I personally believe that 3.50 per gallon or more gas would be much to much of a hardship on many Americans. Think about it, out of all of those that have lost great paying jobs, how many of those are still looking for work and how many have had to take jobs paying only a percentage of what they were earning?

the poster who was talking about Rush L made a good point........4$ could have been a sort of test....or more likely IMO less learned that the public will put up with 3.50$ gas..........however what the public also learned last year (that they might not have been sure of during the run up last year) was that investors and speculators have a desturbing amount of influence on the price of something they are stuck with paying for everyday........so when gas does to 3.25 or whatever people SHOULD be pissed ....that the commodities people virtually need to spend on every day are at the whim of traders pilling into dollar weakness and inflation protection trades....of course the MEDIA will try to see just how absent minded and WILLFully ignorant the public is.....they will sight oil production cutbacks.....a "economic recovery" and virtually anything under the sun is MOST responsible for the run-up in oil prices

remember this.............and this deals with what is a "slippery slope".....you see the MEDIA is really focused on keeping the status quo and taking care of the elite investment class and deflecting blame from them......and they will tell themselves it's in the intrest of "national security" this national security card will have it's limites tested by anchors.....politicos....lawyers etc.....so see just what information they can bend or omit or outright "doctor" in the name of national security under the premise that is it "extremely important during this time of financial crisis" that confidence is restored....somehow...........it may have started with something legitimate.....but then their character of greed and preservation of the establishment class will get them to well....report how they do now ......(B.S)

the administration is crossing their fingers that people's HOPE to see improvement will CAUSE them to willingly interpret sputtering and failure (to change)......just the way the MEDIA spin meister's report it as " start of a recovery".. the MSM has practiced this and refined it as an ART.........they are crossing their fingers and pushing the limits (as far as fudging numbers....them making "revisions" later and later......changing the rules of income statement's / earnings report..etc...etc) all in the name of National security that the weed wackers don't come out and cut thru all the Green Shoots that are being fertlized by pure media B.S....i guess it's worth a try lol ..........BC while it may sound like a stretch to try and Manipulate reality by pushing propoganda to shape consumer psychology .......this is the only playbook they know and have operated off of for some years now

[edit on 13-5-2009 by cpdaman]

I filled up today. Gas here in NYC cost $2.79. The last time I filled up, it was 2.40ish. This is the worst possible thing that can happen with this week economy.

However, this is exactly what Obama and the far left want. They want to control us even more than the Bushies did. The Bushies just wanted to spy on us, the Obamaniacs want to control us through taxation, spending and coerced labor (see mandatory volunteer).

They think if gas gets really expensive, we will willingly stop buying SUV's and start driving priuses while they get chauffeured around in Yukons.

If they tax cigarettes, we will stop smoking... if they tax smacks, we will eat healthy.

They are trying to control us. Soon, when the taxation does "change" us, martial law will.

prices in SF here have risen dramatically.
wonder what the new trend will be?

I've quickly glanced over the thread and I don't think I saw what I have to mention so far, so if I'm mistaken I'm sorry for reposting.

From what I've seen, everyone is right in relating the dollar to the price of oil/gasoline. If the dollar weakens, then it takes more of them to equal the purchasing power needed to buy one gallon/barrel. This is basic economics.

Something that I haven't seen though is that refineries have been decreasing production as a result of the economy. This has been happening since around the time the prices started to dip before the election. If you look at the weekly reports (they are from the Energy Information Agency, usually released on Thursdays), there has been a decline in the total production. With decreased supply, any rise in demand will cause prices to increase. Memorial day is one such event.

Also, something else to consider is that around this time of year they switch the blend from a heavier winter mix to a lighter summer mix. I'm not sure of the details, but I'm fairly sure its more expensive to produce.

Just thought I'd bring in a couple new thoughts.

Gas Prices always jump during the Summer months, as people will be vacationing around the world.

And yes gas went up by 20c in the Houston area.

The price of gas in the Spokane, WA area is around $2.47/gallon right now. I haven't really heard anything about rising gas prices in the MSM. Why is that? Do they think we are too stupid to notice? The powers that be is the US government, influenced by bribery and blackmail of government officials, by Israel. The MSM is all run by Israel, in case you didn't know that already.

I have heard no legitimate excuses EVER for a rise in gas prices, except after Hurricane Katrina. The price of oil is not that high. It is corporate GREED. Greed is not good. Greed will break Americans until they can't even afford to drive, then the oil companies will relent, and the price of gas will mysteriously and suddenly drop to pacify people, as happened the last time.

As for the price of gas suddenly getting higher for Memorial Day or summer vacation season? I don't believe that. I am not stupid. I notice a lot of things. I have noticed the price of virtually everything, especially food and gas, steadily rising for quite awhile now. This is inflation, mostly, I think. It is not just driven by greedy oil barons, but also the weakening of the dollar by all these government bailouts we've been having, and the Obama administration's extravagant spending.

Do whatever you can to conserve gas, and don't buy anything else that runs on gas. Peak oil has either already happened or we are dangerously close to it. Don't count on alternative energy to save you. There is no substitute for oil. No civilized society could survive without it. Nothing else will work, or will be feasible for many years from now.

Jesus you guys are complaining about $2.29?
We never went below $2.69 on a good day in Northern California! We are already back up to $3.19+ almost everywhere now! By summer we will have to be paying through the teeth again because of all the tourist's coming to see the lovely wineries. You have it good right now trust me!

In Jan it cost us $789 to fill "one" of the tank's for the farm vehicles.
We just refilled it last week and it was close to $1100, to make matters worse we are close to having to cut the hay and run pretty much all the dozers and trailers. So we are going to be paying thru the teeth yet again for the fifth season.

Here in my small town it went from 1.89 to 2. 19 in a matter of days. It always goes up just before the kids get out of school for the summer. As long as it doesn't go higher than 2.50 we (family) shouldn't suffer too much. If it does, we'll do what we did last summer...stay home.

Over here in the UK its constantly rising.

In honesty they put it down last, but that was only a small margin compared to the increase they had placed in previous few months.
No doubt again shortly we will be in for another.

They just lower it to distract people from the actual seriousness of the situation, plus other current events.
As you all know

I live in Canada and gas prices went up by 12 cents a few days ago. Diesel prices remained the same though.

It makes no sense at all. yea, oil prices went up slightly in US dollars, but the US dollar went down against the Canadian dollar. So in terms of Canadian dollars, the price of oil actually went down, but it was a good enough reason for gas stations to put their prices up.

Right now oil is 60ish US per barrel and gas prices are .959 per liter. When oil peaked at 147 a barrel, prices were about 1.55 per liter. Where is the sense in that?

I thank God every day that I own a reliable diesel powered CAR that gets great fuel economy.

[edit on 23-5-2009 by Alternative]

Yes I filled up the other day and had to pay 2.12 a gallon for premium,87 octane was up to 1.89 a gallon about 20 cent rise,I have 2 vehicles one gets 9.9 mpg,other gets about 37 mpg,so depending on prices,one sits other is driven

Update:

I started this thread on may 11th, and stated gas was up to 2.29. Well it has risen nearly a dime a week since then and is at 2.59. This is really upsetting me. I mean we are stretched to the gills now. I nearly have a stroke everytime I go in the grocery and now I can expect to pay even more. Enough already!!!!

In my location in illinois the gas prices have went from 1.89 to 2.59 in just a month or so.It jumped fom 2.47 to 2.59 yesterday in a matter of just a couple of hours.
Then I always wonder to myself why didn't I stop and get gas earlier.