Should Oil Be Cheap?

[logansowner]

Someone riddle me this:

Why when oil is expensive do we get from our leaders "we shouldn't do anything, it's the free market". But on the other hand, if it were to get cheap again by golly, we better tax it...can't have the free market take hold, now can we?

Bunch of double talkers coming up with these ideas.

[nailhead425]

yes. And we (the U.S. as the agent for the world market) should take steps to ensure the free-flow of oil at market prices. If we held food and medical supplies hostage like some rouge states hold oil, we really would be a great satan.

But realistically, cheap oil triggered rapid growth in China and India, that led to a run-up in the price of oil. There is middle ground, we have to find that.

But then again the Government makes billions off oil and all they do is restrict it, regulate it, and tax it. They do nothing to locate it, drill for it, pump it, transport it, refine it, or deliver it to the consumer.

If oil is too expensive, for too long, the economy will seriously tank and the world will be wishing for $30/bbl oil.

[vcs2600]

Capitalism is a transformative process. Every 30-40 years, there's another "crisis" which causes upheaval and change ... and new investment and new jobs.

The article correctly points out that expensive oil is good for certain sectors of the economy and social goals. Of course there's a lot of short-term pain if you've got SUVs on the lots, but in the long run the economy will adapt.

[ptviperz]

I'm all for high oil prices, I've hated SUV's with a passion for years. It's great seeing them die.

$4/gal gas might hurt a little now but if it spurs realistic advancement off the oil teat then it's a GREAT thing. Wonder what would happen to oil prices if the US didn't need oil from Arabia anymore? About a third of the fuel Brazilians use in their vehicles is ethanol, known in Brazil as "alcohol." That compares with 3 percent in the United States. All gasoline sold in Brazil contains at least 26 percent ethanol, but motorists driving flexible-fuel cars have the option of filling up with pure ethanol, or E100, which currently is selling for about half the price of the blend.

If Brazil can do it, so can the US.

[tgagneguam]

The link isn't working.

Oil prices should truly reflect supply and demand; free market forces should set the price, not the government.

Notice now that oil prices are high-and oddly achieving what CAFE hasn't been able to achieve in years-politicians, pandering to the public, are thinking about artificially manipulating oil prices. I would never(!) trust the US government to determine what the "real" price of oil should be. Never, ever. Be very skeptical of that suggestion. Like it does when it "helped" domestic automakers with misguided quotas to limit Asian car brands, much like it did when it granted tax incentives for buying FS SUV's that further fostered Detroit's dependence on those vehicles, government intervention rarely has the intended effect that it wants. US government, stay out of oil!

Interestingly, when Congress shamefully brought Big Oil before them to grill them on oil and gasoline prices, notice then, and ever since, that government never talks about the ways in which it can positively affect the price of oil/gasoline: practicing fiscal responsibility, which would fairly value the dollar, which would then shave as much as $25/barrel off the price of oil; and stop placing taxes on gasoline, which between State and Federal taxes, adds as much as 10% to the price consumers pay at the pump. Oh, and don't fool yourself: gasoline tax revenue directed toward "infrastructure development" is I'm sure directed to plenty of pork projects, just like Social Security tax revenue wasn't squirreled away to meet future social security obligations.

Government is rarely the answer to any conundrum. And it isn't the answer to this "crisis," either.

[kenman923]

The drop in prices are only temporary. I think if the price of oil went down more, people would go back to buying those big SUVs. Face it, as a nation, we like things bigger and better. We need to get over our love affair of bigger and better things.

[Whitesky]

It should be whatever the market dictates. If that's cheap then great. If not, we will find a way to make due.

But the price should not be artificially raised to control behavior. We have enough of the stupid "sin" taxes in this country.

[1G6]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac

I watch the price of oil daily, and every time it goes down its like "yay!", but then you think, well how many more Tahoes were just sold because of this. So I mean it sucks (especially for the US autos) and America can't afford it right now, but we really do need the higher prices.

Since when does the prospect of better Tahoe sales constitute a bad thing?

[1G6]

Originally Posted by kenman923

We need to get over our love affair of bigger and better things.

