Gas Prices!
 

As we all know the SVX is not the best on gas milage. I was reading my mail and ran across a note from a friend from Cali. I thought to myself; one of those silly pass it on mails but this made sense to me:

"By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is
super cheap. Me too! It is currently $1.97 for regular unleaded in my
town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have
conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at
$1.50- $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that
BUYERS control the marketplace....not sellers. With the price of
gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action.
The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we
hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas!
And we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all
rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an
impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea: For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY
gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON
and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to
reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies
will have to follow suit. But to have an impact, we need to reach
literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple
to do!! Now, don't wimp out on me at this point...keep
reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of
people!! "


What do we have to lose by trying it?

You guys in?

:confused:

~G

Even at 2.00 / G, we have it cheap. Welcome to the real world.

Re: Gas Prices!
 

While we are on the topic of teaching lessons to CEOs, why don't we do that to the bastards that keep outsourcing the jobs here to the other countries. You do know that money they saved by outsourcing the job goes no where but into their own pocket?

They are looking at the short term gain. Unfortunately, US is a consumer driven country and if people have no money to consume, you are going to run into trouble head on. How is a raise in a CEO's income effect the others? And much better than that, how is extra 1/2 million or a million on top of the current 3 million dollar or more salary going to effect his/her standard of living?

Sorry. I am just fighting a losing war on behave of my clients.

Re: Re: Gas Prices!
 

As much as I would like to say that you are right, I think that you are wrong. The US has turned into a service based economy and with technical training there are plenty of jobs that can be taken. The average income I still beleive is reduced because Union work and labor/factory work are on the decline but without outsourcing there is no way the US companies can compete with the cheap labor. Their outsourcing makes it possible to reduce or maintain there prices and offer goods to us competitvely.

If we were to continue producing our own goods the cost would be outrageous and the forein companies would be importing the same goods to larger outlets for less money forcing US compaines out of business all together.

What is happening now is a shift in all economies making us a world based economy. A world based economy could really be great if instead of pocketing the money saved these companies would continue to decrease cost of goods saving us all hundreds and really putting to use the global market.

~G

Re: Re: Re: Gas Prices!
 

I don't have a problem with world based economy. The more the marrier I say. I also don't have a problem with saving money.

However, if the current people whose jobs are outsourced (not talking about making shoes or cloths but more of white collared jobs), you are looking at trouble. If a group of IT managers could not buy what they want because they have no income, who is suffering? At the end of the day, the producers are suffering. And who is producing? Well, we pay money to the outsourced places so we are. We've outsourced many things before but when you start outsourcing pertty much everything we can, we'll have trouble.

In places like China and India as well as eastern Europe, 10,000 bucks a year can go a decent way. You can't do that here. I don't have a problem with world wide economy. But no one ever said we have to feed the rest of the world too if the locals are hungry.

One of my clients are currently laying off hundreds. (But who am I to talk since I am under contract from a Canadian Company) :)

Re: Re: Gas Prices!
 

Just a thought:

Being an engineering major, I pay attention to technical jobs within the US. Silicon Valley is no more. Currently, there are more software engineers employed in India than there are in Silicon Valley. Thus, Silicon Valley is no longer the leader in computer technology. Instead, those jobs have been moved (outsourced) to India, where the labor is cheaper but equally good.

Coming back to home, and speaking closer to my major, the number of American engineers employed by the Federal government has declined. Since 2000, the number of forgein engineers employed by the government has increased while the number of American engineers employed by the federal government has decreased. Basically, the government has been bringing in engineers from other nations to do the same jobs as American engineers. It's not that the people being brought in are better, it's that they're cheaper.

Here's what I get out of it:

The government, made of people like me and for people like me, isn't going to hire me, even though I fund this government because I am too costly to employ rather than a person who ins't even a citizen of this nation.

To me, something is wrong there.

Just my personal opinion.

Re: Re: Re: Gas Prices!
 

I fully agreed. If they have the same talent, they should always hire the people at home.

I agree all of it sucks but that is what is happening. Now lets take some time out of our lives and figure out what can be done about it! At the rate that out workforce is being reduced (and the fact Bush can't figure out why the economy is not doing so good :rolleyes: ) there is not going to be a USA in world power but the US of third world. It is big businesses way of fighting back at us for having increased cost of living and demanding more for ourselves and families! What can we do?

