We had a big spike in MD a couple of months ago. The new tax increases for gasoline started up. I’m not enthusiastic about new taxes. The one thing that bothers me more is not paying our fair share for the state services we use, like highway repairs and building.
it would be nice to have that conversation bing. I think its necessary to have it right now, but I don t think it will be allowed here. which is a shame. we only need one thread for these things.
I just bought gas for $3.529/gallon. It’s been hovering between that and about $3.579/gallon here in Florida, depending on the county and how much it tacks on.
That brings up an interesting point; not only are fuel prices affected by market forces (some of which the oil companies control, some of which they don’t), but a major component of the price you pay per gallon consists of taxes added by the state, the county, and sometimes the city. That can make a significant difference if you travel between counties often. For my monthly trips to see my mother, I’ve figured out which counties on the route have the lowest fuel taxes, and I try to time my fuel stops so they happen in the county with the lowest fuel taxes.
@Bing, I too would like to engage you on your off-topic observations about class warfare, but they aren’t relevant to a discussion on fuel prices and the Middle East in any way.
"I just bought gas for $3.529/gallon. It's been hovering between that and about $1.579.gallon here in Florida,"
Are you SURE about that second price, Whitey?
I mistyped that, and correct it.
I agree @Whitey. When we go to VA to visit the in-laws, we wait until we enter VA to fill up. We do it enough that we know where the least expensive gas will be and we wait until we get there to fill up. Then we will fill up again on the way back home before we cross the state line.
Hmmm. Forgive me if I strayed however tribal warfare yields unrest which yields political uncertainties which yields oil supply uncertainies which yields price fluctuations. However, like I said it is a different world since 1973 and we have developed other options to not be as dependent on mid east supplies. I do remember the career military folks during the height of Viet Nam though in the early 70’s all suggested the next war would be in the mid east and were preparing accordingly. I don’t think it had much to do with revenge just unrest and world peace. Some thought Korea and China but most thought the mid east.
In '71 I was assigned to a “mobility team”, required to be ready to board with 15 minutes notice. We were called up once, headed to our plane, and boarded. We were at the end of the runway lined up to take off when we got the word that the mission had been scrubbed. I found out later it was to be to Iraq. I have no other details to offer, but stuff that involved us was definitely going on there in the early '70s.
I again respectfully have to put my own slant on oil supplies from the Middle East. IMHO, it has never been a good or a bad thing that we depended upon Middle East oil for so long; but a fact of life. We literally drained our oil researches for decades providing oil for the allied effort, part of which was to keep the Middle East from being enslaved from the axis tyranny. It was all about oil in WW2 in that region, it is the same now. We needed ME oil for our continued grow and they prospered handsomely and I would argue, had a better way of life. We did the honorable thing for both they and ourselves.
Iraq is not an unlike story. To me, it’s not what we did but how we did it. We have become an oil dependent nation, not only for ourselves, but for for the security of the free world where the biggest single user of oil is still, the US military. Safe shipping lanes do not exist without our military intervention…a huge necessary oil use. Our reserves are with that in mind and not set up to make oil prices lower for our SUVs. There is no alternative for oil in our transportation needs and until there is, oil prices will fluctuate for a variety of reasons, most of which is political. There is NO shortage of oil whether it comes from the Middle East or the tar sands of Canada. The price will go up more as security of that supply is threatened regardless of where it comes from.
Makes one want to go out and buy a Leaf…ASAP.
" it has never been a good or a bad thing that we depended upon Middle East oil for so long; but a fact of life."
Dag, I could not agree more.
Unfortunately, I think we have to accept responsibility for having destabilized Iraq, and now we may have to suffer the consequences both in oil prices and in Iraq being likely to end up run by terrorists with anti-American leanings. Fortunately, terrorism is expensive, and the terrorists need the oil money.
@same
This is where the decision, any decision and any out come gets real fuzzy. Terrorist factions hook up with any other faction which perceives a chance in changing their political landscape. I do not remember a time when the ME was stabile. When the focus is not on an oil producing state, Palestinian crisis rears it’s head. Eventually, it all boils down to who controls the oil wealth. Will that improve ? Not likely. And unless we forget, one of the biggest terrorist supporting nation that defined our involvement in the ME as far as the US is concerned, was/ is Saudi Arabia. It started with artificially deciding nations by geological convenience and not based on religious commonality. All nations who depended on ME oil without reserves of their own at some time or another deserve “credit” for that. And, just like the Israeli-Palestinian situation, anything we do will be perceived as the right thing at one time and the wrong thing later. To be continued.
The terrorists have control of two northern towns. As they move south, they will encounter the same problems that we and the Iraqi government has known, controlling large areas is difficult without a huge army. And we have not pulled out completely yet. The President has said said we will support the Iraqi army, but not that we will increase troops there. If air support and consulting is satisfactory, no additional troops are needed. I agree that we asked for this and hope that we can work with the Iraqi government and other friendly governments in the area to beat down the revolt. I’m sure the Saudis and Kuwaitis don’t want this group as close neighbors and will gladly do whatever they can to help.
The insurgents, rebels, terrorists, militias whatever name you prefer have captured and shut down Iraq’s only refinery, cutting off supplies of petroleum fuel to most of the country…The noose around Baghdad is drawing tighter…Oil prices, along with Gold and Silver moved sharply higher on the worlds commodity markets today…
The thing is once you are stuck in the mud, your options are limited. The whole point is to avoid the mud. Would have been much easier to stop them in Syria. But then we have a history of providing MREs when requests for help is made. Hope the Green Beret are well stocked when they land.
We have too many dead Green Beret’s already…There is nothing there for us. This is Muslim killing Muslim, Arab killing Persian…When the Brits broke up the Ottoman Empire, they created these countries out of thin air…It worked as long as nobody had any money or guns. But that is no longer the case…
I just hope the Kurds get their own country. they have earned it. whirling dervishes are not to be trifled with. :).
on the same note, hopefully Abdullah Abdullah wins in Afghanistan. he and the Northern Alliance have also earned my respect by standing up for themselves against the talibans tyranny.
Beiji is one of at least 4 refineries in Iraq. It is the largest one, though. I read in this morning’s paper that one quarter of the gasoline for Iraq comes from Beiji.
Yep if anyone deserves a little peace its the Kurds. Got gas today and it went up to about $3.65 for regular so here we go. Gotta go hit the road, behave yourselves here and no off topic stuff.
According to hotair.com
It has never been a simple matter, but even Turkey may be supporting this secular move. Maybe it is time for countries in the Mid East to evolve with boundaries of their choosing instead of those of the invading West.
“Is that diplomatic nonsense being pushed by Turkey to a foreign outlet, obscuring the fact that they’d surely bomb the new Kurdistan to smithereens if it declared independence and gave Turkey’s Kurds a reason to revolt? Or has Turkey come around on the idea of a Kurdish state? Believe it or not, this may be on the level. Moe Lane points to this recent piece at Time mag about the Kurds’ secret weapon as Iraq melts down: Namely, oil. Iraq’s Sunnis and Shia could spend the next 20 years fighting over territory in the west and south; in fact, the country’s biggest refinery was seized by Sunni “militants” just this morning. If you want a steady flow of Iraqi oil, your best hope is for the country’s most stable group to break away, grab the oil assets it can, and keep the tap open. In fact, there’s already a pipeline from Kurdistan to Turkey. Erdogan’s simply protecting his investment.”