel on Sirius and they were saying the white house has figured out how to make the road repairs needed in this country( thought that the stimulus was going to fix them) they are wanting to raise taxes on diesel and gas, diesel is already higher taxed than Gasoline so the Trucking Association is fighting to just raise the tax on gas, it will never win, but with gas soaring up be prepared for it to go even higher once Obama gets his tax on it, Dang I guess maybe only people making $250,000 drive :eek:

[red states rule]

Diesel is more than gas, how can that be, it has always been cheaper than gas, it has been that way for a while though, wonder if the Government realizes ya can park cars and take transit in allot of cases but ya have to buy diesel to keep freight moving


Also I was listening to the trucker channel on Sirius and they were saying the white house has figured out how to make the road repairs needed in this country( thought that the stimulus was going to fix them) they are wanting to raise taxes on diesel and gas, diesel is already higher taxed than Gasoline so the Trucking Association is fighting to just raise the tax on gas, it will never win, but with gas soaring up be prepared for it to go even higher once Obama gets his tax on it, Dang I guess maybe only people making $250,000 drive :eek:

I wonder if the liberal media will blame Obama for allowing oil companies to make "obscene" profits

Or if they will interview truckers who can't make a profit blame the Obama economy like they blamed the Bush economy

I doubt it

[Jeff]

I wonder if the liberal media will blame Obama for allowing oil companies to make "obscene" profits

Or if they will interview truckers who can't make a profit blame the Obama economy like they blamed the Bush economy

I doubt it

The rates for truckers are going way down, many companies have folded already, when it finally levels out the rates will go back up as they did when oil prices went up under GW, that was also when ya started spending more at the grocery store, with fuel going up and companies going under it is just a matter of time before there are only so many companies running, the fuel surcharge will sky rocket and rates will slowly climb again, and guess who will pay for it all, the consumer


And no, there hasn't been one word( other than mine) about how well Obama is doing with the fuel prices) guess I must be a racist :laugh2:

[red states rule]

The rates for truckers are going way down, many companies have folded already, when it finally levels out the rates will go back up as they did when oil prices went up under GW, that was also when ya started spending more at the grocery store, with fuel going up and companies going under it is just a matter of time before there are only so many companies running, the fuel surcharge will sky rocket and rates will slowly climb again, and guess who will pay for it all, the consumer


And no, there hasn't been one word( other than mine) about how well Obama is doing with the fuel prices) guess I must be a racist :laugh2:

Here Jeff is a blast from the past

So while $3/gal is good - $4/gal is bad



Gasoline prices could peak at $4 this summer
Government forecast could dissuade many from summer driving plans


updated 9:15 a.m. PT, Tues., April 8, 2008
NEW YORK - Retail gas prices could climb as high as $4 a gallon this summer, but prices at such lofty levels will make many Americans think twice about hitting the road this summer, the Energy Department said Tuesday.

High prices and a weak economy are expected to cut demand for gasoline by about 0.4 percent during the peak summer driving season, the department’s Energy Information Administration said in a monthly report on petroleum supplies and demand. Overall consumption of petroleum products will drop by 90,000 barrels a day this year. Previously, the EIA had projected petroleum consumption would rise by 40,000 barrels a day.

Average monthly gas prices will peak around $3.60 a gallon in June, the EIA said. However, prices could rise much higher than that at times.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24013419/

[namvet]

shove Osama's big mouth over the pipe. problem solved

[red states rule]

shove Osama's big mouth over the pipe. problem solved

We have plenty of natural gas Namvet - if we we had a shortage of THAT gas I would say go for it

[namvet]

We have plenty of natural gas Namvet - if we we had a shortage of THAT gas I would say go for it

so does Osama. so shove the pipe up his ass !!!!

[red states rule]

http://www.cranstontaxpayer.com/wp-content/themes/mimbo2.2/images/obama-energy-plan.jpg

[SupportUSA]

I think it's clear to anyone that this is not positive and is what I believe could be an indicator of another crash of the market.

[Trigg]

IMHO, gas prices last year are what helped put thousands of people into bankruptcy and helped speed along the home foreclosures. People that were living paycheck to paycheck all of the sudden were paying double to fill their tanks.

The gov. and stores want people out spending money this Christmas season. Well I gotta tell ya....with 9.7% unemployment and rising gas prices good luck getting people to part with their money. This recession won't go anywhere if the gas prices start to climb.

