My rant!

[Rob LaMoy]

OK, I just can't take it any more!



Anyone remember the nekkid pontoon party post that raised so much grief? If gas got back below 1$/gal we would have the party. And someone found it for $.99 somewhere. That was not all that long ago!



WHERE are all the protesters that were up in arms when Bush was in office? Gas is now TWICE what it was when Obama took office. Food had DOUBLED. Unemployment up (despite his "promise" to keep it down if they passed his bill). Foreclosures are up. He shows absolutely no respect for the constitution, in fact he shows open disgust against it!

CA wants to add sugar....that's right SUGAR to the list of governed materials like alcohol and tobacco, because it can be misused. Are you serious?

Obama's latest budget has 2 new taxes in it. One is a tax on EVERY bank transaction of 1%. Whether depositing or withdrawing you pay 1% each way. And 2nd is some sort of "global" tax.



WAKE UP AMERICA!!!!!!!!!!



Bottom line is the America most of us grew up in and knew is dead and gone. Never to be seen again. Seriously, we will never see America as we remember it again!

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Wake up? America has been asleep at the wheel for years!

 

[Robert Jordan]

I am with you Rob. Our church is in the process of building a new worship facility. We asked the Army Corps of Engineers for permission to put some culvert in a stream that is really nothing more than a ditch which is completely dry in the summer. The Corps told us we first had to get permission from the U.S Fish and Wildife Service and the State Archelogical Historic Preservation Office. Fish and Wildlife said they are not worried about aquatic life in the stream but they are concerned we had to cut down about 20 trees on a 30 acre piece of property because we may have destroyed a tree useful for bats to nest in. The Archelogical Preservation office said we should never have disturbed on spade of dirt until they could research our property to see if there were any items of historical value on the property. The property in question was farmed for many years and plowed many times as a corn filed. I am not making this up. When I explained we had all of our state and county permits in order he informed me his office takes precedence over any county permit office. Our foundation work is complete on this 19,000 square foot building and the ground level floor is to be poured this week but we now wonder if this guy will drive up from our state office and shut the job down. My secretary ask how they could do that, the property belonged to us. I told her in reality none of us owns anything!!!!



Gopreach

 

[Jeffry Skidmore]

I have posted on various sites about the need to cut back on fuel consumption. I suggested everyone cut their spending on fuel by 10%. that simply means that if you have a car with a 25 gallon tank, you only fill it to the level of 22.5 gallons when you fill up. At $5/gal tht's $12.50 the oil companies won't bank. If you fill up twice a week, thats $25. Now multiply that by the millions of cars with 25 gallon tanks on the road in America.



Of course no one wants to take a pro-active, productive stand on corporate greed. They all wanna pitch tents on the frikkin lawns and have what we used to call "love-ins".



Well, think about it........... gettin into their pockets is about as effective a non- violent demonstration you can participate in.

 

[Tim Greifer]

AMEN!!!!!!

 

[Ken Sabin]

But Jeffry, you'd still burn the same amount of fuel, you'd just be filling up more often. That's the same logic my grand father would use when he'd tell me "Don't run the water so hard, you use too much water". A five gallon bucket of water holds 5 gallons no matter how fast you fill it. The same holds true with not filling your tank all the way. If you drive 200 miles, your vehicle burns the same amount of fuel no matter how full the tank was when you started. You want to buy less fuel, start driving less.



I know, easier said than done !!

 

[Texas Transplant]

Once again, seems we need an economics lesson.



It's called the law of supply and demand. The 'supply' is not overflowing at this time and the demand remains high. Therefore, the price of gas is up (and rising). When the demand goes down (it will, just not happening as yet) the supply will not be put under such a strain - and the price will come down.



Drive less. Combine trips to grocery, general shopping, and the like. Use alternative transportation (if possible). Fish locally and stop running all over the lake.



