Wow. Pretty amazing how gas prices tend to plummet right before the election. It’s almost as if certain government officials have a hand in the price of gas and want to make us think the economy is improving, even though it’s not, just to support their candidate in the election.Nah…
Generations of ServiceMurderer Dies in PrisonSomething OldSomething NewSo Help Me Nobody -- Court affirmationsSix Myths about MMOHSeparation of Church and State, A RebuttalSchool Prayer FAQsSchool Prayer Decision (Madalyn Murray O'Hair)Spirits, Souls, and ClonesSponsor the ShowSusan B. AnthonyTestimony to US Civil Rights CommissionTexas State PageThe 10C's V. NeutralityThe Atheist: Madalyn's BiographyThe Battle is JoinedThe Battle of PhiladelphiaRushdie Missing from Book FairRock of Ages and the Age of RocksRobert OwenMythicist PrizeNativity - The origins of the Birth of JesusNazareth, Faith, and the Dark OptionNo More Ham -- A look at several Black Atheist LeadersNoahs Flood -- DebateOdd InquiriesOn WeddingsOther Gods that Look a LOT Like JesusPledge of AllegiancePledge of Allegiance - Dave's LetterPre-Christian Christmas Stories with Other GodsRaising Children Without GodRed Herring Rushdie IRed Herring Rushdie IIReligion Tax Office OpenedRoadside CrossesRobert G. Ingersoll The Black Atheists of The Harlem RenaissanceThe Cons of Charitable ChoiceTo Bash or Not to BashTom Cruise Pushes for FBI Funding for ScientologyTop Ten Atheist MythsVolunteers NeededWas Jesus a Jew?Was Jesus InventedWatch the Words!Wedding VowsWhat is the object of life? by Grant AllenWhat is Wrong with a Few Harmless Prayers?What to ask Preachers and MissionariesWhere Jesus Never WalkedWhite House Expands Faith-Based InitiativesWho are the freethinkers?Why I am an Infidel: Luther BurbankWhy is Religiosity so Hard to CureWhy the Truth About Nazareth is ImportantTill Death Do Us Part?Thomas Alva Edison: An Introduction by Frank Zindler Thomas Alva Edison: 1911 Columbian InterviewThe Creator BillThe DisappearanceThe Enlightenment, Freemasonry, and The IlluminatiThe Final Taboo: Electing AtheistsThe Good Old DaysThe Hon. Atheist Governor: Culbert L. Olson.The Inconsistency of TheismThe Kiwi QuestionThe Logic of Death by George J. Holyoake The Myth of Nazareth, Does it Really Matter?The Question of Atheists HospitalsThe Roots of AtheismThe School Prayer DecisionThe Science of CreationismThe Wild World of CreationismTheopolitics of the Rushdie CaseThomas Alva Edison 1910 NYT InterviewWinning an Unwinnable DebateChristianity, Its Nature and Influence on Civilisation by Charles Watts Christians in UniformCircuit Court Rules for "Aphorisms"Congress Rushes to preserve Clergy Tax BreaksContradictions in the BibleConvencion en espanolConvention 2010 ScheduleCourt Probing Parsonage TaxCowardice of the WestCreation Science and the FACT of EvolutionCreationism: Reversing ScienceCreator Bill TextDave's Favorite Biblical InconsistenciesDebate: Is Creationism Science (Zindler / Gish)Did Jesus Exist?Edwin C. Walker: American AtheistErnestine Rose: A Troublesome FemaleCharles WattsCase is Solved12 Further Fictions from the NTA Declaration of Mental Independence, by Robert Owen Abner KneelandAgainst the 10 Commandments in PublicAgnosticism: The Basis for AtheismAims and PrinciplesAlabamaAmerican Atheists Legal PhilosophyAn Atheist's Guide to MohammedanismAtheism by O'HairAtheism: Madalyn Murray O'Hair 1962 speechAtheist Director Wins Creche CaseAtheist MusiciansAtheist StationAtheist WeddingsBiblical ContradictionsBigotry Worst Against AtheistsEthics Without GodsFCC Religion HoaxMoslem Violence in BrittainInterview: Douglas AdamsJames Lick Jesus MythKeep Politics Out Of The Pulpit or Lose Tax-Exempt Status: Opinion Kentucky Homeland Security LawsuitKersey GravesLessons from The Satanic VersesmaMA Church Dismayed over DisplayMaculate Deception: The "Science" of CreationsimMangasar Magurditch Mangasarian Mary Faker Eddy -- Christian ScienceMOMormonismInaccurate Founding Father QuotesHurricane Katrina Boosts FBIGod on OUR MoneyFree WillFrom the Mouths of CreationistsFundamentalismFunerals - Dying an AtheistGeorge J. Holyoake - The last man in England tried for Atheism George J. Holyoake by Madalyn Murray O'HairGod in OUR PledgeGrant Allen How Jesus Got a LifeHang the Commandments -- All 30 of ThemHubert Henry Harrison: The Black Socrates aboutlawatheismFaith of the Founding Fathersreligionpoliticsyouth & familymilitarymediaLibraryeventsStoreJoin & Supportorphans
I said this when prices were at their highest. Come election time, I promise you the prices will be half what they are now. After the election, they will go right back up.
