Why are gas prices so high (and why do they keep climbing)?

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Apple fanboy said:
This is a consideration. But again not going to help those who rent or who live in apartments. Fortunately I don’t but am investing in an EV. The solar panels and battery will be a future project when funds are looking better.
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If I had the $ I'd install solar panels, set up a nice EV charger - charge during peak solar output, and be happy. My old boss actually installed a massive solar array on his property and it's amazing how much energy that outputs, even many many years later. But sure isn't cheap. Another previous boss of mine set up another solar array and took a lot of pride in the checks the energy company used to send him.

I like the idea of being self sufficient, even more so - pumping electricity back into the grid. One of my friend's parents installed a dual power wall setup on their home (they have solar) - and they're basically running off of their panels all the time now. That's a dream of mine someday. Long time off (if ever attainable), but that would be a great situation to be in imo.
 
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BigMcGuire said:
If I had the $ I'd install solar panels, set up a nice EV charger - charge during peak solar output, and be happy. My old boss actually installed a massive solar array on his property and it's amazing how much energy that outputs, even many many years later. But sure isn't cheap. Another previous boss of mine set up another solar array and took a lot of pride in the checks the energy company used to send him.

I like the idea of being self sufficient, even more so - pumping electricity back into the grid. One of my friend's parents installed a dual power wall setup on their home (they have solar) - and they're basically running of of their panels all the time now. That's a dream of mine someday. Long time off (if ever attainable), but that would be a great situation to be in imo.
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Some of my neighbors have done that and doing the math it looks like it would take several years to pay for itself, it's definitely a long term investment. Since I'm able to get .09 per KW during off-peak hours I don't worry so much about it, filling up is cheap. I also consider that when I'm out on longer trips I still have to pay premium prices for supercharging, sometimes even with surcharges built in. So in the end it's just not a feasible investment for me but that's not to say it won't eventually pay for itself.
 
Eric said:
Some of my neighbors have done that and doing the math it looks like it would take several years to pay for itself, it's definitely a long term investment. Since I'm able to get .09 per KW during off-peak hours I don't worry so much about it, filling up is cheap. I also consider that when I'm out on longer trips I still have to pay premium prices for supercharging, sometimes even with surcharges built in. So in the end it's just not a feasible investment for me but that's not to say it won't eventually pay for itself.
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Supercharging is free for me, but in the 9 or so years I’ve owned the car I’ve only used the superchargers less than 10 times. I need to get off my ass and start taking advantage of my freebies.

(Other than on one road trip to carmel, I’ve only ever used the supercharger when I happened to be shopping or seeing a movie someplace where superchargers happened to be and I also happened to have lowish charge. Oh, and one time I used them because we had a 24-hour blackout at the house.)
 
Cmaier said:
Supercharging is free for me, but in the 9 or so years I’ve owned the car I’ve only used the superchargers less than 10 times. I need to get off my ass and start taking advantage of my freebies.

(Other than on one road trip to carmel, I’ve only ever used the supercharger when I happened to be shopping or seeing a movie someplace where superchargers happened to be and I also happened to have lowish charge. Oh, and one time I used them because we had a 24-hour blackout at the house.)
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As someone who's owned the car as long as you have, do you think you would've seen a cost benefit by moving to solar that would've made it worth it? (assuming you're not already using it).
 
Eric said:
As someone who's owned the car as long as you have, do you think you would've seen a cost benefit by moving to solar that would've made it worth it? (assuming you're not already using it).
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I don’t have solar, sadly. Given the costs of solar back then, i don’t think there has been a point where it would have paid for itself. I look into it every few years, and each time I come to the conclusion “well, if I live in the house for another 10 or 15 years I should break even.”
 
Eric said:
It's almost like people bagging on poor people for buying a hot dog with their food stamp card on "their dime" while being completely oblivious to the fact that they're paying three times more out of their paychecks to fund tax breaks for millionaires. We relate with what we can see and what's tangible.

My brother is a fishing guide and has to tow his boat with his huge truck and has had to increase his rates, but his clients don't want to pay it. So it sounds like he may be folding, it's unfortunate for everyone. Of course he places the blame 100% on Biden and it's not that he doesn't bear some responsibility as a sitting president but this is much bigger than Trump or Biden, it's cyclical and the pandemic has played a huge role. Prices will eventually drop again if people can hang in there for a little while.
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You will never hear me complain about someone buy food, any kind of food, with food stamps. What does piss me off is when it is abused. In college, my best friend worked at a c-store. Kids from the apartments across the street would come over with food stamps and buy a the same thing. I don't remember specifically what it was, but it was just over $1. The rules in place at the time allowed real change to be given if it was under $1. So the kids would bring $2 worth of stamps, buy the item and get real change. Several kids would do this over a short period. Then the dad would come over with the change and buy beer. With the money that was supposed to be used to feed his kids. :(

Sorry about your brother. That sucks.
 
