Illinois Gas Prices

[Avengerfire]

I saw 4.51 in the city today. I cant remember where exactully. I am out of it from my long bus ride.

[arpschneider]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Unbelievable! When is this madness gonna stop??????

When the Demon-rats get their heads out of their rears and realize that fully HALF the prices people pay are TAXES and repeal them. If you look on the Internet, you can find breakdowns on what constitutes the price of a gallon of gas or Diesel fuel.

Illinois ranks THIRD in taxes behind New York and California and then Durbin, our Senator has the "nads" to accuse the oil companies of price gouging. Talk about calling the kettle black.

Want to do something about high prices? Then write Durbin and all of the other bleeding heart libreal demon-rat senators who give tree huggers and the other environmentalist extremists the time of day and put 99% of ALL domestic oil off-limits to exploration and reclamation because of them.

If we want oil at reasonable prices, then we should be willing to use our own, and not expect to get it all from elsewhere and it will take ALL of us to put pressure on Congress if we ever want to make something change.

Do some research, then place the blame for this problem where it BELONGS, rather than at the feet of the oil companies.

[thePR]

Originally Posted by arpschneider

When the Demon-rats get their heads out of their rears and realize that fully HALF the prices people pay are TAXES and repeal them. If you look on the Internet, you can find breakdowns on what constitutes the price of a gallon of gas or Diesel fuel.

Illinois ranks THIRD in taxes behind New York and California and then Durbin, our Senator has the "nads" to accuse the oil companies of price gouging. Talk about calling the kettle black.

Want to do something about high prices? Then write Durbin and all of the other bleeding heart libreal demon-rat senators who give tree huggers and the other environmentalist extremists the time of day and put 99% of ALL domestic oil off-limits to exploration and reclamation because of them.

If we want oil at reasonable prices, then we should be willing to use our own, and not expect to get it all from elsewhere and it will take ALL of us to put pressure on Congress if we ever want to make something change.

Do some research, then place the blame for this problem where it BELONGS, rather than at the feet of the oil companies.

Durbin isn't why the taxes are high. And just because the taxes are high doesn't mean oil companies aren't gouging. I see prices go up $0.20 in a day did they just raise taxes? NO. Did the cost per barrel equal that raise? NO. If the cost per barrel goes up a little bit they shoot up prices.

Choosing one side over another, Republican or Democrat isn't that simple. It's a mix of what both sides are saying and you can't just blame one person.

[arpschneider]

Originally Posted by thePR

Durbin isn't why the taxes are high. And just because the taxes are high doesn't mean oil companies aren't gouging. I see prices go up $0.20 in a day did they just raise taxes? NO. Did the cost per barrel equal that raise? NO. If the cost per barrel goes up a little bit they shoot up prices.

<snip> you can't just blame one person.

Oh, I agree, that the problem is complex. I don't doubt that there are times that the jobbers/dealers use local situations to "gouge" consumers. A perfect example is how the prices shot way out of proportion over Memorial Day weekend. It'll be interesting to see if they now come down starting today. I often post local prices on Gas Buddy as a monitor.

My basic point was that while it is true that some of the fluctuations take place due to the above, the major COMPONENT of the total price paid is the taxes, with Illinois being third highest.

After the cost of the basic crude oil itself, that is.

But it is just ridiculous and plain laughable to think that the US government has any jurisdiction with which to sue OPEC, which is amongst their latest strategy. They try THAT kind of ploy and what will happen is that they will just simply turn off the tap in retaliation and then we'll be paying $50.00 a gallon.

I do believe that we have all KINDS of petroleum resources of our own that we could and SHOULD tap into to drive the prices back down. Obviously, environmental concerns should not go completely out the window (it needs to be extracted RESPONSIBLY!) but to simply put everything off-limits wholesale is hurting no one but ourselves with the latest being concerns over the Polar Bear being an endangered species, while the population is actually CLIMBING!

And with the US having the coolest spring in a LONG time, I think the whole thing of "global warming" debacle is a complete farce!

It's time to get SERIOUS about finding SOLUTIONS, rather than distractions like these.

[aragx6]

It's a cool spring because it's a La Nina year.

I love when people say "look, it cold out. I knew global warming was fake"

[CellarBelle]

Great post! Nothing will be done about gas prices until after elections. God forbid the majority in Congress gives the go-ahead and approves drilling in our own country before the elections. Gosh darn, prices just might actually go down and then Bush would get the credit. Horrors!

