Fill 'er up...Yeah, right...

[Rick K5IAR]

Three quarts of Champagne Velvet (Beer) for $1.00, two bucks of regular gasoline and still had enough left over for a couple of us to get into the drive in.  Of course, we had at least two more in the trunk!  Ahhh.. the good old days really were good!

Rick/K5IAR 

[NE4AM]

Regardless of who is responsible, the high gas prices to provide motivation for innovation to find a replacement for oil.  The whale oil producers of the 1850s saw their industry vanish almost overnight after the petroleum infrastructure became established, and became a cheaper source of energy.  The minute that coal gassification or liquification, or biodiesel, becomes cheaper than petroleum, all the junk going on in Iraq, Iran, and Venezuala will become irrelevant.

[The Slab Bacon]

diesel, Hmmmm............... thats another interesting story of supply, demand, and butt pucker factor. Back in the days when gas was under .30 a gallon, diesel was around .15 and heating oil was somewhere around .07. (the only difference is the red dye and the road use tax) Fuel oil was always much much cheaper than gasoline motor fuels. Now with the advent of many diesel cars and small trucks it is now MORE than gasoline. Go figger.........................

                                                    The Slab Bacon

[Ed-VA3ES]

The average price of gas in Ottawa is  approximately $3.80 a gallon, or about $1.00 a litre.

It doesn't matter what currency, however.

[WB3JOK]

I thought gas was expensive here in Aroostook County (Maine), which has just risen to $3.25 for regular. This pic was taken in San Francisco two days ago...



Ouch.

-Charles
ps in case it doesn't show, regular is $415.9

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

More importantly, the level of debt as a percentage of the GDP is far less than it was after WWII and through much of the 60's. It's amazing how misinformed the general public is on such important matters.

None of this has anything to do with the price of gas.

During the last 7 years the national debt went from a surplus to a record getting close to 10 trillion.      

The national debt has never been a "surplus". It can't be by definition.

The national debt = the cumulative excess of spending over tax receipts since our government began doing business. In inflation adjusted dollars (2000 dollars) it stands at 
about 7 trillion dollars. The debt was fairly constant from the end of WW II (slightly less than 2 trillion) until about 1980. It has grown bloated since then as our government has grown bloated with new agencies, cabinet level departments,and spending programs.

Terry
W8EJO

[WA1GFZ]

I freak when my credit card is above zero because I was taught to not live by the credit card.....and my Dad had a name for that life style. n rich. Modern thinking tells us we are ill informed, bull pucky

[Todd, KA1KAQ]

It's amazing how misinformed the general public is on such important matters.

Yes, but look at where the vast majority get their info. NBC, CBS, CNN, NYT, etc etc.

Once upon a time the media reported the news. Now they think it's up to them to create it, editorialize it, and spoon-feed the finished product to the all-too-willing masses (Arnett and Rather come to mind). They probably wear black robes too! 

Listening for that little voice in the wilderness....

[W8EJO]

It's amazing how misinformed the general public is on such important matters.

Yes, but look at where the vast majority get their info. NBC, CBS, CNN, NYT, etc etc.

I used to teach basic economics back in the early 70's. I don't think they've offered those courses in 25 years to high school kids.

[The Slab Bacon]

Basic economics, Hmmm............................

Basic economics = I got it, you need it, bend over! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 

[W8EJO]

Commodities markets are seldom ruled by politics, it's a supply and demand issue.

Mack
 

Ruled by, no; heavily influenced by, absolutely.

Consider that a chunk of the crude oil price is based on the fear generated by the political instability in many oil producing countries.

An announcement by the U.S. govt. that we are lifting the ban on ANWAR, Gulf of Mexico and West coast drilling as well as fast tracking many new refineries will have a significant psychological impact (read downward price influence) as well as an ultimately increasing supplies in the oil & gasoline markets.

[WA1GFZ]

Yes but the fox is guarding the chicken coop and there are plenty of chickens to eat so why change the supply.

[K3ZS]

I just did a little research on the national debt thing.   According to the AP it just broke the record over 9 trillion.   However I found a chart listing the debt vs. GDP and it is about the same as it has been over the past few administrations and was at one time much higher.   It is interesting that one article stated that it took from George Washington to Ronald Reagan to get to 1 trillion.   I think it was the budget deficit that was low during the Clinton years, whatever that is.   Economics is like the weather, you can't predict it much in the future.

[Ken - K2UPI]

Heard on the news today that they're paying $8.00/gal. in the U.K.

So that's sposed to make us feel better right?

[WA1GFZ]

I'll care what the rest of the world pays when they step up to the plate against the bad people who would do us all harm.

[k4kyv]

The average price of gas in Ottawa is  approximately $3.80 a gallon, or about $1.00 a litre.

It doesn't matter what currency, however.

The US dollar was worth $0.93 Canadian as of 12 noon to-day.

That calculates out to a Canadian dollar worth $1.075 in US dollars.

I have been following the daily foreign exchange rates as posted in the local newspaper  lately.  In recent days, the USD has been falling about 2¢ a day, relative to the Canadian.

[K6JEK]

Something you can do about the high price of gas besides politics is use less of it.

I've fallen in love with my wife's Prius.  I didn't expect much, a tinny little thing is what I thought.   It's way better than that.   It's pretty darned nice.  My fire breather stays in the garage most of the time now.   We drive the Prius when we go anywhere together, something we had no intention of doing.    I drive it when she doesn't need it.  It gets 48-50 MPG in mixed driving, tank after tank.

