Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

by FlyingHighNow 99 Replies latest social current

acadian

Hi FHN, I like your new avatar. I believe the pocket book is the best way to send a message to the oil companies. ~~~~~~~~BOYCOTT~~~~~~~~
If "We the People" don't take it upon ourselves to "boycott" then nothing will happen. I don't personally believe it's governments responsibility to tell any company to lower it's profit, or wage/salarey for it's employee's or CEOs IF you think the product is too high in price, don't buy it. "Oh no" you say, we have no alternatives to oil, Well, who's fault is that? The oil companies or you and me for paying their price, and not demanding alternatives in the first place. Like hydrogen, ethol alcohol, the list goes on...
Let's have a "Nation/World no Drive Day" and see what happens. Sadly, most will continue to complain and do nothing. The All-Mighty Dollar will speak louder than any petition will. The other alternative is, GET A BIKE ! LOL Acadian ~~~~~~ of the you can't squeeze blood out of a turnip class ~~~~~~~
upside/down

realizing that other nations have been paying steep prices for gas for alot longer than the US.

Just a quick note... while it's true that other nations have been paying steep prices FOR GAS...forever....
The price of oil is THE SAME for everyone....period. It's a commodity exhanged on the world markets... like gold, pork bellies and orange juice...
The cost of refining oil into gas is fairly steady and uniform also... it's the MARK UP due to TAXES that affect the final price.
So...the more "socialistic" the country...the HIGHER the end price of the gasoline. Someone's gotta pay for all those "freebees".
u/d
JeffT

Sounds like Bushisms....
So in order to help the situation with global warming, we have to outrageous gas prices??? There is no way to put a cap on oil prices and still care for the environmental issues?
The govenment can't pass laws to restrict pollution and then mandate that cars get better gas mileage...all at the same time? I know...it's just too much to ask of Bush,. as he can't chew gum and walk at the same time! Sorry for even thinking that he could!

Sounds like liberalism. Why have market forces and common sense do something now, when you can sit on your butt and bitch about how the government isn's doing anything.
You can't have a commodity that is cheap, plentiful, and not used much; unless it's something nobody wants. Nothing will create higher mileage cars (and less pollution as a result) and alternate fuels faster than high priced gasoline.
roybatty

roybatty... you're assumptions and analyis are completely innaccurate! CEO's don't vote themselves raises and then raise their price to cover it...that's asinine. The bottom line is already figured into the cost of the goods or service...These are PROFITABLE companies...how they spend their money is nobody's damn business... (ie. Enron, WorldComm illegal activity...is a different story)
How would you like it if anyone tried to tell you how to, or not to spend your paycheck? I'd tell them to F*CK OFF!!!
Like an insurance company... their profit margin is FIXED into the cost of the service. If their actuaries are wrong and outgo exceeds income than they tap reserves and in the future raise rates (which are mandated and approved by the States)... They DON'T raise their rates to just make more money...that's rediculous and WRONG. The insurance company NEVER gets hurt as the profit is never touched... just like a casino!
How does a CEO not "earn" his money? Do JWD people read any "business" or "industry" journals...or are we still reading AWAKE?
I BEG you to take just one small course at a community college near you and open your eyes to the real world...not "the world".
Just cuz a company is BIG...doesn't mean it's bad....Just like just cuz a company is small doesn't make it good....

