Fuel Prices feel a little like prison love!!!

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by Greyelephant

They are talking $5 by the end of the month. Hows that for some hope and change?

To think that supposedly this is all due to the situation in Libya.

Fat stinkin' dirty lying rats!

Yeah, well they can blame Libya all they want, but when oil companies are making like $10 Billion in profits in a quarter, that's just greed.

I believe in karma, so I hope anyone having to do with high fuel prices gets a big taste of karma right where it hurts.

Originally Posted by Codeman

At that rate buying some perimeter fencing and a goat seems to be a cheeper option.

Well I have three dogs. So all I have to do is teach them to pee in more places and I won't even have to mow the back yard for all the dead grass.

[ollie]

Some perspective

(Incidentally, am I imagining the correlation between posters who decry oil companies' profits and those who protest regulation and/or taxes of any kind for corporations?)

[Hahma]

Originally Posted by ollie

Some perspective

(Incidentally, am I imagining the correlation between posters who decry oil companies' profits and those who protest regulation and/or taxes of any kind for corporations?)

Sure, I guess we got too fat and got used to getting fuel cheap and want multiples of everything (tv's, cars, Heroscape Master sets). I think in the recession most of us have cut back and have gotten to learn to live differently and that it will likely carry forward even in better times. Heck, people are actually starting to try to save money where before they spent more than they had. That said, a concern of mine is that the cost of fuel going up has a pretty big ripple effect. People spending $100-$200 more every month on gas will help the oil companies, but will hurt all the other businesses that would have benefited from that $100-$200/month that people could spend. If people aren't buying things, companies close or lay off. Then you have more people out of work trying to pound the pavement for work at record costs in gas. Companies will be in a sellers market so to speak and can pay less for help since there are so many people looking for work.

And I certainly don't protest regulation/taxes for corporations.

[Chardar]

Originally Posted by Codeman

At that rate buying some perimeter fencing and a goat seems to be a cheeper option.

We have actually done this in our back yard, and it gets a more even cut than our mower did anyway.

[LilMoochie]

You know- I filled up the other day and thought of bringing this post back. I thought, "Man, these oil companies are really taking me to browntown. Wait- there's a thread about that!"

[Greyelephant]

Originally Posted by ollie

Some perspective

(Incidentally, am I imagining the correlation between posters who decry oil companies' profits and those who protest regulation and/or taxes of any kind for corporations?)

Sorry, but it's a little tough to want to read an article that is from the Post Carbon Institute and take it as unbiased or anything other than propaganda.

Corporation tax? There's plenty of corporation tax as it is. How about fixing the loopholes so that they are actually being paid? Nah, it's easier to just say raise the tax instead of fixing the broken tax system, right?

Where is the outcry like when Bush was in office? Why isn't it said that Obama and "Big Oil" are bed partners?

[jschild]

Probably has to do with the fact that Obama has called for windfall taxes and the like plus the removal of oil subsidies while Bush wanted less taxes and less regulations and to keep the oil subsidies.

Just a guess though.

I do agree with eliminating tax loopholes and eliminating oil subsidies however.

[ollie]

Originally Posted by Greyelephant

Corporation tax? There's plenty of corporation tax as it is. How about fixing the loopholes so that they are actually being paid? Nah, it's easier to just say raise the tax instead of fixing the broken tax system, right?

Where is the outcry like when Bush was in office? Why isn't it said that Obama and "Big Oil" are bed partners?

Whatever. Take more taxes from the rich/powerful/evil. Give that money to the poor/needy/nice. I don't care whether you call it raising taxes or fixing loopholes.

That said, this article makes some good points about why singling the oil companies out for added taxation and/or reduced subsidisation may not be the best approach. The conclusion:

Originally Posted by Robert Rapier

But there is a way that every individual can stop feeding ExxonMobil’s enormous profits. Stop buying their product. The reason they are so profitable is simply that the public keeps buying their product even as the price has doubled over the past few years. I understand that we are all dependent to one extent or another on oil, but most people use more of that product than we need to. Because of changes I have made in my own life, even though Big Oil is making record profits, they are profiting less from me than they were a decade ago. That is because of personal choices I made that you can make too. You can become more fuel efficient. You can use your car for fewer trips. You can carpool and use public transportation. Those things will have a real impact in reducing your contribution to Big Oil’s profits.

But that would require that we make some actual changes, and our collective laziness is too great for that. We want to keep consuming as we always have, while sticking it to the companies that make that consumption possible. But if you won’t make any changes in your life, then you can expect to continue transferring an ever increasing portion of your budget to Big Oil’s coffers. We might be able to drive the domestic oil companies out of business — which by the way support an estimated 9.2 million jobs — but you are still going to pay more (to Saudi Arabia and Venezuela) unless you use less. Of course your other option is to buy ExxonMobil stock. If you can’t help but feed your money to the beast, you could at least invest in them and get some of that money back as their stock value appreciates.

(Yes, yes, I know that "rich", "powerful" and "evil" are not synonymous, but the general point that taxes should be targeted at things that are bad for society (massive wealth disparity and fossil fuel burning in this case) and used to improve society (healthcare, unemployment benefits, fluffy bunny rabbits for all,...) stands.)

[Draconious]

Lets make big oil responsible for FUNDING road repair.

They want us to all drive cars and use the roads, then they should maintain the friggen thing, you can bet they will invest more in researching better road materials to save money.

[A_Train]

Originally Posted by Draconious

Lets make big oil responsible for FUNDING road repair.

They want us to all drive cars and use the roads, then they should maintain the friggen thing, you can bet they will invest more in researching better road materials to save money.

I also like candy companies to fund my dentist bill and maybe Sony, Samsung and Microsoft could all pinch in on my electric bill. I mean, they expect me to use their items don't they?

[Jexik]

This makes going to out of state tourneys more expensive.

Solution: carpool.

However, I'm more worried about what this does to the cost of shipping everything around in the U.S.

[Rich10]

Apparently, sales of compact cars have increased with increasing fuel prices. http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/...29682620110503

While increasing prices are tough on people, it is good to reduce oil imports.