You go on ahead. That'll leave more bigger and better things for me.

[Ambalanche]

Logansowner, I agree with EVERYTHING you've said here! The FACT is America has more oil than we would know what to do with IF we were only allowed to get to it. We have everything from Shale oil to oil in the gulf but, and I know this is my own opinion, we have people in congress that do not want America to be leaders in anything and are so self-loathing that they actually enjoy us to be having these problems right now and just cloak it in this green BS. All of the greenies that are so arrogant to actually THINK they can alter our atmosphere with auto emissions is just beyond me. It has been proven that cows produce more emissions than autos. How about all the Volcano's erupting, what do you think they emit, steam? The Earth is actually now in, what some scientists are calling a 10 year cooling cycle. Last year was actually cooler than 1998 I believe, I might be off one or two years but I bet you haven't heard that one on the news! The fact is that our planet has natural cycles we have nothing to do with. If we could drill here, maybe America could afford to build Islands off our coasts in the shape of Palm trees and Continents instead of Dubi, but some of our illustrious leaders insist we are the problem. I have nothing against people wanting to conserve, to not waste or kill things just because we can, but to blatently lie about what's going on because either they make money on it (Al Gore) or because it gives them power (Nancy Pelosi) makes me sick. By the way, the CF light bulbs we are MANDATED to start using by 2012 will cause more pollution than the power that is required to run an incandecent but again, they don't talk about that...

[Ambalanche]

Originally Posted by kenman923

We need to get over our love affair of bigger and better things.

No we don't. This is America, everything here is better!

[steined]

We put a floor under sugar and look what happens. Everyone uses high fructose corn syrup, or things using sugar are made in Canada. Let the market work. It is WAAAAAY smarter than any idiot lawyer/politician could ever be.

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by I-Love-Pontiac

Unfortunate but true.

I watch the price of oil daily, and every time it goes down its like "yay!", but then you think, well how many more Tahoes were just sold because of this. So I mean it sucks (especially for the US autos) and America can't afford it right now, but we really do need the higher prices.

Tell that to those who now have to choice between food, the heating bill, and the rent/mortgage, and the independent farmers and truckers. We've gotten the point.

[iamkjk]

I cheer every time the price of oil goes up. I'm sick of watching our money go to the Middle East. I'm sick of the U.S. constantly meddling overseas in order to secure oil. I'm sick of huge SUV's taking up two parking spaces and using excessive amounts of gas that could and should be cherished so it is still available to our grandchildren. Watching SUV and truck sales plunge makes me smile.

High gas prices force people into more sensible cars, will encourage mass transit and it will substantially kill suburban sprawl. With less money to spend, the endless strip malls and big box stores will stop their never-ending expansion. I know so many people who wallow in the consumption of all sorts of crap and live paycheck to paycheck. High gas prices are waking them up and they are beginning to realize that they need to save money instead of spending their free time throwing their money away at shopping malls. Those are good things. Our economy will adjust, for the better.

High oil prices are in the best interest of this country and this planet.

[kodos78]

It's fun watching the statists and nannies come out in this thread. Most of them do not realize they advocate suppression of free will and freedom in general.

THEY hate "suburban sprawl", "big box stores", etc...

Why does their opinion count more than mine or anyone else's? Sure I don't care for Toyotas and most Japanese cars, but I would NEVER advocate taxing them separately.

Just because you or I dislike something doesn't mean that we can meddle with it through the power of government. A free society is not meant to be a comfortable place to live all the time. It's not meant to coddle its citizens, it's not meant to take care of their every whim.

A free society however lets people make their own choices, to get out of their way when they want to do something.

You people want a "benevolent dictator" to run your lives. And then you complain once this monster you've created is no longer "benevolent" and runs amok when it wiretaps, sticks its nose in your bedroom, tells you what substances you can or cannot consume, what kind of car you can drive, etc..

Ming wants to drive a Kei car. The safety nannies wouldn't let him. Someone else wants to drive an Excursion type vehicle (and can afford the fuel bill). Well, now the CAFE nannies will not let him in the future, even if gas ends up being $0.50/gallon.

If we remembered that true freedom is not a comfortable thing, we'd all be better off.