Mr. President, are you paying attention?

[rn79870]

Well, I saw $4.00 a gallon gas today. $4.09 to be exact, for premium. Sure, it was a single station, but I’m afraid once the $4 bubble bursts, the flood comes. How is it that I’m aware of this yet two days ago President Bush said he was unaware some analysts were predicting $4 for a gallon of gas in the U.S. He must not know that California is part of the nation.

The day before Bush made those remarks, White House press secretary Dana Perino was actually asked about gas prices and she said "we're mindful of it." Yesterday, when asked if Bush was "joking around" when he said he did not know their was talk of $4 gas, the White House said that "the President's point was that neither his advisors nor Energy Department analysts are at this point forecasting $4-a-gallon gasoline." Hello?

I want to know what is more troublesome. $4.00/gallon gas, or the fact that our President and his advisors don’t see it coming.

(/end rant)

[goneracin]

He knew.

[k@osx71]

his right hands unaware of what his left hand does~ I'm scared to go to the pump now... from $45 fill ups to 50+!!!

[ArizonaG35]

For the record... I'm republican

Of course he's paying attention... There's just a big gap between paying attention and actually giving a Rats Fat A$$! I'm not going to rant too bad here, but why would a man who was made very rich by oil, give a crap what we pay at the pump. It's not coincidental that the most profitable companies in the US are oil companies, and guess who the largest contributor to congress by lobbying is... DRUMROLL.... OIL COMPANIES! Ta Dah! Amazing how that works...

Reference: politicalmoneyline.com

The top ten oil companies reported spending $33,173,092 lobbying the Congress and the Executive branches in 2005.

* ChevronTexaco -- $8,550,000* ExxonMobil -- $7,140,000* ConocoPhillips -- $5,098,084* Marathon -- $4,290,000* BP -- $2,880,000* Occidental -- $2,042,177* Shell -- $1,478,831* Ashland -- $904,000* Sunoco -- $540,000* Anadarko -- $250,000

Until we can get these greedy, money mongering a$$holes out of power, then we'll never see an end to this injustice. It seems to me that if we really want change, then we need to drum up over $33.5 milliion dollars to grease the wheels of politics, then we can buy outbid these lobbyists at their own game... Email me if you wish to make a contribution and I'll forward you my paypal account information for donations. This is how it all gets started...

I'm now going to step off my for a moment and let my blood pressure drop.

[rn79870]

For the record... I'm republican

Of course he's paying attention... There's just a big gap between paying attention and actually giving a Rats Fat A$$! I'm not going to rant too bad here, but why would a man who was made very rich by oil, give a crap what we pay at the pump. It's not coincidental that the most profitable companies in the US are oil companies, and guess who the largest contributor to congress by lobbying is... DRUMROLL.... OIL COMPANIES! Ta Dah! Amazing how that works...

Reference: politicalmoneyline.com

The top ten oil companies reported spending $33,173,092 lobbying the Congress and the Executive branches in 2005.

* ChevronTexaco -- $8,550,000* ExxonMobil -- $7,140,000* ConocoPhillips -- $5,098,084* Marathon -- $4,290,000* BP -- $2,880,000* Occidental -- $2,042,177* Shell -- $1,478,831* Ashland -- $904,000* Sunoco -- $540,000* Anadarko -- $250,000

Until we can get these greedy, money mongering a$$holes out of power, then we'll never see an end to this injustice. It seems to me that if we really want change, then we need to drum up over $33.5 milliion dollars to grease the wheels of politics, then we can buy outbid these lobbyists at their own game... Email me if you wish to make a contribution and I'll forward you my paypal account information for donations. This is how it all gets started...

I'm now going to step off my for a moment and let my blood pressure drop.

Hard to believe an oil man didn't realize $103/barrel oil would result in higher gas prices. GW better take a good look at what is about to happen to the economy due to the higher oil costs. Look for the $600/person give away the government intends to be used to stimulate the economy to do nothing more than buy the average family 7 tanks of gas.

[AZhitman]

Hey Bob - $4 gas is how the FREE MARKET regulates emissions AND average fuel economy, without government intervention.

It still hasn't reached 1980 levels adjusted for inflation.

[gwoods]

I'm just glad I don't have my 10-12 mpg Hemi anymore that held 26 gallons of 91 octane each fill up!

[rn79870]

Hey Bob - $4 gas is how the FREE MARKET regulates emissions AND average fuel economy, without government intervention.

