$8-a-gallon gas
Commentary: Eight reasons higher prices will do us a world of good
By Chris Pummer
Last update: 7:30 p.m. EDT May 28, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- For one of the nastiest substances on earth, crude oil has an amazing grip on the globe. We all know the stuff's poison, yet we're as dependent on it as our air and water supplies -- which, of course, is what oil is poisoning.
Shouldn't we be technologically advanced enough here in the 21st Century to quit siphoning off the pus of the Earth? Regardless whether you believe global warming is threatening the planet's future, you must admit crude is passé.
Americans should be celebrating rather than shuddering over the arrival of $4-a-gallon gasoline. We lived on cheap gas too long, failed to innovate and now face the consequences of competing for a finite resource amid fast-expanding global demand.
A further price rise as in Europe to $8 a gallon -- or $200 and more to fill a large SUV's tank -- would be a catalyst for economic, political and social change of profound national and global impact. We could face an economic squeeze, but it would be the pain before the gain.
The U.S. economy absorbed a tripling in gas prices in the last six years without falling into recession, at least through March. Ravenous demand from China and India could see prices further double in the next few years -- and jumpstart the overdue process of weaning ourselves off fossil fuels.
Consider the world of good that would come of pricing crude oil and gasoline at levels that would strain our finances as much as they're straining international relations and the planet's long-term health:
1. RIP for the internal-combustion engine
They may contain computer chips, but the power source for today's cars is little different than that which drove the first Model T 100 years ago. That we're still harnessed to this antiquated technology is testament to Big Oil's influence in Washington and success in squelching advances in fuel efficiency and alternative energy.
Given our achievement in getting a giant mainframe's computing power into a handheld device in just a few decades, we should be able to do likewise with these dirty, little rolling power plants that served us well but are overdue for the scrap heap of history.
2. Economic stimulus
Necessity being the mother of invention, $8 gas would trigger all manner of investment sure to lead to groundbreaking advances. Job creation wouldn't be limited to research labs; it would rapidly spill over into lucrative manufacturing jobs that could help restore America's industrial base and make us a world leader in a critical realm.
The most groundbreaking discoveries might still be 25 or more years off, but we won't see massive public and corporate funding of research initiatives until escalating oil costs threaten our national security and global stability -- a time that's fast approaching.
3. Wither the Middle East's clout
This region that's contributed little to modern civilization exercises inordinate sway over the world because of its one significant contribution -- crude extraction. Aside from ensuring Israel's security, the U.S. would have virtually no strategic or business interest in this volatile, desolate region were it not for oil -- and its radical element wouldn't be able to demonize us as the exploiters of its people.
In the near term, breaking our dependence on Middle Eastern oil may well require the acceptance of drilling in the Alaskan wilderness -- with the understanding that costly environmental protections could easily be built into the price of $8 gas.
4. Deflating oil potentates
On a similar note, Venezuela's Hugo Chavez and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad recently gained a platform on the world stage because of their nations' sudden oil wealth. Without it, they would face the difficult task of building fair and just economies and societies on some other basis.
How far would their message resonate -- and how long would they even stay in power -- if they were unable to buy off the temporary allegiance of their people with vast oil revenues?
5. Mass-transit development
Anyone accustomed to taking mass transit to work knows the joy of a car-free commute. Yet there have been few major additions or improvements to our mass-transit systems in the last 30 years because cheap gas kept us in our cars.
Confronted with $8 gas, millions of Americans would board buses, trains, ferries and bicycles and minimize the pollution, congestion and anxiety spawned by rush-hour traffic jams. More convenient routes and scheduling would accomplish that.
6. An antidote to sprawl
The recent housing boom sparked further development of antiseptic, strip-mall communities in distant outlying areas. Making 100-mile-plus roundtrip commutes costlier will spur construction of more space-efficient housing closer to city centers, including cluster developments to accommodate the millions of baby boomers who will no longer need their big empty-nest suburban homes.
Sure, there's plenty of land left to develop across our fruited plains, but building more housing around city and town centers will enhance the sense of community lacking in cookie-cutter developments slapped up in the hinterlands.
7. Restoration of financial discipline
Far too many Americans live beyond their means and nowhere is that more apparent than with our car payments. Enabled by eager lenders, many middle-income families carry two monthly payments of $400 or more on $20,000-plus vehicles that consume upwards of $15,000 of their annual take-home pay factoring in insurance, maintenance and gas.