Let's see...you WORK for someone while I OWN a business....ok, now that we have that straight, let's get back to my comments about todays CEO's. My comment was directed toward the comparison of a multi-million dollar movie star versus a multi-million dollar CEO. It's not the same thing. Anyhow, since youre big on telling people what to do, you really need to educate yourself.
First, take the time to find a good business article comparing the pay of American CEO's to their Japanese or European counterpart. I'm not talking about paycheck paycheck, I'm talking about the pay from the lowest paid worker verses the CEO. Here in the States it has gone off track. You don't see a problem with the board of directors "rubber stamping" a 400 million dollar retirement package for Lee Raymond? If I were a pension funds manager and had money invested in ExxonMobil I'd wonder about it. Even more questionable is huge coporations loosing millions while giving their CEO's big, fat paychecks. Can anyone spell "HP"?
Secondly, find out what many huge companies do when they merge. Of course they have to file proxies with the SEC but many times they "hide" the generous retirement packages they are planning to give to the outgoing CEO's, while at the same time, many people end up loosing their jobs. While what they are doing isn't illegal, the SEC should do a better job and force these companies to spell-out IN PLAIN ENGLISH what this merger will do and who's making what.
Try this web site on for size and you'll see that it's more common place then you think...
http://www.footnoted.org/
People think that stories like Enron or Tyco are the exception but the truth is it's rampant.
I could post all day long how MANY CEO's and board of directos of big coporations stick it to their shareholders (let alone there works) while the SEC does nada. Do you think it's fair when a CEO and other execs have their golder paracute when a company collapses but the average joe looses his pension? Just because something isn't illegal doesn't mean it isn't wrong.
FlyingHighNow

Good Sunday afternoon, everyone. Thank you, Acadian for the nice compliment.

Of course since I last commented on this thread, it's crossed my mind a bit. I will share some of those thoughts and then I'll share part of my dad's e-mail response to my e-mail asking him to sign the petition. My dad is a retired oceanographer who spent his years working with oil companies and their drills. He knows much more than the average citizen and maybe some politicians about oil companies and how they operate. He is a staunch republican. He voted for GW Bush, just so you know that he is not libral at all.
For the enviromentalists who think that high gas prices will help the ozone greenhouse effect, etc.:
Higher gas prices will affect the driving habits of mostly the poorest drivers. People who can afford to pay high prices won't be hurt much by higher prices, if at all. The folks around here are still driving over 70 MPH in the 70 MPH zones. But the poor and those on fixed incomes are losing their jobs and selling precious belongings to buy gas. People do shop less, they buy less. Some families will give up groceries so the parents can afford to drive to work. These families cannot afford to buy hybrid or high gas mileage cars.
With people supporting business less, business will cut back on salaries, eliminate job positions and even close to cope with less business. I worked in retail the last four years, gas prices do affect sales. I saw how it affected business. And many people will still drive non-conservatively.
Okay, here is the very interesting e-mail from my dad, who is wife hails from Great Yarmouth, England:
Yes, I too cannot understand why Mr. President hasn't taken any one
of a number of steps he could to force the issue with the Oil Companies
................who are most definitely exploiting their position at a
horrible cost to our domestic economy. All he's got to do is impound the
excess profit they're making and relax federal tax on finished petroleum
products, to pass the saving along to the public. Yes, folks are losing
jobs because they can't afford to drive to work. But show me a
Congressman who can't get to work!

Gas here is $2.90 a gallon. Our friend Daphne D., in England is
paying the equivalent of $7.90 an imperial gallon (about 1-gal. + 1-pint,
U.S.) of "petrol," or $7.02/U.S. gallon.

When I was there in the late '60s, gas cost me the equivalent of about
$5.00/gal......while the price of a gallon was $.30, here in the
States......so prices haven't gone up as much there as they have here
over the same time span. I guess we're simply catching up with what the

Europeans have been paying for years.
Most of the cost of fuel was Tax in Europe at that time. The idea
was that if the Governments placed a high tax on fuel, people wouldn't
buy cars, which were also highly taxed. Then governments wouldn't have
to build new roads or improve the old ones! The boom in incomes in

Europe, in the 1960's flushed that idea down the toilet. Everybody moved
out of the city and got an auto to commute to town, where they took the
bus or underground. Public Transportation didn't extend into the
countryside, in most places, but was adequate in the cities.