It still hasn't reached 1980 levels adjusted for inflation.

Free Market Economy 101

If you had purchased $1,000.00 of Nortel stock some time ago, it would now be worth nada.

With Enron, you would have zippo left of a $1,000.00. investment.

With WorldCom, you would have zip point crap left from a 1k investment.

But, if you had purchased $1,000.00 worth of beer instead, and drank all the beer, then turned in the cans for the aluminum recycling REFUND you would have $214.00.

Based on the above, the free market demands you drink heavily and recycle.

Now, with beer prices escalating due to the rising price of fuel, there goes our retirement planning.

[gwoods]

Look at this fund if you want to make money. I have made almost $1000 in it since February 13th.

http://personal.fidelity.com/p...90491

I also day trade Mastercard, Chevron and Apple when ever they take a hit I buy and hold until they go up... I'm stuck holding some Apple right now

[AZhitman]

Cutesy little analogy, but hardly worthy of basing major life decisions on.

Back to my point:

$4 fuel will "thin the herd" - Those drivers who can ill-afford to dump $100 in their Suburban tank each week will drive less / offload the 'Burb / carpool / buy something more efficient.

All of the above reduce emissions AND increase the average miles-per-gallon of the vehicles on the road at any given time.

$5 fuel will cut deeper, forcing more radical alternatives for more of the market.

At some point, the viability of alternative fuels / alternative commuting arrangements / alternative work schedules becomes a reality.

All without the clumsy intervention of Big Government.

[Sentientbydesign]

Who wants to open up an refinery? I'm in!!!

[rn79870]

Cutesy little analogy, but hardly worthy of basing major life decisions on.

Back to my point:

$4 fuel will "thin the herd" - Those drivers who can ill-afford to dump $100 in their Suburban tank each week will drive less / offload the 'Burb / carpool / buy something more efficient.

All of the above reduce emissions AND increase the average miles-per-gallon of the vehicles on the road at any given time.

$5 fuel will cut deeper, forcing more radical alternatives for more of the market.

At some point, the viability of alternative fuels / alternative commuting arrangements / alternative work schedules becomes a reality.

All without the clumsy intervention of Big Government.

Yes, the dinosaur may again go extinct a second time. Poor mileage cars may well be driven less, which solves several problems on a national level, but to the average family with a SUV and a shrinking budget the opportunity to buy a fuel efficient car is really not an option. Their only option is to responding to a crisis created by a government which lacked the foresight to proactively anticipate the problem.

Unlike the emission regulations where we saw a proactive governmental agency react reasonably to a problem, here we see a President that doesn't know that fuel costs are approaching the $4/gallon level. Free market, or profit taking by big oil? Price fixing/monopoly/unfair trade advantage maybe. There is nothing free in that market.

All without the clumsy intervention of Big Government? Yes, unfortunitely.

[Sentientbydesign]

I'm sorry to say this, but I truly have not pity for those who "needed" to buy huge gas guzzling SUVs. I don't look forward to any type of recession/depression, but one would truly cause darwinian style survival.

Maybe somebody up the governmental ranks will realize that wellfare does not promote self-reliance and they'll start using that money to fix other problems

[AZhitman]

Poor mileage cars may well be driven less, which solves several problems on a national level,

Which is exactly what I said. Thanks for reiterating my [correct] statement.

but to the average family with a SUV and a shrinking budget the opportunity to buy a fuel efficient car is really not an option.

Oh, boo hoo hoo... Poor, poor, poor people. I was one of them, making $19K with a family of 3. Didn't change my opinion one bit.

Incidentally, they have NO problem buying a $260K house, do they?

Then again, with the Libbies bailing them out, they'll never learn proper money management. After all, one cannot survive without beer, cable, p0rn and cigarettes.

Their only option is to responding to a crisis created by a government which lacked the foresight to proactively anticipate the problem.

Not the govt's responsibility in the first place. I don't need a nanny and neither do they.

[Sentientbydesign]

We don't need a nanny, but I think all of us (especially the government) has forgotten, that the government is FOR the people. We aren't supposed to be serving the government, it is supposed to be serving us.

Somehow we've lost sight of that in these past 232 years.

[audtatious]

Their only option is to responding to a crisis created by a government which lacked the foresight to proactively anticipate the problem.

Hmmm....Can we drill in Anwar yet and maybe create new refineries? What about drilling offshore before China takes over the good places? What about getting oil from shale?