[Kathianne]

IMHO, gas prices last year are what helped put thousands of people into bankruptcy and helped speed along the home foreclosures. People that were living paycheck to paycheck all of the sudden were paying double to fill their tanks.

The gov. and stores want people out spending money this Christmas season. Well I gotta tell ya....with 9.7% unemployment and rising gas prices good luck getting people to part with their money. This recession won't go anywhere if the gas prices start to climb.

I agree. The gas prices put me where I was really watching food costs. Those were 'down' but not enough to offset. So, last year I spent about $50 on each of my kids and $20 on their significant others. I skipped everyone else. I put on Christmas, but that $400 was saved by last July.

Right now, looks like we're heading for the same and I'll probably cut back from that as they are another year older and all but one out of school.

[avatar4321]

its probably the one thing that will keep the economy from improving.

[red states rule]

IMHO, gas prices last year are what helped put thousands of people into bankruptcy and helped speed along the home foreclosures. People that were living paycheck to paycheck all of the sudden were paying double to fill their tanks.

The gov. and stores want people out spending money this Christmas season. Well I gotta tell ya....with 9.7% unemployment and rising gas prices good luck getting people to part with their money. This recession won't go anywhere if the gas prices start to climb.

Hope and change is what the left says is the answer rather then tapping our own resources

We have so much oli sitting in the goruind and off the coast - yet Dems are more interested in appeasing the enviro wackos then actually making the country energy independent

If we would start tapping all that oil, how many jobs would be created and how many people would be back to work - and paying taxes, something the left is always interested in

[sgtdmski]

And we are suppose to consider CNN a legitimate news source when they don't even understand basic economics 101????

Higher gas prices mean families spending more on filling the tank to go to work, shopping, taking the kids to after school activities and other family outings. More on gas means less to spend, less to spend means less to buy, less to buy means slower economic growth for business.

Hmmm, to take it further, higher gas prices means higher costs in shipping. Higher shipping costs means higher consumer prices, higher prices meaning less being bought, less than being bought means again less consumer spending, less consumer spending means slower economic growth.

So tell me anyone, how is slow economic growth, coupled with higher unemployment and less consumer spending good for the economy. Damn, a college freshman in business knows these simple truths.

But obviously, CNN doesn't. A legitimate news source??? Perhaps they should stick to critiquing the accuracy of SNL skits.

dmk

[sgtdmski]

I prefer my gasoline closer to $2 a gallon, especially when having to fill a truck and a boat. I need to get my hunting and fishing in to fill my freezer!!!

dmk

[red states rule]

I prefer my gasoline closer to $2 a gallon, especially when having to fill a truck and a boat. I need to get my hunting and fishing in to fill my freezer!!!

dmk

I wil beat the libs to it

IT IS ALL BUSH'S FAULT!

[sgtdmski]

Hope and change is what the left says is the answer rather then tapping our own resources

We have so much oli sitting in the goruind and off the coast - yet Dems are more interested in appeasing the enviro wackos then actually making the country energy independent

If we would start tapping all that oil, how many jobs would be created and how many people would be back to work - and paying taxes, something the left is always interested in


I wil beat the libs to it

IT IS ALL BUSH'S FAULT!

I'll beat Hannity or Beck to it, it is all Obama fault!!!!

I think that Dick Morris said it best tonight, the Bush recession has finally ended. Now we are engaged in the Obama cure recession!!!!!

dmk

[red states rule]

You can count on the fact you won't hear/read a word in the libera;l media regarding how high gas prices are hurting the working folks while their man is in charge.

Or how businesses are going broke due to higher energy costs when their fellow libs running things

Isn't that amazing?

[NightTrain]

You guys pay an average of $0.60 to $0.40 LESS than we do - and we produce this.

The local polititians raise a stink, then suddenly lose interest - probably after getting a condo in Hawaii. This has happened over a dozen times.

Why would Seattle pay less at the pump than the communities of North Pole or Nikiski that refines it?

"It's what the market will bear" is the answer.

We will ship that gasoline to Seattle and charge the refinery town, North Pole, substantially more for the same product. Yep, makes sense.

[Noir]

Wow, hold the bus,

I was Reading through this thread and wasn't really getting what was going on, then I realized, you guys consider $3 a gallon to be high?!?!?!
We pay about $1.6 per litre over here and there are about 4.5 litres in a gallon, so I think y'all should consider yourselves pretty cheap.

