Peggy... Don't settle for under $3.00 a gal gas!

The dollar should buy much more gas (and everything else) than it does. They've been sticking it to us for so long that generation after generation forgets what we got for our original dollar when it actually was worth a dollar.

More people need to be aware of why our Dollars purchasing value is next to nothing, who is responsible, and how did they did it.

Here's a scary fact. If you would adjust todays Dollar for inflation (from our original 1913 Dollar), your Dollar would be worth approximately $31.25. In other words, 'You should be getting about 8 gallons of gas for that Dollar.'.

Not many are interested in History, but without knowing what's been going on, we will remain victims.

a real, non anecdotal, situation just happened to me and my wife. We were considering attending my Nieces graduation in Florida but after reviewing the cost we have decided not to attend but rather spend more on a nice gift.

Gas prices made our decision for us.

Think4yourself - Ditto, same deal. We canceled our annual trip to the a mountain lake and have decided to rent a beach house locally. Can't afford 700 dollars in gas.. I would rather stay home and not stress money.

Gas prices went up about .50-.75/gal over the winter. That it dropped .15/gal recently was nothing to cheer about. Now it's going back up just in time for Memorial Day weekend, and the beginning of the summer season. No surprise there at all.

I won't be doing much traveling this year. It's not in the budget.

The reality is that Big Oil thinks it's still the only game in town. It's not. I've already made the change to a hybrid. I went from spending $40 a week to half of that on fuel. Since I travel a total of 42 miles to and from work every day, finding an alternative was the only option.

Big Oil is not helping itself to anymore of my hard earned income. They get enough of that from the taxes I pay for the cleanup of that Valdez spill and their subsidies.

They are hurting themselves where the airline industry is concerned. The price of an airline ticket is prohibitive and airlines are losing money all because their fuel costs are eating up their profits.

I wonder how much Tax money was used to come to this startling conclusion? The Democrats had TOTAL CONTROL of both Houses of Congress for 8 years. The Republicans now control half or Congress and the Democrtat have half. O'Bama complains about the 1%, but he begs that same group for Campaign Contributions. O'Bama is just telling people what they want to hear. It's been proved that his Administration has supported higher Gasoline Prices since his 1st day as President. It was only after this became Public Knowledge that he made a "vague" ineffectual attempt to lower the prices. We got accustomed to paying $3.79- $4 per gallon that we think it's really a bargain when the price "drops" to $3.69 per gallon. People praise O'Bama for the "big price drop" when in reality he had nothing to do with the drop but he could have had input when the price was at $4 a gallon but he didn't think it was a problem.

It's amusing how these Obama lover are defending the gas prices. Lift the constraints on drilling offshore, sign the keystone pipeline, open up drilling on public land, that's just a few things he can do to lower the price. BTW if gas was $0.50 a gallon I still wouldn't vote for Obama.

Gas prices here in jacksonville, florida is about $3.45. That's okay for my budget!!

Hey floyd-

BTW if gas was $0.50 a gallon I still wouldn't vote for Obama.

Are you an idiot. That completely disqualifies anything you said in your post. You obviously dislike Obama indefinatly, so why would you take into consideration why he made the decisions he did on keystone and other projects. Fox has your mind clouded.

I still have 87 cents a gallon burned into my 30 year old head! All this talk of how $3.50 a gallon is cheaper than in 1981 adjusting for inflation falls on deaf ears to generations x,y, & next. We werent around to know how expensive $1.35 a gallon was in 1981. So they should use relavant comparisons when dealing with a younger group. But $3 is by no means cheap & neither is $2.87 or whatever other number they pull out of their rear end!

Let us not forget that if we aren't travelling because of fuel prices, then all the communities and industries that thrive on that summer vacation business will be hurt, more people will be out of work, more people will need assistance, and that will reflect itself in those of us still working paying more throught taxes to cover the costs of those who cannot work. Leisure and tourism are one of the big reasons that many areas of Europe are hurting, both in the US and overseas, nobody has the money for travel and sightseeing.

Here we go again, the Obama haters claiming "open up drilling and prices will come down"

So I have a simple question? Who is the magical company who is going to glut the market with supply so you can have cheap gas? WHO? Stop whining and give me a name..