The sting of forking over $100 per fill-up would force all of us to look hard at how much of our precious income we blow on a transport vehicle that sits idle most of the time, and spur demand for the less-costly and more fuel-efficient small sedans and hatchbacks that Europeans have been driving for decades.
8. Easing global tensions
Unfortunately, we human beings aren't so far evolved that we won't resort to annihilating each other over energy resources. The existence of weapons of mass destruction aside, the present Iraq War could be the first of many sparked by competition for oil supplies.
Steep prices will not only chill demand in the U.S., they will more importantly slow China and India's headlong rush to make the same mistakes we did in rapidly industrializing -- like selling $2,500 Tata cars to countless millions of Indians with little concern for the environmental consequences. If we succeed in developing viable energy alternatives, they could be a key export in helping us improve our balance of trade with consumer-goods producers.
Additional considerations
Weaning ourselves off crude will hopefully be the crowning achievement that marks the progress of humankind in the 21st Century. With it may come development of oil-free products to replace the chemicals, pharmaceuticals, plastics, fertilizers and pesticides that now consume 16% of the world's crude-oil output and are likely culprits in fast-rising cancer rates.
By its very definition, oil is crude. It's time we develop more refined energy sources and that will not happen without a cost-driven shift in demand.
Chris Pummer is a former senior editor for MarketWatch and Bloomberg News and a reporter for such papers as the Los Angeles Times and San Jose Mercury News.
LINK (http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/eight-reasons-youll-rejoice-we/story.aspx?guid=%7B82FCE1B0%2D1889%2D43B0%2DA465%2DE29BFEE95576%7D)
On a side note, I'm guessing this guy is a "glass half full" type of person. LOL
QuoteConfronted with $8 gas, millions of Americans would board buses, trains, ferries and bicycles and minimize the pollution, congestion and anxiety spawned by rush-hour traffic jams. More convenient routes and scheduling would accomplish that.
And when you're living in a place with no service like that, we sleep on the street, or use our cars for apartements because we can't afford anything else.
Yep. What she said. It's cars or nothing here.
I do hope though that change will come. I just hope my family doesn't have to file for bankruptcy because we can't afford gas and groceries (among other things) before a change is made. We're doing fine for now (I hardly go anywhere and my husband's company pays for his gas), but if things get too high we won't be doing so fine.
we pay out 1300+ PER MONTH in fuel...and ive been staying home...alot....hubby has a route...and has to drive alot...its ridiculous
Wow.
I pay about $40-60 a month for gas. My tank rarely goes below half full and I fill it up each week. I think my husband told me that he pays about $400 (diesel, I think) every time he fills up. (His job requires a lot of traveling - he's been in TX now for over 3 weeks.) And that was before gas prices went up to over $3 a gallon. Thank God it's a company truck and they pay for the gas. (Gas card.) Because there's no way we could afford to pay for that ourselves.
I drive about 740 or so miles per month. And that's just to work and back. That's the bad part about living in a small town with no job opportunities. Anyway, I get pretty good gas mileage, so I don't think I even spend 100 dollars a month on gas. I split the cost up between paychecks, so I don't always keep track of it. Gas is about $3.81 or so here if I remember correctly.
Quote from: Niki on May 31, 2008, 09:07:32 PM
Wow.
I pay about $40-60 a month for gas. My tank rarely goes below half full and I fill it up each week. I think my husband told me that he pays about $400 (diesel, I think) every time he fills up. (His job requires a lot of traveling - he's been in TX now for over 3 weeks.) And that was before gas prices went up to over $3 a gallon. Thank God it's a company truck and they pay for the gas. (Gas card.) Because there's no way we could afford to pay for that ourselves.
What part of TX is he in?
Quote from: practicalme on May 31, 2008, 10:40:04 PM
Quote from: Niki on May 31, 2008, 09:07:32 PM
Wow.
I pay about $40-60 a month for gas. My tank rarely goes below half full and I fill it up each week. I think my husband told me that he pays about $400 (diesel, I think) every time he fills up. (His job requires a lot of traveling - he's been in TX now for over 3 weeks.) And that was before gas prices went up to over $3 a gallon. Thank God it's a company truck and they pay for the gas. (Gas card.) Because there's no way we could afford to pay for that ourselves.
What part of TX is he in?