Remember people, these assholes went on vacation when we the American people were going though some very rough times with soaring fuel prices.
Vote them all out and lets go for those that want our freedom from OPEC.
Personally don’t like Obama tooo much but he is a saint compared to McBush and Pulin.
Personally, I was expecting to see Bin Laden captured or dead, but this works too.
And theres still two weeks left…
Nothing is below these swine to get re-elected.
As bad as they are, I don’t think the Bush/Cheney crime syndicate is directly involved in gas prices going down.
With more people laid off, fewer are driving to work. With more families struggling to pay bills, discretionary driving is reduced.
To some extent the falling price of gasoline is likely a result of decreased demand. If some of it is as a result of oil companies seeking to manipulate voters, which is certainly conceivable, I see no evidence that the Bush crime family is directly involved. I’m not suggesting this is too low for them, just saying I see no evidence at this time that BushCo is involved.
Obviously the oil companies do not want Obama and they do want Senator McBush and his sidekick FemBush.
Or maybe it’s because the global economic downturn has decreased demand for oil and consequently decreased its price.
The price of gas hasn’t been going down, the value of the dollar has actually gone up. Huge difference right there.
What you should be paying attention to is the gold index and the currency ratio between the dollar/euro and dollar/yen.
When you see the price of gold go down it is the value of the dollar going up.
But yeah don’t worry, the fed is hyper inflating and in due course this will all go crashing down again.
I agree with Asemodeus. On top of that, many poor countries cannot afford to buy oil at the present market prices. I think we get most of our auto gas from Venezuela and Mexico. Am I right… anyone?
There is no doubt that gas prices are being manipulated for political purpose. Just look at the time scale for the price changes as well as the times at which the price changes. Coincidence couldn’t carry a bigger mallet to hit us over the head with.
What: You are right. Why are still paying billions in incentives to the oil companies. Perhaps because our government was bought and paid for? If the elected officials are booted out, then more officials need to be rebought. Of course they don’t want to do that.
I do also agree consumption has dropped. Do you think OPEC cares? They could raise the prices and make more of a killing and we would have to pay.
Comment from: What
“What do I know” has it right…that’s why the powers at be lowered the price in 2006 just before the election. Oh wait…they didn’t.
Come to think of it, Pelosi promised that the Dems would lower the price of gas if they controlled congress….
Economics 101…we’re entering into a international recession. Demand goes down. Price goes down.
The country to worry about is China…
If you want to see timing…match the Dow chart with the Presidential debates. On the day of each debate the market plunged…
Can you say “Uh Oh”?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iivL4c_3pck
Anyone to to still claim NObama isn’t a Socia1ist?
Phreedm:
This is hardly a “bombshell”. More like a spent casing that people are trying to make something out of.
95% of that video was him talking about the civil rights movement. And the Warren Court, which, while groundbreaking for it’s day, didn’t do anything out of left field.
By the way: wealth is already being redistributed. Every time I get my paycheck, taxes are taken out and used to build roads, fund schools, and other things that I may or may not use.