Tex

 

[Texas Transplant]

And by the way, 'Green Energy' is doing almost nothing to help satisfy this. Elect someone who understands that it's far better to have a pipeline from Canada to the US, where the end product can be readily accessible by the US Market; as opposed to having it go to China where we get no benefit.



Our current President (who won't support the pipeline), doesn't have a clue.



Tex

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Tex, beg to differ.....It has nothing to do with supply and demand. It is because of speculators and bolstered by the fact that we (USA) refine more fuel than we can use and export it. It is politics and greed. Plain and simple.



TOXIC

 

[Rob LaMoy]

EXACTLY Tox!

Tex, hate to break it to you but you've been sold a bill of goods and bought it hook, line, and sinker. Appropriate since this is a fishing site.



Demand has dropped steadily for the past 3 years and counting BECAUSE of prices. Refineries were running at 98% capacity 3 years ago when demand was at it's highest. Those same refineries are now running at only 88%. Why the drop??? Simple, they are purposely reducing production and therefore putting the supply to demand ratio in their favor and artificially inflating the price.



All this info is there for the finding for those who don't eat up the BS we're fed on the liberal news media outlets.



Why is diesel, the most crude form of fuel 30-40 cents more per gallon than premium?



And yet congress CAN'T prove price gouging????? Give me a break!



We are currently in the mildest winter in decades...NATION WIDE and yet fuel oil prices are still jumping up!



And like Toxic said, all it takes is ONE economist to "project" and increase because a hurricane "may" make landfall (and no certainty that it will damage refineries) and over night the price at the pump jumps up $.20 a gallon.





The largest oil producing country is.....wait for it.....the USA!!!! More than 75% of our imported oil comes from.....wait for it......CANADA! And yet America believes these bold face liars when they puke up this nonsense about OPEC and Iran and blah, blah, blah!





In other words, we make most of our own oil, and what we import, most of it comes from Canada. Very little comes from the middle east. Now they're blaming China's growing economy.



And this is only 1 point of my rant. How about all the other "change" that Obama has delivered????

 

[Carlos Hathcock III]

Wow Rob



Careful, you can blow a gasket like that.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Carlos,

Our country and our freedoms are being blatantly dismantled right in front of our eyes and most people are content to sit back and slowly watch it happen. I can't believe more people aren't blowing gaskets!



Deals like Operation Fast & Furious, taxes left and right, more and more laws and restrictions and a president that uses the Constitution like toilet paper. Yeah, I'm blowing a gasket.

 

[Ed Haugh]

You got me started,



- Our freedoms are evaporating in front of our eyes.

- Our right to assemble and free speech is also gone (reference occupy wall street, etc).

- Our right to bear arms is slowing being taken away. That way we can't organize and fight the government. It's not the gangs they are worried about.

- Big government is NOT good. Who pays all those salaries, benefits, and retirement funds? We do. Taxes, taxes, and more taxes.

- Free healthcare? Nothing is free. My premiums increased 25% already. Wait until 2013.

- The president cares about NOTHING more than being re-elected. He is a joke.

- The President came from Illinois, the most corrupt state (government) in the union.

- GOD bless America. Merry CHRISTMAS. One nation under GOD. These terms are almost forbidden now. What?

- Immigration is out of control. More mouths to feed. How? Higher taxes. Then those mouths vote the president in again. Even higher taxes. Get it?



I'll stop there. I could go on but I'm getting a little rev'd up...



One more. And the worst part? He has banked enough in campaign contributions to date to absolutely bury any contender. You know he reversed legislation about campaign contributions, right?



The media? They do not report on any of this. Let's broadcast the drama over whether or not we should fly flags at half staff for Whitney Houston, or about someone flipping the bird to Modanna at the Super Bowl. Or about every act of violence that occurs locally. That is much more important. Feed the populus useless crap, keep them stupid, and afraid.



I vote to impeach the president.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Sorry Ed, but I guess I'll have to tip you over the edge.

Does ANYONE here know about the little cover up at the WI state fair this past August???



