Why can’t the government do more to cut gas prices?
If you are one of these startlingly dense people, then you clearly were learning to put condoms on cucumbers in dreadful public schools rather than in Econ101 class learning about basic supply and demand. The government can't do anything to lower prices. The idiotic, disastrous cessation of the fed. $.18 gas tax would cause huge shortages and long lines exactly like they did in the 70's when the worst President ever, Jemmeh Carter tried it. Moreover, refiners only make 4cents on every dollar of revenue. If the government lowered the price of gas, why would the refiners choose to keep refining gas at a loss?
So my friends, if you want to decrease your monthly gas costs, then YOU, not the government, must make some changes in your lifestyles.
As you know, I never miss a chance to ridicule smug liberals as they drive around in electric cars and hybrids thinking they are better than everybody else because they are saving the polar bears or some such crap. What I do not ridicule is somebody making a financial decision to drive a hybrid because they've calculated that they can save money by doing so. Nobody gives a crap about the polar bears. As gas prices rise, a financial advantage of alternative-fueled cars arises. The other day on the way to work, my wife and I were complaining about gas prices as we pulled next to an '08 Prius, and I started thinking, at 56mpg, that car doesn't look nearly as stupid as it used to. What do you think? Would I look good in one of these?
This is the '09 Prius. 57mpg....approximately 3.5 times the mileage of my SUV. It's starting to look tempting.
7 comments:
I agree with you on this one Ed. I don't care about the environment in the least. What I do care about is my bank statement, and if I can save money by buying one of those vehicles, I am tempted to do so.
You both had better start caring for the environment! Or it will have a great effect on your bank statement there Kev-O. From my vantage point here, "inside the circle" all I can see is hundreds of potential regulations and bills to help save what is left of the environment - and all that adds up to is more tax money to Big Brother. And by the way, that comes out of your pocket!
@mr. green jeans,
Nobody is advocating polluting or destroying the planet. We're just saying that rising gas prices will naturally give rise to much more efficient vehicles and alternative fuels via the free market, without meddling government regulators imposing draconian limits to fix a problem that exists only in their imaginations....global warming.
Mr Green Jeans, I am not buying, I repeat, I am NOT buying a hybrid vehicle because I care about the environment. I want to buy one so that I don't have to shell out 80 bucks for a tank of gas. Carbon emission has nothing to do with my financial decisions. If gas was a dollar, I would stick with my SUV, because gas would be cheap.
Also, government regulations and taxes are the easiest and fastest way to screw up our economy and our nation. If you want to know how, read Atlas Shrugged. Perfect example.
when you buy your hybrid remember that you will shell out about $1500 PER YEAR ON THE BATTERY. iT MUST BE REPLACED. hAVE FUN WITH IT.
Well it will only have to be replaced every few years like a normal battery, its made from a different material to make up for the extra use, and I cant imagine that there isn't an alternator in the car. I dont see that being a big issue.
I know that the batteries in these hybrids are more expensive to maintain and replace. It's a question of what costs more, the battery costs in the hybrid, or the gas costs of driving a normal car? However it comes down is the way I'll go. Right now, the gas is still less expensive so I'll just buy a Honda, or a MiniCooper next. When it hits like $7/gal, then I'll reconsider whether a hybrid is cost effective.
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