We have had numerous chances to be proactive to an anticipated problem and have had nothing but resistence, thus nada. I do agree we should have stopped propping up the oil companies years ago.

[rn79870]

Which is exactly what I said. Thanks for reiterating my [correct] statement.

Oh, boo hoo hoo... Poor, poor, poor people. I was one of them, making $19K with a family of 3. Didn't change my opinion one bit.

Incidentally, they have NO problem buying a $260K house, do they?

Then again, with the Libbies bailing them out, they'll never learn proper money management. After all, one cannot survive without beer, cable, p0rn and cigarettes.

Not the govt's responsibility in the first place. I don't need a nanny and neither do they.

Let’s look at the reasons your free market economy has and will fail with regards to the oil crisis.The free marked has created a private fleet that is over represented by 6000 pound vehicles. The public voluntarily chose to create that problem so score 1 for the free market.

Needless to say, even if Washington could have anticipated the coming fuel crisis, and reacted to it with appropriate standards and CAFÉ requirements, they would have failed. Once you factor in the Opeckers arbitrary pricing schemes, and big oil reaping record profits, there is nothing left for the free market. As soon as the free market responds, the field is tipped the other way. We don’t need a governmental nanny?

Even if we all magically had 40MPG vehicles tomorrow, the spigots would be slowed and the price would remain high. When you artificially keep supply slightly below demand, you win every time.

You claim we don’t need a nanny? I disagree. I disagree to the point that I would entertain supporting a program to nationalize the oil companies. We need to stop obscene profits, and we need to do it sooner than later. Gas prices raise overnight in response to the previous days announcement of higher oil prices. We pay a higher price at the pump before the 1st. barrel of higher price oil has been loaded on a tanker. But when those prices fall, relief at the pump is slow to come. We don’t need a governmental nanny? Me thinks otherwise.

[rn79870]

Hmmm....Can we drill in Anwar yet and maybe create new refineries? What about drilling offshore before China takes over the good places? What about getting oil from shale?

We have had numerous chances to be proactive to an anticipated problem and have had nothing but resistance, thus nada. I do agree we should have stopped propping up the oil companies years ago.

Beyond exploring for other oil recovery possibilities, we need to accelerate alternative fueled options. If the government was smart enough to use all the money it spend in foreign aid, and foreign giveaways, and invested the same in creating alternate fuel vehicles we would be in the drivers seat in no time. The day we import our last barrel of oil is the day we sit with the Opeckers and have a discussion about the rising cost of wheat and farm produce from the US. Unless their scientist can create food from oil, they're going to get mighty hungry over there when I'm in charge.

[rn79870]

We don't need a nanny, but I think all of us (especially the government) has forgotten, that the government is FOR the people. We aren't supposed to be serving the government, it is supposed to be serving us.

Somehow we've lost sight of that in these past 232 years.

And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.

My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.

(Quoting a great liberal and a wonderful human being, revealing his name shouldn't be necessary)

[audtatious]

Beyond exploring for other oil recovery possibilities, we need to accelerate alternative fueled options. If the government was smart enough to use all the money it spend in foreign aid, and foreign giveaways, and invested the same in creating alternate fuel vehicles we would be in the drivers seat in no time. The day we import our last barrel of oil is the day we sit with the Opeckers and have a discussion about the rising cost of wheat and farm produce from the US. Unless their scientist can create food from oil, they're going to get mighty hungry over there when I'm in charge.

I agree to a point. In some areas I just don't think the technology is ready for mass production/use. In others (E85 and Bio) we are robbing Peter to pay Paul as we will pay for it in other areas (and it's actually worse for the environment anyway).

I don't see why it is so horrible to go ahead and pull oil from the ground when it is currently still the most viable solution. By the time we start running out of oil then there should be a solution ready (quite a while before).

Tell you one thing, it's nice being able to have environmental-style discussions in this forum without people jumping in slinging negative comments.

[smockers83]

What the government measures is a national average.

And $4/gallon is 50 cents higher than the highest average for a metro area which is San Fran. So where ever you saw that may have been due to something else, such as low inventory. I honestly don't think this is a major issue. The issue now is making sure the economy doesn't go into stagflation and to protect against collapse due to the stupid decisions by banks to allow people to buy homes outside of their means. We also need to get the private debt issue under wraps as there is way too much credit available. And the housing collapse, the housing market was overpriced to begin with, it honestly doesn't surprise me. Plus, since it seems like everyone was in the market at once, there are fewer and fewer people who need a new home. These are the issues our government should be worried about.

