kind of heartbreaking (rural areas and the gas crisis)

[Eric P]

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/09/business/09gas.html?pagewanted=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

TCHULA, Miss. — Gasoline prices reached a national average of $4 a gallon for the first time over the weekend, adding more strain to motorists across the country.

James Patterson for The New York Times

But the pain is not being felt uniformly. Across broad swaths of the South, Southwest and the upper Great Plains, the combination of low incomes, high gas prices and heavy dependence on pickup trucks and vans is putting an even tighter squeeze on family budgets.

Here in the Mississippi Delta, some farm workers are borrowing money from their bosses so they can fill their tanks and get to work. Some are switching jobs for shorter commutes.

People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.

“This crisis really impacts those who are at the economic margins of society, mostly in the rural areas and particularly parts of the Southeast,” said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service, a fuel analysis firm. “These are people who have to decide between food and transportation.”

Economists say that despite widespread concern about gasoline prices, the nationwide impact of the oil crisis has so far been gentler than during the oil crises of the 1970s and 1980s, when shortages caused long lines at the pump, set off inflation and drove the economy into recession.

Cleveland Whiteside, who works with Mr. Clark and used to commute 30 miles a day, said his Jeep Cherokee was repossessed last month, because “I paid so much for gas to get to work I couldn’t pay my payments anymore.” His employer, Larry Clanton, has lent him a pickup truck so he can get to work.

“As gas prices rise, working less could be the economically rational choice,” said Tim Slack, a sociologist at Louisiana State University who studies rural poverty. “That would mean lower incomes for the poor and greater distance from the mainstream.”

[MrAngryFace]

BOOBOBOB ITS EXPENSIVE IN EUROPE TOO!

Fuk off euros, you live on a thumbtack by comparison

[T234]

Dear god am I glad I don't have to drive 90 miles a day for 6.75/hr.

[MrAngryFace]

yeah if I was still in AZ doing school with my retail job id be fucked x 10

[patrickula]

speculatorsInvestors

[Rman]

So unfortunate.

[Mupepe]

is this an FoC bait thread?

[AdmiralViscen]

Maybe this will open his eyes.

[Mupepe]

Maybe this will open his eyes.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I saw something really unusual over the weekend... I was driving by Costco, and the line for the gas pumps was a dozen cars deep on every pump. It was just crazy to see that prices have hit a point where people are obsessing over that last 20 cents per gallon.

Outsider of Costo, Gas is $4.45 for regular, here...

[Eric P]

I saw something really unusual over the weekend... I was driving by Costco, and the line for the gas pumps was a dozen cars deep on every pump. It was just crazy to see that prices have hit a point where people are obsessing over that last 20 cents per gallon.

Outsider of Costo, Gas is $4.45 for regular, here...

sweet christ

i'm in alexandria, va and i just paid 4.01 and i grit my teeth the entire time

[The Fake Shemp]

The pump near my house says $4.55 today.

[Eric P]

in the past week my cost of getting to work has jumped by $10.

If i weren't making as much as I am now, or had other financial responsibilities (like kids) I have no idea how i'd make it work.

well i do know, but it would suck.

[MrAngryFace]

How are pizza delivery people getting by? Has anyone reported on that?

[Phoenix Dark]

I have a friend who was a delivery boy at Dominos. He quit and now does janitorial stuff there. "It sucks but at least I'm not losing money."

Gas is $4.09 here. Around $4.56 in Detroit according to my grandma

[Tauntaun]

in the past week my cost of getting to work has jumped by $10.

If i weren't making as much as I am now, or had other financial responsibilities (like kids) I have no idea how i'd make it work.

well i do know, but it would suck.

Yeah, selling your children into slavery is never an easy thing to do, the only good part is one day, you can make more. 

[Brehvolution]

Thank god my yearly work review is only a couple of weeks away. I need a raise.

[Phoenix Dark]

Too bad you don't work near Ypsi. You could rent a room at my place

[Howard Alan Treesong]

in the past week my cost of getting to work has jumped by $10.

If i weren't making as much as I am now, or had other financial responsibilities (like kids) I have no idea how i'd make it work.

well i do know, but it would suck.

Same. I can't pretend I'm not feeling it, but at least I'm making enough now that it's, "fuck you gas!", not "I wish I could eat meat."

I'm trying to imagine myself when I was living in Japan, making $20k a year and living in Tokyo. What would I do if the price of riding the train doubled?  Probably start biking to work (an hour each way). Geez.

[Phoenix Dark]

can't we just cut through the foreplay and share a room? 

maji will never know

[The Fake Shemp]

Too bad big oil/Detroit/feds killed the electric car!  Who would complain about 100 miles on a single charge nowadays?

