Help the Economy, drive a car with good mileage

[DanKellFla]

Ehhh, what do you think? High gas prices has driven up to cost of consumer goods. Maybe if we used less fuel, the price of fuel, as a commodity, would fall. Of course, this would take a long term change in habbits and take a long time to actually have an effect. Even then, the effect may be small.
But, every little bit helps.

[Ed Mahmoud]

People notice high gas prices, but is gasoline really more expensive, or is the US dollar just going into the toilet, aided partly by excessive borrowing by the US government, and low interest rates to prevent a recession.


If you compare corn, wheat, gold, copper or platinum prices to what they were, it becomes obvious it is more that the dollar is weakening than that oil is really rising.

[HURAKAN]

Agree %. If we continue in this downward spiral, the worse time is still ahead.

[artist]

Hurakan, now are you really old enough to make that comment?

I, personally have not seen that much difference.


Have you seen the new hybrid SUV? Looks awesome!

[HURAKAN]

Well artist I don't know if you have noticed that gas prices continue to increase ($3.19 the lowest in my neighborhood) and I'm old enough to remember $0.99. In the market the prices of milk and everything else continue to increase. I remember when the dollar was stronger than the Euro.

You don't have to be an economist or be old enough to acknowledge that our standard of living continues to be more expensive to maintain and if in the future the economy continues to decline, everything will be more expensive.

If you have a nice standard of living that allows you to notice very little changes, God bless you and your good fortune, but for most Americans it's becoming harder and harder to keep afloat with today's economy.

[DanKellFla]

If you have a nice standard of living that allows you to notice very little changes, God bless you and your good fortune, but for most Americans it's becoming harder and harder to keep afloat with today's economy.

Somebody throw me a life preserver!!!!

[artist]

Well artist I don't know if you have noticed that gas prices continue to increase ($3.19 the lowest in my neighborhood) and I'm old enough to remember $0.99. In the market the prices of milk and everything else continue to increase. I remember when the dollar was stronger than the Euro.

You don't have to be an economist or be old enough to acknowledge that our standard of living continues to be more expensive to maintain and if in the future the economy continues to decline, everything will be more expensive.

If you have a nice standard of living that allows you to notice very little changes, God bless you and your good fortune, but for most Americans it's becoming harder and harder to keep afloat with today's economy.

well, what you fail to realize is we have one of the lowest prices for gas in the world. In Eurpoe the price righ tnow is over $7 a litre. True, it going up drives prices up but only a few cents per item so there can't be that big of a change. And it has more to do with those opposing that we be able to drill for our own oil and for us not wanting more refinerires built in our cities than anything else. We are very fortunate that we have such a low price to pay compared to others.

Nation City Price in USD Regular/Gallon
Netherlands Amsterdam $6.48
Norway Oslo $6.27
Italy Milan $5.96
Denmark Copenhagen $5.93
Belgium Brussels $5.91
Sweden Stockholm $5.80
United Kingdom London $5.79
Germany Frankfurt $5.57
France Paris $5.54
Portugal Lisbon $5.35
Hungary Budapest $4.94
Luxembourg $4.82
Croatia Zagreb $4.81
Ireland Dublin $4.78
Switzerland Geneva $4.74
Spain Madrid $4.55
Japan Tokyo $4.24
Czech Republic Prague $4.19
Romania Bucharest $4.09
Andorra $4.08
Estonia Tallinn $3.62
and these prices were from 2005. I didn't find an updated version.

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lists/ ... gasprices/

[HURAKAN]

Artist, I don't live in Europe, I live in the United States and I deeply care for what has been happening for the past few years. As the dollar continues to lose value, everything will become more expensive. There is no discussion about it.

[Stephanie]

artist - the problem is that our economy has become accustomed to the lower fuel prices and our spending/saving habits weren't affected by it. Prices on food, clothing, etc. weren't affected by it either. Now we're all being forced to adjust to the rising cost of gasoline and fuel as a whole, either by way of filling up our cars or paying for our groceries. It's affecting everything. The lower dollar doesn't help either.

My Honda CR-V gets an average 24.5 mile to the gallon.

[artist]

Politics are not allowed here and you as a mod know that.
I will report it if I see it here again. With the elections coming up, people need to search out the truth for themselves, not get it from a blog or news sites. All sources such as these are biased one way or the other.

And Dan, unless you are driving more than 600 miles a week you are probably seeing no more than a total increase of gas, as well as goods of more than $25 or so. Yes, that can hurt but it is a mild hurt, and I consider myself lucky we don't live in a country that taxes out the kazoo!

[Coredesat]

Politics are not allowed here and you as a mod know that.
I will report it if I see it here again. With the elections coming up, people need to search out the truth for themselves, not get it from a blog or news sites. All sources such as these are biased one way or the other.