Don't answer her! She just wants to know so she can go siphon his fuel tank!
don't be so fooled by tree huggers and our technology is not advanced enuff for the moment to sustain the common man in such a fuel hike!! it will take to long for advancement of technology or full disclosure of the truth that that plan wont work and millions will starve, which is what one world gov. wants.(illuminoti's plan)
if fuel went to 8.00 a gallon, what are you gonna eat, grass from your lawn?
every thing you touch, comes by way of truck. if trucks cant move( and they wont at 8.00 a gallon) how are you gonna eat, dress, brush teeth, etc., etc.
oh, some say well it'll come by rail. who's gonna get it to the rail? who's gonna take it to the stores from the rail?
did you know fuel is burnt in two ways in transporting food? one by way of transport and the other by cooling or refrigeration. most of the people that transport food and refridgerated produce is owner operators, which are now going out of business because they cant afford prices of current fuel. much less 8.00 a gallon.
we are fixxen to see ruff times- remember you herd it first here.
some may not think so, but trucks are an important role in our economy!! when trucks cant roll, there will be no jobs, food, etc. etc. this will lead to a different pattern than we had in the 70's and 80's. instead of lines at the pumps there wont be anyone at the pumps period. there wont be fuel to pump, no trucks, no fuel.
there have been many truck lines locally that has recently went out of business. most were small furniture companies that ran trucks. this put workers as well as drivers out of a job. see what i mean, high fuel, less trucks, less trucks, less jobs, less jobs, less food transport. hence we are back to starvation issues. we definitely don't need 8.00 a gallon and there is no good side to it. at 8.00 a gallon you will see major uprisings and violence. starvation at a level in which has never been seen.
you can wish for 8.00 a gallon if you want, but you will wish your country into one world gov.. they are already talking of going to an amero to be on level with the euro. Mexico and Canada are talking of combining with America, then it is just one step from one world gov.. but we cant stop God's plan, or the Illuminati plan either.
sorry, i get carried away sometimes...-yo
(http://by117w.bay117.mail.live.com/mail/SafeRedirect.aspx?hm__tg=http://207.46.8.121/att/GetAttachment.aspx&hm__qs=file%3d49596f3d-2607-4aa3-acf8-586707e0ead4.jpg%26ct%3daW1hZ2UvanBlZw_3d_3d%26name%3dQVRUMDAwMDQuanBn%26inline%3d1%26rfc%3d0%26empty%3dFalse%26imgsrc%3dcid%253a001d01c8c1da%2524f98b5af0%25244001a8c0%2540homeu0pcnrc98f&oneredir=1&ip=10.1.106.215&d=d2142&mf=0)
A lot of folks can't understand how we came
to have an oil shortage here in our country.
Well, there's a very simple answer.
~~~
Nobody bothered to check the oil.
~~~
We just didn't know we were getting low.
~~~
The reason for that is purely geographical.
~~~
Our OIL is located in
~~~
ALASKA
~~~
California
~~~
Coastal Florida
~~~
Coastal Louisiana
~~~
Kansas
~~~
Oklahoma
~~~
Pennsylvania
and
Texas
~~~
Our
DIPSTICKS
are located in
Washington , DC!!!
Any Questions???
NO? Didn't think So.
Good one Sis. Sadly very true as well
Quote from: practicalme on May 31, 2008, 10:40:04 PM
Quote from: Niki on May 31, 2008, 09:07:32 PM
Wow.
I pay about $40-60 a month for gas. My tank rarely goes below half full and I fill it up each week. I think my husband told me that he pays about $400 (diesel, I think) every time he fills up. (His job requires a lot of traveling - he's been in TX now for over 3 weeks.) And that was before gas prices went up to over $3 a gallon. Thank God it's a company truck and they pay for the gas. (Gas card.) Because there's no way we could afford to pay for that ourselves.
What part of TX is he in?
Somewhere in or near Abilene.
Oh, that's way on the other side of TX from us. (and no, Seth, I wasn't going to siphon anyone's gas)
Quote from: Sis on June 01, 2008, 04:30:55 AM
(http://by117w.bay117.mail.live.com/mail/SafeRedirect.aspx?hm__tg=http://207.46.8.121/att/GetAttachment.aspx&hm__qs=file%3d49596f3d-2607-4aa3-acf8-586707e0ead4.jpg%26ct%3daW1hZ2UvanBlZw_3d_3d%26name%3dQVRUMDAwMDQuanBn%26inline%3d1%26rfc%3d0%26empty%3dFalse%26imgsrc%3dcid%253a001d01c8c1da%2524f98b5af0%25244001a8c0%2540homeu0pcnrc98f&oneredir=1&ip=10.1.106.215&d=d2142&mf=0)
A lot of folks can't understand how we came
to have an oil shortage here in our country.