It started off as 20-30 black youths and before it was done the number was well over 100 that were our targeting white people and beating them. They took a 15 yr old boy off his bike, beat him stupid and then stole the bike.



When local media interviewed one of them, he admitted to openly targeting whites. The justice department OPENLY stated they would NOT pursue hate crimes because "black people don't commit hate crimes" HUH?????? Whaaaa that hypocracy smells ripe!



Did anyone hear about it on any news???? Didn't think so. Glen Beck covered it on his website and of course white supremacist sites ran with it.



But you can bet if the races were reversed, Obama himself would have given an address and passed some anti white laws and taxes. Sharpton and Jackson would have gone ballistic.



Yet another example.





And their attack on the 2nd amendment, please. Never in history had someone been so brazen in their grab for power and socialist, communism. Sad part is, I swear it's all rigged. That's why we're being spoon fed Romney as a canidate. He can't win and they know it, all but assuring Obama gets re-elected. Santorum is our best option but you can bet he'll be shut down and they'll start making up crap and slamming his family like they did Cain.



And the very fact we have keyed on several "catch" phrases, you can rest assured this post is being monitored. I'm sure I'm already on a watch list being an openly conservative, Christian, white, man that is a member of the NRA and am educated.

 

[Bruce Freeman]

So go out and vote. It's thats simple. If you don't vote, don't *****. If you know someone who dosn't vote because they think the choice has been made already or there vote dosn't count. Tell them it is this simple, if you don't care enough don't vote, don't *****. It's your fault.



BF

 

[Bill McElroy]

Agree with Bruce......NOBODY's happy with the current state of the union......CHANGE IT with your VOTE this Fall.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I never voted for him



And I won't again:lol:

 

[Jeffry Skidmore]

Ken,



The idea behind my suggestion is that you cut back on your driving as well. If you don't have that bucket to catch the water, you waste more faster. If you don't drive as much you won't fill up any more. The numbers were used to show how easy it is to cut back.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

I agree that we need to do "something"!

Even if it hurts a little

 

[Jeffry Skidmore]

Bruce F.,



I have voted in every election since i turned 18 in 1970. It's gotten to where your vote, my vote, anyone's vote hardly matters. The popular vote doesn't elect presidents; the electoral votes elect the presidents, and they are controlled by PACs, lobbyists and big money. The current administration was bought and paid for by the UAW, the SEIU, socialistic organizations like ACORN backed by oligarths like George Soros, Bill Gates, Stephen Jobs, etc.. Check out what used to be called the European Economic Council, and see who belongs in that group. They and groups like them are who "elects" our presidents these days. When obama was elected in 2008, I told anyone who would listen to watch for "paybacks" forthcoming. Lo and behold!! TARP, ObmaCare, etc.!



Btw, isnt it funny that last spring after Obama's pow-wow with they oil co. execs, the fuel prices dropped thru Christmas, yet have risen again now. The administration ain't saying a word about that! Deal or no deal? Look for a relaxation in requirements for offshore permits.



Now when middle America has to start again choosing betwen feeding their families, paying their mortgages and putting gas in their cars, you can look for the economy to go south again. Only then will anyone in the administration address that particular issue. Save this post and come back to it in two years.

 

[Jeffry Skidmore]

Wonder whats behind all those Chevys being sold in China? And why now?

 

[Randy Walls]

Jeffry, you are correct that a true popular vote does not elect the president but your vote does count. If enough in your state votes for the president of choice you select he/she would get your states electoral votes. Win enough "big" states and you win the election even though you may have been out voted popularly country wide. I also think that the president should be like congress, a true popular vote.



Mac had some great ways to "FIX" the government or election system a few years ago if I remember correctly. Wish those could be brought to the nations attention.



