Many working-class people are basically living on a fixed income, similar to retired folks. They are spending up to what they make and have a lot of revolving debt. Their pay raises are small and infrequent, and get lost in inflation. This is going to represent, IMO, a very large class of people that will feel the pinch first. This fall in the cold climates, the fuel oil prices will compound a bad situation. Major lifestyle changes will be in order.

If gas were to get to $7/gal, I cannot believe it would be long term.

First, I would hope that voters would "convince" the politicians to start allowing new drilling. Seven bucks a gallon on the eve of an election.... that will be interesting.

Next, I do think that one of the reasons there is such a demand for gas is that many countries are subsidizing gas purchases. I have already heard that at the current gas prices countries are cutting back on those subsidizes. That in itself should curb demand quite a bit.

But what do I know - I am applying logic to something that so far has seemed to defy all logic.

Like I said before...a couple times now...anywheres between the 3rd and 1st Q, It'll come down. The speculators are driven by an "unseen-unheard force" IMHO. That "force" will be exposed long after we're all gone. Again...IMHO.

No reason other than a gut feeling about "things" I've read.

I wish that I could find the reference, but I did hear a reference attributed to Ben Stein that he was in a meeting with a lot of oil speculators... and they were laughing about the price of oil.

I keep reading about it taking years for drilling to payoff. But, I bet if we started drilling, OPEC countries would increase their supply and prices would crumble on their fear that we wouldn't need to buy their oil anymore. They would jump up supply at least short term to get us back into a state of complacency with hopes that the environuts would win out again and the drilling would stop.

I paid $81.50 to fill up my 12 MPG Jeep yesterday. There is a $6.50 carwash in there, so net cost is $75.00. That's a lot regardless of the wash...

We've yet to take the boat out, but that's not all due to gas. I have a tank full of last year's gas..

We went shopping today, and I noticed how everything has rapidly increased. Blew my mind! Stater Brothers normally has a 2fer special on milk... last week it was 2 gal.s for 5.95... today it was 2 for 6.19! Last year it was 2 for 4.35! Almost double in a year! That's bad, no matter how you play the cards!

Getting to the hurting point? yup! It may represent a small % of the total budget, but to fit it in, ya gotta cut something out!

Seriously, what we, as the citizenry of the country, need to do, is all write your reps.. tell them that the wallet out-weighs environmentalism... drill, drill, drill... it doesn't matter that it will take 5-10 years to the pump, the fact that America is getting aggressive on it's energy needs may show opec we're serious, and the speculators may see a long term plunge in the price of crude. That, along with developing alternative energy sources, just may help my kids out... If we'da drilled 10-15 yeaas ago, this wouldn't even be a topic of discussion today!

VERY true!

But we are seeing purchases made by EMOTIONS and not LOGIC.

People are thinking with their little brains and not their big ones...

It has already been proven beyond the shadow of a doubt that Prius buyers will not be saving any money for at least 7 years. And by that time, the vehicle probably won't have much life left to it.

As usual, instant gratification wins out in folks' minds.

"I now get 40 mph!".

Sure you do. But at what overall cost?

Our local paper did a story on a "wise consumer". Long story short, he replaced his 70's full size pickup with a new motorcycle for commuting in order to save on the cost of fuel.

His choice of new motorcycle? A $16,000. BMW! (which he had to finance)

Tell me... Where are the "savings"???

Yet the paper made him out to be a "hero" for his choice...

Probably wasn't his personal savings (which we can figure didn't occur) but his reduced usage of gas and smaller "carbon footprint" (whatever the hell that means!).

If we don't change our usage patterns, we'll be at 10$ a gallon in no time flat....

I personally think we are near the limit as the price is seriously affecting many people in the country and they are starting to change habits. As previously mentioned, most on this board can afford the additional gas with little or no change to where money is spent.

However, for those that are not in the same position, they are choosing more economical ways to commute or to not commute at all. A guy I know that owns one of the large motorcylce dealers in town said he sold out of everything in the 250CC and smaller range very quickly and are waiting for more from the manufacturers.

In California, there are a lot of people that might commute 40-80 miles each way to get to work. Many of them are seriously impacted given the amount they are spending on gas.

Make no mistake, there is no quick fix. People will need to find jobs closer to home. One upside to this is hopefully the counties in the Northbay can settle their differences and build a rail system to get from the Santa Rosa area to San Francisco.

Time will tell.

Agree!

Yeah, for instance, they need BART out to the base of the Altamont Pass. They have for a long time. The fuel savings would be tremendous, given the large number of San Juaquin Valley commuters that now have to drive into the Dublin station.

But no... They spend $84 million dollars on a new station about 1 mile WEST of the Dublin station! Once folks pass the 580/680 interchange, there is no more traffic!

Our idiotic county supervisor was there with the golden shovel on ground-breaking day smiling for the camera and telling everyone within earshot that the new station will take 4,000 vehicles off the road.

I don't think so. All the new station will do is slow down the existing line because of another stop just a minute or so down the line.

The "real" reason for the new stations' location is due to the FACT that the county supervisor received campaign funds from the developers of the mall that the new station will serve. More customers for the mall, equals more money for the developers (and more money for the supervisor)...

No worries on future gas prices...Maxine has our backs:



Have a happy, safe 4th all!

I was watching WGN TV this morning and they were reporting on the increases of groceries and fuel prices. They were interviewing a family that received food vouchers. The husband of course was complaining that between fuel and grocery increases they were really struggling and their monthly food vouchers weren't enough. Then the news crew followed them outside and they all got into a late model Durango! I know it's wrong to judge, but man, sometimes it's hard not to.

Fuel reimbursement at work went from $.50 to $.58 per mile effective July 1. GI delayed my travels on June 30 to July 1 for th extra $.08.