I use Commuter Express for work. My trip's only 12 miles one-way and I work in downtown L.A., so it's pretty easy. I love it.
I am normally in the same boat as TB. Cindy and I both live about 40 miles from work. However, this month, I don't have to pay for my gas. I've been in California the first week and a half of the month and now I am in New York for the rest of the month. Applied Materials is paying for my gas. I wish that I could find a way to get AMAT to pay for Cindy's as well. :wink:
Not me, brother... :roll: So gas prices are 50 cents higher...to the average driver that probably adds about $300 or $400 per year to his transportation costs... Compare that to all the other costs of owning your car. Forego the leather seats or the satellite radio if you can't afford the $300. I'm driving to Myrtle Beach tomorrow. stu
300 bucks a year? I wish! <t>Take it back to the Clinton days when gas is a buck, I could drive back in forth to work for 36 bucks a week. At todays prices (2.89) It will cost me 104.00. That's a 3538 dollar increase in the cost of gas out of my pocket if it remains at this level since Clinton left office. Now I know gas wasn't 1 dollar even when Clinton left, maybe it was a 1.20? But I'll bet if you took the average gas price in Clintons 8 years it was close to a buck even. 300$ increase in gas? I wish!</t>
TB, Stu did say "the average driver" would spend an extra $300. At the distances we drive each day, neither you nor I could be mistaken for average drivers. :?
Well, how many miles do you drive? What kind of car do you drive and what is your milage? How much is it costing you? 4 gallons of gas a day costs $2.00 more than a year ago...that's 10$ extra a week to get to work, which is, I admit, a bit more than $300-400, but as you admit, you drive more than average because you have chosen, for whatever reason or necessity, to live farther from work. A year ago it seems to me we were complaining about $2.50 a gallon (I was talking about the past year, TB...not about increases since 1993 which you conveniently forgot to adjust for inflation. That $36 would have been quite a bit more in today's dollars. The Big Picture I think we are all spoiled by the (still) relatively cheap cost of getting around. stu
Doesn't anyone remember when the ecology folks wanted gas to be this high through taxes? They of course were claiming it would lead to alternative fuels, better CAFE etc. These same people are now crying about the cost of gas. I guess if the oil company gets the extra money it's terrible but if they can keep the money through taxes it's great. Meanwhile the moss up in ANWAR are just sitting there laughing at the idiots who opted for higher gas prices rather than develop domestic oil.
Just incase you didn't click on Stu's Link. If you look at that chart you can see that adjusted for inflation you're paying about what you paid during the Clinton years. Plus I would bet that Tailback is making more money than he did during the Clinton years, so the overall cost of gas as a % of his net or gross family income is bound to be less. And Gipper also makes a good point. If gas prices are somehow kept low inspite of market pressures then there will never be an alternative fuel. The only reason Alcohol is making inroads as an additive to gas and a future alternative is the current high price of gas. The cost of building the infrastructure to produce enough alchol to fuel vehicles is immense. People now are pointing at Brazil, but they didn't just start this yesterday. Also a side effect that will hurt low income people is that the future fuels aren't going to work in a 89 Cressida or 87 Buick. That will be a social issue. Most people have choices with regards to the car(s) they drive, if they chose to drive big Pickups (Tailback don't you have a big pickup?) then what'cha gonna do? There are plenty of cars out there that get high gas mileage, they just aren't cool. Terry
Also I forgot to mention that during the Clinton years China was not nearly the consumer of Oil that they are today. The other alternative you could move to Venezuela where the price of gas is subsidized and very low, I think maybe less than $1.00 a gallon. Also, need I point out that John Kerry's plan to fix the price of oil problem was to "jawbone" the Saudi's. And as far as I know the Democrats have not ventured a single idea on how to reduce the price of gas.
I'm not kidding or sarcastic when I say this. I'm serious. I find these conversations to be intelligent and educational for me. I have passed along to others Stu's chart and Terry's commentary, laced with Gipper's insightful analysis of the situation. Good viewpoints and facts to back them up. Thanks, guys.
:roll: I have to drive around 150 miles per day just to get to work and back, but I only have three more weeks, then I'm off all summer when gas prices here are expected to top $4.00...
Terry, I look at your chart and the years from '92 thru '99 are decidedly south of the years from "99 thru present and even in "90-'91 there was quite a spike (first Iraq war to be sure). Come to think of it I wonder how much in terms of consumer dollars spent on gasoline has warring with Saddam Hussein cost the American public? That number must be staggering.
Well, through our own neglect we have allowed ourselves to remain dependent on energy sources commanded by those who despise us. There is not one of us here who would run our own businesses as carelessly. At the same time the oil producers tighten the screws we refuse to help ourselves through exploration of known resources.
Motorcity, you will get no argument for me in that a big reason for the gas prices is instability in the middle east... We all have different ideas of what needs to be done to stablize that reason, but no question what we are doing hasn't worked to this point. stu
I doubt if it's cost us anything. Iraq was a minor player in the Oil game because of all the sanctions on it, they could trade some oil for food and medicne (of course we now know they weren't using the money for food or medicine but for Saddams personal indulgences). Iraq has huge reserves but they weren't utilizing them because of the sanctions. It's way too complex to say one thing, it's China/India, it's the problems in Venezuela, it's failure of Russian Oil to hit the marketplace like was anticipated, it's Americans lack of desire for small fuel efficient cars, it's failure to develope domestic reserves. It's fear of what Iran is going to do. The irony is that you are not going to force americans to alternative fuels or fuel efficient cars unless the costs of gas is high. If gas were still 1.20 a gallon, you'd be happy that's for sure, but you'd also not be thinking of conservation or smaller engines, nobody would waste their time trying to develope alternative fuels if they'd have to sell them for double or triple what the cheap gas costs because nobody would buy them or the vehicles that use them. Terry
I'm sure I've asked you these questions before, but I forget where you stand. 1. Do you believe that Al Gore or John Kerry could have kept the cost of gasoline low? If so how would they have done it? 2. Do you believe that Al Gore or John Kerry could have changed Americas habits and had us driving smaller more fuel efficient cars and cars that use alternative fuels? How? 3. Do you believe that the current situation is not market forces but collusion between GWB and the oil industry to artifically inflate the price of oil/gas inorder to line their pockets. If so and a Democrat is elected in 2008 do you believe that the hegmony of Big Oil would be reined in and the price of gas will return relatively quickly to the Clinton years?