Sunday, May 4, 2008

I'm moving to Philadelphia

The controversy involving gas prices in our country continues to grow, and it will likely simmer for a while because prices will not be coming down anytime soon.

Last week, I wrote about the role we all have played in this crisis. For years, we have developed an insatiable appetite for gasoline, and now it is biting us on the rear end.

We can blame the oil companies, OPEC, and the government all we want, but our demand for gas has created the marketplace we find ourselves in now.

During the last week, the debate on this has raged in both humorous and serious ways.

On a humorous note, a gas station owner in Philadelphia decided to sell fuel for 76 cents a gallon for 76 minutes as a tribute to the Philadelphia 76ers basketball team who recently made the playoffs for the first time in three years.

Predictably, cars began lining up hours before the sale began and about 100 lucky motorists got to take advantage of the man's generosity.

I've never been to Philadelphia before, but if this man makes an offer like this again, I may be visiting there soon.

Additionally, this issue has become a hot topic on the presidential campaign trail. Both Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton have pointed their fingers at the other regarding this mess.

Clinton recently criticized Obama for his support of a 2005 energy bill that she claimed had "billions of giveaways to oil companies."

Obama, on the other hand, has criticized the entire Washington establishment.

Recently, he said: "The candidates with the Washington experience -- my opponents -- are good people. They mean well, but they've been in Washington for a long time and even with all that experience they talk about, nothing has happened. This country didn't raise fuel efficiency standards for over 30 years."

I'm sorry, but it tickles me every time I hear Obama criticize the Washington establishment. Doesn't he realize that he is a big part of the Washington establishment by being a senator?

It seems that Obama wants to have his cake and eat it to. He wants to project himself as a Washington outsider when compared to Clinton and Republican Sen. John McCain. However, his success in the race so far is a direct result of his ability to exploit the notoriety he has received by being a senator.

If nothing else, Obama deserves credit for having a lot of chutzpah.

As for the gas crisis, it is time for the American people to take this issue into their own hands.

There has been some talk about temporarily reducing taxes on gas on the state and federal level to give us a break at the pump. However, I don't see this as much of a solution.

If the government did do this, there would be no guarantee that oil and gas companies would drop prices. Remember, drivers have shown a willingness to pay the almost $4 a gallon prices we are seeing. Because of this, why would those companies drop prices even if taxes are reduced?

The only real way to force prices to drop is for demand to drop.

If every driver committed to driving 10 percent less than they currently are, then prices would slowly drop. I'm no economics expert, but this is simple supply and demand.

If demand drops, then supplies will increase causing prices to drop so companies can sell their product.

The big question is whether drivers will have the backbone to cut back.

It's up to you.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

You got that right. The responsiblity start with ourselves!

Mister Jimmy said...

"This country didn't raise fuel efficiency standards for over 30 years."
The country didn't have to. My 1982 Honda got approximately 35 mpg highway, my 1998 Honda gets nearly 50 mph. What did that? The market. I bought that car because it was: 1)reliable and 2)got incredible gas mileage.
The gummint had nothing to do with that effiency increase.

Joltin' Django said...

If Geno's or Pat's ever starts selling cheesesteaks for 76 cents, I will run to Philly faster than I can get there on an airplane ...!