Well getting that idiot of of the whitehouse is a small and not guarenteed better start but somethings got to give. I would think the battle needs to start with governement! Tax releif to companies that employ X number of citizens and base that start percentage with increrases for XX number up....

But these current tax cuts to multi national companies and companies avioding taxation all together by relocating but still geting the US benefits needs to stop!

Again, we need to do something to stop this ourselves, like the gas companies charging these outrageous prices! If there is a will there is a way.

But I agree I hate to think what is comming of the US at the rate it is going down. The unemployment rates are based on umployment filing and there are some that have never found jobs but no longer report the unempoyment office because there are no more benfits...The numbers a not accurate!

~G

What is interesting, is the fact that Warren Buffet, the second richest man in the US, said that it's time for corporate America to pay up. The man is worth so much yet he's willing to pay more taxes. That is soemthing else.

It's sad, cause these problems now are going to be my generation's problems in several years. It pisses me off when you get these people who want to use everything now and forget what happens tomorrow. These short-sighted fools are going to ruin a lot.

Social security...
 

That is the situation for social security, but isn't social security the tax that stops a $87,000... It is either SS or medicare tax that is only taken up to $87,000 anually. It seems to me that there should be no cap on SS and there would be less problems with the SS for our generation! What happened to that excess of SS that was there at the time that Clinton left office? What happened to all the excess of the Clinton term?

It is sooo sad that america worries sooo much about whos getting head and asks no questions of Bush because he has morals (sex is bad but death is okay?, and our lossed economy and a federal deficit the highest ever is also okay????:confused: )

~G

Re: Social security...
 

the accountant in me is going to have to chime in. the FICA portion of social security is 6.2% and is limited at about that amount annually. the other 1.45% for medicare fka OASDI, is unlimited. personally, i am not depending on SS to be there when i retire. i just hope i can save enough money for it. time is running out for me.

My car consistently recieves better MPG when I fill up from Mobil.... so that's what I try to always use. >shrug<

- Rob

The original theme of this thread was gas. Our friends in Southern California, and well, the rest of the state, are paying massive amounts of money for fuel. In fact, the prices in Cali resembles the prices of petrol in Europe but the difference is that Europe has a great public transportation system. Here in the US, everything is so spread out, that we need cars and trucks to get us around.

So, let's play a game of hypothetical ideas.

Let's say that the trend continues, and some people are predicting, gas prices increase to over $2.00 a gallon over summer. I can't speak for the entire nation, but in the upper midwest, semi drivers are unable to deliver goods because they cannot afford to get their trucks to the delivery location and still make a profit. Many of the drivers who truck the goods said they wouldn't drive if prices became high (the last go around). So, then, companies have to augment the high prices and that is done by passing the extra to the consumer.

Now, the prices of gas has increased and the prices of good have increased yet the average earnings have no increased. This is a recession, and as history would show, it has happened.

Something as silly as gas can really f--- up an economy and hurt the nation. What's the solution? Any good ideas?

On some side notes, we should remember that when Arnold Schwartzenegger isn't "helping" Cali from its huge fiscal crisis, he's editing and writing commentary for fitness magazines. Anyone see the VH1 show about his lifestyle? Is a guy who spends more money on cigars than some people make in a year really in touch with average Americans?

Also, it should be noted that even though prices of gas/diesel are about two or three times higher than here in the US, the vehicles (many of which are made by American companies) get two or three times better gas mileage so there isn't much of a noticeable difference.

"What I think the president ought to do is he ought to get on the phone with the OPEC cartel and say we expect you to open your spigots. The president of the United States must jawbone OPEC members to lower the price." -Bush during the 2000 Campaign

All good and well...

Rob, you just go ahead and do what you want, no point in complaining about it....just fill it up and don't do a thing about the prices!

About the good 'ole G.W. B..... HE IS OIL! He likes the prices the way they are it is adding to his fortune... Why would he care about the wealth of the nation when he is linning his pockets... The point of the gas thing I started the thread about was an idea passed to me that I thought would be worth our while to give a try...Not for california but for the entire United States! Either we give it a try, we quit complaining or find a way to fix it ourselves...

~G

Re: Gas Prices!
 

we don't have exxon/mobil in colorado. our big guy is conoco, who generally initiates all the big price increases in denver. the other big guys are shell/texaco and philips66. i generally go for the small guys (bradley/sinclair). they almost always have the best price in my area for premium fuel, currently $1.869.