Now that the oil companies and poster boy Rush Limbaugh have made

you love the beast (SUVs) they are going to gouge you at the gas pump.
$3.00 per gallon before June. At least George Will will be happy. He always felt gasoline was too cheap...too many ordinary working folks could afford it.

tourism will be hurt
trucking
etc.

Bad for Bush. Bad for regular folks. Good for oil companies. Good for Democrats in November, hopefully.

Does anyone think the Dem Nominee will keep gas prices low? If anything,
the GOP which controls all the oil companies will pull an "Enron in California"
across the country; "punish" America for not voting for an oil whore. Oh, and
will the Saudis deal fairly with a Dem Administration?

I'm guessing gasoline prices will stay pretty normal until after the election;
nothing to harm Bush that his puppeteers own will be in play.

If anything, Bush will use our tax dollars to further deficit spend, to fill
the Strategic Oil Reserve to keep prices stable until after the re-selection.

But I'd love to entertain ways a Dem admin will a) keep gas prices low
and b) get any tax breaks or govt investment pushed through Tom Delay's
Congress that will wean us off our reliance on foreign oil. Here's to
wishin'!

Bigby

But do you think all the oil companies will really work together in that way? I mean what if, say, citgo gets the idea to undercut the other oil companies, sell more gas and get more money? Can those cmpanies really rely on each other to accomplish a strictly partisan purpose? Plus, since they clearly can't make the threat ahead of time (wouldn't that be great, some Oil tycoon saying "I don't know what will happen to gas prices if President Bush does not win reelection. Prices jumping to $4.00 a gallon might be a conservative estimate."), is this really a winning strategy?

Bryant
Check it out --> http://politicalcomment.blogspot.com

A float that represents the control of the Arab world of the world oil reserves is part of the Salgueiro samba school parade at the Sambadrome in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, Feb. 23, 2004. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

If gas prices were reliably forecasted, the futures market would smooth them.

I am always suspicious of predictions of a run-up. They could be attempts to manipulate futures.

Let us choose just one particular oil co. to boycott and send a message to the rest of corp. America and its puppet gov. that we are taking back our country

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Why does everyone have to bash SUV's about gas usage? I own 2 vehicles A Kia car and a Jeep cherokee and guess what? they both get the SAME gas milage!!!!!!!!!!! I happen to have the Cherokee so that I can get to the places that people tend to get lost and/or hurt at as part of my job. If you want to blame a group for gas usage blame truck drivers. They use more gas than a fleet of SUV's of course without them you wouldent get any food or supplies to your homes. Plus leave the SUV's lone untill you have bashed NASCAR and other racing circuits for the gas and other related petrolium products (lots of tires used at one race)

:puke:

If you need one for your job fine -- but I see more people commuting on person at a time on the L.A. freeways in these stupid cars and I'm sorry but a Suburban does NOT get anywhere near responsible gas milage. Plus I hate it when they park on corners and can't see around them.

Now, i'm no fan of his. I think he's a pedantic twit with more vocabulary than actual analytical though ability.

But, what he said was that the gov't was propping up the industry to keep the price of gasoline artificially low. He doesn't WANT it to be higher. He's just saying he think's it should be.

Now, the reason he says that is because the supply and demand curve for fuels is not linear. Never has been. But, to a simple minded, two dimensionally trapped, supply sider, the lack of linearity is confusing.

He doesn't understand the intrinsic interaction between marketing/sales and the demand/supply elements. The price is not, in this nonlinear system, strictly controled by demand, as the marketing aspect has the companies operating on a Oil Plus margin. This gives them some leverage during periods of high demand to not raise prices to as high as "the market will bear". To do so creates the specter of consumer backlash and political fallout.

Since this requires some actually understand of industrial microeconomics, thinking past the depth of the ink on the Supply & Demand page, and an understanding of more than one business principle at the same time, George doesn't get it.

But, his statement isn't based upon meanness. It's based upon stupidity.
The Professor

Seriously Unstable Vehicles...

look at all the ones that flip over...

for a pre-emptive strike if it's necessary to save him in the election. I thought it would get to $3 as reported a few months ago, but now I think he'll roll out the country's reserves to keep the price down. The price of gas inherently affects every aspect of our life and a $3 price would severely put a stranglehold on the economy.

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/news/ntn40414.htm