Also, soc1alism lite is already in place in this country. No one wants to point out the elephant in the room though. Look at our Postal Service, or Social Security. Who would have thought that in a purely capitalistic society, the government would pay you to be old? Shouldn’t you have taken care of your own retirement?
I’m not arguing against Social Security, but just pointing out some aspects of our government.
Obama isn’t the perfect candidate for me, but McCain is out of touch and I don’t want Palin within 500 yards of the White House. She scares me.
Just curious GM. What about the Postal Service?
They’re an independent entity, not owned by the federal gov’t.
I do agree that we are a ’soc1alism lite’, but if you dig down even further, lately we are becoming a fascist state with BushCo in charge.
I think I’d rather take soc1alism than fascism, if I had to choose.
Check out the website Whiskey & Gunpowder. Just about everything they’ve predicted has happened. Guess what they predict next-$6.00 a gallon of gas. To paraphrase, we are standing on the edge of the financial ocean. The tide has gone out. Things have calmed, and we are looking at the curious creatures exposed on the ocean’s floor, wondering what they are and how they got there. But don’t be fooled; the tide is simply being sucked into the tidal wave that’s fixin’ to hit, and that’s when the catastrophe will be evident.
In the aftermath, investors will be unwilling to invest into anything they can’t touch, see, hear, taste, or smell. I’m no economist, and I’m not even sure what this all means (though I can infer using my common sense), but perhaps the lesson to take home–this may be a brief calm before the perfect financial storm.
What is wrong with Phreeky’s brain. Any guesses?
Goddamnit, screwed up the block quotes again.
Umm… fundamentalism is my guess.
I’m surprised you had to ask.
Sorry. I don?t buy that gas prices are going down because it’s election time and the government is manipulating prices. Elections fall after the peek driving season when demand is at its yearly lows ? that?s why oil prices (and as a result, gas prices) drop during election time.
But in the current situation, there are other more extreme factors at work, at least as I see it…
First, I see is much lower demand due to three factors; high oil prices stimulated an enormous push to more fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles. Sales of autos over the last 8 months reflect this trend and it has now begun to affect the market. When you combine fuel efficient auto sales with the incredible increase in ridership of public transportation due to high gas prices, you get a dramatic downturn in demand. Second, the high price of oil helped to drive the global economy into a recession. This recession is also driving down demand. And finally, speculators are pulling out of the market. They were partially responsible for driving up the price of oil and now that demand is down ? combined with the uncertainty of how long this recession will last ? they?re cashing out.
If you noticed, oil prices really began to shoot up as the housing market started to crash. This isn?t a coincidence. Speculators moved their money from the housing market (seeing that the bubble was bursting) into safer investments ? commodities in this case. This quickly inflated the price of oil and food. Now that the ?oil bubble? is bursting, speculators are moving their money out.
That said, enjoy it while you can. The dollar will begin loosing value (you can’t dump 1 trillion into the U.S. economy and not devalue the dollar) which will send commodity prices up ? again, oil included.
The good thing is that oil is an endangered species and high oil prices will only hasten its inevitable demise. Nothing will solve America?s energy problems faster than overpriced oil.
What,
Hand raised in the air waving wildly Pick me, pick me! I say a mild form of paranoid schizophrenia combined with severe malignant narcissism and a below average I.Q.?
Sheesh! I need to proofread my posts!
I’ve been trying to read up on this as much as I can and the most I’ve read is US demand has gone down 10% tops. OPEC is seeing the demand go down and plans to decrease supply so oil will go back up. However, even if US demand went down by 10% China and India and the US hasn’t dropped demand so much that more than $1/gallon justifies it. The economy is McCain’s big problem(among other things) and the GOP knows when the economy is the issue then that plays into the Dems favor so I do not doubt for one second the oligopoly of big oil did this for McCain and DVAnWechel is right the prices will go up and big oil will declare record profits again…at our expense at the pump.
Where’s phreeky been? Around here, the gas prices certainly DID drop steadily starting July 2006 and went up sharply the weekend after the November 2006 election.