[FlameOfCallandor]

Why would this be a bait thread for me?


Also, I haven't seen gas above 3.90 here. Ever

[Eric P]

Too bad big oil/Detroit/feds killed the electric car!  Who would complain about 100 miles on a single charge nowadays?

well i would have concerns about a possible overload of existing infrastructure

imagine california's power issues or even the nyc black out or anything in the summer when everyone is running the AC full blast

then add on this tidbit

Overall, there were an estimated 247,421,120 registered passenger vehicles in the United States according to a 2005 DOT study

(i'm aware it wouldn't be an instantaneous switch)

[FlameOfCallandor]

(although I believe - along with most people - that it's not opec or any other oil producing entity that have inflated prices to the level and at the rate that they're at right now)

Tell me Mr. economist, why are oil prices so high?

f i lived in a vacuum, I would want to be gouged away by oil prices until the market really really really pushed for renewable, cleaner alternatives.

Because no one is looking for those right now. 

[FlameOfCallandor]

Basic economics says that when government restricts the supply of a good, the price will increase. Yet Congress continues to reject simple measures that could increase the supply of oil. For example, Congress refuses to allow reasonable, environmentally sensitive, offshore drilling. Congress also refuses to remove the numerous regulatory hurdles that add to the prohibitively expensive task of constructing new refineries. Building a new refinery requires billions of dollars in capital investment. It can take several years just to obtain the necessary federal permits. Even after the permits are obtained, construction of a refinery may still be delayed or even halted by frivolous lawsuits. It is no wonder that there has not been a new refinery constructed in the United States since 1976.

[Phoenix Dark]

That has to be McCain right? Paul has to know the gas tax shit is stupid

[GilloD]

Living in a city is AWESOME. New York is expensive, yeah, but with rising gas cost and rising food costs, having farms nearby and comprehensive mass transport offsets those.

[Eric P]

Living in a city is AWESOME. New York is expensive, yeah, but with rising gas cost and rising food costs, having farms nearby and comprehensive mass transport offsets those.

i eagerly await the nyc food riots.

[FlameOfCallandor]

We do need more refineries in the U.S.

[cloudwalking]

Living in a city is AWESOME.

word.

everything i could ever need is within a 20 minute walking radius.

[CrystalGemini]

We need soylent green.

[CrystalGemini]

Living in a city is AWESOME.

word.

everything i could ever need is within a 20 minute walking radius.

Agreed.

[Mupepe]

living 4 minutes from work is awesome

Ford F-150

[The Fake Shemp]

That wouldn't solve anything!

Anyone see McCain's economic advisor on Scarborough this morning?  It was ridiculous.  She literally said that while Barack Obama and "some economists" don't like the gas tax holiday, voters do!  And voters need a break - vote for McCain!

[CrystalGemini]

living 4 minutes from work is awesome

Ford F-150

IF YOU LIVE FOUR MINUTES FROM WORK WHY DON'T YOU WALK, FATASS.

[Eric P]

four minutes walking distance?

[siamesedreamer]

I just don't understand this crisis.

- People uneasy about stock market pouring money into commodities (ie oil, gold)
- Significant demand increase in developing world (China, India, Russia, Brazil)
- Geo-political unease (Isreal, Iran, Iraq, etc.)

The GDP grew at a 0.9% clip in the first quarter when gas prices were historically high. So, far the Bush rebate seems to be having a good effect on mitigating some of these high prices we're seeing now. So, if we can survive this summer with positive GDP growth for Q2, then I think think the US economy can withstand basically anything. However, there's been rumblings of another rebate which makes me think they believe things are turning sour quick. Unemployment grew to 5.5%, but that's largely due to the increase in employee cost (ie the latest minimum wage rise).  

[siamesedreamer]

Anyone see McCain's economic advisor on Scarborough this morning?  It was ridiculous.  She literally said that while Barack Obama and "some economists" don't like the gas tax holiday, voters do!  And voters need a break - vote for McCain!

They've already passed a gas tax holiday here in GA. IIRC, its something like 3.9 cents per gallon.

Its incredibly stoopit considering the state has a ~$200 billion transportation shortfall over the next 30 years and Atlanta is in desperate need of better mass transit. This is prolly the first big fuck up Gubna Sonny has had.

[Eric P]

and now for the bu-bu-bu europe response

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7443257.stm

The drivers want the Spanish government to establish, by law, a minimum price for their services, and to ensure that haulage contracts better reflect the fluctuating cost of fuel, which has risen by more than 20% since the start of the year.

French fishermen from Mediterranean ports have, meanwhile, joined fleets from other French ports in suspending their action pending an EU summit in Brussels later this month.