Randy

 

[Jeffry Skidmore]

Randy,



Tennessee doesn't have the electoral votes it takes to "sway/win" an election. If my recollection history is correct, we elected the presidents by popular vote until the early 1900s when the "progressives" came to majority and elected Wilson. (Democrat)



You know the system needs "fixin" when someone with no leadership skills or experience is "elected" POTUS, and congress has to pass a bill "to find out what's in" it. I'd like to see a limit of 8 yrs (2 terms) for all nat'l politicians regardless.

 

[Gene B]

2 terms and unpaid, let them really "serve" the country instead of themselves. Also make them part time. Less time in session means it will keep them from screwing things up as fast as they are.



Gene

 

[Jody Woodruff]

Well I am shocked a community organizer without any real world work experience hasn't done a better job. I mean hell, anyone that is so good at reading speeches off a teleprompter has to be the smartest SOB in the room. And then look at all the quality folks he's associated with over the years! He should be doing a bang up job with a resume like that! :wacko: All BS aside it isn't going to get better until we face the fact we are going to have to cut spending and people relying on the Gov't are going to have to get by with less. Unfunded entitlements make the 16 trillion debt look like a drop in the bucket and no one in D.C. wants to talk about it. Aside from maybe Ron Paul and a couple of others. Personally I think the damage is done and we are screwed.

 

[Bruce Freeman]

I have said it before and I will say it again. Vote them all out and lets start over, from the dog catcher on up. They need to know they work for us, no more than 1 term, vote them out again. I am running short on polite words so I will shut up now.



BF

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Well unless Congress can control speculators and gouging (like Rob stated)...whoever we get is not going to make it any better.

I know for a FACT that gouging goes on and there is nothing we can do about it at this point.

And until all these tree hugging liberals get "their mind right"...it's gonna be a disaster. America is hurting right now and if gas hits $5 a gallon...we'll be crippled!

Drill baby drill!

 

[Texas Transplant]

The general rise and fall of prices over a wide area, are typically not considered 'price gouging'. RE: The following example of Florida law.

As a criminal offense, Florida's law[2] is typical. Price gouging may be charged when a supplier of essential goods or services sharply raises the prices asked in anticipation of or during a civil emergency, or when it cancels or dishonors contracts in order to take advantage of an increase in prices related to such an emergency. The model case is a retailer who increases the price of existing stocks of milk and bread when a hurricane is imminent. It is a defense to show that the price increase mostly reflects increased costs, such as running an emergency generator, or hazard pay for workers.

The price of coffee, sugar, corn, etc; go up and down based upon many factors. Gas is the same. No complaint from the public of course when the prices go down, but lots of complaining when they go up. While we all would like the price to be less, lets face the facts. We pay far less for gasoline here in the US than almost anywhere else in the world - by a large factor.



And the absolute last thing I want is for the Government to setup/control and try to 'fix pricing' of anything. All that will do is drive it up more.



My last comment on this thread is this:



Supply and demand for crude oil and in turn refined gasoline is a Global situation and not just a US reality. So, when you look at the 'crude oil or refined gasoline' supply and demand - you have to look at it in a global perspective. Just because the US has somewhat tempered it's gasoline usage - doesn't mean that the overall demand globally has gone down.



Let us also not forget, that the global supply side has effectively a valve on it that someone else controls.



Tex

 

[Bill McElroy]

Tex,..up here we've seen gas stations raise their prices 2-3 times in the SAME DAY!!! Now, IMHO,..that IS gouging, because they are still pumping gas from their tanks that they paid $X.XX/gal for the LAST time the fuel truck showed up. One day last week during a LIVE news broadcast the anchor showed the price at $3.49 a gal at the beginning of her story.....they broke for a taped segment and when they came back LIVE again 2-3 minutes later,....the dude was out RAISING the price AGAIN up to $3.59/gal. REALLY???? A 10cent increase in less than 5 minutes??? ALL from the same supply in the ground???

THAT is gouging plain and simple.......and it happens all the time. Last summer the feds busted a bunch of station owners for collusion and price fixing right by where I work....oh and they were all uhmmm....well...of mid-east persuasion!! :angry:

 

[Rob LaMoy]

When was the last time gas prices truly went down???