Fact is, no Company is interested in additional supply to the Market. Additional supply drives up cost and drives down the Market price.

Please research the modern day oil markets and educate yourself before speaking.

The Current Oil and Gas Markets reward tight supply, not excess inventories. This are just political red herrings so people like Sarah Palin can say Drill Baby Drill. Nothing but political noise.

I wouldn't give obama the sweat off my balls if he was dieing of thirst in the desert let alone ever giving him my vote!

Frankly, any pres can go screw himself until gas prices are under $1 a gallon, IMHO.

You mentioned a baby, so I'll assume you are a younger family. I'm quite old. It is very difficult, actually, almost impossible, for a young family to survive in todays economy.

The people of many past generations put a blind faith and trust in the leadership of our government (many still do), because we believed they had our best interests at heart. Many of us were gullible, uninformed, mislead, complacent, etc., and over time, we, the people, lost control of our government.

We were under the illusion, for several Decades, that everything was not only great, but would continue to get better. What a mistake. Those past mistakes covering 100 years, have culminated in what you and your family, and millions of other families just like yourself are dealing with today.

It's up to you, and the Citizens within the younger generations to regain control of your government. That is the only way you'll be able to change the policies that are killing the socio-economic climate.

For arguments sake I'll call the bad guys the 'Washington Establishment' (includes both Democrats and Republicans). It will be next to impossible to dismantle this corrupt body, because of their Elite financial supporters, and the wealth and power they have consolidated (all at the exoense of the people). How do you do that? Maybe a third political Party, or as a last resort turn to Revolution. We've had to do that once before in our past...1776.

Don't know what else to say, but take care of yourself, your family, and if in a position to, help someone less fortunate. Enjoy the people you love, and don't fall for the illusionary dream conjured up by politicians about Utopia.

I remember when gas was .35 cents a gallon. I remember the war years when there was no gas. I remember being caught away from home on the wrong license plate for gas with only a quarter tank of gas. Now i can hardly squeeze into a car and feel like my butts is dragging at that.

Don't despair the Chinese are coming. Love life to the fullest.

This is the land of free and the brave. LOL

Hummer? Seriously? There was never a time in the history of that vehicle when purchasing it was anything close to a smart decision. 6mpg? Why not just crumple up the planet and toss in in the nearest garbage bin (black hole). You _should— be squeezing pennies.

my car is 32 yrs old and still my daily driver (1981 ford fairmont futura) 260,000!

The heyday of SUVs and Hummers are over. What kind of idiots would waste $100 to fill a gas tank? That $100 could feed their kids for a week. These are the same lunkheads who think dinner is a Mcburger or pizza and not a homecooked meal. As if they even know how to cook a meal..roflmao.

The proof of Big Oil's rip off are record profits since 2009...all at the end of the 1st fiscal quarter of each of the last 3 years. Historic records not seen in a decade in each of those quarters.

Ever watch the "do it yourself" shows? Ever notice that people are paying the same amount of money for a state of the art kitchen, or more, than perhaps some of us paid for our homes? Would somebody please tell me why? If they can't nuke it, they can't cook it....Why do you need a $1000 range hood? Or a Carrera marble countertop? Seems almost sacrilege to put the poly styrene container from the fast food joint on it.

I live in Alaska, I just paid $ 4.97 for diesel. Obama is soo full of $h!t, his eyes are brown. he campaigned on bringing the price down, then tells us it's a global economy and he has no control. Now an election year, he tells us he is gonna spend $52 million to control the speculators. SHUT UP. How about you open public land to drilling. You say there is more drilling going on and that is true. Too bad it's all on private land in North Dakota and Texas.

The oil companies aren't stupid enough to increase supply enough that it would lower their profits. Opening up areas to drilling won't make a bit of difference.

Obama has very little to do with gas prices... unless you get your news from Fox/Drudge.

No president has complete control over any aspect of the economy.

The current administration can work to enforce existing measures against energy price speculation and manipulation. Existing Federal Agencies are mandated to do so. But the biggest campaign contributor to the present administaration is a Wall Street speculator, and I feel we do not see any action against price speculation and manipulation.

Bill...It's working out fine for the smart people who follow the path and direction President Obama is trying to set forth...a country where sharing unites and makes the biggest difference.