It's no substitute for an F-250 but it is a mighty fine substitute for the family sedan.

[W8EJO]

I think it was the budget deficit that was low during the Clinton years, whatever that is.   

The budget deficit is the annual excess of US govt expenditures over tax receipts.

So one year's budget deficit gets added to each preceding years deficit & the accumulated total since the inception of the country = the national debt.

States do not have this problem since state constitutions require a balanced budget by law. Only the fed govt budgets expenditures in excess of tax receipts (reminds me of my ex-wife). 

[W8EJO]

Something you can do about the high price of gas besides politics is use less of it.

I've fallen in love with my wife's Prius.    It gets 48-50 MPG in mixed driving, tank after tank.

Conservation is a great idea. I bought a used GEO Metro - about 45 MPG.
The safety factor is a bit worrisome, however. I think I'm about 5 x more likely to die in a crash then when I'm driving my Ford f-250.

I read somewhere that congress, trough it's establishment of CAFE standards, has caused an additional 3000 (+/-) deaths annually since the CAFE standards were established in the mid 70's. That's bout 100,000 additional highway deaths due to CAFE. We have a society that seems to value fuel economy over human life.

[WA1GFZ]

Let's see we piss off everyone who supplies crude then act stupid when the price doubles....da
Al Gore wound never drive a geo.

[K1MVP]

$3, $4, $5 a gallon, where does it end?? Not to date myself with this one, but..................... When I bought that orange car in my driveway that many of you have commented about, "high test" gas was somewhere between 27 and 29 cents a gallon around here depending on where you got it from. (and it was all full serv back then)

How many if you all remember telling the attendant "give me $5.00 or fill it"

                                          The Slab Bacon

Yep,--I remember well also Frank,--but am also dating myself,--that era of "cheap gas" is well over
with, just like "cheap BA`s", also a thing of the past.

As far as this "gas crisis",--I am sure many on this board remember the long gas lines of the mid 70`s
when gas just about doubled back then, from 30 cents to 60 cents a gallon, and most people
started burning wood as an alternative to oil.(myself included)

Where were the politicians back then?--here we are over 30 years later(after both Republican and
Democrats) holding office, and we are still dependent on foreign oil.--Gee I wonder why?
So much for expecting the government to "solve" the energy problem.

                                                   73, K1MVP
                                                      
                                    
    

[The Slab Bacon]

Rene,
        I remember the "gas lines" all too well!! What a pain in the ass!!
During the first one my poor mother caught hell. We would send her up to wait in line, then the OM and I would siphon the gas from her car to get back and forth to work and she would go back up to set in line.

The second time it happened, I was working as the mechanic in a local gas station near my home. Because I was this big strapping son of a bitch, I was always asked to go out and put the "last car" sign on whatever car I decided would be the last car of the day. This caused me to fall into some very interesting situations. This went from the ridiculous to the sublime, including many fist fights and twice having a gun pointed at me.

I still, and will always feel that those "gas shortages" were just created by the oil companies to increase profits & "flex their muscle".

If you remember, back in the 70s there were "shortages" of many consumer items from time to time. People were trying to be prepared by hoarding everthing from sugar to toilet paper. My mother still has about 100# of sugar in her basement pantry from back then. It is now harder than concrete!! All in the name of driving prices up.

Just start a rumor that there was gonna be a shortage (by the news media) and it would happen just from everyone trying to get all of that item that they could get, just so they would not have to be without it. And naturally as the shelves emptied out the replacement merchandise would be considerably higher priced.

This kind of crap reduces us to being on the same level as a "third world" country, and makes a "black market" ecomomy very profitable.
It disgusts me!!

                                                  The Slab Bacon

[The Slab Bacon]

Here is another thought to ponder with this as well. Those of us that were in the working world 30+ years ago, look at your paycheck.
Compare it to a paycheck from 30+ years ago!  It is CONSIDERABLY larger than the one from years ago. Now look at the cost for consumer goods then and now. What you can buy for each hour worked is probably close to the same. Salarys have increased 10 fold and so has gas prices (and other stuff as well). Americans are also now spending way beyond their means due to the ease and availability of credit and the imfamous plastic money.

Just stop and think about it for a minute or two, Where will it all end? Its kinda scarey, we have an entire economy (all the way down to the individual person) based on money that we dont have!!
It has got to come crashing in on us sooner or later. It scares the hell out of me!

                                                 The Slab Bacon

[W2XR]

The average price of gas in Ottawa is  approximately $3.80 a gallon, or about $1.00 a litre.

It doesn't matter what currency, however.

The US dollar was worth $0.93 Canadian as of 12 noon to-day.

That calculates out to a Canadian dollar worth $1.075 in US dollars.

I have been following the daily foreign exchange rates as posted in the local newspaper  lately.  In recent days, the USD has been falling about 2¢ a day, relative to the Canadian.

A fairly well known economist was recently quoted in the media as stating, "no economy has ever devalued itself to prosperity". With the recent continuing decline of the value of the U.S. dollar, this is a scary thought.

73,

Bruce

[WA1GFZ]

you noticed that Bruce......The poor farmers learned the hard way when the value of their land was pumped up then they borrowed on the new value....That put a lot of them out of business.
Look at homes the value has been pushed so high nobody can afford to buy a house.