So there you have a bit of the overall picture. The Oil Companies
are hurting everyone! Ultimately, they'll hurt themselves most. John Q.
Public tends to remember being screwed!
I do hope that we'll see the blood-sucking Oil Companies get their
just deserts quickly.....before it screws up our very healthy economy.
roybatty

All he's got to do is impound the

excess profit they're making and relax federal tax on finished petroleum

products, to pass the saving along to the public.
This scares me more then the big oil companies sticking it to us. Having the government decide that a company or inductry makes too much money and simple take it away is only a step away from socialism. However, there is plenty that they can do. One, proceed with anti-trust action. Two, federally fund, I mean REALLY do it, alternative fuel sources and generously reward people who invest in it (i.e. hybred cars, solar power at home, etc.). And three, see what role big oil has play and lobbied for the situation we're in now.
upside/down

you WORK for someone while I OWN a business....ok

Huh? I own a business that turns approximately 2.75 mil per annum....so what? What's that got to do with anything? I used to be a janitor while I pioneered for "the cult"...for 16 years...so what?
comparing the pay of American CEO's to their Japanese or European counterpart
So what... some American CEO's make bank...so? Apples and Oranges IMO.
If I were a pension funds manager and had money invested...
You're not... and I'm sure the reasons are numerous...
huge coporations loosing millions while giving their CEO's big, fat paychecks
Uhhh...did I miss something...I thought we were talking about Exxon...a PROFITABLE company....don't mix issues. Of course I'm against what you mentioned...let's stay on topic.
out what many huge companies do when they merge
We weren't discussing that...so why argue it? Different subject all together... and again I agree...dishonesty and cheating and stealing is bad...
Can anyone spell "HP"?
Are you referring to Hewlett Packard..? Cuz if you are what a coincidence, my current business partner was General Manager for them for 33 years... did quite well...but left when Carlie took over and drove it into the ground. Cest la vie!
People think that stories like Enron or Tyco are the exception but the truth is it's rampant.
We were discussing OIL not the corruption of Corporations...and ALL countries have corrupt Corps. not just the US...puhleeez...
stick it to their shareholders
I've NEVER heard a shareholder complain when those same "crooked" CEO's are making them huge dividend!!! EVER!
Do you think it's fair when a CEO and other execs have their golder paracute when a company collapses but the average joe looses his pension? Just because something isn't illegal doesn't mean it isn't wrong.
No....and I agree.
Now stop using SWALKER's schtik of trying to insult me...and stay on topic... or you too shall suffer when I become Almight Emperor of planet Earth!!!
u/d(of the libs are dumbshits class)
upside/down

force the issue with the Oil Companies

Omg... what part of "the oil companies don't set the prices"....isn't comprehendable?
Yeah... I don't like paying more for gas...but let's at least be honest about it.
I've NEVER seen anyone sell their personal belongings for gas, or go without food for gas...and two years ago I was destitute and on welfare...PURE BS!!! (oh, I'm sure there is some one in a millione example out there...) but I see "illegal immigrants" at the pumps everytime I go to fill up...if they can buy gas...anyone can. Or take the bus. Be honest...has has gone up about 70cents a gallon so far...that's about 10 bucks on a 15 gallon tank... at a tank a week that's 40 bucks a month... Cigs cost 6 bucks a pack...alkeehol is expensive...cable TV can go... turn down the thermostat... don't eat out...
If a family has to choose between food or selling their furniture to get to work...they have way BIGGER issues than a gas hike (which you can't change anyway)... What do these people do if their car insurance goes up...???
When I was broke...DIRT BROKE...I did without...a lot. That's life...sorry.
Of course, you could always immigrate to France...they'd be happy to GIVE you everything.
u/d(of the hates lame and most likely untrue and out of context examples class)
IP_SEC

1. Government needs to butt out of commerce more not less.
2. Gas prices need to be about 20 bucks a gallon so we will get serious about alt energy sources.
3. 3 bucks a gallon isnt all that bad unless you were spoilt on cheap stuff back in the late 90s.
4. If the government should do anything, how bout a temp repeal of the fuel tax. Its nearly 40 cents per gal counting fed and state fuel tax on gasoline.
5. If you want the price of fuel to go down, stop buying it. It will get dirt cheap fast.
ballistic

Sorry if it looked like I butted out of this thread but I had nothing else to say and I agree with the other realists on this thread. FHN, it really is nothing personal, I know you have the totally best intentions.

Sign Governors' petition to President Bush to lower gas prices!

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