Breaking news: Obama, Congress has solved the energy crisis.

[jayhawk]

What I am typing here is what is called "filler", so you can't just mouse over the thread title to see what I typed.

Ok. Here is Obamas brilliant plan....ready for it?

We could save all the oil that they're talking about getting off drilling if everybody was just inflating their tires and getting regular tune-ups. You'd actually save just as much.

With that statement, plus others I have heard from him, I think he is really in the belief that Americans are stupid. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has stated that there will be no debate about drilling for oil, she wants to "save the planet". Americans, this is your Congress at work; and right now they deserve the 9% approval rating they have, which is, by the way, the lowest in the history of the country.

Do you really feel this is a positive step in the right direction, where Democrats in Congress, when confronted with this problem, are essentially plugging their ears and yelling "LA LA LA LA LA LA!!!!" when more than 2/3's of the country want's drilling to happen to alleviate the problem? They believe that lower oil prices by drilling and exploring is a hoax, that it will not lower prices.

Ponder this: President dubya held a press conference a few weeks ago asking Congress to open up options on oil exploration. On the same day, oil prices dropped eight dollars. If the power of words can lower prices, what about the power of action?
I am sure that some of you reading this have a better grasp of economics than member of Congress have...

[atombfield]

I want to punch Nancy Pelosi right in the center of her face.

[epp_b]

Well, credit to him for actually knowing a thing or two about cars, but, c'mon, Obama, correctly-inflated tires and properly-maintained engines do not make that much of a difference

[vegasrebel29]

In fairness, the low approval ratings of Congress stem from 8+ years of mismanagement of the nation. Also, I doubt that Bush's sheer words drove it down (which is not to say they can't, just that I don't believe it was the case here).

[LeVeL]

Obama will say ANYTHING as long as the public will cheer... and they always do, since they are clueless.

Btw, today at the pump I noticed that gas prices dropped a little.

[Scooby5]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

....when more than 2/3's of the country want's drilling to happen to alleviate the problem? They believe that lower oil prices by drilling and exploring is a hoax, that it will not lower prices.

The lead time for getting fresh oil is about 5-yrs.

If it were simply a supply & demand issue then simply saying "we're drilling for more oil" will have no immediate effect on the supply. Some of those Wall Street types have already said openly, "Oil is dropping so we're switching back to equities."

[phuckingduck]

What happened to the lack of excess refinery capacity? Haven't many on the right been leaning on refinery capacity as why supply is short of demand thus causing high prices? Great, we got more oil. But doesn't this totally negate the last 10 years of right wing rhetoric on liberal environmental policy killing off refining capacity?

Also, I don't think that there is a supply shortage. I'm yet to see a single report of lack of gas. There is no gas shortage, and there is no need to open up more off shore sites to alleviate prices. Prices change. It's a free market. Yeah it sucks that gas is now an arm and three legs, but it's what we got. Personally I see no need to either introduce taxes on these companies for windfall profits, and I also see no need to aide them by giving them more resources when they're already swimming in abundant oil.

For full disclosure, I am a stockholder in ExxonMobil.

[Momentum57]

Originally Posted by vegasrebel29

In fairness, the low approval ratings of Congress stem from 8+ years of mismanagement of the nation.

Or the fact that Democrats promised opposition and then organized a group cluster fuck.

Originally Posted by Scooby5

The lead time for getting fresh oil is about 5-yrs.

And in five years gas prices will have gone down or is magical alternative energy cars be cheep or are we just going to power them with our own farts

[NooDle]

well he's not going to solve the energy crisis, but there is a ridiculous amount of fuel being wasted every year due to underinflated tyres. I read somewhere on a Michelin site that 30% of cars have badly inflated tyres which in turn equates to millions of litres of fuel being wasted needlessly

[Scooby5]

Originally Posted by Momentum57

And in five years gas prices will have gone down or is magical alternative energy cars be cheep or are we just going to power them with our own farts

EXCUSE ME!?!?!

We are talking about current high petrol prices are we not? At least i was in response to JayHawk. The problem is you guys in the States have been getting "gas" too cheap for years and simply wasting it, thinking only you have the right to it when it's a world resource. It's about bloody time you welcomed the real world.

It is impossible for oil prices to go as low as they were a few years ago but theoretically they can still withstand a substantial discount from current prices.

[Elvis313]

Originally Posted by Scooby5

The problem is you guys in the States have been getting "gas" too cheap for years and simply wasting it, thinking only you have the right to it when it's a world resource. It's about bloody time you welcomed the real world.

/signed

if I could get my fuel for the price you guys have to pay in the US, I would do nothing but drive all day long.
Or, when I think about it, I could actually spend the money on something nice

[jetsetter]

Originally Posted by Elvis313

/signed

if I could get my fuel for the price you guys have to pay in the US, I would do nothing but drive all day long.
Or, when I think about it, I could actually spend the money on something nice

And there you go.

[jayhawk]

Originally Posted by Scooby5

The problem is you guys in the States have been getting "gas" too cheap for years and simply wasting it, thinking only you have the right to it when it's a world resource. It's about bloody time you welcomed the real world.