Well, there's a very simple answer.
~~~
Nobody bothered to check the oil.
~~~
We just didn't know we were getting low.
~~~
The reason for that is purely geographical.
~~~
Our OIL is located in
~~~
ALASKA
~~~
California
~~~
Coastal Florida
~~~
Coastal Louisiana
~~~
Kansas
~~~
Oklahoma
~~~
Pennsylvania
and
Texas
~~~
Our
DIPSTICKS
are located in
Washington , DC!!!
Any Questions???
NO? Didn't think So.
state side oil goes into reserve or sold to other countries. we get the majority of the crude we use from mexico and middle east. this doesnt make sence to me, but it is the way it goes. we have enuff crude oil to be self reliant for fuel for over 200yrs, why buy from others? this only goes to show yall it is a gov. conspiracy to controll and manipulate the populus.
for those who desire a 8.00 a gallon fuel price, they long for a return to dark ages and starvation. do people understand we use fuel for so many things such as electricity,transport of goods by ship and truck and rail. without fuel thers no power,water, or food.
now we dont want to mention coal and nuclear energy or hydro energy from dams as these restrict water, they tear up our country and polute more than crude ever could!
when fuel gets to 8.00 a gallon you wont afford a water bill or an electric bill.
many wont even have a job then!!
oh, wait a minute- there is a bright side to this hike in fuel, we can turn our bathrooms into another bed room!! no water, no bathroom, well unless we dig our own well and use a wind mill-but that will not run a toilet or a shower.
an extra bed room may sell your house quicker,cause you dont need it, you aint gonna afford the taxes on it.
yep!! the dipsticks are in washington dc....-yo
Quote from: practicalme on June 01, 2008, 03:50:36 PM
Oh, that's way on the other side of TX from us. (and no, Seth, I wasn't going to siphon anyone's gas)
YOU weren't going to. You'd have had Chel do it while you watched to make sure no one was coming. :hypocrite:
Or you gave her the idea! :hypocrite:
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QuoteThe nearest bus stop is about 4 miles. You expect us to walk there every day?
Don't forget Rain, snow, over 90 degree weather is also a consideration with walking to a far away bus stop. I love it when people tell me to get a bike. Yeah, can't get snow tires/chains for them, too easily. I can't get a job because we only have one car and I love it when people tell me to get a bike.
QuoteSince it is a proven fact, that public transportation is not easily accessible in the U.S.
New York, Boston, Minneapolis are easy cities to get around without a car, but Canadians don't understand that not every city/town in the USA is NYC!
QuoteNow I also go to college in Colorado Springs. It is close to 50 miles one way. 100 miles every monday, tuseday, wednesday, thursday and friday. 500 miles a week for school.
We have to go to another town to go to church, too. There are other churches around but they're even further away. Stevebert works really far away, but like I said, we can't afford to move to rich town just so we don't have to drive. Any apartents/homes near the subway are just as expensive. We're already paying over a thousand for him to be 15 miles from work.
They all think we've got it so easy but many of us don't.
sis you and Hollinesspk have it down, we cant go on like this. our country was not built for it. it is headed for it though!! its gonna get bad!! :sadbounce:
n/a
n/a
The article originally posted is so full of nonsense I don't know where to begin.
1) "Big oil." This is a term coined by liberals who are overtly against large corporations who operate profitable businesses. The first usage that I can remember is "big tobacco," and we all know how the liberal establishment went after them. The liberals don't want to admit that theres nothing wrong with companies making a healthy profit because they take the risk and put out the cash to get a very valuable product. People think you can just drill a well and get the oil. Hardly. People die drilling wells. Every time I leave for work to go back to the drilling rig I know I may never come home. Already this summer one rig has burned down near mine. I digress. Anyway, this whole concept of "big oil" is rooted in nothing other than the liberal hatred for successful businesses, as evidenced most recently by Obama's touting hiking corporate taxes, and the attempt in Congress to pass a windfall-profits tax.