And Dan, unless you are driving more than 600 miles a week you are probably seeing no more than a total increase of gas, as well as goods of more than $25 or so. Yes, that can hurt but it is a mild hurt, and I consider myself lucky we don't live in a country that taxes out the kazoo!

What in blazes was political about any of the mods' posts in this thread? All I can see is you trying to make it political by making accusatory remarks against them. There's nothing political about it from what I can see.

[CajunMama]

I have to agree with core. Who are you implying is talking politics in here?

[HURAKAN]

I measured precisely my words because I knew the topic was going to derail into personal attacks and/or not important stuff.

I tried to be very polite and disagree without going personal. I have learned a lot in this matter since I became a member almost four years ago.

Going back to topic:

DanKellFla, it's very difficult for a public used to having a high standard of living to go back to live a more modest life. I can't see myself without my car and having the freedom of going anywhere I can at the time I want. We need to invest in finding a resource to replace oil and still keep our lives almost intact. At the end it seems the answer will be nuclear energy. Lets see what happens.

[DanKellFla]

Artist, I don't live in Europe, I live in the United States and I deeply care for what has been happening for the past few years. As the dollar continues to lose value, everything will become more expensive. There is no discussion about it.

Actually, with the onset of a global marketplace and the power of Wal-Mart etc. there may be an unusual response to a falling dollar and the costs of goods. Prices will have to go up, but how much? We are the largest consumer market in the world and the manufactureres know that it is a give and take. I know that a weak dollar takes at least 2 fiscal quarters to show up in comsumer goods shipped from China due to shipping and contracts signed under a stronger dollar.

The high gas prices is Europe have a lot to do with taxes. But their society is set up differently. Their population centers are densly packed and public transportation is good. In many instances, taking a train makes more sense than taking a car due to parking, traffic, etc...

We could drill for more oil, but at best our supply would increase about 10% for about 10 years. That may lead to a short term drop in prices. Which, I think will just lead to the country using more fuel and putting us back in the same place we are today.

Hurrakan, I wish I could sell one of my cars. But, that is impossible because I have no other alternative.

I work in the energy industry. The phrase 'Nuclear Reinasannce (sp?)' has be floating around for the last year or so. There are going to be new nuclear power plants in this country in the next 10 years.

[Stephanie]

Politics are not allowed here and you as a mod know that.
I will report it if I see it here again. With the elections coming up, people need to search out the truth for themselves, not get it from a blog or news sites. All sources such as these are biased one way or the other.

And Dan, unless you are driving more than 600 miles a week you are probably seeing no more than a total increase of gas, as well as goods of more than $25 or so. Yes, that can hurt but it is a mild hurt, and I consider myself lucky we don't live in a country that taxes out the kazoo!

Cajun, HURAKAN and I are all waiting for you to explain why you thought this was a political post. Is it, perhaps, that you are LOOKING for a political post to complain about?? Are you looking to see if S2K is following it's own rules?? Inquiring minds want to know.

[artist]

far from it Stephanie. I have been here for a long time and you would know that. What I get tired of is the innuendos when a political election is coming up. There are those that might say they aren't but when you feel strongly about politics you see them for what they are. If they weren't then they would be here year round. They are not. There is a reason for no politics on this forum - too many strong personalities that can cause much conflict.

[Stephanie]

Then may I suggest that when you make a post like

No, you on the left are not the only ones living in the US. Get over it.

, that is more than an innuendo and you're a part of the problem? As you said, there's a reason why we don't have a political forum - due to posts like that.

I saw that for what it was and we left it alone until the thread got out of hand. One of the other Mods locked it which was the right thing to do. So tell me, were those innuendos any worse or different than what you posted above? I think not. When you talk the talk, make sure you walk the walk.

[HURAKAN]

From my side of the fense I was very careful in selecting my words. There's not one word in this thread in which I have mention politics, just the economy of the country. It's true we're close to recession, it's true that the dollar worths everyday less, and it's true that we're paying more everyday to sustain our current living standard.

This is for the majority of America. There will always be a sector in the country that won't see much change. This is also a representation of how strong our economy is. That we can consume trillions of dollars in the war and agaist terrorism and still the country keeps running peacefully. Not many countries can do what the US can.

[artist]

this is my last post. Bringing up the economy in an election year is political. And do you have graphs that support your comment that it is true for most of America? From reliable sources?Everyone I know is doing just fine. I am nothing more than a middle class American. Thanks for the good times.

[mf_dolphin]

this is my last post. Bringing up the economy in an election year is political. And do you have graphs that support your comment that it is true for most of America? From reliable sources?Everyone I know is doing just fine. I am nothing more than a middle class American. Thanks for the good times.

Bringing up the economy in an election year is not political by itself. If we banned anything that might have something to do with the political race is any manner we wouldn't have any posts at all. We have and will continue to debate current topics because that's what reasonable people with different viewpoints do.