The gas you pump today, was manufactured, bought, and paid for well over a year ago! Do your homework folks!



And I do vote EVERY damn time. Problem is the blood sucking welfare recipient leeches in New York City trump our vote every time. Of COURSE they vote for the POS liberal/progressives....they're the ones handing out entitlements and free money hand over fist after taking it out of my paycheck!



Let me give you a big fat for instance.



I work in NY's largest super max prison and before that was at Green Haven (in the top 5 size wise) and a max A also.



I can't tell you the number of times I worked visitor processing to see them pull up to the jail in a Benz, BMW, Escalade, Lexus...take your pick. Then they come in and drop off $300 worth of premium Boar's Head cold cuts for the inmate, walk through our line in top shelf designer clothes. Take off their Rolex watch to go through the metal detector and drop their money clip stacked full of Benjamins and when they show ID....there is their welfare benefits and medicaid cards!!!!!!



You get a scum bag like Charlie Rangle in Harlem who is ON THE damn tax revisory committee and "forgets" to pay his taxes for something like 8-9 YEARS!!! He gets brought up on 12 different ethics charges and not only does he NOT get booted out of congress (you and I would be doing time for these offenses), he also gets VOTED BACK IN!!!!! Of course he did, he's a crook just like the rest of them voting him in down there.



Work harder, millions of welfare recipients are counting on you!



Don't steal....the government hates competition!

 

[Texas Transplant]

Okay, I simply give up and should have know better to comment to begin with. The following is the most practical example of people spouting off information (without verifying it from at least 1 known source) that has no validity at all.

The gas you pump today, was manufactured, bought, and paid for well over a year ago! Do your homework folks!

Just one question: Where would they store all of this refined gasoline for a year?



I'm out. Hopefully this time, I will learn my lesson.



Tex

 

[TOMMY RICH]

It's all lip service...just bend over and take it like a ?



We're all lemmings

 

[Ed Haugh]

It is all speculation. Prices driven by the greedy. One could argue supply and demand. I agree companies need to turn a healthy profit to stay in business, but how do you explain this?



I wonder what presidential candidate Exxon will support...



NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Exxon Mobil reported quarterly earnings of $10.3 billion on Thursday, a surge of 41% from a year earlier.



Why? Higher prices for oil and natural gas.



Profit at the oil company soared compared to the same period a year ago, when it was $7.4 billion. Per-share income climbed to $2.13 per share from $1.44 in the prior year.



And revenue rose to $125.3 billion from $95.3 billion in the year-ago quarter, the company said.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Just one question: Where would they store all of this refined gasoline for a year?

C'mon Tex surely you jest. You do know that the speculators buy and sell options and contracts right? As a matter of fact one of the ways to cut the speculators out of the game is to make them take possession of the oil they buy and sell. Then your question is actually the answer!! You solved the problem and didn't even know it!!



TOXIC

 

[Rich Stern]

Tex, not sure why you are offended. I happen to think your perspective is correct, but why get bent out of shape about it if others see it differently?



Gasoline is a commodity. Prices fluctuate all the time. What a dealer paid for it wholesale has nothing to do with the same dealer selling it at the current market price. If I buy a silver coin today, and the price of silver goes up overnight, am I not entitled to sell it at the new market price tomorrow? And profit from it? And if silver goes down overnight, am I not the one left holding the bag? So, too, with gasoline retailers. They sometimes pay more for the gasoline than they end up selling it for. We don't perceive it that way because it always seems to be rising, but it does happen.



Collusion and price fixing is illegal. That's another matter all together.

 

[Texas Transplant]

Frustrated more at myself, than anything. Appreciate the comment though.



Yes Tox, I'm familiar enough with how the financial markets work. I let myself get caught up in an exchange, that I should have known better than to even get in.



