How Would YOU Solve the Energy crisis?

Stu can seldom carry on a conversation long before it turns into an insult match, since he’s the world’s greatest expert on everything. I know what you’re saying. IMO-there IS NO free market on gasoline, because you can’t go across the street to an alternate energy source, the way you can go to another store to buy say, a shirt at a lower price. The price of gas isn’t hurting me the way it is you for one simple reason-I’m retired. You already know, I’m sure, that you can only “consolidate trips, cut back unnecessary driving”, etc;all that crap you’ve been told before, so much. You then reach a point where you cannot cut back any further. 90% of most folk’s gasoline is used for going to/from work-and that amount is non-elastic. I’ve also heard the idiotic argument here that “compared to the price of milk, why, gas is a bargain.” The difference is, you don’t need to fill your car with 20 gallons or better every time you turn around-your car doesn’t run on it. Therefore, you don’t need as much milk. Straw man argument. When I bitched about gas prices a time back, I got the idiotic response “ I hope it goes through the roof-it keeps the riff-raff off the road, and I’m in sales, so time is money.” (And people wonder why conservatives are seen as non-caring swine). Another response I got: “I’m doing just fine with my oil stocks, so I’m quite happy.” It boils down to mainly one thing: If you have money falling out your ass, you don’t see a problem. Because you don’t have one. “Free market”, etc. But MANY do. Many millions. And when they go to the voting booth in November, they’re going to vote their wallets. And many will believe the cRAT lies and vote against conservatives. Republicans should have done something-ANYTHING-to at least make it look like theywere TRYING to do something-while they held congress. It’s too late now. And it’s starting to affect me at the grocery store, since everything’s brought in by truck. Serious problems are arising, the country is on the line, and I personally am as worried as you are. Oh-yeah-you’ll also hear, when the gas to go to and from work is mentioned-”Simple-sell your house and move closer to work, or find another job.” Yep-real easy answers by some here. I’ve learned the hard way, nothing brings out the sheer hatred and division here more than threads on smoking or gas prices.

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. You are spot on, sir! In my case, I've cut back to the point that I can't cut anymore. I necessarily have a long commute, and my monthly gasoline bill is almost 100% of that drive.

Regardless, the bigger point that I was trying to make before having to bang heads with "Stu" was that if I'm running into this crunch (and I'm thoroughly a middle class professional), then there are LOTs more people who have it even worse, since I know for a fact that there are thousands who make my daily commute as well (you should see some of the enormous traffic jams on I-270 south of Frederick!) who probably don't make as much money as I do with my job.

Also, I'm seeing the direct results of the gas price crunch through my wife's business. We live in a town where tourism is the main industry. She runs a specialty retail shop with another lady, and lately business has been tanking because the tourists are staying home. The entire town's economy is in trouble and there have been numerous businesses closing because of it. It's all directly related to skyrocketing gasoline prices, but if you listen to some of the supposed free-marketeers on this board, it's no big deal, and if people get thrown out onto the streets, then so what?

”Simple-sell your house and move closer to work, or find another job.”

You're exactly right! We chose to live where we do for two main reasons: 1) the cost of living in Pennsylvania is about half of what it is in Maryland, and 2) we absolutely did not want our children to grow up in Washington, DC or Montgomery/Frederick Counties, for obvious reasons, especially with their terribly corrupt, lib-dominated school systems. Moreover, even if I wanted to sell my country home and move closer, I couldn't since no one can get a mortgage now, and also because there is no reasonably priced housing to be had south of the Mason-Dixon line. My next door neighbor is a very good real estate agent, and recently she has been telling me horror stories about how the mortgage companies are digging in and throwing her clients, qualified potential buyers in every way with good incomes, under the bus when it comes to getting home loans. As a result, very few properties are now moving, and unless I want to move into deepest darkest Washington DC and live in the remaining housing projects there and deal with the corrupt government, I pretty much have no choice but to stay where I am and ride it out.

Again, as I said earlier, the point is not about me, but about the much bigger trend that I'm seeing all around me. That others can't see the same thing is troubling in the extreme.

If you think this thread was nasty-here’s one from quite a while back. Bookmark it or whatever, read at your leisure. (we retired folks have too much time on our hands LOL )There’s one other one that was even more vile, but I don’t know if I’ll come across it. I have to admit, Edwards was right-there are two Americas-and one doesn’t grasp the long-term ramifications of this. Thanks for being a rational person-wish FR had a lot more like you, but unfortunately, as reading this linked thread will show you, it’s easy to see where the rabid ones at DU get their ammo for calling all conservatives selfish, greedy, and uncaring. Not all ‘conservatives’ care about anyone else-just as all libs are not evil. By the way-there are several small towns in Ohio that depend on touristas for survival that are currently dying due to people not traveling-was on the news a few nights ago, so I get where you’re coming from there, too.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1670991/posts?q=1&;page=1

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