2) Peak oil. This concept was put forth a few decades back, and it's never been proven. The fact is, we have plenty of oil, and we're not running out. In fact, more and more is being discovered every year. Just in a last few months Brazil discovered a very large oil pocket in their offshore waters. In 2007 ten African countries discovered oil they didn't know they had. In 2006 Chevron made a massive discovery in the Gulf of Mexico. China has found 7.35 billion barrels of oil in Bohai Bay, which should last them for a while. Don't believe me? Read http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/sep2006/pi20060907_515138.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index_investing
This doesn't even begin to account for the oil that we know about here in the US, but the tree-huggers won't let us drill for, such as in ANWR, offshore Florida, California, the oil shale in the Green River Formation, and many others. The root problem in the high oil prices isn't "big oil," it's big government and the environmentalists they're in bed with. Of course, there's no problem with Chinese and Cuban rigs drilling into US oil off Florida and taking it for themselves. We'll just give it to them.
Connected with the Peak Oil theory is the unproven idea that oil, gas, and coal are "fossil fuels." If they were, how would scientists explain the fact that Titan, one of the moons of Saturn, has more hydrocarbons than Earth ever had? Must've been dinos there, too.
http://freeenergynews.com/Directory/Theory/SustainableOil/
http://www.rense.com/general67/oils.htm
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=59991
For those of you who like YouTube, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMKgGPclp9E and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrjlVPVwD1I&feature=related
3) Supply and Demand. When demand increases, supply must increase or the price will go up. That's the most basic principle of economics. Since China and India are trading in their bikes for cars, worldwide demand is skyrocketing, but supply hasn't increased to meet the demand. Why? Because the tree-huggers, led by their Messiah Al Gore, are bent on changing the way we live. They've preached and force-fed to the American populace that we should feel guilty because we're the wealthiest country on the face of the earth. We should all sacrifice and pay outrageous prices to fill our vehicles to get to work to pay taxes so they can line their pockets, because we're consumers and thats bad.
Don't get me started in electric cars or ethanol.
Long live the internal combustion engine!
QuoteOf course, there's no problem with Chinese and Cuban rigs drilling into US oil off Florida and taking it for themselves.
This really hacks me off as well. I can't believe that we are willing to let China profit off natural resources that should be ours, right off our coast, and the price of gas continues to rise. And then Democrats haul oil companies up in front of Congress and act outraged over the price of gas. It makes my stomach churn.
What are the elected officials doing to help the gas prices? Rejecting a move that would open up more areas of US offshore water for drilling. According to FNC, the dems blocked a move in committee that would open up more waters for exploration, areas that "...the U.S. Minerals Management Service estimates that 86 billion barrels of oil and 420 trillion cubic feet of natural gas can be found along the U.S. outer continental shelf, the area affected by the ban."
Love this quote: Sierra Club lands program director Athan Manuel told a House committee Wednesday that drilling has been unsuccessful in driving costs down.
"The disappointing part about some of the energy policies being promoted (is) that it calls for more drilling when drilling really is the problem. And all we've got to show for pretty aggressive (domestic) drilling for the last 35 years is, again, $4 for a gallon of gas," Manuel said, adding "since the first Arab oil shock in the 1970s, the U.S. has produced almost 90 billion barrels of oil since then, so we've tried drilling our way out of the problem and it just hasn't worked."
Agressive drilling? We only drill in 15% of the continental shelf!!!! How can you call leaving 85% of the natural resources we have untouched "agressive drilling?" These idiots would rather import expensive oil from the Saudis and that nutcase in Venzuela than get the stuff we have here. They'd rather fund terrorism, albeit indirectly, than provide jobs to Americans.
Our tax dollars at work.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,365627,00.html
I wonder how much of this fuel price hike is being caused by the war?
Some. In my limited understanding of the futures market, the prices are largely driven by speculators who negotiate prices based upon current events, supplies, projected demand, and other factors. A few months back when the US temporarily suspended filling the strategic reserve, the price dropped a little, because there was a little more oil available on the market. But, when the workers at the Scottish refinery went on strike, the price went up. Since Iraq supplies some of the oil on the global market, political instability, including the propensity of the terrorists to disrupt the oil flow, affects the market prices.
I would venture to guess that a larger factor in the price of crude is the weak dollar. Since the dollar has been growing progessively weaker versus foreign currencies such as the euro over the last year, and oil is pegged to the dollar, it is causing oil to grow more expensive.
There's a couple good opinion pieces regarding US energy policy in the WSJ, at http://online.wsj.com/public/page/opinion.html as well as a good piece on AmericanThinker.com
Edit:
Go to YouTube and search for "lindsey williams" He was a chaplain on the TransAlaska Pipeline during the heyday up there and was granted executive status, and was able to sit in on meetings of the oil company execs. There is an eight-part video on youtube of him talking about what he learned.
a few nights ago there was a guest on coast to coast that made a lot of sence. here is a little of what was said.