You can bash away at President Obama but we all know who you are really hiding....Big Oil Big Daddahs making those predatory pricing decisions. Then, you get a cable program called "Big Rich Texas" and you just know who is making that state so rich...the other states paying their freight.

Sharing is Caring....Yeah right! I am not a 1%, never was, never will be. This administration's vision has broken me down to the point where I get to become part of the welfare crowd. I don't want pity. I don't want hand outs. I just want a chance to work, earn my money and then have the privelege to decide how best to serve my family needs with what I have. I feel that has been completely taken away from me and my government is like a giant vulture waiting for the carcass to die, so they can pick the rest of it clean to feed their carrion eating brood.

@Sue-3329001 Obama has done nothing But fight for the middle class, while the Republicans have done nothing but say No to every idea that could improve the economy because all the care about is getting back into power, and they know that an improved economy under President Obama means a re-elected President Obama. If you want a group of fat cats who do nothing but give themselves and their buddies tax breaks in office, vote for Republicans. If you want people who are actually on Your side, vote Democrat.

actually when bush left office, gas was over 4 dlrs a gallon, and remember how he kissed the shieks hand when he had him in his ranch?

Come on Mini, don't let the facts get in the way of Obama bashing, right? Obama did decry high gas prices in '08, if you recall, gas peaked that September at $4.11. Check price here: http://www.nashvillegasprices.com/retail_price_chart.aspx

It did then fall off the cliff due to the financial crisis that occurred days later and it bottomed out at $1.47 to be exact.

Have you already forgotten George Bush looking panicked in the Rose Garden, wringing his hands and biting the insides of his cheek? Lehman Bros and Tarp? Oh yeah, and John McCain "rushing" back to Washington to try to fix the economy? Good times, those were... Did they not air any of that on your news network of choice?

Sorry but in the East for most of the Bush years, gasoline prices increased. They NEVER decrease. For those 8 years, gasoline went from $2.79 a gallon to over $3 by 2008.

It's time to stop blaming government for decisions made by Corporate CEOs who get annual increases the rest of the people in this country never will. It's time to admit that not a single one of these CEOs live within THEIR means but they will demand we do. They more they luxuriate and spend on fleets of private jets, the more entitled they believe they are to that wealth. Wealth that can only be gained from consumers they juice with predatory pricing, taxpayers they are begging bailouts and unnecessary subsidies from and employees they deny jobs and decent benefits. Bougies anyone?

It's too bad there isn't a simple fix for this problem. But when ALL the politicians are in bed with ALL the corporate CEO's, nothing will change.The only thing changing is how many people actually make enough to pay their bills, and continue to pay those same politicians. And that figure is declining, as more and more people are actually losing any benefits they may have had, therefore less discretionary money for such things as vacations, new clothes for their kids/grandkids, new vehicles, new homes, etc., etc.

Until all the number crunchers get their facts right, and stop catering to the political whims in Washington, D.C., nothing will really change. They need to do the job they are paid to do, by the taxpayers, not the blasted politicians.

You can try to call it "Obama Bashing", but what his policies have done is create a federal government every bit as threatening to the American way of life as any other major corporation. The CEO's are the people we elected to got o Washington and represent us, but they only represent themselves and protect their interests and pad their bank accounts-not unlike the corporate types that the posters are so happy to criticize and villify. The difference is that our government has the ability to legislate themselves a monopoly, to impose so may rules on the private companies that the only game in town will be the government-no competition, no profit and without the motivations of competition and profit, you can darn well forget wages increasing for the working person, just the taxes to pay for all those displaced from honest work.

Almost all products sold where the price of production has nothing to do with the selling price, are nothing but giant almost illegal money grabs for the benefit of greedy companies run by greedy CE-Os. Energy, electric power, pharmaceuticals, banks, lawyers, accountants, doctors, some insurance, etc. They have a monopoly and they know if they lobby the governments they will keep it. The benefit of the country and it's citizens is the last thing on their mind.

am.can...Don't know if you recall the bleating, screaming, complaining and caterwalling when Nixon tried price controls. They went absolutely ballistic that any president would dare, much less a Republican president to put price controls on their products.

