Did you hear on the news last night: Gas prices will hit $4.00+ by Memorial Day and

Even higher by summer? Will probably hit $5.00+ soon.

--especially the working poor.

what it takes to get back & forth to work.. Oil companies will pick their pockets & the rest of the economy will suffer for it..

What choice do they have? quit work because they cannot afford gas money?

The days of all the neighborhood guys "working at the plant" , with the same hours and the ability to car-pool?..not around here.. People work part-time, odd hours and all over the place, often going from one part-time job in one city, to another one in a different town.. Throw in a lack of decent public transportation and the need to schlep kids from school to daycare to home, and you can easily see why car-pooling is not all that possible in many places.

We are a captive audience, and we have to drive, so we have to pay what they charge us..It sucks, but it is what it is.

Was $3.69 a gallon. I needed 10 gallons in my Prius. $36.90....which is more than I have ever paid to fill my Prius up...11 gallon tank. Buying my Prius was the smartest thing I ever did! Though, in the near future I may not be able to get it fixed or parts for it because of what's going on in Japan. :( Might have to get out the old bike.

Also, how the HELL do people afford to put gas in pick-up trucks, Hummers and SUVs? My last car had a huge gas tank and the day it cost me $50 to fill it up (5 years ago), I vowed to buy a Prius. I don't understand how people are affording to fill up those huge tanks.

I'll look over and see their cost. I'm there a few minutes and they've setup a tent to wait while their tank fills. LOL

...which by my standards is a gas-guzzler. My wife has a Honda Civic Hybrid whch is better.

The speculators put us into the recession in 08, and they will put us into a depression this time.

I didn't bother to fill-up.

I know it isn't popular but it is the truth. There is a reason why gasoline is twice the price in Europe compared to the US. They tax it much higher as a result people drive less, drive smaller vehicles, and companies offer more efficient designs. It also means more revenue, and lower road maintenance costs.

It is all about the $$$$. Gasoline is heavily subsidized. If you included the true cost of a gallon of gasoline (including all road construction, and repair costs as well as enviormental and military costs) it would be $15 to $20 per gallon.

A Prius, Volt, Leaf, Tesla Model S, or someday a hybrid pickup truck makes a lot more sense when gasoline is $5, $6, $8 a gallon then when it is $2 or $3. That single larger investment generate a higher ROI.

the VW beetle came out so the market could be saturated with a highly affordable car.

haven't looked back. It's the smartest thing I ever did. Not only for the gas costs, but the negligible emissions of pollution.

It's all well and good to talk about how awesome electrics/hybrids are...if you can afford a new car.

now. Pre-owned is the only way to go. I've bought my last car EVER, I hope, knock on wood.

However, I do not know how the pre-owned hybrids are warranted. THAT is something that is VERY important to know when buying one. The replacement batteries aren't cheap...though they rarely go bad, from what I have read. A new 2010 Prius warranty is 100,000 miles or 10 years whichever comes first. I have a 2006 Prius and that warranty is 80,000 mile or 8 years.

And I suppose that varies on what the original package was and the mileage. I haven't priced other hybrids. They may be even less. And I do understand "cheap" is interpreted differently by different people. :) Since I paid $36,000 for a brand new Prius in 2006, $11,509 looks pretty cheap to me right now. If I needed a new Prius, I'd pay $11,000 for one. Others may not.

Can't find a high efficiency used car? It was because there weren't many high efficiency new cars made 5 years ago. Unless you break that cycle it will never happen.

The F-15 slipped briefly but is now the best selling vehicle in the US. 5 years from now guess what will be filling the used car lots.

Well, then they better start making it easier to get more fuel efficient cars, provide more public transportation, pay us better wages, generate more jobs, etc. It seems like we have Republicans (and some Democrats) in states and in Congress not doing a single damned thing about gas prices and/or our need for oil. I understand that drastic changes aren't going to happen overnight and that we might have to grin and bear some tough times at the pump but it doesn't seem like our *leaders* (primarily looking at Republicans) are doing anything meaningful to make things easier for us to get around and go to our jobs.

what we need now, as before, is reliable mass transit.

than travel that weekend.

Wouldn't be such a terrible thing.

Go for a walk instead of a drive.

There's a limit to what people can afford, and millions of people have pretty much reached their limit..

Commerce (or lack of it) has a cascading effect. No weekend trips, means that many places that depend on that business have to lay off people, and all those people then can no longer contribute to their local economies..rinse &repeat.,

where people travel from have more money?

Sure it'll hurt the tourist areas pretty bad. But it's not like they aren't spending money, they're just spending it in different places.

So it might no be a net loss. Losses in touristy areas are made up for by gains in non-traditional tourist areas.

income has pretty much dried up for many.

If gas gradually rises from 3.50 to 4.00?

I find that unlikely.

and it will certainly do Barack Obama in either way.

we can argue about it... or not.

that way no one will freak when it happens

I can't help but wonder if some oil "insider" leaks this kind of stuff to business reporters in the hopes that prices will go up based on the reports.

THAT is a very real possibility. In fact, I wouldn't doubt that that is what goes on.

and when the outrage doesn't come, they raise the prices.

We need to get elected.

This shit will kill any kind of recovery. But hey, we can always sell ourselves as private mercenaries to go fight the Arab for even MORE OIL! Hooray!

and were $4.99 in Nome where we were last week.