If you want things to change, you've got to call your congressmen/women and tell them you want the U.S. to use it's own petro. I don't get why more people don't do this. The oil and gas companies have the science to go in and get the oil with minimal impact. We aren't talking about raping the environment. And, if we don't do it here, it will be done somewhere else in the world. And, do you think they have the same stringent environmental standards as the USA?

In the meantime, everyone tries to demonize one of the few profitable industries left in this country. Pretty soon we'll be importing refined product and everyone will shake their heads and wonder "where did all those good petro jobs go?".

Okay, enough soapbox. I spent $4.11 in Edwardsville on my premium just a week ago. Drive a big (American-made) SUV. Won't be too many of those left before long if we don't start using what we've got and get the prices down. It's a shame.

Originally Posted by arpschneider

When the Demon-rats get their heads out of their rears and realize that fully HALF the prices people pay are TAXES and repeal them. If you look on the Internet, you can find breakdowns on what constitutes the price of a gallon of gas or Diesel fuel.

Illinois ranks THIRD in taxes behind New York and California and then Durbin, our Senator has the "nads" to accuse the oil companies of price gouging. Talk about calling the kettle black.

Want to do something about high prices? Then write Durbin and all of the other bleeding heart libreal demon-rat senators who give tree huggers and the other environmentalist extremists the time of day and put 99% of ALL domestic oil off-limits to exploration and reclamation because of them.

If we want oil at reasonable prices, then we should be willing to use our own, and not expect to get it all from elsewhere and it will take ALL of us to put pressure on Congress if we ever want to make something change.

Do some research, then place the blame for this problem where it BELONGS, rather than at the feet of the oil companies.

[CellarBelle]

Gas prices are set in the free market. It's called speculation. The oil companies just reap the rewards. Nothing wrong with that in a free market. We could all go to China where they cap the prices and subsidize the rest. Yeah, sign me up for that. You have to understand refining to understand what an increase in barrel prices does. It is not a tit-for-tat price increase. Besides, if oil companies set the price, why did they operate in the negative for much of the eighties and nineties? If oil companies set the price, they would never show a loss. In the eighties, there were oil companies razing their refineries because their was no profit. If the oil companies set the prices, why didn't they just raise the prices years ago? Heck, why don't they just go ahead and say "$10 a gallon" for that matter. It's all economics at this point - supply and demand with a lot of speculation thrown in. Don't demonize the oil companies. They provide jobs for people, invest in communities, and provide a good investment for Americans. They are one of the few manufacturing industries left in this country. We have to either start drilling on our own turf, or cut down tremendously on consumption. If we start blaming and punishing the oil companies, we'll never get a solution and we'll risk running yet another viable industry out of this country. Much as we have automaking, textiles, and so on.

Originally Posted by thePR

Durbin isn't why the taxes are high. And just because the taxes are high doesn't mean oil companies aren't gouging. I see prices go up $0.20 in a day did they just raise taxes? NO. Did the cost per barrel equal that raise? NO. If the cost per barrel goes up a little bit they shoot up prices.

Choosing one side over another, Republican or Democrat isn't that simple. It's a mix of what both sides are saying and you can't just blame one person.

[billybones]

The biggest problem I have is with the auto industry. How is it that most new cars can't seem to achieve the fuel economy of my 13 year old Saturn (36 mpg highway) and it's a 4 door.

Look at an 82 Honda Civic:

Rectangular headlamps and black bumpers appeared on the 1982 Civic. A new gas-sipping model, the five-speed "FE" (Fuel Economy) was introduced and was rated at 41 mpg in the city and 55 mpg on the highway.

Honda Civic

See anything wrong with this picture? The article above shows the current generation hybrid gets 50 city, 50 highway. So 26 years later that best Honda could do is a 9 mpg increase on city mileage and a 5 mpg loss on the highway? Verrrrrry Interesting!

EDIT: To be fair there has been some changes to how mpg is calculated since 1982.

[Avengerfire]

Prepare for gas over $5 by the 4th of July. I bet it will be $6 or more by Labor day.

[Havasu]

Originally Posted by Avengerfire

Prepare for gas over $5 by the 4th of July. I bet it will be $6 or more by Labor day.

Thats my bet also. Get ready for inflation. It will not be cheap to buy anything
that is moved my truck. Diesel is over $5 a gal and just 40 gallons will cost a trucker $200 and at around 3-6 mpg (Thats what most trucks gets when fully loaded)your looking at about a dollar per mile just to get it to point A to Point B NOT including the cost of the truck and insurance, tags,tolls well you get the idea.