We are looking for hybrid cars, but you can't even get them my husband says. We have really changed out driving habits... biking to the library, grocery store, party store, Dairy Queen etc. Making one day of errands and doing the circle of stops to save on gas. I wish we didn't need the gas.

First let me say I really like this "oombutu" guy, nice to see you have other GOOD influences.
As for the post.... another typical Democrat "soulution", ...TAX IT! I also echo Mr Oombutu's comment made on June 13, 2008 9:57 AM (PST)

Looks like I gave up my car at the right time--4 years ago--couldn't afford the insurance (very high for me because of my financial rating--they do that in Florida),plates, registration fee not to mention gas and repairs--and I get around fine!!

BTW, I am going to the main street Sunday night for a brew. You and Mary should come on by if you're in town. We can go over this in more detail.

I can't even count that many zero's.. I filled up this morning...$51.48

Bite my crank.

I nearly choked when I saw the gas stations raise our prices another 5 cents the other day... we're now up to 140.9/L.

But alternative energy sources aren't necessary, remember? There isn't any oil shortage. So where should the resources be pointed? At finding a mythic new energy source that is cheap, reliable, and abundant? Or at trying to reduce the cost of the energy source that we have in hand?

I've been in the factories, I've seen the drawing boards first hand. Electric cars and alternative energy sources do not come close to the internal combustion engine. Although I've heard it called obsolete more times than I can count, just because it's old doesn't mean it doesn't work. You can throw as many millions as you want into that direction, all you will get is a more efficient way to store and release the electricity, not a measurably more powerful vehicle. Human beings are party animals. They like driving fast and they like feeling the engine rev under their feet when they hit the gas. Electric cars cannot duplicate that. Or you could be talking about some other as yet unknown type of fuel or energy. One that could drive an engine harder/faster/better/cleaner. If so, it isn't up to automotive companies to find that. Their job isn't to put themselves out of business. And if people expect that, their lives will be filled with misery and pain. I call those people democrats.

I know what I would do with 120 billion. I'd buy two islands. One to rule over, and another to banish people to.

Every time I have to buy gas, I'm relatively pissed off! My dad would roll over in his grave, to say the least!

I think anything with 9 zeroes behind it is getting into excess. And whether that company uses those profits to try and make MORE profits or they use them as charitable donations, they should ust them for whatever they want. The oil/gas business is unique in how it is actually delivered to consumers. It is unique from all other commodities and consumer items.

There is most definitely collusion between oil companies, but not likely as much as you would think.

Also, I don't think domestic drilling will DIRECTLY lower oil prices. I think the point of that exercise is to be less and less dependant on countries that we do not control. If a country that produces even 3 percent of our oil can dictate a 20 cent per gallon rise at the pump (and they can) then I think we SHOULD be more self sufficient in that area. It isn't being thought of as a solution to ease a growing demand, it's a method to have more control. And the price is NEVER going to go back down. We will never see 1.00 per gallon prices again. But if doing that will raise prices at a slower rate, I'm al for it.

I think this critical mass that economists are talking about is a farce, also. that's the theory that sooner or later people will not be able to afford driving cars. Which will eventually trickle down through the auto industry and kill off our entire economy. Well they raised cigarette prices 250% over the last 3 years, and people are still happily smoking away. It doesn't really matter if the price jumps all the way up to ten dollars. People need to drive, and they are going to find a way to do it.

Now I do not pretend to know exactly how gasoline prices are set; but as I understand it, prices at the pump are the last in a long line of price hikes, manufacturers, refineries, and distributors that actually begin with the price of crude oil per barrel. A price which topped 100 dollars for the first time in history way back in January, and now sits at around 135 dollars per barrel. That's a 35% jump in just under 6 months. And to anyone who may be doing some math in their head, that's just about the exact percentage that pump prices have risen in the same timeframe.

