Did you not read Normy's rant on the first page? He said, "If the MORON dubya bush were to say today"I'm thinking about instituting price controls on gasoline: It will be $3.50 tomorrow"". And BAM, just like that gas prices will hit their new mark. That is how some people think that Bush can cure it. Next thing you know though, refineries will start shutting down as they can no longer afford to take a loss on every gallon they sell here. We will see gas shortages like never before as every country that can afford to buy crude oil at $120 will get all they want. We can sit back and watch our domestic supply feed other countries who are willing to pay more than our locked in price.

Again, taken out of context....He was asked by a reporter "now that gas has hit $4.00 a gal....." his response was "$4.00 a gal...I hadn't heard that" Now, if he has said that today - that's a problem....but he said is many months ago when gas had not hit $4.00 a gal. ans was closer to $3 than $4.

It amazes me how the media works so well to spread gibberish. I watched the speech - did you? or did you "just" hear about it.

If you gave me a choice of Bush vs Kerry or Gore again, today....i'd vote for Bush a 3rd time.

In a contest between Bush vs Obama, or Bush vs Billary, i'd vote Bush as well.

We weren't voting for Bush, we were voting against the Democrats.

BTW: The US military started using all the contractors during the years when Clinton cut the defense budget to the bone, then cut it again just to make sure...

Not even remotely close.

LBJ was orders of magnitude worse for many many reasons.

if it's a crisis & there are shortages, why aren't there lines like in the early 70's?

There is no shortage. But if we get price controls, there will be shortages overnight. Sometimes I wish it would happen just to prove to the idiots who want controls what it would get us. Why in the world would any gas station bother to sell gas for less than it cost them to replace it? Since the price of oil is not decided in the U.S., price controls would just mean no one sells to us. Why would Canada, our largest supplier, sell to us for less than they could get elsewhere?

Because it would make the liberals feel good, and that's what liberals want most of all, afterall.

For them, it's all about the warm and fuzzy feeling they get inside when they think they're doing well for themselves and others. Nevermind what the rest of us want, the far left knows best!

I wasnt around when LBJ was Pres... though I have heard some of his taped private recordings and phone calls...he comes off as a Texas strong-armed, manipulator politico type who was only interested in covering his own ass.... he seemed out of touch with the responsibilities of the office, and by the end when he announced that he wouldnt seek another term, he seemed like a beaten, defeated man... he also died about a year later.

hmm.. some parallels there to the current guy.

well stated...I like your mafia analogy

BULL*****!! :mad::mad:

Unleaded premium was over $4.00 @ gallon in CA. when he said it. I remember thinking what an ass hole he was. He really acted like he doesn't see the connection between record deficits, a worthless dollar and endless clusterfuch war that he started, (and has no idea how to end), in the ME causing economic calamity. If he had an ounce of class he'd kill himself. But of course, he doesn't.

You're insane. Bozo the clown with Ellen Degeneres as VP and Michael Moore running DOJ would have been better than these ass-pirates.

Oil deregulation was started under Carter, accelerated under Reagan. It's not like we haven't had it before.


i suspect most of the Bush supporters here are getting Defense Dept money and are in fear of losing the Contracts if Obama is elected. McCain himself has said that Eisenhower was right.

We may be talking semantics here.

At the time of the speech, I lived (and still do) live in Fresno, Ca which currently is listed as having the highest gas prices in the state. At the time of the speech, regular unleaded was under $4 (well under). Whenever fuel prices are discussed in the news, they quote the average as measured by AAA and they just hit $4 a couple of weeks ago - if that (avg for Regular un-leaded).

There are probably a few obscure stations that may be charging more - like Big Sur California, which is nothing more than highway robbery as the next station is very far away. (for those not familiar with California).

I'll try and do some research and get the date of the speech and the official fuel prices of that date.

My point was that the reporter has started with "now that gas has hit $4....and Bush simply stated "The've hit $4, I hadn't heard that." He did not act surprised, he simply made that statement and then proceded to answer the question.....which was?? nobody knows because the news only focuses on dirt.

That national average for 87 octane is about 50 to 75 cents low for 91 octane in L.A. (What I burn). 91 is ~$4.80 @ gallon now and the "official national average" just crested $4.00. Where are all these cheap gas places?? I drove 7k miles around the U.S. last summer and didn't see any of them. Chicago has the most expensive gas in the U.S., BTW.

I apologise for blowing up on you there, this is a sore subject for me. (And a lot of others). Oil men from Texas in the WH and oil prices go ballistic. What a coincidence.