Where did these lunatics EVER get the idea that they can overprice their goods and we'll not find other options to avoid their grift?

its all about control they want us under their thumb ( mashed hard )

Rob...Is that all you righties know how to do? Lob your accountability on everyone else but yourselves? Did you mind when Bush dumped the Valdez spill on you in 2007? Or that $200 billion he spent on an embassy in Iraq? Where were the righties mouths on that?

As for morons, we know who the morons in this country are...the Lil Abners and Daisy Maes who don't leave DogPatch long enough for their lives to change since the 1940's. Meanwhile, these asses assume the rest of us must be held back by their fear of change and reform. Reform we will...whether the TX Big Oil Big Daddahs like that or not.

Ewent, you do realize that Obama has publicly stated that gas prices will have to become unnecessarily high before green energy can ever by seen as being efficient and embraced by the American people, right?

And the Exxon Valdez spill did not raise prices. The imposed government oversight afterwards, imposed by liberal idiots, is what caused higher prices. And no, I really don't care that a few birds died.

And yes, numbnuts, drilling at home would reduce prices. But since you obviously skipped elementary school, here's a simple rule....When supply is greater than demand, prices drop....when demand is higher than supply, prices rise.

You also realize Obama gave billions to Brazil for their oil industry with the hopes that we'll be their #1 customer...so much for reducing our reliance on foreign oil, huh? Then he has the gall to go and piss them off so they don't want to do business with us...oh yeah, that isn't the act of a moron, is it?

Any president that has an agenda should not be president. Period.

The Potus is a position that is intended to represent the will of the people...not the will of the current administration. As long as Democrats/Republicans continue to force large government, this problem will not go away. Reduce government, eliminate pay for civil service positions, and outlaw lobbyists. Then our problems will begin to diminish. Personal responsibility will be held high, so that a family that can't afford to have one child, but has 10 anyway, will just collapse and die. That would begin the cure to overpopulation, lack of resources, and high cost of living.

I'm not sure why people think we have the right to healthcare. We don't. We don't have a right to life (our only right is that the government cannot execute us...well, until Obama started assassinating Americans). We don't have a right to happiness. We don't have a right to government welfare. Liberals demanding that the U.S. government pay for unfunded programs to make the dregs of society happy only destroys the quality of life for the many that actually make this country's economy run.

Good points rondoozi.There are other ways to cut gas waste as well.I wonder how much is burned every day sitting in McD or bank drivethrus,for instance.Or driving around parking lots looking for the closest space.I even see people leaving vehicles on while they run into convenience stores or sit outside fast-food places eating in the car.

I seem to remember after the Valdiz oil spill, there was a huge push to boycott them as being environmentally irresponsible, and I know that emails circulated and billions of people stopped going to that gas station in favor of competitors who were viewed as more environmentally friendly, but fact reality, it didn't put Exxon out of business at all. The Valdiz was not something that a corporation did intentionally. If they were as greedy as you assert, then wasting all that oil would be an anathema to them. Valdiz, like the BP incident in the gulf had multiple factors all coming together at one time to create a huge accident with serious repercussions. Human error, failing mechanicals, weather conditions.....Not necessarily proof of any single negligence, but rather our arrogance to assume that we can control everything all the time. We don't prepare for the unforseen, and then blame everyone in sight when it happens. Valdiz and BP gave everyone a chance to vent their spleen and villify and lay blame for all their ills, far beyond the actual disasters themselves. It created a rallying point for the "we/them" kind of divisive rhetoric that our country seems locked into. In reading these posts, I have become convinced that people are not as concerned about the environment, the future, or their fellow human being's ability to live and thrive in America, as they are vested in the notion that those who have risen to the top of the heap, are the embodiment of the promise of America should be stripped down, vengefully reduced. The environment, social conscience are merely socially acceptable trappings for the greed, envy, and vengence that nobody seems to want to admit. If you successfully destroy all the successful people and companies, what will be left????? We are already feeling the affects when companies feel that the US environment is too hostile and move overseas-unemployment rampant and stagnant wages, unbalance flow of trade.....

re: 9.2 I am curious, do you have a job? My wife and I do not because of Corporate Bankruptcy and Age Discrimination. My wife has no insurance and I cannot afford $800+ / month for long. We are losing our house. When is this mess going to improve? Government does absolutely nothing effective about jobs, homeless and unaffordable major medical insurance. You wrote a lot of words saying we are too hard on government. Will all these words stop us from being homeless on the street and just dying because we cannot afford health insurance? May we have human rights???

