Marc Perkel Rantz

Of course, you remember when people said the same thing about Carter too. ;)

They blamed it on Hurricane Ivan. That was 3 weeks ago, and this is why they raised the price. Did the 3 day hurricane back up all shipments for several weeks??

Before that they had some oil pipeline bombings.

Lets face it guys, they are looking for any excuse to raise the price.
It may come back down till something else happens, then guess what it will go even higher than the time before. Today they said gas prices rose 60% this year.

I wish I had a horse.

Did you ever see Mad Max ?? Before long we will be fighting each other for the last gallon of gas.

Sad Sad

Marc, crude is at $53.00 per barrel, and that is up 60% on the year. Do you know the one factor that has made that less painful for the American family more than any other factor? I know I am going to get sauted for this ... President Bush's tax cut. Nobody on this site wants to hear that, but it is factual that the increase in price at the pump has been offset by Bush's tax cut. If the tax cuts had not come and oil did what it has done, more families would be feeling a harder pinch than they already are.

My thought? I sold crude oil futures today with a buy stop above $53.20 ( the current high is $53.00). We may put a high in right here. I am afraid that if we take out this high we could see $68.00 crude and that would more than absorb all of the tax cut.

Another thought! Watch the stocks, something on the S&P chart looks strange, this thing may crumble.

Not to start the blog off topic, but Yusuf Islam is on Larry King Live tonight 9pm EST.

I've always thought that the price of gasoline is this country is far too low.

I own two large SUV's living and it costs me plenty to keep them on the road.

But I also think that the cheap gas that's been a part of our culture for the past century is part of what stifles a number of things including: transportation innovation, wider use of public transportation, walking and bicycling (i.e., hindering physical fitness) and probably a host of other good things.

I've thought for a long time that gasoline should be taxed much higher rates than it currently is.

I realize that my long-held viewpoint may be misguided and there are probably many good things that have come about because of inexpensive gasoline.

I think Bush's tax cut has been offset by the huge increases in state and local taxes. It's the old trick of giving you a dollar with one hand while lifting your wallet with the other. Take a good look at the overall picture and you will see that, in fact, most of us are actually paying much more taxes than we were just four years ago....and getting far less for it as well.

The reason for high oil? It is running out. We are now pumping all the oil that we are ever going to from now on. We have peaked. Next year, there will be a little less produced. The year after, even less. So on and so on.

$50 a barrel? $60? $100

Those prices will be fond memories by this time next year. We are about to come face to face with the cold hard reality that oil is a finite resource.

Gershwin, what do you think of this. A progressive tax on gasoline. If you drive a car that gets better gas mileage you pay less of a gasoline tax than the guy who drives a vehicle that gets worse mileage. I know the guy with the SUV would pay more just on the usage alone, but what about a percentage increase based on that usage. Kind of like the income tax is, so guys that drive cars that get 20+ miles to the gallon pay 150% tax while the guy who drives a SUV that get less than 11 MPG pays 250%.

Tomocius, a progressive tax is easy... but not on the gasoline, on carbon dioxide emissions. They already do that in Europe. Vehicles that have bad fuel economy there are very expensive to register because high CO2 emissions go hand in hand with high fuel consumption.
And that could be combined with offering credits/penalties based on how far you live from work - and more credits if you can demonstrate that you either carpool, use public transit, walk or use a bicycle to commute regularly.

I think the impact of having to pay more each time you visit the pump has a far greater impact than a one-time tax like the current gas guzzler tax or a registration tax.

I'm not sure what the benefits and pitfalls of a progressive tax would be relative to an across the board increase in gasoline, vehicle registration or other oil consumption related tax or fee.

It's almost a distasteful thing for me to discuss considering that I'm a proponent of a single "flat tax." To espouse the values of a higher tax on anything goes against that.

I had to address the comment that tomo acknowledged someone was going to call him on. If you are so determined to prove that you make more than 200,000 a year, why are you trying to relate to common people? More importantly, you have no point of reference to compare when you say things like, “Do you know the one factor that has made that less painful for the American family more than any other factor?” How do you know? Your family represents 2% or less of America.

Gas prices have risen 60% this year, right? AAA currently puts the National regular unleaded average at 1.947$ per gallon. Inflation has also risen this year, currently according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, by 3%. This means that gas prices have risen 80 cents per gallon in just one year. If you say that that the average car has around a 10 gallon gas tank, this means on average, they are paying (80x10), or 8.00$ more than they were paying just one year ago. The whole number obviously is considering inflation over the past year.

Now, here comes the kicker. The median income earner in the United States stands to see an extra 114$ for the year because of bush's tax cuts, where your family stands to see an extra 9,000$ or more. If you take 114$ and divide it by 52 weeks, assuming that the average person fills up their gas tank about once a week you get 2$ extra per week. Ok, here comes the bush math, 2.00 dollars off of 8.00$ helps the average person in the United States? Then if you factor that the average salary and wage growth over the past year has fallen consistently while bush has been in office to almost stagnation now, you figure out that gas is costing Americans more out-of-pocket money than ever, except if you earn in the top 20%, the next 10 about breaks even.

Nine thousand dollars or more is more than enough to cover a gas budget for a year, even if you drove two SUVs, 114 comes no where close to providing relief. So, go ahead with your bush math and think that 2+2=5.

why are you trying to relate to common people?

Because I am a common person. I believe that I am common because of where I came from and who I am. One's salary does dictate if he is common or not. If you look at the facts in the book, "The Millionaire Next Door" if your neighbor works and saves all of his money, invests it wisely and manages to acquire a million dollars, is he not common anymore? I put my pants on the same way you do in the morning, that is pretty common. I do not have a hard on to prove that I make more than $200,000. Someone made reference to my "fantasy". Rather than proving that I make $200,000, I would rather prove to you that you can make $200,000, and remain common at the same time. John Edwards says that he wants to raise taxes on ALL millionaires, that is anyone making over $200,000 per year. You think that I use Bush math, here is some Wills math, everyone who makes over $200,000 is not a millionaire. I am looking at my latest pay stub and the Feds took $51,965 year to day. Now take out medicare, state, and social security (which I'll never see any of) and then living expenses and your $200,000 becomes much less. If I could manage to save $50,000 a year it would take me 20 years to become a millionaire. John Edwards ought to be told that Multi-million dollar ambulance chasers are millionaire, not hard working guys making $200,000. As for me making that kind of money and someone else not, that is their choice. ANYONE could make the money that I am. I have no special talent to offer. I went high school for five years and I have one semester of college ... if I can do, anyone can.

I never said you were a millionare, or anyone making over $200,000 was necessarily a millionare. Please address a minor thing in my post, and ignore the real content of it. By the way, do you live in California?

At least Tomo has the chance to possibly SAVE more each year than the median American family makes in a year. He is also paying more in taxes every year than that median family. How exactly does that make him a 'common man'? Maybe he still has to put his pants on the same way everyone else does. But he also has the opportunity to hire someone to do it for him - something the average American has no option to do. There are an awful lot of possibilities open to someone in the upper class that are not available to the rest of us.

Keep on holding on to those common man fantasies, Tomo. It is such a rich fantasyland you are mired in, what with your belief in Repugnicant hypocrisy and lies. Anyone who makes more than $200K a year will have a different outlook on taxes and economic policies, because their interests are not the same as the lower classes.

If that $200K dwindles down so much that you can't support yourself, Tomo (on three to five times the gross median income as your take home pay), can you try and imagine what it's like for a family to struggle by on less than a fifth of your take home pay?