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Post by hisea on Mar 15, 2012 6:49:03 GMT -4
Maryland’s current gas tax of 23.5 cents per gallon was set back in 1992. O’Malley Tries To Sell Lawmakers On Gas Tax NNAPOLIS, Md. (WJZ) — Increasing the state’s gas tax is a hugely unpopular idea but Governor Martin O’Malley says it needs to be done. To that end, he took his message to lawmakers Wednesday afternoon. Derek Valcourt has more on why the governor says we need it and why many drivers insist we don’t. The major obstacle is sticker shock here at the pump. Governor Martin O’Malley made his case to lawmakers, arguing an increase in the gas tax will increase new jobs by allowing counties and the city to get moving on long-delayed transportation projects like the building of the red line from Woodlawn to Johns Hopkins Bayview. O’Malley says it will help ensure the safety of Maryland’s deteriorating roads and bridges. “Look, none of us wants to pay more at the pump. We do not have to do this but you know that if we do not, we will pay for that, too,” O’Malley said. “Inaction, especially in this case, does have a cost.” But with gas prices up 24 cents from where they were just one month ago, adding to the gas tax infuriates many. “Definitely out of tough,” said Marta Gates-Jones. Protesters brought their message to Annapolis. “If you’re for jobs, you can’t be for a big tax on people going to their jobs,” said Robin Ficker. And recent polls show these folks aren’t alone. A survey by AAA Mid-Atlantic found a whopping 76% of Marylanders oppose an increase in the gas tax. Under the governor’s plan, the state six percent gas tax would be phased in to the price per gallon, a two percent increase for the next three years. baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/03/14/omalley-tries-to-sell-lawmakers-on-gas-tax/
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Post by bluecrabber on Mar 16, 2012 9:05:01 GMT -4
One of the disconnects between a large segment of the voters (who live in the cities with public transportation) and the politicians worrying about reelection is the REAL cost of owning personal transportation and commuting. The 24% missing from the stat above are those who don't own cars, or don't need personal transportation. If they did have a car, and a job that required commuting some distance each day, or a flock of kids to run from one school function to another, they would care about gas prices. I know I sound like a broken record, but the sudden rise in gas prices with no end in sight is what killed the economy in the first place. People who have real jobs and commute around the major metro areas are the backbone of our country. When gas prices went nuts, the rural housing market died. Falling real estate prices began in the rural areas and spread back into the urban area. Suddenly, people were upside down and hearing so-called financial experts, (the same ones predicting $8 a gallon gas) tell them to treat their homes just like any other investment. If it ain't making money, dump it. Throw the keys on the table and walk after you strip the house of anything valuable. Idiots. We are surrounded by idiots. And we keep electing and educating more idiots. Sorry for the rant.. some days my arthritis has a mind of it's own..
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2012 9:20:58 GMT -4
I read this and scratch my head..........
Stumped at the Pump By Bill Saporito Monday, Mar. 19, 2012
(Time) - You can no longer call Americans irresponsible energy pigs. Yeah, we're still piggy in that we use a disproportionate amount of the world's energy. We still love our SUVs and pickups the way teenagers like to text.
But since 2008, when gasoline first reached $4 a gallon, our gas gluttony has changed. Ford's average fuel economy has improved by 20% since 2004, for instance, and sales of the up-to-40-m.p.g. Ford Focus are way up. We've even stopped getting in the car to go two blocks to pick up a quart of milk. Weekly gasoline demand is "tepid," says JPMorgan oil analyst Lawrence Eagles, and he expects U.S. demand to fall this year by 100,000 barrels a day, even as the economy expands 2.2%.
Weakening demand should be sending gasoline prices down. So what's our reward for being rational economic actors? How about gasoline once again heading for $4 a gallon--possibly on its way to $5? The price rise will be politicized, but let's explain before we blame.
For starters, there's no shortage of crude oil, so let's not carry on about punching holes in the ground. You could argue that $125-per-barrel prices are drawing out supply. The funny thing is, there was a ton of crude available at $80 a barrel, and domestic production (thanks, North Dakota) is increasing.