[red states rule]

Wow, hold the bus,

I was Reading through this thread and wasn't really getting what was going on, then I realized, you guys consider $3 a gallon to be high?!?!?!
We pay about $1.6 per litre over here and there are about 4.5 litres in a gallon, so I think y'all should consider yourselves pretty cheap.

The answer is simple Noir. You allowed your government to tax the hell out of gas. Maybe you feel you are undertaxed - but alot of people feel they are paying to much for their gas

Here, the taxes on a gallon of tax can be about 60 to 70 cents per gallon - whiloe at the same time the Dems whine about the obscene profits of the oil company when they make more in taxes off that gakkon then the oil companies do in profit

[red states rule]

You guys pay an average of $0.60 to $0.40 LESS than we do - and we produce this.

The local polititians raise a stink, then suddenly lose interest - probably after getting a condo in Hawaii. This has happened over a dozen times.

Why would Seattle pay less at the pump than the communities of North Pole or Nikiski that refines it?

"It's what the market will bear" is the answer.

We will ship that gasoline to Seattle and charge the refinery town, North Pole, substantially more for the same product. Yep, makes sense.

Perhaos the Dems repealing their offshore drilling bill has something to do with the spike in prices now that all that supply has been removed from the future market

Dems do care much more about anthills and owls then they do the working class folks

[Noir]

The answer is simple Noir. You allowed your government to tax the hell out of gas. Maybe you feel you are undertaxed - but alot of people feel they are paying to much for their gas

Here, the taxes on a gallon of tax can be about 60 to 70 cents per gallon - whiloe at the same time the Dems whine about the obscene profits of the oil company when they make more in taxes off that gakkon then the oil companies do in profit

I know the difference is tax, but its just odd to hear you guys moan when ya's are paying $3 per gallon when we get by fine paying $7-$8 per gallon.

[red states rule]

I know the difference is tax, but its just odd to hear you guys moan when ya's are paying $3 per gallon when we get by fine paying $7-$8 per gallon.

As I said, maybe you enjoy the libs in your country taxing the crap out of you Noir - we don't

And maybe the high taxes are part of the reason you can't find a job. The cost of doing business in your country is too expensive for an employer to hire you

[Noir]

As I said, maybe you enjoy the libs in your country taxing the crap out of you Noir - we don't

I'm not saying we enjoy it, but it puts your moaning in context.


And maybe the high taxes are part of the reason you can't find a job. The cost of doing business in your country is too expensive for an employer to hire you

Maybe it is, but the taxes help me aswell, for example the goverment are paying my University fees, which will cost about £10,000 without that i would not have been able to go to uni, and they also give a 0% Loan worth £10,000, i'd much rather find it hard to get a job and have this £20,000 secured, than the other way round. But we digress.

[red states rule]

I'm not saying we enjoy it, but it puts your moaning in context.



Maybe it is, but the taxes help me aswell, for example the goverment are paying my University fees, which will cost about £10,000 without that i would not have been able to go to uni, and they also give a 0% Loan worth £10,000, i'd much rather find it hard to get a job and have this £20,000 secured, than the other way round. But we digress.

Some people love big government, working not for themselves (when they do work) but working for the government. Some people love to turn to the government for alll their needs, and never strive to be the best they can be sinc ethe government wil punish their success by taking a bigger chuck of their income

Many here do not want to be like Europe, even though it is clear that is what Oba a wants to do

So the government paid all your expenses and now you can't find a job.

Perhaps you did not learn as much as you should have about the real world when you had the chance

[Noir]

Some people love big government, working not for themselves (when they do work) but working for the government. Some people love to turn to the government for alll their needs, and never strive to be the best they can be sinc ethe government wil punish their success by taking a bigger chuck of their income

Many here do not want to be like Europe, even though it is clear that is what Oba a wants to do

So the government paid all your expenses and now you can't find a job.

Perhaps you did not learn as much as you should have about the real world when you had the chance

No, the goverment has made an investment in me on behalf of the taxpayer, and when i get a decent education and can thus apply myself to a decent job i will be of much more value than if no investment had been made and i spent the rest of my life as my family has before me in low-paid 'you'll get by' jobs,

[red states rule]

No, the goverment has made an investment in me on behalf of the taxpayer, and when i get a decent education and can thus apply myself to a decent job i will be of much more value than if no investment had been made and i spent the rest of my life as my family has before me in low-paid 'you'll get by' jobs,

I wish you luick Noir, and perhaos when you are working and you see how much the government takes from you as you succeed in your chosen profession - you will see liberalsim punishes success

As far as Obama following the successful economic model of Europe

http://www.debatepolicy.com/showthread.php?t=25032

[Trigg]

but its just odd to hear you guys moan when ya's are paying $3 per gallon when we get by fine paying $7-$8 per gallon.