Speaking of the Texas energy mafia, let's not forget the not-too-distant California blackouts with the distributors demanding 7x normal rates, and state-backed advance deposits.

greetings...

the author caught my attention with his view.

I don't think anyone can read the future so all capitalist options are on the table imo. Blaming politics for being a formal cause of short term high gas prices feeds the emotional few with a channel to slam the Rep's and Bush. It dumbs down the issue. That we don't have a serious energy policy is as much the voters fault as it is the government's.

I believe the author's "post war" wording relates to capitalism's development after WW2. Before that socialism's model was an effective option instead of capitalism. Between 1900 and WW2 many capitalist models suffered severe disruptions. This created an atmosphere where socialism had some of its legitimate features politicized and accepted.

The author explains in simple language capitalism's past market routine relating to oil. He discounts the mid east and oil traders.

To call today's situations "war" and "recession" should include the context as an explain. That's another story when all he's doing is discussing capitalist markets self correcting when allowed to perform. It's what markets do.

When I see mass media hype being widely accepted without question I say "good". Markets have a way of turning the many into food for the few. An effective market expands like a blob. The blob develops feet that stick out from the body and are either seen or hidden by money men. These high powered feet are either used for a financial gain or they're not.

the volitale oil market is being used by the traders to reap big incomes.. that's life.


the real issue going on right now is inflation and capital preservation. All the rest is noise.

So Ronnie, how do we get back to an economic model where workers have actual buying power w/ their earnings and a high standard of living? Not talking about shrewd investors who grow rich in schitty times, but regular hard-working people. And FWIW, no, I'm not a socialist.

on a basic level inflation destroys the common man's capital.

Monetizing gov't debt should be nick named gov't theft. It's not even an issue to give some idea of this successful scam.

Hard US $ must be at the basis or business doesn't take our economy as serious as it should. The inflation wild card disrupts risk taking and investment decisions. Making decisions based around inflation leads to low levels of growth.

until that happens inflation protection should be on everyone's mind. One reason it's not is the faulty gov't inflation #'s. I'm comfortable with taking their #'s and multiplying them by 2.5-3. If they say 3% then figure 7-9%. Pretty scary if you buy into that explain.


the subservient worker will only increase his wealth when the economy is expanding and job creation is significant. The "top down" or "water flows downhill" is not meaningless words to a capitalist. All the worker knows is that there's a better paying job available somewhere or there's not.

The two candidates have sidestepped the issue of relating their policies to GNP growth. Will free trade or tariffs increase job creation or not? Will increasing taxes create more jobs or destroy them.

and an argument can be made that the best way to neutralize gov't debt is spending control and the best way to pay off old debt is to grow the economy.

Come on down to the texas area. I just payed 3.80 last week for 87.

I just had an afterthought that i wanted to add too. My in law's are over for the summer from Serbia, and after doing the conversions, they are paying about 8$/USgal.

Here's another way to twist some perceptions, ever notice how quickly and motivated people are to find other ways to fulfill there energy needs with the prices the way they are? My ME magazine two issues ago was talking about a solar panel company that is working on and close to making a breakthrough that could make them as cheap as 1$ per watt. If i remember right it had something to do with using a different material to make the panels, this way they don't have to compete with ICU manufacturers over raw materials. I also read a few days ago that a rich oil tycoon from texas just spent a few billion and will begin the construction of the largest wind farm in the nation. If oil and gas prices were as cheap as the 90's when we were basically bathing in it, i don't think anyone would have the motivation to develop these things and make them better. Just a thought.

Wtf........ nobody cares that we're paying for Congress's circle jerk on taxpayers for the Farm lobbies. Many farm owners were making 100-200,000/yr a few years ago if they hand a nice small operation. Past and present taxpayer scams for them have them making $1M today. That's called buying voter sentiment imo. At least in Chicago it's not as overt.

A sister is the milk scam localized to the NE. Maybe 6-8 states involved. It adds around .50-$1 on every gallon. Some of those bucks partially support politicians or their front men?

big business farming gov't handouts is another story.

The oil market game has not adopted to huge amounts of fast $. Regulation is behind the curve. Volitile prices are set at the margin and this crap game may have a 20% cost?

this country has no serious energy policy so there's plenty of slack for volatility.

Rudy had to influence the economics of NYC to fix it. Steve Forbes was his main handler in his run for President. Forbes's influence would follow his comments in every issue. A quick scan would list the basis of his policies.






It's the voter's fault. When their houses become cold to live in they'll wake up.