There's no shortage of fear, either--fear that Israel is going to try to obliterate Iran's nuclear program, thereby setting events in motion leading to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, which would choke off about 20% of the world's oil supply. That fear has prompted speculators to pump money into the futures market, the result being a $20-to-$30-per-barrel supply-risk premium in the price of crude.
Consumers are not the only rational actors in this oil drama. Refiners, the folks who crack crude to make fuel, play a part too, and they've responded to weak demand by limiting the supply of gasoline. According to JPMorgan, 19 refineries have shut permanently in the U.S., the Caribbean and Europe since 2009, representing some 1.7 million barrels a day of refining capacity.
The problem is profit. The refiners lost money last year. Tesoro, a big Western refiner and marketer, dropped $124 million in its fourth quarter. How is it possible for refiners to run in the red when retail prices are gushing? It's all about the 6-3-2-1 crack spread. This is not a drug epidemic. Crude is processed into a variety of products along with gasoline--light distillates like naphtha and heavy ones like fuel oil--and it's the ratio and pricing of one product to the others that figure into a refiner's profit. The 3-2-1 means that out of one barrel of oil you get three barrels of gasoline, perhaps two of diesel and one of a by-product. The 6 is a cost multiplier: take the price of oil, multiply it by 6, then back out the production costs of the 3-2-1. What's left over is the crack spread. For most refiners, that spread was negative last year.
Most but not all. Atlantic and Gulf Coast refiners lost out because they use Brent crude, which trades on the world market and recently hit $128 a barrel. Those in the Midwest can use West Texas Intermediate (WTI), which was a lot cheaper than Brent for most of last year, when the WTI-Brent price spread reached $28 per barrel. In fact, WTI was piling up in Cushing, Okla., the major Midwestern oil terminal, because there are no pipelines to the Gulf from Cushing. So Western refiners were minting money until the Brent spread narrowed.
Oil prices could retreat if peace breaks out in the Middle East. In the near term, the hit to the economy hasn't materialized, although every $10-per-barrel increase in the cost of oil translates into a 0.2% GDP loss over the course of a year, says Mark Luschini, chief investment strategist at Janney Montgomery Scott. Consumers are still spending less than 5% of their income on energy; they were spending more than 6% the last time we hit $4 gas, when oil topped $140 a barrel. So $4 a gallon won't hurt as much as it did in 2008. But in the long term, global demand for oil will increase, driven by developing countries. Which means that someday soon, $4 gas is going to look cheap.
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Post by cranky64 on Mar 16, 2012 9:36:50 GMT -4
Maryland could be a great state if it had a 2 party system. The wants and handouts to the 3 big population centers continue to pull the rest of the state down. I lived in FL for 8 years. When the housing bust came in 06 and the tax revenues dried up in the following years, you did not see the county or state raising taxes. What you got was belt tightening, hell my property taxes went down the last 3 years we lived there. It is time people wake up and elect responsible politicians not the zombies we have in there now. from the 3 big
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Post by tomc on Mar 16, 2012 10:01:35 GMT -4
...and Florida is such a garden spot. No jobs, sucky school system, one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the US. Yeah. That's what we want Maryland to be...
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Post by cranky64 on Mar 16, 2012 10:24:21 GMT -4
The only reason we don't have that here is that big fat nipple we have next door called Washington DC. In Florida where all the ancillary DC nipples are located things are doing quite well. ...and Florida is such a garden spot. No jobs, sucky school system, one of the highest home foreclosure rates in the US. Yeah. That's what we want Maryland to be...
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Post by RobMoore on Mar 16, 2012 10:56:26 GMT -4
Sucky school systems?
#1 I don't put much stock in the ranks, because of how they achieve them, but....
#2 IF you do like ranks, Florida's ranks for the past 3 years are 11th, 8th, and 5th. Sucky would be in the 30s or 40s.
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Post by tomc on Mar 16, 2012 14:50:57 GMT -4
I know people who work for Florida schools. They suck.