Author Howard Bloom joined the show in the third hour to offer analysis on the oil and food crisis. Blaming food riots in various countries on the increased production of ethanol is a "snow job," he declared. OPEC bought up a huge share of commodity futures and this is what drove up the price of food, he explained.
while this may be true food hike is also due to the cost of transporting it. also did you know that domestic oil is still 35$ a barrel. why are we buying imported crude when we can use our own cheaper. why cant we drill our own and just do away with the middle east totally. this aint bush's fault, its the democrats!! they are the only ones stopping us from drilling our own oil. did you know that indeviduall states set the out put for a well? if a well can put out 200 barrels of crude a day, the state will set it to produce 30 barrells a day. acording to this the records will be wrong as to how much domestic crude is available per day. why? its all a power play, and will result in a one world gov.. -yo
YOu listen to C2C? Dude I love that show! I've got several DVDs full of MP3s archives of my favorite shows...Ian had "Jesus Christ" on last weekend. hah
yeah, i drive a truck and this show is very famous among truck drivers. i do most of my driving at night and this show is very either entertaining or helarious, depending on who he has on each night. here lately i only get one trip a week and only get to hear maybe two shows a week, i look on the web site to see what was said the other nights.
dnr- do you also subscribe to infowars.com or prison planet.com with alex jones?
i think alot of the conspiracy is jiberish, but some of it(IMO) is right on the money.
you most not have payed any attention to my avatar!! LOL
lindsey williams was also on coast to coast. you can also look up past shows to see what he said.
here's what oil solution.com says:
Three-step plan to drive oil and gas prices down fast!
June 13, 2008
Americans feel frustrated and powerless to solve the oil and gas crisis;
The average U.S. gasoline price is now at $4.07 a gallon, reports Gas Buddy.
The cost of gas has risen 24% from its year-ago price of $3.10 a gallon.
Crude oil prices are up 35% so far in 2008 and may rise to $250 a barrel by 2009.
Speculation in the energy markets is up twenty-fold since 2003, reports CNBC.
"What can be done to curb $5-$10 a gallon gas and $150-$250 a barrel oil?"
"We need leaders with the political courage to take on the environmentalists blocking access to massive untapped reservoirs of U.S. oil offshore and in the ANWR," said 86% in a WND poll.
"The key to bringing oil and gas prices down quickly will be opening strategic areas for production which will flush out widespread energy speculation from the market. Serious government action will send speculators running for cover," writes Craig R. Smith author and CEO.
Contact your elected officials to request three immediate actions;
1) DRILL FOR OIL NOW!
Approve fast-track legislation to begin extracting oil and natural gas from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) and deep waters in the Gulf of Mexico, reducing foreign dependence.
2) REFINE MORE OIL NOW!
Approve fast-track legislation to build at least four new, strategically placed oil refineries throughout the U.S. as well as building new pipeline infrastructure to deliver finished product throughout the U.S.
3) STRONG US DOLLAR NOW!
Demand the federal government puts a freeze on new spending and reduces our $9.4 trillion national debt and deficits. This action will immediately strengthen the dollar and help reduce inflation. ( quit blaming bush for this to. it was started by the federal reserve in its time and clinton when he sold out to nafta thus starting an uncontrollable defecit and bush just got caught in the aftermath of it all !!)
Will this plan work? Yes! If 'We the People' speak up!
In 2006, the sale of port management, in six major U.S. seaports, to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) was crushed by We the People who made our voice heard and stopped the proposed sale in the name of national security.
In 2007, The Comprehensive Immigration Reform Act never even got to a vote after We the People put our foot down and told our elected officials we demand enforcement of our borders before allowing amnesty to millions of illegal immigrants.
In 2008, surging oil and gas prices threaten to crush the middle class in America as they fuel rising inflation, which will soon trickle down and affect the cost of everything. It is time to be heard again on Capitol Hill.
Let's Change Red "No Zones" Into Green "Yes Zones"
"To bring the price of fuel down the government must quickly pass legislation to open up our domestic sources of oil such as the ANWR, the Great Basin, the Outer Continental Shelf, and the Gulf," said Mr. Smith to WND.
"Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration... if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy, continue advancing of alternative energies as well as conservation," said President Bush last weekend, reported AFT.
"For decades, the minority party has blocked one effort after another to responsibly develop the energy resources our country possesses, transforming vast areas of opportunity into 'The No Zone,' said then Idaho Senator Larry Craig in May 2006.