The reasons for this price jump have nothing to do with supply and demand. These prices work just like stock prices do. They go up or down based on the general feeling across the globe of how much oil we THINK we will need, and how much we THINK we will have. And this starting point is the driving force behind what we end up paying at Mobil or Sunoco.

I actually agree with the republicans here. Giving 17 billion back to the governement will not likely reduce gasoline prices, because it will not be reducing the price of crude oil per barrel. What it WILL do is cut into the profits of one of the largest oil companies on the planet, and since they don't like that, they will try to recoup the loss. (Although not technically a loss, less profit than they COULD have made is the same thing to them) The only way to do that is to raise pump prices again.

And you mention Republicans here, although do not directly say that they are the cause for the high prices, I just find the Democrats position a little strange.

For months on end I have been getting hit over the head with a hammer labeled 'natural resources' whenever I bring this subject up. And most environmentalists and democrats I talk about it with say the same thing, that we have an impending oil shortage, we are using up our natural resources, killing the planet, yadda yadda yadda. So the government comes out with a study, or the experts say that there is in fact NO oil shortage, and immediately their tune changes to support that idea, and they now point at high gas prices. That was the main reason for the demand to explore alternate fuel sources, including the hybrids that thousands of smug democrats are zipping around in nowadays. Now, there IS no oil shortage, so lets find the next best thing to blame on republicans.

In January of this year, crude oil hit 99.64 per barrel, a record. The reason for the 3 dollar jump was because of political unrest in Nigeria and the assasination of Benazir Bhutto. Although these events NEVER impacted oil flow out of the country, it made world economists believe there was a possibility that Nigeria's oil production would suffer, so the price per barrel jumped immediately. And when I say world econmists, I mean WORLD. As in, NOT men or women sitting on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

this is making me believe that everything said over the last ten years, hybrids, electric cars, economists beliefs, it was all window dressing. Just another thing that is wrong with the WORLD that democrats can compain about and republicans try to look at practically.

If taxing the oil companies through the roof would lower gas prices, I would line up happily behind everyone else who commented here. It just won't. That's not how companies work. Once they grow to a new level, their objective is more growth. They care about the amount of profit, but what they care about more is that it is at least 5% more than the same quarter last year.

I miss driving my big SUV but I'm glad that I got rid of it when I did.

I have been trying to tell people this for the past two years but no one has been listening. People do not realize that the price of oil is determined by commodities brokers and traders. Thanks for this post!

Dang. Thanks for putting this out there! Yeah I was more than peeved when I learned how much Exxon had profited. I didn't understand what I could do about it though, ya know? I think Chris Dodd sounds RIGHT ON and you are lucky to have him!

To depend on our legislators to solve our citizen's problems is like depending on a rattlesnake to suck the poison out of our bite. Here's the problem... even if we open ANWR and the new Gulf of Mexico oil areas, it will take six to ten years for that oil to get to market and have any impact. Here are a few ideas... reimpose the "double nickel." 55 mph speed limits save millions of barrels a day. Park the gas hogs or impose a guzzler tax. Offer tax incentives to car buyers who buy new automobiles that get better mileage or are using alternate fuel systems. Require cities to synchronize stop lights on major thoroughfares to avoid idling. Encourage the Federal Reserve to quit playing stock market favors and increase the interest rates IMMEDIATELY! Our dollar is down 33 percent because of the long series of cuts they made to satisfy Wall Street. When our rate increase, the dollar strengthens and oil is prices around the world in dollars. A 33 percent drop in crude oil would help!!! Finally, impose rules about the large pension funds and financial institutions with regard to commodity trading. They have a fiduciary responsibility to NOT risk their members' funds. But they are the biggest speculators in crude oil. There is about a 25 percent premium in the price of crude because the speculation is rampant.

But, knowing who pays our Congresspersons when it comes time for re-election, I don't think Congress will act on any of these with the possible exception of the 55 mph limit, which may be introduced in a bill next week.