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Post by RobMoore on Mar 16, 2012 14:55:36 GMT -4
I know people who went to MD schools. They suck.
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Post by highlander73 on Mar 16, 2012 23:01:57 GMT -4
I know people who work for Florida schools. They suck. Find different friends.
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Post by hisea on Mar 30, 2012 21:50:12 GMT -4
3.87 a gal of unlead reg. Thank you Barry Soetoro or who ever you are?
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Post by RobMoore on Mar 31, 2012 8:37:29 GMT -4
I've started taking the motorcycle to work when it's not bad weather. 48mpg vs 25 in my car. It is about $10 a day difference.
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Post by cranky64 on Mar 31, 2012 19:31:32 GMT -4
Get a old VW TDI! That will do that on diesel and keep you and 4 others dry in the rain. I've started taking the motorcycle to work when it's not bad weather. 48mpg vs 25 in my car. It is about $10 a day difference.
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Post by hisea on Mar 31, 2012 20:15:06 GMT -4
Carney Asked Why Obama Supported Tax Breaks For Oil Companies In 2005 White House press secretary Jay Carney had no answer as to why Obama supported tax breaks for oil companies as a Senator in 2005, but now opposes them as President. Henry: Why did the President vote for the energy bill in 2005 as a Senator that had over $2 billion in tax breaks for the oil industry? They were making a lot of money then too. Carney: What I can tell you Ed is that the oil and gas companies in this country are making record profits, now, in 2012. The price at the pump is very high and that is plenty of incentive for these companies to continue drill, to continue to explore, to continue to develop energy sources here in the United States and abroad. There is no reason for the American taxpayer to subsidize that activity. Henry: So why’d he vote for it? Carney: I haven’t examined the vote, or what the prices were at the time, or the whole bill it was attached to. What I know and what the President knows is that this year, 2012, when we are seeing high prices at the pump, high prices in the international oil markets and high profits for the oil and gas companies, there is no reason to continue these kinds of subsidies. Take that argument to the people, I don’t think they’ll go along with it. www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2012/03/29/carney_asked_why_obama_supported_tax_breaks_for_oil_companies_in_2005_.html
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Post by hisea on Apr 4, 2012 7:53:03 GMT -4
3.92 a gal of unlead reg! Thanks Barry Soetoro!
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Post by grova on Apr 4, 2012 22:02:12 GMT -4
3.92 a gal of unlead reg! Thanks Barry Soetoro! Hmmm...so which is it Fox News? "no President has the power to increase or to lower gas prices" or its all Obama's fault? 2008 ! 2012
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Post by hisea on Apr 5, 2012 5:41:37 GMT -4
Its barry soetoros fault. The buck stop at his office. Then that buck is redistributed.
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Post by Frank on Apr 5, 2012 8:29:22 GMT -4
The outrageous price we pay for gasoline is directly attributed to Obama's poor decision and indecisions related to his handling of drilling in ANWR, the BP spill, and the pipeline. When prices started going up when Bush was in office, he moved on increasing oil production in the US. Even though it would be years before oil would start flowing, foreign countries lowered prices substantially to ensure it wouldn't be cost effective for us to continue. Oil producing countries know that Obama is a weak president and take full advantage of it. Obama's answer to high gasoline prices went from 'check the air in your tires' and 'get regular tune-ups', to 'buy a more fuel efficient car' and 'move closer to work'. What an idiot! You can't sell your house in Obama's economy, you can't get a loan in Obama's economy, you can't afford a new car in Obama's economy, and the average working man can't afford gas in Obama's economy. Thanks to everyone that voted for 'Hope and Change' JMO
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Post by grova on Apr 5, 2012 8:53:35 GMT -4
The outrageous price we pay for gasoline is directly attributed to Obama's poor decision and indecisions related to his handling of drilling in ANWR, the BP spill, and the pipeline. When prices started going up when Bush was in office, he moved on increasing oil production in the US. Even though it would be years before oil would start flowing, foreign countries lowered prices substantially to ensure it wouldn't be cost effective for us to continue. Oil producing countries know that Obama is a weak president and take full advantage of it. Obama's answer to high gasoline prices went from 'check the air in your tires' and 'get regular tune-ups', to 'buy a more fuel efficient car' and 'move closer to work'. What an idiot! You can't sell your house in Obama's economy, you can't get a loan in Obama's economy, you can't afford a new car in Obama's economy, and the average working man can't afford gas in Obama's economy. Thanks to everyone that voted for 'Hope and Change' JMO You didn't watch the videos did you? The same things about fuel economy and mass transit were being said in 2008. Watch the Fox Video. By the way, the US is currently producing more and importing less oil then in 2008. articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/12/news/la-pn-report-us-oil-imports-down-domestic-production-highest-since-2003-20120311"You can't sell your house in Obama's economy". Lol...what a short memory you have. When did the economy go to crap? I'll remind you. It was before he took office.
