What is Happening in America and the World 

Hi GR 3.79 in Iron Mountain.

Got this e-mail from Sen. Bill Nelson the other day...looks like he's sponsoring a bill. Not sure how effective it would be. What ya'll think? Getting around $3.80 in east central Florida.

Dear Friends,

Gas prices most places are pushing $4 a gallon - again. And news reports say it could be $5 or more by summertime. That’s outrageous – and unjustified.

Whether it’s the continuing threat of unrest in the Middle East or the lure of quick profit, the price of oil is driven in big part by traders, speculators and, of course, fear.

There’s been unrest in the Middle East for thousands of years, as we’re seeing right now with Iran and the Strait of Hormuz. Every time we’re faced with this international uncertainty, especially in the Middle East, we’re reminded why we must get off of foreign oil. Nothing’s going to eliminate the volatility in oil prices like becoming less dependent on foreign energy sources.

But we’ve also got to stop a new brand of oil trader who has emerged in the last decade, a middle man of sorts, who’s also driving up the price we pay at the pump.

Many experts agree we should not allow these traders to bid up the price of oil and flip futures contracts like condos. Yet in the last ten years the share of the oil market controlled by investors and speculators has more than doubled.

During the same time, American drivers have seen the price of gas at the pump go from about $1.56 per gallon to around $3.61 per gallon or more. By bidding up oil futures, speculators also increase costs for our airlines, industrial energy users and other businesses. And these higher costs are passed on to consumers like you and me.

Fact is, the level of speculation in today’s energy markets greatly exceeds the historic norm. If you want to know the truth, it’s partly the fault of broken-down policies from a Congress dominated by partisanship and extremism. Congress deregulated oil traders in December 2000. And it hasn’t tackled a comprehensive alternative energy policy since Nixon and Carter first talked about one in the 1970s.

Anyone can push for gas-tax holidays and the Keystone Pipeline. In fact, I support the pipeline as long as it’s in an area where it’s not as much of a threat to the entire Midwest water supply and we require that the oil stay here at home and not be sold to foreign countries.

We’ve already given the oil companies more than eight million more prime acres in which to drill in the Gulf of Mexico. Now we should curb the activities of speculators. And, in the long term, we must develop alternatives to gasoline.

I think Congress should pass legislation that aims to drastically limit the ability of speculators to artificially drive up energy prices. If this bill passes, there would be the first-ever limits on how much of the oil market speculators can control. The chief cosponsor of my bill is Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-WV).

Plain and simple: the legislation says no single investor could hold more than 5 percent of the oil futures market, thereby greatly reducing speculators ability to manipulate prices.

Does this sound like an idea you could support? Please let me know. Also, let me know what else you think we could do to bring down gas prices.

Sincerely,

Bill Nelson

Equivalent to $8.46 per U.S. gallon today.

Im in Europe, of course. The math:

Gas station sign says 1.64.

1.64 Euro per liter. $1.37 per Euro today.
1.64 x 1.37 = $2.24 per liter
$2.24 x 3.78 liters per U.S gallon = $8.46 per U.S. gallon.

Politics? Of course. 75% of the price in Germany is taxes.

Hi GR, You are back!!!!!

Glad to see you here again!

Love your gas station sign. Saw one once that said, in order from the top:

Arm
Leg
First Born

Today here in upstate NY, regular is $3.96 and premium is $4.20.

please do not remove this blog.....since it's been up oil prices and gas futures have declined everyday...you're a great american!!!!!

Premium gas at $3.98 in Portland yesterday. Agree with most of this blog. Of course I don't want to see ANWAR opened up and even if the keystone pipeline gets built there will be too few jobs and apparently no oil at all for America from it. I don't believe there's much the President (any President) can do to effect gas prices short term. Short sighted, knee-jerk reason to cast a ballot one way or the other, IMO.

Banning trading in gasoline futures would not be wise. Many industries such as airlines, need to lock in their future fuel price in advance for obvious reasons since it is a large part of their overhead, however, if they raised the margin on commodities trading it would cut down on alot of the speculation.

Banning the trade in gasoline futures would not be wise. Many fuel intensive industries, such as airlines, need to lock in their future price of fuel since it is such a large part of their overhead.

Raising the margin rate on futures trading would decrease the amount of speculation though.

Sorry for the duel post folks. Must've been a hickup.

seems the cpi covers what i spend monthly and yearly...but you keep up the doom and gloom ;-)



What goods and services does the CPI cover?
The CPI represents all goods and services purchased for consumption by the reference population (U or W) BLS has classified all expenditure items into more than 200 categories, arranged into eight major groups. Major groups and examples of categories in each are as follows:

FOOD AND BEVERAGES (breakfast cereal, milk, coffee, chicken, wine, full service meals, snacks)
HOUSING (rent of primary residence, owners' equivalent rent, fuel oil, bedroom furniture)
APPAREL (men's shirts and sweaters, women's dresses, jewelry)
TRANSPORTATION (new vehicles, airline fares, gasoline, motor vehicle insurance)
MEDICAL CARE (prescription drugs and medical supplies, physicians' services, eyeglasses and eye care, hospital services)
RECREATION (televisions, toys, pets and pet products, sports equipment, admissions);
EDUCATION AND COMMUNICATION (college tuition, postage, telephone services, computer software and accessories);
OTHER GOODS AND SERVICES (tobacco and smoking products, haircuts and other personal services, funeral expenses).
Also included within these major groups are various government-charged user fees, such as water and sewerage charges, auto registration fees, and vehicle tolls. In addition, the CPI includes taxes (such as sales and excise taxes) that are directly associated with the prices of specific goods and services. However, the CPI excludes taxes (such as income and Social Security taxes) not directly associated with the purchase of consumer goods and services.

The CPI does not include investment items, such as stocks, bonds, real estate, and life insurance. (These items relate to savings and not to day-to-day consumption expenses.)

Thanks for the different feedbacks to Nelson's thoughts..

Get Real~ One of Nelson's point is we gave up 8million prime acres in the GOM. Doesn't even mention the recent land give in Alaska. We gave into drill baby drill & speculators are still running wild. They took their restrictions away in 2000.

Glad to see him not backing Keystone. There is no way to protect that huge water reserve for a large slice of the country & to risk our water so corporations could refine & sell it to other counties is not helping US.

get...no matter what it takes...i'll survive...in fact...i'll make the best out of it...but what i know of you...you're smarter than you're acting by blaming it on a politician you don't like...there's no point in showing the real factors at play here forcing gas prices up...because i'm pretty darn sure you already know them...but if this blog gig makes you happy...by all means...go for it

This is just my opinion, but what I am seeing here is just an attempt to cover up the weakness of the Republican presidential candidates. Obama has everything working against him, for his re-election. Everything, save one. A strong Republican presidential candidate. Should there be a strong Republican presidential candidate available, then this blog would be pointless, simply because it would not be needed.

The U.S. voters are becoming much more knowledgeable and savvy about how things are done and manipulated to make one party look better than the other, under different circumstances. This, in itself, may make this blog pointless as well since it will be viewed as just more finger pointing.

Put up a viable presidential candidate and I will vote for them. I did not vote for Obama in the last election. You should not confuse me, and many Independents, as one that would vote for, "anybody, but Obama!". We may have a "Pinto" in office now, but do not offer me a "Yugo" as a replacement.