Two words Rowboat3....Personal Responsibility. The U.S. government is not your personal babysitter.

Re 9.4 Why is age discrimination not stopped so we can get jobs again? It is law.

Got a new twist on that one, here in Canada four different independent retailers were charged and fined several millions of dollars for agreeing to set the price of gas at their retail pumps. But here is the kicker they had agreed to sell below the suggested retail price the large oil companies stations were selling it at. So who is to blame for the higher price, even the governments protect them and does nothing when the big oil companies agree to sell it all at a higher price.

am.cam...You live in one of the most remarkably beautiful countries in the world. I visited Calgary in 2000 and saw the huge oil corporations in that city. Then, a few days later saw that oil sand production facility in northern AB. What Canada does is Canada's business. But that Keystone Oil project Bush and Ralph Klein tried to push through without full approval from American taxpayers was a massive scam. We in the US have some pretty high handed politicians who ignore the rights of the people who elect them.

British Columbia didn't want that pipeline because they knew it would destroy their beautiful province. So why should 1750 miles of a pipeline in some of the most dangerous areas of the US where wild fires and twisters are a persistent problem be allowed here? Not to mention the loss of US residential property by eminent domain to Canadian Oil companies.

For all those who like to bash Bush, it was Bush who threatened a similar legal action to the one mentioned by our Canadian neighbor....any retailer artificially "price gouging" was going to be subject to potential fine, investigation, prosecution. That prevented what we have as the current scenerio, where the rumors of a futures increase in crude oil prices spike the price at the pump, but when the actual price per barrel declines, we do not see the corresponding drop to the consumer. And the 50 cents per gallon, speculation costs pale in relation to the percentage of gas price at the pump which is made up of federal, state and local taxes.

re 10. Would oil companies hire qualified applicants in proportion to the age distribution of people where they do business or in proportion to the age distribution of applicants???? I believe not, they like age discrimination, just like the rest of Corporate America and government always goes along with big business. If one feels I am incorrect, let's see the numbers which I have never seen shown.

So you think he will deliberately damage his re-election for the sake of higher fuel costs?That he will throw himself under the bus,in effect?That makes sense to you?And btw,Solyndra would've been a good thing.It would have allowed Americans to produce,employ and pay taxes.Instead the benefits go to the Chinese who put Solyndra out of business.Hope you're happy about that.

David Jones...Wrong...The Energy Commission is comprised on Energy Executives. None are appointed by the President. At present, the head of the SEC is a Bush appointee and by your thinking that means for the 8 Bush years, that Bush appointee missed Madoff's fraud as well as Kozlowski's, Ebbers and the rest of the Wall Street thieves. Why point out Solyndra? Is it because that's the ONLY solar company that had a massive failure? Now, come to NJ. Trinity Solar has 12,000 customers and climbing. Don't you people leave your states ever? Trinity is one of thousands of solar energy companies hiring in NJ.

ewent--ummmm--Why point out Solyndra?

Could it BE that it is because the Obama Admin. Gambled Billions of dollars on Solyndra despite his OWN people knowing it was failing?

Obama seems to be using the carrot and the stick approach to gaining wider acceptance, use and development of green technology, but he has an interesting spin on the process. Instead of there being a reward for moving in the direction of green energy, the rabbit gets bludgeoned with the stick.

Austin--I DO hope you are not holding your Breath!

RT Tech...Alaska is getting anything but screwed. It receives the highest dollar ROI for what they pay into the fed. $1.72 for every dollar they pay. That doesn't count the $1200 each Alaska taxpayer gets from that subsidy.

Here's the real game Big Oil plays. They jack prices. Then, they return them to the pre-price jack level. So they don't really ever go down. They just return to pre-predatory levels of the prior fiscal quarter. It's why every 1st fiscal quarter they are turning over obscene profits. They try to make Americans think that this predatory pricing game is lowering the cost of gasoline...Is it? It went from $4.10 in NJ last year to $3.59...now that ought to really help our budgets? So now that Memorial Day and 4th of July are on their way, watch the price increase again and watch how that price will be considered "lowered" when the holiday is over.