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Post by kiboater on Apr 5, 2012 8:55:34 GMT -4
Lets not forget about algae. Now this is a plan!!
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Post by tomc on Apr 5, 2012 9:20:01 GMT -4
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Post by grova on Apr 5, 2012 9:36:05 GMT -4
Lets not forget about algae. Now this is a plan!! Right...because investing $14million in research for alternative sources of energy is bad thing. Lets put that in perspective. Here's the cost for one F/A-18E/F Super Hornet : $66.9 million. As of April 2011 we have 500 of them. www.pnnl.gov/news/release.aspx?id=859Study: Algae could replace 17% of U.S. oil imports
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Post by kiboater on Apr 5, 2012 10:30:01 GMT -4
I am glad to hear about the algae!! I won't worry about gas prices anymore. Also if we are invaded we could use the algae instead of jet fighters.
I was wrong about you guys. You really do have a plan!!
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Post by Frank on Apr 5, 2012 10:55:14 GMT -4
The outrageous price we pay for gasoline is directly attributed to Obama's poor decision and indecisions related to his handling of drilling in ANWR, the BP spill, and the pipeline. When prices started going up when Bush was in office, he moved on increasing oil production in the US. Even though it would be years before oil would start flowing, foreign countries lowered prices substantially to ensure it wouldn't be cost effective for us to continue. Oil producing countries know that Obama is a weak president and take full advantage of it. Obama's answer to high gasoline prices went from 'check the air in your tires' and 'get regular tune-ups', to 'buy a more fuel efficient car' and 'move closer to work'. What an idiot! You can't sell your house in Obama's economy, you can't get a loan in Obama's economy, you can't afford a new car in Obama's economy, and the average working man can't afford gas in Obama's economy. Thanks to everyone that voted for 'Hope and Change' JMO You didn't watch the videos did you? The same things about fuel economy and mass transit were being said in 2008. Watch the Fox Video. By the way, the US is currently producing more and importing less oil then in 2008. articles.latimes.com/2012/mar/12/news/la-pn-report-us-oil-imports-down-domestic-production-highest-since-2003-20120311"You can't sell your house in Obama's economy". Lol...what a short memory you have. When did the economy go to crap? I'll remind you. It was before he took office. He had a plan to turn things around, remember? He said things had taken a turn for the worse and he was going to 'get the car out of the ditch', remember? Remember all those promises? Remember, 'Give me a TRILLION DOLLARS of your hard earned money and I will guarantee you we can keep unemployment under 8%'? Well? Unemployment is still through the roof, gas prices are ridiculus, the housing market is in shambles, and our troops are still dying in the middle east while Obama apologizes. Seriously grova, you need to stop watching so much Fox TV and start thinking for yourself! BTW: Did you read my post? In my opinion, gas prices are were they are because of Obama's poor decision making. Do you really agree with his idiotic remarks about saving fuel?
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Post by tomc on Apr 5, 2012 11:23:47 GMT -4
Gas prices are up GLOBALLY.
Are you REALLY that naive to believe the oil company's explanation rather than facts? Or is it all a conspiracy that the entire world is involved in?
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