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Florida congressman upset at Obama for $70 fill-up of his Hummer

U.S. Rep. Allen West, a Florida Republican, has never been any great fan of President Barack Obama, but took to Facebook today to answer the question of what, if anything, he could praise about the president. His answer included a complaint that thanks to rising gas prices, it now costs $70 to fill up his 2008 Hummer H3... 

http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/florida-congressman-upset-obama-70-fill-hummer-215636787.html (http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/florida-congressman-upset-obama-70-fill-hummer-215636787.html)

Good point. Perhaps Obama should subsidize oil prices with tax payer money. That'll bring the price down.

:lookingup:

Only $70?  My mid-size sedan is $50.  I should get me a hummer.

Or maybe just quit blocking pipelines built to bring Canadian oil to the U.S.!!!!!!!

That would certainly take your mind off the high cost of gas.  :teddyr:

from http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/florida-congressman-upset-obama-70-fill-hummer-215636787.html and it sums up my thoughts

Saying gas costs too much based on your H3 -- which sports an average fuel economy of 16 to 18 mpg -- seems akin to arguing Americans have grown too fat at the drive-through window of a Carl Jr.'s. Yet West and other drivers can't be blamed for the current run-up; it's not American demand for gasoline causing its prices to rise, but rather demand from China, Latin America and worries over Iran's actions near the Strait of Hormuz. Last year, fossil fuels were America's biggest export -- partly because of the economic recession and the shift toward vehicles that get 40 mpg instead of 16.


Rep. West may need to brace his pocketbook; that H3 will need $90 to fill if prices hit $4 a gallon, as most experts suspect they will soon. Or he could switch into something a little more economical; there's nothing quite as obnoxious as the Hummer on sale, but switching to, say, the 2-liter turbo Ford Explorer would save him at least $1,400 a year in gas -- and maybe some aggravation.

So, that was the reason the prices are currently going up? Don't get me wrong, I thought that was a poor decision, but that's not the reason for the surge. Increasing demand from developing countries like China and India is the real reason. Don't be fooled by election year psuedo-analysis. bob has the main reason nailed.

The truly alarming implication if one chooses to read the writing on the wall is that other countries are developing while the U.S. is stagnating under a deteriorating infrastructure, which is a contributing reason for pain at the pump. U.S. manufacturing methods when it comes to refinement are antiquated, and U.S. oil companies seem increasingly hesitant to invest in more cost-effective production.

The two biggest factors in gas prices are oil prices (affected primarily by demand) and cost of refinement. This is basic stuff that is covered in your run-of-the-mill undergrad business programs.

(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7a/2007_Hummer_H3_--_NHTSA.jpg)
That's a friggen Hummer H3, A goddamn tank of an SUV that he's driving. Of course it'll suck down gas, It's called logic. There's no reason why this guy is bulls**tting himself when he damn well knows this is a giant piece of crap that can kill the environment!!! Just how stupid does he think we are?
(http://www.ironontshirt.co.uk/images/Cup%20Shut%20The%20Hell%20Up.gif)
I so wanna punch him know!!!! :hatred: :hatred: :hatred:

And kill the environment? To show the world that we, the US, are greedy oil bastards? No, it ain't worth the consequences.

why doesn't the guy set a great example for Americans and drive a more economical vehicle? :question:

Well, that's his choice. I don't begrudge him his vehicle choices, he can do what he wants. I think it's amusing that somebody would blame the president for the price of gas, as if ANY president controls that. No, it's just your garden variety election year finger pointing.

Any news article starting with the words "Florida congressman..." will probably be right at home on the Weird News Stories forum.

America could be paying a lot less at the pump if we would make full use of the fuel resources that we have within our own borders.  That means drilling where the oil actually is, versus forcing companies to drill in less productive areas, charging less in fuel taxes (the oil companies pocket about 3 - 4 cents of profits for every dollar worth of gas sold, whereas the government pockets a whopping 40 - 48 cents!  And yes, develop alternative fuel sources as fast as we can.  But for the moment, there is not an economically viable substitute for fossil fuels.  SO let's harvest them within our own borders instead of enriching terrorists and religious fanatics who are dedicated to the downfall of Western civilizationQ!

Yes, the government makes far more off of a gallon of gas than the oil corporations do, something that is fundamentally a travesty. However, your numbers are fudged a bit. The oil corporations make somewhere around 6 or 7 cents per dollar, or 6%-7%, and the government makes about 48% per gallon in various excise and sales taxes, which, given an average national price per gallon of about $3.70, with is about 14%. So, the gap is more like 7% (oil company margin) vs. 14% (government margin), not 4% vs. 48%. It's the kind of trick a conservative bombast like Sean Hannity would play to make the gap seem much larger than it actually is.

Still, that the government is making more off of a gallon of gas than the companies that produce it is fundamentally wrong. That's the part that people have to get through their heads. If the government is making a higher profit margin off of ANY product than those producing it, then there is something wrong with the system. But hey, we've gotta pay for all these government programs and foreign intervention somehow, don't we?

Indy, you are a sensible man with sound values. I recognize that fully. You really need to step out of your conservative Republican comfort. You see through such a partisan prism, it kills me. Yes, I agree fully that we need to harvest our own resources rather than fund despots in the Middle East. Yet you are in such strong support of military activities essentially aimed at keeping all of that foreign oil flowing. Besides, there is not alot we can do about the equilibrium price of gasoline.

Now, let's test your taxes theory. If we drop the amount that the government makes on taxing gasoline, say, to the same level as the profit margin of oil companies, then we go from 14% to 7%. So, basically, instead of 48 cents per gallon, we go to half that, or 24 cents per gallon. So, the price of a gallon of gas goes from a national average of about $3.70 per gallon to $3.46. Now, that is a marked improvement, but we're still well over $3.00 a gallon. Why? Because the market price of oil is what it is.

Harvesting our own resources is not the solution you think it is. Doing that won't bring the price of gasoline down except by pennies on the gallon. The market price for oil will only change as much as the rise in supply will allow. Simple demand curve stuff: if you increase the supply, then a greater quantity will be sold for less. However, tapping our own resources will not dramatically effect the supply, or not as much as people want to think. Where it benefits us primarily is in the area of increasing our exports and GDP, and decreasing our dependency, which I am all in favor of. But it doesn't affect the price of a gallon of gas by very much. Again, the market price is what it is. Do you think Exxon and BP are going to suddenly start charging us less than the equilibrium price for oil? Of course not, they're going to maximize profits, like they should.

Another problem we have is horrible harvesting and production methods. I hate to sound like a liberal environmentalist, but the BP disaster in the Gulf of Mexico should be an eye-opener. Further, we lack the infrastructure and modernization to refine oil efficiently. We are not sufficiently modernized to handle the line and component corrosion problems that refineries face constantly, that is the primary variable cost that affecting production. Fix that problem and you have another reduction at the pump.

So, fix the above three factors and we can talk realistically about significantly easing pain at the pump.

Hummers  are now made  in China, like so many of our things in the last few years, it's  only getting worse. I'm a  Republican, by default, not cause  either  Dems or Repubs are any great  shakes. One sells  out all both ends, while the other  goes to  the highest bidder. G-D Save the Republic. :bluesad: