Grocery prices

[El Luchador]

4 hours ago, headshuck said:

I went on a road trip last weekend and fuel was under $3 for the first time in years.

I'm in Texas right now and I'm amazed at how low their fuel prices are. What are they doing that nobody else knows about?

[Offthemat]

1 hour ago, El Luchador said:

What are they doing that nobody else knows about?

Drilling and refining. 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

13 hours ago, Offthemat said:

Drilling and refining. 

And exporting.

Record level exports of oil from the USA.

The question is, why are we exporting oil when we are so dependent on oil imports?

None of this passes the smell test. Refineries are available both in Canada and here. 

[mspart]

Not laying incredible taxes on fuel.  

mspart

[Tripnsweep]

1 hour ago, mspart said:

Not laying incredible taxes on fuel.  

mspart

Because oil and gas is heavily subsidized by the government already. 

[mspart]

Way subsidized here in WA where diesel is 5.00/gallon at the cheapest.   But it is because the oil companies hate WA.   They don't hate Idaho or Oregon where the prices of fuel are cheaper.  But they hate CA too.   Funny how Oregon escapes the wrath of the oil companies as well as most other states in the union.    

mspart

Edited Monday at 08:25 PM by mspart

[ionel]

4 hours ago, mspart said:

Way subsidized here in WA where diesel is 5.00/gallon at the cheapest.   But it is because the oil companies hate WA.   They don't hate Idaho or Oregon where the prices of fuel are cheaper.  But they hate CA too.   Funny how Oregon escapes the wrath of the oil companies as well as most other states in the union.    

mspart

I think it's your Washington politicians that hate WA.  Oil companies are happy to sell any and everywhere.  

[GreatWhiteNorth]

5 hours ago, ionel said:

I think it's your Washington politicians that hate WA.  Oil companies are happy to sell any and everywhere.  

Agreed. It's impossible to think of an oil company as having any emotional attachment at all.

Drill, drill, drill, then profit, profit, profit.  Repeat. Has made quite a lot of people quite a lot of money. Good business.

[El Luchador]

15 hours ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

Agreed. It's impossible to think of an oil company as having any emotional attachment at all.

Drill, drill, drill, then profit, profit, profit.  Repeat. Has made quite a lot of people quite a lot of money. Good business.

You prefer the government being in charge of gas? They regulate like it's their own, but I doubt they could ever deliver a more affordable product. It's not a hobby for oil companies to deliver oil products to the public and their margins are incredibly low but still the government could never do better.  

Ironically the  single largest profiteering in the oil industry is done by the government. 

[red viking]

39 minutes ago, El Luchador said:

Ironically the  single largest profiteering in the oil industry is done by the government. 

If you mean winger politicians getting getting paid off by fossil fuel giants, I agree. In exchange for sweetheart policies. 

[mspart]

38 minutes ago, El Luchador said:

You prefer the government being in charge of gas? They regulate like it's their own, but I doubt they could ever deliver a more affordable product. It's not a hobby for oil companies to deliver oil products to the public and their margins are incredibly low but still the government could never do better.  

Ironically the  single largest profiteering in the oil industry is done by the government. 

This is true.   Our state government makes $0.55 per gallon in gas tax and the CO2 tax is 46 cents for gas and 56 cents for diesel.   In comparison, at 8.3% profit margin, a $4.35 per gallon (current cheap price here in WA) yields 36 cents a gallon.   So yes, the government makes more on gas than the gas companies do.  

mspart

[El Luchador]

I'll vote for the guy who gets a legitimate donation over one taking money from foreign governments and corrupt USAID "non" government organizations who get all their money from the government.  

It's stupid talk to act like oil companies take more from the government than they(we) pay.

[red viking]

3 minutes ago, mspart said:

This is true.   Our state government makes $0.55 per gallon in gas tax and the CO2 tax is 46 cents for gas and 56 cents for diesel.   In comparison, at 8.3% profit margin, a $4.35 per gallon (current cheap price here in WA) yields 36 cents a gallon.   So yes, the government makes more on gas than the gas companies do.  

mspart

Maybe the roads and bridges should all be privately funded then. 

That's where the "profit" goes. Dumbest post of the year. 

Edited 16 hours ago by red viking

[El Luchador]

6 minutes ago, red viking said:

Maybe the roads and bridges should all be privately funded then. 

That's where the "profit" goes. Dumbest post of the year. 