And forget the $1 drop – here, gas was 3.99 at the beginning of August. Right now, it’s 2.05 and poised to drop below $2 a gallon for no apparent reason. We’ll see what the prices are by November 15th.
If we were free of oil (not just FOREIGN oil) we’d be free of all the religious wackos nattering about the Middle East…
Wow, atheistmike, where are you? Our gas is at $2.74, and we’re glad to have that price! (Northeast NC)
Damn, we just got below $3. Where the hell is gas at $2.05?
It sucks, but we are always one of the highest in the country.
Here in the heartland, Regular is around $2.40. Mid-grade is even cheaper ’cause it has shitty ethanol in it, at about $2.20. High Test is just below $3.00.
On a side note, for those of you that haven’t had the ‘pleasure’ of running ethanol in your vehicle, I have a rhetorical question. How in the hell can gasoline with ten percent ethanol in it, wind up giving you thirty percent fewer MPG? It just doesn’t make sense. I’m all for alternative/bio-fuels, but ethanol isn’t one of them.
Yes, Phreddy. I know that Obama supports ethanol subsidies. What is truly funny/ironic, is all the farmers that are growing corn because of the tremendous increase in prices they can receive because of ethanol production, who will be voting for McLame even though he doesn’t support ethanol subsidies.
For me, it is a minor annoyance and I simply don’t run mid-grade fuel, but for the farmers, most will be voting against their own livelyhoods.
http://tinyurl.com/5j6d4u
atheistmike, do you mean $2.50, maybe?
Ren,
E-10 can’t. Now E-85, that might really screw up your mileage, but I assume you don’t own a vehicle that can run E-85?
And don’t “poo-poo” ethanol just yet. There have been a number of very interesting breakthroughs that would produce it from less destructive means; one of which made ethanol using algae.
Ren,
Keep your foot out of the throttle, LOL.
It takes a fixed amount of energy to get you from A to B. Ethanol has less energy/volume than gasoline, so you have to burn a larger volume to achieve the same result. Also, ethanol’s latent heat of vaporisation is much larger than gasoline, making it less thermally efficient.
Oh, also, ethanol has a much higher octane rating over gasoline. This means if you design an engine to run on ethanol from the start, you can raise the compression ratio and increase spark timing. This drastically increases efficiency, almost to the point of offsetting the losses I mentioned earlier.
DVan,
I don’t have any scientific evidence to back up my claim, just personal experience with two different vehicles that I ran ethanol in.
The first was bought in WA State, and I encountered ethanol on the way across country and was excited to try it. After two tanks full of the stuff on the open hwy, I got roughly a third less mpg than I did on regular gasoline. I chalked it up to the fact the car was from the west coast and was not adjusted to run ethanol.
I traded that car in on a new Chevy S-10 shortly after moving here. I again ran regular gas and E-10 with the same results. I have sworn off that stuff ever since.
Additionally, redirecting food sources for fuel has, IMO, raised prices at the grocery store. Corn is a very inefficient method of producing ethanol. Takes almost as much energy to produce, what with tilling the land, planting the seed, irrigating, harvesting, transporting, producing ethanol, and transporting it again to be mixed and finally one last time to be distributed. Sugar cane, switch grass, or even hemp, would be a better source for ethanol/biofuels.
Yes, I saw that on TV not long ago. Looked like the world’s largest bong with extremely nasty green water. I must say it was interesting, but I still don’t like ethanol. Perhaps if they improve the efficiency of the stuff, but I just don’t know how you milk more caloric value out of something, than it has to begin with.
Okay, rant over. Gotta fix vittles for the young’un and myself.
mx,
Thanks for the info. I didn’t overlook your posts, we were just composing them at the same time and we addressed some of the same issues.
With the price of gas having been outrageous lately, I have learned to accelerate more slowly, and coast to stop signs and try to time stop lights so that I don’t have to stop at all. Inertia is your friend.
Better fill that tank Monday…before it’s too late.
By the way, I just saw gas for 2.44 (87 octane)here in the People’s Rep. of Ann Arbor.
Comment from: GodlessMorality
I seem to recall similar arguments against the video that started the “Joe the Plumber” mantra…
Try listening to it again…
Break the constraints? I thought everyone on this blog supported the idea of protecting the constitution…?
