I’ve seen the wealthier sections of Houston, like River Oaks. Mass extravagance. Huge mansions. Lots of hand built, luxury cars. It’s just one of many wealthy neighborhoods in the greater Houston area. The polar opposite River Oaks is Houston’s Fifth Ward. The inbetween is the majority of Houston’s population: middle class, joe average, blue collar types.

Someone previously mentioned what would happen to Houston if the oil industry went kaput. During the early 1980’s, the oil industry took a major header, and there were lots of “for sale” signs in yards across the city. I can imagine today, if the same thing happened, it would be on a much larger scale.

However, after that incident during the 1980’s occurred, Houston (to its credit) diversified it’s industries to computers, medicine, technology, etc. They became a city of more than just oil. Despite this, oil is still king in Houston, and can still be its achilles heel.

Sure government wastes money on stupid shit like unneeded wars and declaring them “freedom fries” and such but social, educational, cultural, and environmental programs which assist my fellow citizens are hardly wasteful. So which things do you think your government has no business providing and is wasting money on?

Try taking a shot at the message. Maybe it will enhance your own credibility.

Another day, another fruitless attempt at credibility restoration. Your side had years to solve the problem, and you were nowhere in sight (at least on this website). Now that you’re about to lose complete control of the government, you slink in with you phony concerns. No one really cares what a discredited fool thinks.

Absolutely! I have NEVER been in favor of corporate welfare.

At least you’re fair about it Tracy…I give you credit for that…

Last night, I saw a sign outside a Union 76 station, pleading with drivers to support their “neighborhood station.”

Im945. I don’t think the station will remain in business long if their strategy is to beg. But, I don’t believe it’s an attempt to gouge consumers.

Service stations have struggled, even with soaring gasoline prices, because they have not been able to push the high cost of crude oil on to customers. According to federal data, gasoline prices are up about 31 percent over the last year.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/13/business/13exxon.html

The station may go out of business, but it will be due to market forces and not the station owners greed.

It was directly above the pricing sign, which was posted at over $5.00/gallon.

They deserve to go out of business.

Ethanol is not a very efficient energy source. And it diverts the corn resource away from food production to energy. Taking the corn away as a food resource, will (has) led to the inflation of food prices at least as detrimental as high energy prices.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25324195

I think the comprehensive focus should be on other alternatives (nuclear, wind, solar, hydro, etc), significant conservation and responsible mining of domestic coal and oil.

I suggest that ethanol doesn’t make sense (except to the farm lobby) because it provides little energy efficiency, while it creates a huge opportunity cost in food supply.

Ethanol is a bipartisan misstep that should be scraped; the sooner the better.

We’re being ENRONed again. Curious as to why you are suddenly paying over four dollars a gallon for gasoline? No, it’s not due to “supply-and-demand,” no, it’s not due to “OPEC,” nor is it due to “peak oil.” It’s due to totally unregulated electronic oil futures trading in world markets. Check out the very lucid article that explains the unseen financial machinations in oil futures markets written by F. W. Engdahl on May 2, 2008, entitled, “Perhaps 60% of Today’s Oil Price is Pure Speculation.” It may be viewed at http://www.financialsense.com/editorials/2008/0502.html.
In a nutshell, he suggests that the Bush Administration dropped the ball in January 2006, when they allowed totally unregulated electronic trading of oil futures contracts in New York. Previously these electronic trades had been made at the London Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) Futures Market. With that decision by the Bush Administration, all of the world’s oil prices were then opened to upward pressure from speculative futures contracts. In essence, oil futures contracts made by speculators, banks, hedge funds and pension funds all competed with real demand on the spot markets and had the effect of driving up both wholesale oil prices and retail gasoline prices. Speculators have made billions of dollars on their trading of oil futures contracts. All of their profits come right out of our pockets.
Even with a stable oil supply, there is a slow worldwide increase in demand for oil, which creates a long-term upward pressure on oil prices. However, with the relentless saber-rattling and war-mongering by Bush and Cheney in the last several years, and the more recent war talks by McCain and the Israelis, the oil futures markets are rife with speculation and paranoia. This war talk keeps ratcheting up the prices on the oil futures contracts and hence the wholesale spot market prices. It is an endless spiral of greed and paranoia.
As long as there is no tough and effective oversight of the electronic oil futures markets by the Bush Administration, the oil prices will climb endlessly. These oil prices will be quickly followed by hikes in the retail gasoline prices at the pump. The 60% speculation share of the $4.25/gallon gasoline price, is about $2.55/gallon, which is what we consumers are paying to these oil speculators as a “service fee.” Not a bad “fee,” since the speculators produce no usable goods or services…Just a few large greedy oil futures traders helping themselves to your gas money.
Without this added-on oil futures “service fee,” you would be paying about $1.75/gallon for gasoline. Write, call or smoke-signal your Representatives and Senators today and suggest that they read the June 2006 report by The U. S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations entitled, “The Role of Market Speculation in Rising Oil and Gas Prices.” Then demand that they investigate and then force the Bush Administration to firmly regulate the computerized oil futures contracts trading in New York, London and Dubai.

These unregulated electronic oil futures trading markets should be completely shut down immediately. They serve no social purpose, they only enable corporate greed. These same greedy corporate speculators are probably also responsible for the rapid rise in the prices of basic food commodities, such as wheat, rice and corn. No one who is not prepared to accept physical delivery of one thousand barrels of oil on their front doorstop should be allowed to participate in the oil futures markets. Same goes for wheat futures, rice futures and corn futures.

Because it would be silly to squander this new found fortune by saving it for after the inevitable bursting of the bubble.

You see…Republicans don’t see.