Actually, I can agree somewhat with our friend in Alaska....We have a similar situation in which the electricity company soaked the residents to build new nuclear plants....These nuclear plants were flawed during construction and that fact was known, so they have never been able to even operate at peak efficiency. So our state had the financial liability to build them, and we now have the eco issues waiting to see if there could be a serious failure resulting in radioactive spills....and all the power generated at these facilities is being sold in other states, states that are paying less for their electric than we are. Yeah, I can really understand where RT Tech is coming from......The excuse given by the electric company is that all power generated goes into the grid and then entities, states, cities etc, purchase blocks of power from the grids and negotiate contracts with the grid.....Question is, why can't the grid risk its own capital to build these plants if it is going to export the power generated everywhere else, but where the plant is, and usually for lesser costs.

Von Snickle...And just what did Bush do with his SEC Bush appointee about Madoff? Nada. gas prices are NOT regulated by the SEC. That's as stupid a posting as it gets. Gas prices are regulated solely by the Gas Industry.

Green transportation is here to stay whether the Texas jerks in Big Oil like that or not. Come to NJ. You'll see as many hybrids on the roads as you do the new electric cars. Electric charging stations are replacing gas stations. Just because Texas is so oil addicted, doesn't mean the rest of the states are willing to be their hostages.

Furthermore, it's pretty damn hypocritical to say Big Oil isn't involved in solar when First Energy out of TX has littered roads and highways with solar panels on street lights all saving them tons of money while they juice electricity, natural gas and gasoline prices.

And BP's new slogan is "Beyond Petroleum" Big oil are the bad guys for producing oil, and when they try to get on board with the environmental issues that everyone holds so dearly, they are lambasted for doing it. Make up your minds. Who better to research alternate energy? Who has better motivation to do so in a timely and economically friendly manner than a company that successfully supplies energy and would like to continue to do so in future as the fossil fuels become scarcer? What I am hearing is that you resent big oil's success and it would just fry your grits if they were successful with alternate energy sources as well, even if that made things affordable for you and everyone else....Because, the little green eyed monsters out there, somehow think that we should replace the "robber barons" of big oil with the new "robber barons" of alternative energy....We will still have the almighty 1% that seems to aggravate everyone so much, but it will just be a new crop of crooks to complain about.

FoundersFan...I'm voting for President Obama because unlike Bush, people come first. If the hotsy totsy makes billions off Americans in the Big Oil industry need a rude awakening we are more than happy to provide that. Any idiot who'd spend $100 to fill a gas guzzler deserves the economic slapping they get. Nothing else seems to wake up the affluenza suffers in this country. They want to go on and on and one just blithely using up every natural resource and then when that happens...It's "Road Warrior" all over again.

If the rest of us can learn to economize, so the ritzy titzies.

Ewent--sorry, but Obama doesn't seem to ME like he cares about "people''--just the ones who while not paying ANY income taxes, are the prime beneficiaries of government giveaways.

I forget which Greek philosopher who said that all democracies will fail when the number of people TAKING from the government VOTES themselves too much for the ones PAYING for everything.

I'm not rich, my income is less than $50K, but I pay 15% of MY income in INCOME taxes alone. Until Obama starts requiring EVERYONE to pay SOMETHING, he is like the parent who spoils his kids rotten, and then wonders why they become drains on society.

Agreed Momaid....if I were to wait for the present administration to "care about me" I would starve to death in the streets. We have a country that falls into basically two categories: those who produce tax dollars and those who do not. Unfortunately, we are rapidly nearing that point where the tax producers cannot meet the needs of those who do not and soon everyone collapses under the weight and we all have to be content with whatever the government deems is appropriate for us to have. All of you engaging in class envy and feeling oppressed.....just wait. Economize isn't even going to begin to describe what will happen...It is such a shame that people's thoughts are so easily manipulated by dollars....As long as you have dollars, the administration is peachy. As long as the government provides dollars for not working, not contributing, then for those folks, government is good. For those of us who work and try to make our bills honestly....well, which of us will be the last one standing?

Price of oil, gold, silver, stocks, bonds, homes cannot be sustained when the money supply deflates. Google for "DEFLATIONARY CRASH" to understand why US dollar becomes more valuable during financial crisis. Stock will decline first, economy will get worse later. And prepare for cheaper gas! It is coming.