Certainly right up there. People will just blow it on something. The Democratic plan of a 6 month, 18 cent cut in the gasoline tax would actually impact (shock!) gas prices. And if they go down before the 6 months is up (very iffy), then the remainder of the time will help those who were paying so much, for so long, a while longer. In the meantime, we should elect a Democratic Congress, so they can investigate the hell out of Big Oil's windfall profits, and some other items of interest. In my opinion. Keep D&D Civil.
Rebates, investigations, jiggering gas taxes and etc... why not just conserve? I don't like high gas prices but this just seems like a problem that people are too busy looking to government for a solution when as individuals we have solutions at our disposal already.
how often do we agree? we just did. i'm becoming a liberal. not intentionally, to be sure. hell, i even like dubious' post, above.
I also favor cutting the gasoline tax (the more the better) I only wish we would cut out the income tax at the same time.
I have a crazy idea. If gas is costing you too much, BUY LESS GAS!!! There are other ways to get around. The oil companies have no reason to lower prices if people are willing to pay. Should we accept Tracy McGrady to play for teh veteran's minimum when there are teams that will give him a max contract? Should we expect Ferarris to sell for $10,000 when there are people that will pay 20 times that much? Of course not. Prices will and should be whatever the market will support. Actually, prices are already lower than the market would support because of regulation. How can the same people that have talked about wanting to reduce our dependence on oil complain about high gas prices? Wouldn't that be a logical first step in reducing demand for oil. As a nice side effect, a reduction in demand would eventually bring, GASP a reduction in price.
The Feds respond... In order to conserve fuel, we now have to drive without air conditioning. The one exception being firefighters returning from a fire, and then only long enough to cool down. Brilliant! Now I can drive with the windows down (which probably decreases fuel efficiency more than modern ACs), sweat like a pig and be dehydrated when I show up on a fire. In addition, I can breathe exhaust from other vehicles and further the high-frequency hearing loss in my left ear which, according to the Doc, is probably caused from too much driving with the window down (and maybe a Ted Nugent concert or two back in the day).
When you can't afford to live close to work, have young kids and holding down two jobs, sitting on a bus all day isn't always a great option.
Couldn't agree more. MadMax I hear ya about Houston being tough to get around without a car. I did a fair amount of driving the first few days I was there last week but once I got reacclimated I didn't drive so much. Things in Houston transit wise are much better than when we were kids and depending on where you are you can really cut down. For instance in downtown and midtown you can get around pretty easily by walking or riding the LRT. Even if you don't live somewhere with access to transit you can consolodate your trips, leave your house less or bike.
Apparently the Feds from up NORTH. Anyway, I read somewhere recently that the way some cars are designed it can use MORE fuel to NOT run the A/C. Go figure.
For a Liberal you place a lot of trust in Big Oil. I think the oil companies will swallow-up any decrease in prices. I say take all that money that you're willing to give away, multiply times 50, and invest in alternative fuel research (why haven't we heard MORE about biodiesel during all of this...remember those Butterball-to-Fuel facilities? ). Interesting point, whether it's the Iranian President or Chavez, shortly after making any remotely threatening comments re. Oil, you ALWAYS see some form of retraction. I think OPEC has a fear...and it's 'alternative'. I think they sit back and wonder why the West has not united in a concerted effort to track down the alternative that will work for us. I have no doubt that the answer(s) is/are out there and we can find them with enough money. We can wait for private enterprise, and we can let gov do what it's best at and through tons of cash at risky ventures...i.e. pull an 'Apollo'. Who wouldn't argue that this is far far more important than making it to the moon first? BTW, Big Oil will want to fight this (duh). Tell them this is going to happen and if they want a piece of it, to help underwrite the effort (those recent $ billions in windfall profits should help). They will have no choice.
I think there has been some dissent and I’m sure there will be more. I’ve never been to Prince Rupert so I’m not sure what they have there, but there is a fairly major rail line that terminates there but no pipelines that I know of. I’m only guessing but it wouldn’t surprise me if Prince Rupert was picked because more people there will tend to see this as an economic boon than an environmental hazard. The city only has a population of 14,000 and it’s a port and I’m sure there is a lot of logging around there too, or there was until the Americans shut down the industry. (There may be a softwood lumber deal, btw. An agreement of sorts has been reached which would include the US giving back about $4 billion, but our industry people aren’t happy about the deal. They believe, and they’re probably right, that the Americans are 100% in the wrong and that we should get all $5 billion back and open and unencumbered access to the US market.) http://www.cbc.ca/story/business/national/2006/04/27/softwoodpolitics-060427.html
I heard about that too. Driving with the windows down really screws with the aerodynamics. The best way to save gas is driving with the windows up and not using the AC. That's probably a death sentence in Houston but in 60 degree MN its not so bad.