Our gas is cheap because of two reasons.

-We are the largest consumer of it.
-We do not add a ridiculous amount of tax to it. For example, Germany.

Your statement is straight out of the leftist handbook..."equal misery for all".

I know that there is not a supply problem, but a demand problem, but you would have to agree that is the US started exploring for it's own resources, it would increase the amount of oil on the worldwide market, thus reducing prices, so the whole world would benefit.

[Censport]

Originally Posted by Scooby5

The problem is you guys in the States have been getting "gas" too cheap for years and simply wasting it, thinking only you have the right to it when it's a world resource. It's about bloody time you welcomed the real world.

We've been paying the same for oil as you. There might be a minor difference in the price of the refined fuel (such as all the "boutique" blends we have for cluster**** cities like Chicago), but the real difference in pumps prices is in the taxes. Here in Tennessee, we pay 41¢ in taxes on each gallon of petrol. Diesel is another 50¢ higher, I think. How many £ do you pay per gallon?

The people who are truly getting their fuel cheap are the ones who live in countries where it is subsidized by the government. China, India, Venezuela, Qtar, etc. One of the guys at our recent Jaguar show just came back from another trip to Afghanistan as a private contractor. He said that gas in Qtar is 18¢ a gallon.

[Momentum57]

Originally Posted by Scooby5

EXCUSE ME!?!?!

We are talking about current high petrol prices are we not? At least i was in response to JayHawk. The problem is you guys in the States have been getting "gas" too cheap for years and simply wasting it, thinking only you have the right to it when it's a world resource. It's about bloody time you welcomed the real world.

It is impossible for oil prices to go as low as they were a few years ago but theoretically they can still withstand a substantial discount from current prices.

As this is a direct attack let me help:

Yes, we are talking about current prices, and nothing can change current prices. Thus we can do nothing about the future price of gas: see that milkshake would be too long to make so you just have to suck it up and drink the curdled spoiled milk.

And yes it was too cheap; just like other natural resources are too cheep. Like this air thing Americans have been breathing that in for nothing, for years. We really need to have a tax levied to learn to appreciate it (oh and those who can't afford their previous air consumption you can save by not breathing for just 24 hours out of your week)

As for the last comment let me just see if I can decipher it: we will never have the price of gas go down but we could according to you all with out drilling for more oil.


How is that magical fart driven car in Narnia Mr. Tumnus

[teeb]

Originally Posted by Censport

One of the guys at our recent Jaguar show just came back from another trip to Afghanistan as a private contractor. He said that gas in Qtar is 18¢ a gallon.

To point out the obvious, though, Qatar doesn't need to import oil at all, whilst the US is the world's biggest importer of the black stuff.

The mere act of shipping it into the US, on huge megatankers, means it's going to cost more in the US than in Qatar.

[vegasrebel29]

Originally Posted by Momentum57

Or the fact that Democrats promised opposition and then organized a group cluster fuck.

That's what I was getting at, lol.

[Scooby5]

Originally Posted by jayhawk

Our gas is cheap because of two reasons.

-We are the largest consumer of it.
-We do not add a ridiculous amount of tax to it. For example, Germany.

RE: All the discussion about waste. Let's face it, its not like America is the most populous nation on the planet. You consume so much because it is so cheap, now that prices are going up attitudes are changing and people are switching to more efficient vehicles, hence your motor industry is F'd up. You only have to look at GM's figures this week.

Example: In the US you can buy a 4.6L Ford Mustang for USD20,000 (New) which is the equivalent of GBP10,131. This Mustang does 17mpg around town. Now, in Ford-UK a Ford Fiesta Zetec Blue starts at GBP10,250 with a 1.25L engine that does 47mpg on a Combined Cycle. Notice this is even the Fiesta, and not the family friendly Focus.

As i said before....... welcome, finally, to the real world.

Originally Posted by Censport

The people who are truly getting their fuel cheap are the ones who live in countries where it is subsidized by the government. China, India, Venezuela, Qtar, etc. One of the guys at our recent Jaguar show just came back from another trip to Afghanistan as a private contractor. He said that gas in Qtar is 18¢ a gallon.

It is nice Amercicans now comapre themselves with the likes of those in China, India, Venezuala etc. and not with Europe or other Developed Countries.

Cheap petrol is usually present in Net Oil Exporting countries as means of a subsidy, such as Qatar, Brunei, Malaysia. It is also usually present in POOR countries. That kinda takes care of our listed countries then. It's interesting to note that as inflation shoots up even the subsidies are being reduced, with Malaysia putting petrol prices up by nearly 50% a few months ago.

In Singapore, petrol is USD5.80 per US-Gallon. Yes, i know most is tax. I know this cause i'm not an idiot but you know what, these taxes are a good source of income for governments....... oh wait, what's the US budget deficit these days?

Originally Posted by Momentum57

As for the last comment let me just see if I can decipher it: we will never have the price of gas go down but we could according to you all with out drilling for more oil.

At the moment prices have gone down as speculators and investers have jumped into equities and others. Prices won't go as low as they were before but they can go down from where they are now, yes, even without drilling at the moment.