Tex

 

[Kenny Guess]

One good thing about this site, we all seem to be on the same page when it comes to Obama, congress, big government .......now lets do what we can to reduce their power!Just watched some WW11 videos ....history repeats. Remember Hitler did his thing just a few years ago.....one crazy man turned the world upside down !!!! Lets not forget......Obama has to go.

 

[Rich Stern]

kenny, sorry, I can't buy the "Obama as Hitler" comparison. He'll be out of here either in 11 months, or 4 years and 11 months. He'll go when the electorate or the law says its time to go. And then he'll build a library. With the exception of health care and the left-leaning rhetoric, he's pretty much done the same things Bush did: Fought wars, spent too much money, not fixed any corruption in DC, allowed our money to flow to his cronies, expanded the size of government, continued to intrude too much on the lives of ordinary Americans. Democats vs. Republicans is the political equivalent of Judge Judy. We're so busy picking sides, we miss the larger picture: We're less free with every passing year, no matter who is in office.



Hitler won elections with violence, and then he eliminated elections. And then he started eliminating people. Obama is not capable of that, and even if he was, the American people would move quickly to stop it. Violently.

 

[Jim B]

Tex,..up here we've seen gas stations raise their prices 2-3 times in the SAME DAY!!! Now, IMHO,..that IS gouging, because they are still pumping gas from their tanks that they paid $X.XX/gal for the LAST time the fuel truck showed up. One day last week during a LIVE news broadcast the anchor showed the price at $3.49 a gal at the beginning of her story.....they broke for a taped segment and when they came back LIVE again 2-3 minutes later,....the dude was out RAISING the price AGAIN up to $3.59/gal. REALLY???? A 10cent increase in less than 5 minutes??? ALL from the same supply in the ground???

THAT is gouging plain and simple.......and it happens all the time. Last summer the feds busted a bunch of station owners for collusion and price fixing right by where I work....oh and they were all uhmmm....well...of mid-east persuasion!!

Mac, some of what you see when prices rise like that isnt always the owners. I agree that some have no morals and do what they want but a lot of times when you see the price move multpile times in the day its because the supplier bumps the price on them. One of my best friends owns gas stations and for a lot of owners the way it works is the fuel in the ground at the station isnt already paid for, its bought on credit and the suppliers will raise the price even after its delivered, its a part of the contract they sign with the supplier. For the station owner it sucks and it makes him looks like the bad guy. The suppliers sometimes raise the price many times during the day, for instance after katrina hit my friend got 16 price increase faxes in a single day. My friend is lucky enough that he owns enough stations and has enough cash liquidity that he can pay for his fuel upfront so once its in the ground he owns it. In his case its not uncommon to find his stations much cheaper then the ones across the street when prices rise.

 

[Rob LaMoy]

Rich my friend, comparing Obama to Bush is like saying a 16' tin rig with a 40 HP on it can keep up with a Z520 with a 250 Pro XS on the back.



And before anyone claims I don't do MY homework...trust me, I DO. And if I care to spend a few hours doing it, I could cite all the sources I've found this info at! It's out there, I just don't believe the BS they feed everyone on NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, MSNBC, etc etc.



Obama spend more in his first year and a half in office than EVERY president before him...COMBINED!



He continues to say that if congress won't act, he will. Completely showing disregard for how our government is supposed to work.



And his term has been the largest power grab in US history!



And don't get me started on how often he goes on vacation. Now I know....all his supporters will start in with their "but he HAS to do that!" Or "It's all because of what he inherited" Really....that ship sailed a LONG time ago. Just how long are they going to beat that dead horse?



He sits here and claims we can't blame him for gas prices, but isn't that EXACTLY what he did when running? Hypocracy is a wonderful thing ain't it???



Bottom line, we need smaller NOT bigger government. We need less NOT more taxes. And politicians should be held accountable to the same degree the rest of us are if not more.



I am held to a higher level of accountability in NY because of my badge. Why should the law MAKERS not be held as accountable to the very laws they made?



And the gas we buy today is oil that sailed months ago if not a year.