However, the EU has insisted that any fuel subsidies would be illegal under European law and unsustainable in the long term.

EU rules state that the value-added tax (VAT) rate on fuel cannot be less than 15%. Member states are free to set VAT rates at or above that minimum.

[Eric P]

also, iran was suffering gas riots/protests already in previous years, so i'm curious what's going on there now

[Tauntaun]

living 4 minutes from work is awesome

Ford F-150

IF YOU LIVE FOUR MINUTES FROM WORK WHY DON'T YOU WALK, FATASS.

  Damn woman, the gloves are off.  You ok mups, I'll give you tender lovin. 

[Great Rumbler]

It's going to be a real pain when I start back to school in August. 40 miles per day plus $4 per gallon of gas is a killer, even if I do get 30MPG.

[Mupepe]

living 4 minutes from work is awesome

Ford F-150

IF YOU LIVE FOUR MINUTES FROM WORK WHY DON'T YOU WALK, FATASS.

  Damn woman, the gloves are off.  You ok mups, I'll give you tender lovin. 

she's just mad that i can sleep in so late and it costs a measly 4 bucks a week to get to work. 

U MAD, SON?

gtfo, CG!

booyah!

[Eric P]

anything that puts more money into what's obviously a failing model is just backwards thinking IMO.  It's like trying to stop a forest fire by planting more trees.

very nice turn of phrase there

[siamesedreamer]

And just like that, Obama is pushing for another $50 billion rebate today.

The first rebate cost $175 billion and amounted to $600 per person. So, if the same methodolgy is applied to the one Obama is proposing, then it'll amount to a $171 rebate for every person.

[Van Cruncheon]

IF ONLY OUR DOLLARS WERE MADE OF GOLD

IN OUR OIL-DARKEST HOUR, WHERE IS THE MAGIC OF RON PAUL?

[Tauntaun]

living 4 minutes from work is awesome

Ford F-150

IF YOU LIVE FOUR MINUTES FROM WORK WHY DON'T YOU WALK, FATASS.

  Damn woman, the gloves are off.  You ok mups, I'll give you tender lovin. 

she's just mad that i can sleep in so late and it costs a measly 4 bucks a week to get to work. 

U MAD, SON?

gtfo, CG!

booyah!

I shouldn't have doubted your tenacity!   

Mups

[DJ_Tet]

How are pizza delivery people getting by? Has anyone reported on that?

bububuh I don't tip delivery drivers, it's their JOB to bring me pizza






Like I've been saying for two years, pretty soon no one is going to deliver pizza, because the tips don't cover wear/tear + gas.  Not even close.

[Mandark]

Sucks for people who live out there.  I figure in the long term, people in the suburbs can adjust by planning for more density but that's not really an option in the country.


FoC's demand for more drilling and sd's shot at the minimum wage are dumb, but we all know that.

[abrader]

17 MPG + 93 AKR + $4.2X/gallon = annoying.

At least I ride in style.

[Crushed]

IF ONLY OUR DOLLARS WERE MADE OF GOLD

IN OUR OIL-DARKEST HOUR, WHERE IS THE MAGIC OF RON PAUL?

dr paul is currently training in the gold mines of nepaul to gain the strength he needs to save us all

[recursivelyenumerable]

back to Portland on Wednesday 
where this appears to have increased my transit costs by, uh, 2 dollars a month
</self-righteous petit-bourgeois asshole>

I'm sure I'll pay for it in food prices and other ways, though.

[Mandark]

You'll pay for it in liberal guilt, knowing that you benefit from and are quietly complicit in the crimes of the imperialist-capitalist system!

Also dairy products.

[AdmiralViscen]

A friend of mine just bought a motorcycle, $1900 with 1000 miles on it. 50-60mpg.

I'm busily pouring money into a car that gets like 14mpg, I think I've got something mixed up.

[Tauntaun]

I'm buying a scooter.

Seriously man, when Scenester laid down the price of his hog I almost sold my car and got one right away.   

[muckhole]

It's $1.35 Canadian a litre here by me which translates to $5.01 a gallon. Unbelievable. I'm going to be trapped in the woods a lot this summer.

[CrystalGemini]

I'm buying a scooter.

I want one!   

[Mupepe]

WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RECENT SCOOTER TALK?

SCOOT SCOOT

[muckhole]

WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RECENT SCOOTER TALK?

SCOOT SCOOT

I'm just buying roller skates and a grappling hook.

[Tauntaun]

WHAT'S WITH ALL THE RECENT SCOOTER TALK?

SCOOT SCOOT

I'm just buying roller skates and a grappling hook.

You're like the MacGuyver of commuting.