So how does one justify voting for a politician who by his own words wants to trash the constitution by means of the courts…?
Do you think he has to work at being that stupid or does it come natural for the Phreek?
No, Kosher, I REALLY mean $2.05. I filled up yesterday. Prices started plunging a couple of weeks ago. Somebody was quoted in the local alternative paper on October 15th that “Gas might be down to $2.50 by Xmas”. Two days later it had gone from $2.62 to 2.39.
BTW, this is in Des Moines, IA. I was 100 miles north of here (Cedar Falls) tonight, and it was 2.24. I am now COMPLETELY AT A LOSS as to how they figure and justify the different prices.
And this isn’t E85 I’m talking about. THAT is below $2 a gallon.
Ren, I’ve been running the ethanol that you’ve been talking about, and have had no problem with it, and getting 30 – 35mpg on my 8 year old Saturn with 155,000 miles on it (combined city AND highway).
It’s like putting in a can of gas line antifreeze in the tank. In a couple of months, it’ll be 20 below zero, and I’ll be glad to have it there. I’ll need some antifreeze,too, if you know what I mean…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WkZB8SlPnTE
atheistmike,
I can’t argue with you, since I don’t drive your car. I just know that I have, for most of my adult life, kept track of how many MPG I was getting, and from my own experience, E-10 gave almost a third fewer MPG in the two vehicles I ran it in.
Again, I was quite excited to try it when I first encountered it, so I believe I used it with an open mind. Only after running several tanks of the stuff and getting the same result each time, did I swear off the stuff.
MX mentioned the fact that ethanol has a higeher octane rating allowing for higher compression and advanced spark timing. I would be willing to try ethanol again IF my vehicle was adjusted to run it more efficiently. As I mentioned earlier, my first thought when I encountered ethanol, was that my car was from the west coast, and it was not made to run it. After buying a new Chevy pick-up here in NE, and getting the same results, I called it quits.
C’est la vie!
Ren-
I noticed similar results, although I haven’t watched it as closely as you. I do notice a decrease in gas mileage when I use 10% ethanol versus without.
Also, I notice my Jeep runs stronger when I don’t use the stuff.
So, to me, I’m done using it.
I would like to see more (unbiased) scientific tests done on this to see if there really is something there.
It was down to $2.09 here in south Austin. But this is Texas and big oil usually charges slightly progessive Austin more than the rest of TX.
Boise Jim,
My father was recently telling me about several national park vehicles that, with a flip of the switch, could go from running gasoline, to running (I believe) propane. It may have been LNG, but I think it was propane.
He said the guys at the park didn’t like to use the propane, because it made the vehicle a dog. So my dad did some research and asked a bunch of questions of the dealer they purchased the trucks from, and he found out that they had the ability to ‘learn’ the driving habits of the operator, as well as adjust itself, I’m guessing via the computer that all new vehicles have, to whatever type of fuel it was using. The only thing was; it took time. Not a lot of time. Only a tank or two at the most.
Long story short, he said that after the trucks were allowed to get used to the propane, the vehicles actually ran stronger and would even bark tires. Something they wouldn’t do with gasoline.
I guess what I am trying to say is: I am all for alternative sources of fuel, but IMO, ethanol isn’t all it is cracked up to be. Perhaps, if our species lasts that long, one day our descendants will be (hovering?) along in vehicles powered by cold fusion and sea water.
There it is – just paid $1.99 a gallon for the ethanol (not E85). GOP doesn’t have a chance with Iowa, but we generally have the same prices that Kansas City has, and that’s a swing state very much in the balance.
The other day, I reported $2.74 gas. That was before I went out and filled my tank after grocery shopping. The price had dropped overnight to $2.63. Today, I went out, and it was $2.61!
Well, if I can time this right, with a half tank I have now, I will fill up on Monday.
I would not be surprised at all if prices start to climb after the election.
Karen
Ah ha! I think I see a causal link. Each time you “went out” the gas price dropped. Try staying in tomorrow and lets see if the price goes up. Maybe it’s a “The Truman Show” thing.