The dumbest think said is that's all they use the money for. I actually have experience with oil fields and road projects.  They are both crazy boondoggles all because the government uses them as personal fundraisers for their cause of the day. They love to latch onto things people can't do without and suck them dry.

[red viking]

8 minutes ago, El Luchador said:

The dumbest think said is that's all they use the money for. I actually have experience with oil fields and road projects.  They are both crazy boondoggles all because the government uses them as personal fundraisers for their cause of the day. They love to latch onto things people can't do without and suck them dry.

We should privatize all roads. Make them all private toll roads. Nothing could go wrong with that. 

Edited 16 hours ago by red viking

[El Luchador]

7 minutes ago, red viking said:

We should privatize all roads. Make them all private toll roads. Nothing could go wrong with that. 

Are you working on another Stawman? 

[red viking]

2 minutes ago, El Luchador said:

Are you working on another Stawman? 

Well, you're generalizing that all govt road funding is a "boondoggle" and being misdirected. Seems like the logical solution. 

[JimmySpeaks]

I paid $2.72 this morning. 

[El Luchador]

5 minutes ago, red viking said:

Well, you're generalizing that all govt road funding is a "boondoggle" and being misdirected. Seems like the logical solution. 

When a black lesbian owned business gets contracts strictly because of the boxes they check, there's an agenda at work. The use of my money to further their agenda is a problem. 

[red viking]

34 minutes ago, El Luchador said:

When a black lesbian owned business gets contracts strictly because of the boxes they check, there's an agenda at work. The use of my money to further their agenda is a problem. 

Yes, of course, but you're extrapolating that to a systematic problem happening in most municipalities. 

Secondly, I don't think businesses often get preference based upon sexual orientation, if ever. 

Last, this is very rarely a deciding factor. Only when all other more significant factors are fairly even. 

So, you're misrepresenting the facts on many levels, as usual. 

Edited 15 hours ago by red viking

[Caveira]

3 hours ago, red viking said:

We should privatize all roads. Make them all private toll roads. Nothing could go wrong with that. 

Trust the govt with all taxes and slogans.  This was what 50+ years ago?

Toll-free in '73" was a popular slogan in Illinois related to the expectation that the original 187 miles of tollways would be paid off by 1973 and then become freeways

. 

However, this promise wasn't fulfilled. By 1973, state politicians recognized the revenue, jobs, and power associated with the tollways and decided to keep the tolls in place. The Illinois State Toll Highway Authority, which was initially established in 1953 to build highways with the intent that tolls would pay off the bonds and then become freeways, was made permanent in 1968, removing the expectation of becoming free roadways. 

While there was a public expectation of the toll roads becoming free in 1973, it did not happen. Illinois currently has an extensive system of toll roads and there are no signs of the tolls being removed. 

[El Luchador]

2 hours ago, red viking said:

Yes, of course, but you're extrapolating that to a systematic problem happening in most municipalities. 

Secondly, I don't think businesses often get preference based upon sexual orientation, if ever. 

Last, this is very rarely a deciding factor. Only when all other more significant factors are fairly even. 

So, you're misrepresenting the facts on many levels, as usual. 

You literally doing know any of what you're saying to be true. I absolutely know for a fact what I'm saying is true based on 1st hand knowledge. Almost every contractor I know was forced to put their business in their wife's name.  There absolutely is a point system that allows box checker to get bids over cheaper bids. Most companies used the same or similar bidding software and there is very little difference in price. Projects require a prevailing wage so most labor costs are the same. 

[GreatWhiteNorth]

21 hours ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

Agreed. It's impossible to think of an oil company as having any emotional attachment at all.

Drill, drill, drill, then profit, profit, profit.  Repeat. Has made quite a lot of people quite a lot of money. Good business.

 

5 hours ago, El Luchador said:

You prefer the government being in charge of gas? They regulate like it's their own, but I doubt they could ever deliver a more affordable product. It's not a hobby for oil companies to deliver oil products to the public and their margins are incredibly low but still the government could never do better.  

Ironically the  single largest profiteering in the oil industry is done by the government. 

Why would I prefer the government be in charge? Where in the hell did you get that idea? Why are you posting like a stooge?

Straw man argument much?

[El Luchador]

4 hours ago, GreatWhiteNorth said:

 

Why would I prefer the government be in charge? Where in the hell did you get that idea? Why are you posting like a stooge?

Straw man argument much?

My mistake, I was getting the impression you were a communist. They tend to hate business and believe the government is the solution for all problems real or imagined.  Silly me.