"Buying oil is draining $600 billion a year from the United States," says Texas oil billionaire Boone Pickens, who expects the price of oil to reach $150 a barrel this year, reports CNBC.
Merrill Lynch reports that each 1-cent rise in gas prices drains $1.3 billion a year from consumer spending. Do the math! $6.00-a-gallon gas equals $260 billion gone from American wallets!
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if i may, i might add that we quit blaming bush for what the democrats are doing. bush is only following what our country was built on, the freedom to acumalate wealth. if we restrain him what about others as well as yourself. the blame bush theme is a brainwashing and a democratic tactic for communism. if we place a limit on people as to how much they are allowed to make, what would you call it? i say communism!!
I'll also say bush cant do anything in office alone, he has to be backed up by congress, and that is made up of a majority of democrats. so why blame bush? its an unfounded blame game !!! if he done anything while in office to establish a personall profit that would not have naturally happened, he would be impeached and in prison by now!!
my opinion to this is that all of us need to WAKE UP!!!! we are being played and we need to find out who is actually doing the playing because we are falling right into their hands. -yo
I just now noticed your avatar. Yeah, I have the show in my archives of Lindsey Williams. No, I don't suscribe to Alex Jones' stuff. Although I believe in the Bilderberg group and other influential groups that seek to control policy on a global level, I don't buy some of the things that Jones stuff, and I think his high-energy presentation doesn't help his nutcase image.
Are you a streamlink member? it's only about 6.95/month, and you can download all the mp3s of the last 90 days commercial-free and listen to them. That's how I listen to the show now, so much easier.
Good points in the article you posted! I'm all for drilling. Lets drill a well in the backyard of the White House.
Quote from: dnr1128 on June 15, 2008, 02:54:25 AM
I just now noticed your avatar. (neat aint it)
Good points in the article you posted! I'm all for drilling. Lets drill a well in the backyard of the White House.
we need to drill some where local and get more domestic oil. this imported stuff is killing us.
neah, not a stream linker yet. dont know how to hook up. i only recently started using the computer.
the new york times is atuned to some news to!!
Spencer Platt/Getty Images
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By PETER S. GOODMAN
Published: June 7, 2008
The unemployment rate surged to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent — the sharpest monthly spike in 22 years — as the economy lost 49,000 jobs, registering a fifth consecutive month of decline, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Ric Francis/Associated press
Looking at listings at a Los Angeles job fair. Federal officials said Friday that the unemployment rate rose to 5.5 percent in May from 5 percent in April, the sharpest monthly gain in 22 years.
The weak jobs report, coupled with a staggering rise in the price of oil — up a record $10.75 a barrel to more than $138 — unleashed a feverish sell-off on Wall Street, sending the Dow Jones industrial average down nearly 400 points. The dollar plunged against several major currencies.
Investors' recent hopes that the United States might yet skirt a recession sank swiftly in the face of gloomy indications that the economy is gripped by a slowdown and pressured by record fuel prices.
For tens of millions of Americans struggling to pay bills, the jobs report added an official stamp of authority to a dispiriting reality they already know: A deteriorating labor market is eliminating paychecks just as they are needed to compensate for the soaring cost of food and fuel, and as the fall in house prices hacks away at household wealth and access to credit.
"It's unambiguously ugly," said Robert Barbera, chief economist at the research and trading firm ITG. "The average American already knows that gas prices are up a ton and it's really hard to find a job. Sally and Sam on Main Street are already well aware of this, and that's why sentiment surveys are lower than they were in each of the last two recessions."
President Bush acknowledged the jump in unemployment as an indication of "slow economic growth," but he held out hope that $100 billion in tax rebates now being distributed to American households would spur spending and generate jobs.
"We're beginning to see the signs that the stimulus may be working," Mr. Bush said during a swearing-in ceremony for the housing secretary, Steven C. Preston.
In a presidential election year in which the economy has emerged as a crucial issue, both major candidates used the employment data as an opportunity to criticize their opponent's governing philosophy.
"The wrong change for our country would be an economic agenda based upon the policies of the past that advocate higher taxes," said Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona, in a written statement. "To help families at this critical time, we cannot afford to go backward as Senator Obama advocates."
Senator Barack Obama, Democrat of Illinois, called the labor report "a reminder that working families continue to bear the brunt of the failed Bush economic policies that John McCain wants to continue," in a statement. "We can't afford John McCain's plan to spend billions of dollars on tax breaks for big corporations and wealthy C.E.O.'s."