The UK, they pay $5.50 and up for a gallon of petrol. It's heavily taxed for the sole reason to force consumers to buy smaller, more efficient cars. If you go over there, you will be hard pressed to find a pickup or SUV-type vehicle until you get into the cities like London, even try finding a van.

[AZhitman]

You claim we don’t need a nanny? I disagree. I disagree to the point that I would entertain supporting a program to nationalize the oil companies. We don’t need a governmental nanny? Me thinks otherwise.

'Nuff said. We disagree on the most basic and fundamental of levels.

I am a man. Not a child. I'll give up an awful lot for liberty and freedom, and there's simply no place in my individualistic existence for a nanny.

[keithjack]

Supply and demand sets prices. Oil companies are just businesses that most of us who have mutual funds are invested in. We need to waste less gas, that's all.

And don't dis Dana - she is like my favorite Presidential Spokesperson EVAR!

[ImpliedConsent]

Yes, I do think PRESIDENT Bush is listening; however, I'm in 100% agreement with AZhitman, free enterprise without government interference. I have earned my personal right to drive my 6000# SUV and my 4000# gas belching pickup and my G35 WOT; however, for the 300 million other Americans who have not earned that right, they are GIVEN that right without interference from government.

If the $4 or even $5 Gallon of gas bothers anyone, besides cutting into your weekly "healthy" McDonalds trips, well, then ride the bus.

(yea, I'm a Republican/Libertarian and YES, I have great respect for PRESIDENT Bush and his administration)

[G_whizz]

Political based threads are normally locked without hesitance... ONLY because the Bossman is in here it shall remain open.

But, please refrain from starting future political threads... they almost NEVER end well..

It's in the rules when you signed up...

[rn79870]

Political based threads are normally locked without hesitance... ONLY because the Bossman is in here it shall remain open.

But, please refrain from starting future political threads... they almost NEVER end well..

It's in the rules when you signed up...

Sorry, I wasn't paying attention. I'm out.

[G_whizz]

You don't have to be... Hitman gave it the ok... so debate away!

[J-Owner]

Ok time for my $0.02. All I am going to say is PREACH ON AZ........I couldn't agree with you more.

Further, Bush does not care what oil prices do, why would he?? His own family, along with the Bin Laden family and some of the Saudi Royal family all have oil interests in a consordium called the Carlyle Group. (and doing even voice your opinion that I am making that up because it is pure fact....so save your breath)

Bush wants high oil prices because it makes him richer. He is also out of the White House in 9 months so why worry about it.

Did you know that it costs more to pump water out of the ground over there than it does oil. I personally do not know what the best solutions is and I can promise you none of the candidates do either, especially Obama. Everytime he speaks it makes me throw up a little in my mouth. The only thing Obama is good at is telling you exactly what you want to hear and then blowing smoke up your a$$.

All I know is I can afford $4 a gallon and I have more important things to worry about at the moment. Again, just my $0.02.

AZ Hitman for PRESIDENT

[AZhitman]

My mutual funds, one of which is VERY oil-heavy, are posting record gains.

Don't think for a second that, because I espouse a certain viewpoint, that I'm supportive of the current administration - I have issues with several of their decisions.

I'm re-registering as an Independent this week, in fact... The two-party system is broken.

However, this isn't a political issue until someone wants full governmental control over all aspects of our lives, which I oppose (regardless of the cost).

I'd rather be a free man sucking smog than a slave to the system in Eden.

[rn79870]

'Nuff said. We disagree on the most basic and fundamental of levels.

I am a man. Not a child. I'll give up an awful lot for liberty and freedom, and there's simply no place in my individualistic existence for a nanny.

Greg, think horse not zebra. I'm not suggesting that the government becomes involved in micromanaging every situation in everyday life. I'm suggesting that there is need for an agency, governmental or private, to oversee the oil industry.

Why give them excessive tax breaks while they reap record profits. Tax breaks for investing in new technology and further exploration? Yet it seems every year or so they shut down a single refinery and thereafter the price of gasoline rockets up. Look what happened after Katrina. When did they last build a refinery? What are they doing to oil shale. I remember hearing that oil shale wouldn't be profitable until the price of gas exceeded $1.50 a gallon. What have they done to address that. (If I'm correct, there is more oil in oil shale, here in the US than there is in Saudi Arabia.)

The oil companies are clearly failing us. We need you know what...