My sister says the same thing (she lives in Finland) about our grouching.

Here are a couple of differences between Europe and the US. Americans have an average 45 min. commute time. Unless you live in a large city like Chicago or NY There is no public transportation that goes out of the city limits, so everyone drives. Europeans tend to drive smaller cars that get better gas mileage.

US auto makers have no incentive to make larger fuel efficient trucks and SUVs. The cars they do make are outrageously expensive and make no sense for larger families.

Lastly, when the gas prices went up last year they jumped faster than people could adapt. They went from $1.75 on average to $4.50 in the span of a few months and stayed there for almost a year before coming back down to $3.

People owned houses they could barely afford and the gas prices pushed them over the edge.

[Jeff]

I know the difference is tax, but its just odd to hear you guys moan when ya's are paying $3 per gallon when we get by fine paying $7-$8 per gallon.

Noir they pay that much in Halifax Canada also, at least it was way up there when I was there, that's what they called free health care :eek: In Canada at least Halifax they taxed the shit out of everything to pay for there free health care, that is exactly why I am against government run health care, I will be paying way more than I am now for my Health care so those that don't want to work can have it, notice I said those that don't want to work, cause we have Government run health cares for those that can't work now

[sgtdmski]

I live in Ketchikan, AK. Ketchikan is an island in SE Alaska, we have no refinery here, although I am hoping to resolve that problem, I have been pushing for one to be built on Gravina Island so that we can combat the price of gasoline.

We receive our gasoline from Washington state. So our companies purchase gasoline to be stored in tanks at one price and then sell it to us at a said price based upon the purchase price.

That means what usually ends up happening is that when prices first rise, the companies raise their prices. However, when prices lower, we always seem to drag behind. Because the gas is purchased at a higher price, then we have to wait until the tanks are empty before the prices can lower.

We are caught in a bad situation. That is why I am hoping to establish a refinery here, however, the government (federal) has been hesitant to create new refineries. Isn't it amazing how the government can control the price without even being involved, just simply by not allowing new refineries to be built!!!!!

dmk

[NightTrain]

I live in Ketchikan, AK. Ketchikan is an island in SE Alaska, we have no refinery here, although I am hoping to resolve that problem, I have been pushing for one to be built on Gravina Island so that we can combat the price of gasoline.

We receive our gasoline from Washington state. So our companies purchase gasoline to be stored in tanks at one price and then sell it to us at a said price based upon the purchase price.

That means what usually ends up happening is that when prices first rise, the companies raise their prices. However, when prices lower, we always seem to drag behind. Because the gas is purchased at a higher price, then we have to wait until the tanks are empty before the prices can lower.

We are caught in a bad situation. That is why I am hoping to establish a refinery here, however, the government (federal) has been hesitant to create new refineries. Isn't it amazing how the government can control the price without even being involved, just simply by not allowing new refineries to be built!!!!!

dmk

The greenies block every attempt to build another refinery, even though it's needed badly. Flint Hills and Tesoro own the only refineries in Alaska, and there's no reason for them to seriously compete with each other.

I was down in Juneau about a month ago on a job we were doing for the FAA, and I was surprised as hell to see that the gas prices in Juneau were $0.50 cheaper than gas prices in Anchorage, $0.60 cheaper than here in Wasilla.

So, we ship it by tanker to Seattle, offload, buy and sell it, reload to another tanker, transport to Juneau, offload, and sell it cheaper than where it's produced. How the hell does that make sense?

More refineries all over the country would alleviate our gas prices, but again, greenies raise holy hell over it with lawsuits and protests. It's not so much a shortage of oil but the capability to refine it.

Someone asked about why diesel is more expensive than gas, and the answer is that it's "low sulfur" these days, it has more ingredients in it and it's not the same diesel that we remember from back when it was cheaper. I don't know what the benefits are to this new formula, less pollutants I would suppose.

[red states rule]

Republican in office - high gas prices is a sign of Bush's oil buddies price gouging the public

Dems in office - high gas prices is a sign of good economy