Democrats on Capitol Hill and advocates for the unemployed pointed to the spike in joblessness in arguing for the swift extension of federal unemployment insurance.
Among the 8.55 million people who were unemployed in May, 1.55 million had been unemployed for 27 weeks or longer. Unemployment benefits now expire after 26 weeks. An Iraq war financing bill approved by the Senate includes a provision that would extend cash benefits for an additional 13 weeks.
"It would show a new level of callousness by Congress, a new level of disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country, not to pass an extension now," said Andrew Stettner, executive director of the National Employment Law Project, an advocacy group.
The White House has said it would veto the bill for imposing deadlines on the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The administration also argues that jobless benefits should not be extended, with the unemployment rate still low by historical measures. Tony Fratto, a White House spokesman, said Friday's report did not change that position.
The spike in joblessness significantly cooled talk that the Federal Reserve could stop worrying about recession and might soon begin to raise interest rates to choke off rising prices for crucial goods like gasoline and food.
Since last fall, as fears of recession have grown along with the financial turmoil resulting from falling home prices, the Fed has cut interest rates to encourage investment and spur economic activity. A chorus of economists has warned that the Fed has unleashed too much easy money, feeding inflation and driving down the dollar. Some have suggested the Fed might have to reverse course and raise rates. Not anymore, as the labor market continues to offer up evidence of enduring trouble.
"There's a greater chance of peace breaking out in the Middle East," said Mr. Barbera, the ITG economist.
Recap
Meltdown: The Economy & Oil
In a special program looking at issues surrounding oil & the economy, trends analyst Gerald Celente appeared for the full show. He was joined by investment advisor Catherine Austin Fitts in the third hour, and oil expert Matt Savinar in the last hour.
The dollar has lost 41% of its value during the Bush administration, and we're going to see company failures so big they won't be able to be bailed out, like Bear Stearns, said Celente. He cited the Federal Reserve, which functions as a private company with no congressional oversight, as one of the major problems. Predicting food & gas riots, as well as tax revolts, Celente suggested diversifying your savings among a number of banks, if you have more than $100,000.
Catherine Austin Fitts commented that the demise of Bear Stearns may have been a hit job, "cannibalized" for the good of other finance companies. There is an effort underway to centralize the economy and shift assets away from local communities, she warned. Fitts described these efforts as "economic warfare" being conducted on a global scale that is fostered by technology and "invisible weaponry," such as satellites. The US economy is purposely being "pumped and dumped," she noted.
Matt Savinar said global oil supplies have plateaued, and with lessening oil reserves it becomes increasingly expensive to bring up the remaining oil. Prices will continue to skyrocket upwards, he suggested, as we enter the down side of "peak oil." Tapping unused reserves in the United States and Canada will only postpone the problem for a short time, and the theory of abiotic oil is a kind of misinformation, Savinar argued. The oil crisis is an "economic 9-11," and we're going to see a crash worse than the Great Depression, Celente added
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c2c what a show!! LOL -yo
Personally, I place some of the responsibility for the economic situation we are in right now squarely in the lap of President Bush. He has expanded government spending more than many recent presidents. For example, the federal budget has expanded 40% since 1997. So, while the tax cuts are a good thing, and have helped, they haven't totally offset the damage caused by the federal budget hemorrhaging money.
again, i dont think Bush can be singled out in this mess. a bill has to be introduced to congress for the elaborate spending and both congress and Bush has to pass it.
as for the start of this mess you can blame the democrats. clinton helped pass severall tree hugger policies and NAFTA (he even sold military secrets to red china).where do ya think korea got the ability to build a nuke? it wasnt russia, as they would have you to think!! he so-called protected our most plentifull oil reserves for the sake of owls and things i feel were not threatened. clinton sent our jobs overseas. now all they needed was a scape goat,( clinton was finished with his two terms), now comes bush and 9-11 and the war. it fell into his lap!! he did not create the problem, though he MAY have contributed. as the world turns!!
when oboma gets in ther we gonna see a lot more drama.
why is it when a democrat is in office everyone gets amnisia and falls asleep? then when a republican gets in there everyone wakes up and feels that the republican got them into trouble? it just dont make sence to me!! heaven forbid if he has money when he goes in. then he's a crook and robbed the white house and misused his athority. if bush had done so he would be on trial or in prison at the very least impeached. clinton has misused his office twice as much as any republican has!! hahahaha, in more ways than one too!! LOL which should not be a laughing matter, but goes to prove my point..... -yo