Why Do Higher Gas Prices Anger You?

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Was just reading that gas station attendants are starting to take the heat for rising prices.

Yahoo News - Gas Station Workers Face Angry Customers

But the reasoning didn't make sense to me. I felt they missed an important element. The political climate.

I wouldn't direct my anger at a gas station attendant. I put the blame directly on the current administration and their failure to take steps to curb the oil companies.

To me, the anger of consumers is more likely due to seeing record profits posted by Texaco, Shell and other oil companies during the past couple of years. I, and many, remember the false claims put forth regarding the California Energy Crisis of 2000-2001. We hear about refinery problems all the time and how different states require different formulas and the companies insist THAT is why prices go up. Well, that's nothing new, so why has it continued to increase the price of gas?

Finally, when it is PUBLISHED and reported on NPR that oil companies have a feeling the tipping point is $3.00 per gallon so that's where they are going to take it, I would imagine THAT would be a pretty big reason for consumers being PO'd.

Are you bothered by gas prices? If so, why? Do your reasons aline with those stated in the article, or the ones I proposed?

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[+3] - Thomas - 09/13/2008Still, I think I'm about to loose a bet against you and Steve this fall, because it's not going to fall to $62 in 2005 dollars. When are you coming to New York so I can invite you to the lunch that...

I think that whenever anything doesn't go right, we should blame the government. Seriously. It doesn't matter what it is, it's always the government's fault. Think about it now: if there is something going on that troubles you, couldn't the government have passed a law and effected things to solve the problem and make you more happy? Of course it could have. Therefore, government is to blame.

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It's the oil connection to this administration specifically, as well as the corporate corruption that is linked to it's financial support.

It's not like I'm out on a limb blaming the government for something ridiculous that it doesn't control or influence.

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I don't have a car, so I don't really care right now, but if it's a choice between blaming the gas station attendant and the as$holes who are supposed to be able to affect change (i.e., the government), guess who it would be.

Of course, Tico would probably get out of his hummer and beat up the minimum wage earning gas station attendant, which, I guess, is another way to go.

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I am bothered by it because I don't think that it should cost that much. In fact, I think that a country that is "so smart" and "so technically advanced" should have thought of a way to make cars go without gas. I know, they have hybrids but they are a) funny looking and b) too expensive. Where is the Ford Mustang that doesn't run on gas??

If people stopped buying gas, the price would be forced down. However, no one wants to park their cars and take the bus. It's much easier to grumble and bitch at the pump.

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Higher gas prices don't bother me. Everyone in the world has been paying $5.00 a gallon for as long as I can remember, except us. It will just take some getting used to is all.

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But what about the people who drive for a living? Those are the people who are really getting f*cked.

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what bothers me most about it is that this gas hike always happens summer time..every year.
When it is all said and done and gas prices return to a so called normal.. their resting point is almost 25 cents higher then last year. And everyone swallows it as being " finally back to normal'

in the last 9 years , gas has gone from an average of 95 cents a gallon to 2.80 a gallon.
Looking it the oil industry just as a basic industry instead of a global scam, or other labels it has recieved, I can truthfully understand a steady climb in prices for very basic reasons.
But .. i think this is more then a basic rise.

Next year, this same time, we will be having this same conversation because there will be another supposed ' shortage of oil" and increase in demand.
and the year after that
and the year after that
and the year after that
>sigh<

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FreeDuck wrote:

Higher gas prices don't bother me. Everyone in the world has been paying $5.00 a gallon for as long as I can remember, except us. It will just take some getting used to is all.

I don't think they drive as much as we do, do they? If it's gonna be $5 a gallon, they'd better improve the public transportation system. ****... I don't have a hour to ride around in the morning to get to work, and then 2 to get home....

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I'm okay with the price - more or less. I would really prefer the last dollar were a tax to discourage use than mostly being sent to the Mideast.

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Gas prices are due to the oil producing countries lowering production in order to inflate the price. Oil is tied to the dollar and with our dollar dropping in value, European countries were getting gas pretty cheap and the oil countries weren't making as much as they once were.

Cut production, raise the price, everybody pays for it. There isn't to much the government can do about that.

What really annoys me about it is people who use gas and demand that it be cheap. It is simple supply and demand. We use a lot of gas so the demand is high. Due to restrictions on drilling both in Alaska and off shores, our supply is artificially low. Want to affect he price of gas? Quit using it. Quit buying SUVs that get 12 mpg. Walk more. Carpool. Take a bus. Buy a hybrid.

We have had cheap gas for a long time compared to European countries and it was only a matter of time before the prices caught up with our demand.

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I'm not OK with the prices but I do not think there is much that the government can do about it. The problem is that in terms of consumption there is only one pool of oil, created by the world oil market. which everyone draws on. Traditionally the US was the major market for that pool and we could set the price. Not any more. The economies of India and China are growing rapidly and they are now a major consumer of oil. If we refuse to pay a price the sellers can now go elsewhere, and we are stuck.

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That's why the cost is so high in some other countries, roger. The high fuel taxes act as a market control.

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kickycan wrote:

But what about the people who drive for a living? Those are the people who are really getting f*cked.

That's true, but maybe we'll see an adjustment in routes. It's a matter of geography and supply line length. America has traditionally used more fuel because we are very big and very spread out. I think that if gas prices stayed high, business would adjust. We would see less long-haul routes and see people shortening their supply chains. Would it hurt at first? Yeah, but the alternative is stagnation.

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Bella Dea wrote:

FreeDuck wrote:
Higher gas prices don't bother me. Everyone in the world has been paying $5.00 a gallon for as long as I can remember, except us. It will just take some getting used to is all.

I don't think they drive as much as we do, do they? If it's gonna be $5 a gallon, they'd better improve the public transportation system. ****... I don't have a hour to ride around in the morning to get to work, and then 2 to get home....

No they don't drive as much as we do, but how do we know whether that's because they weren't going to drive anyway or because it costs too bloody much for most people to afford it?

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Shewolf kinda touched on what I was getting at. It's the fact that the oil companies are reporting RECORD PROFITS AND thumbing their noses at us by outwardly admitting they think the break point for consumers is $3 a gallon so they are going to take it to $3 DESPITE already having record profits.

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we are the nation of consumers.
Im truthfully surprised they are not higher then they are now.

doesnt mean ill complain any less. Laughing

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I understand how that could piss someone off, especially with how dependent we are on affordable gas. But they're not really doing anything different than most businesses. They know at what point people would stop buying their product, so they set that as their limit. Just about all businesses set a price point. It's a shame that our dependence keeps us paying up until that point and that they are exploiting that, but it's just business.

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Aren't they pushing their luck a bit? Won't people be so fed up with the rising gas prices that they'll just go ahead and buy a hybrid? I sure want a hybrid. There's some good 1's coming out- not that small Toyota prius.

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Higher gas prices are a good thing.

The American addiction to cars is bad for the environment, foreign policy as well as other things.

I am hoping higher gas prices will make public transportation more economically feasible. This means better transportation for all of us.

Gas prices are still too low. I would say $3.50/gallon is about right.

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Why Do Higher Gas Prices Anger You?

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