Cmaier said:
I don’t have solar, sadly. Given the costs of solar back then, i don’t think there has been a point where it would have paid for itself. I look into it every few years, and each time I come to the conclusion “well, if I live in the house for another 10 or 15 years I should break even.”
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I don't remember when my old bosses said their solar would pay for itself but it was definitely around the 10 year timeframe I believe. I think it really helps when you have high electric bills (ex: $1000 monthly summer AC bills).
 
Herdfan said:
You will never hear me complain about someone buy food, any kind of food, with food stamps. What does piss me off is when it is abused. In college, my best friend worked at a c-store. Kids from the apartments across the street would come over with food stamps and buy a the same thing. I don't remember specifically what it was, but it was just over $1. The rules in place at the time allowed real change to be given if it was under $1. So the kids would bring $2 worth of stamps, buy the item and get real change. Several kids would do this over a short period. Then the dad would come over with the change and buy beer. With the money that was supposed to be used to feed his kids. :(

Sorry about your brother. That sucks.
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I realize this isn't on topic but I rented with someone who lived off of food stamps (and needed to). It would only pay for a portion of their Walmart grocery list - had all sorts of restrictions on what could/couldn't be purchased so every time they went to feed their family - stamps only paid for a portion of the Walmart bill. This was around 2004 - but that was my only experience with food stamps.
 
Herdfan said:
You will never hear me complain about someone buy food, any kind of food, with food stamps. What does piss me off is when it is abused. In college, my best friend worked at a c-store. Kids from the apartments across the street would come over with food stamps and buy a the same thing. I don't remember specifically what it was, but it was just over $1. The rules in place at the time allowed real change to be given if it was under $1. So the kids would bring $2 worth of stamps, buy the item and get real change. Several kids would do this over a short period. Then the dad would come over with the change and buy beer. With the money that was supposed to be used to feed his kids. :(

Sorry about your brother. That sucks.
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I'd rather have the few food stamp abusers cheat us out a of 10 million a year, than the Trumps and the like grab 100s of millions or billions from us.
 
rdrr said:
I'd rather have the few food stamp abusers cheat us out a of 10 million a year, than the Trumps and the like grab 100s of millions or billions from us.
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They aren't cheating "us". They aren't feeding their kids, which is the point of the program in the first place. :mad:
 
Herdfan said:
You will never hear me complain about someone buy food, any kind of food, with food stamps. What does piss me off is when it is abused. In college, my best friend worked at a c-store. Kids from the apartments across the street would come over with food stamps and buy a the same thing. I don't remember specifically what it was, but it was just over $1. The rules in place at the time allowed real change to be given if it was under $1. So the kids would bring $2 worth of stamps, buy the item and get real change. Several kids would do this over a short period. Then the dad would come over with the change and buy beer. With the money that was supposed to be used to feed his kids. :(
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Hmm your friend somehow knew the entire life story of that supposed family. I call BS.

And even if it’s true (doubtful), somebody spending that much time and trouble (allegedly) to try and get a dollar or two of real currency from their food stamps pisses you off?

This from the same person that regularly and vociferously opposes taxes for billionaires because of some absolute and utter bullshit “slippery slope” argument.

Un-f-ing believable.

Food stamps shouldn’t even be a thing. This system works much better, and removes the shame associated with falling on tough times.

www.npr.org

Results From The City That Just Gave Away Cash

A new study looks at the experiment with a guaranteed basic income in Stockton, California.
www.npr.org www.npr.org

It takes intentional ignorance in 2022 to keep buying into the early 80s “Welfare Queen” nonsense put forward by the patron saint of dog whistles, Ronald Reagan.

iu


www.jacobinmag.com

Ronald Reagan’s “Welfare Queen” Lie Has Been Resurrected

To supply bosses with exploitable low-wage workers during a deadly pandemic, Republicans are reviving a grotesque lie: the myth of the “welfare queen.”
www.jacobinmag.com www.jacobinmag.com
 
SuperMatt said:
Food stamps shouldn’t even be a thing. This system works much better, and removes the shame associated with falling on tough times.
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Not sure about that cash. Not because it is cash, but because the purpose of food stamps is in the name: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefit (SNAP). It is supposed to feed kids. Giving them cash does nothing to guarantee the money is used on food. As for the shame, now they have cards that work just like credit cards, so no one is the wiser.
 
Herdfan said:
Not sure about that cash. Not because it is cash, but because the purpose of food stamps is in the name: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefit (SNAP). It is supposed to feed kids. Giving them cash does nothing to guarantee the money is used on food. As for the shame, now they have cards that work just like credit cards, so no one is the wiser.
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Don’t read the study. Don’t look at the results. Just go by your preconceived notion that food-only benefits work better than money that can be used for any expense as it comes up.
 
SuperMatt said:
Don’t read the study. Don’t look at the results. Just go by your preconceived notion that food-only benefits work better than money that can be used for any expense as it comes up.
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There are other programs for that. Now if you think they should all be combined into one, that's fine. Would probably cut down on administration costs.
 
I'm sorry, but I will probably never move past this situation asking me to sacrifice for Ukraine in service of an industry that is climate destroying, highly speculative, and a constant source of gouging consumers to increase profit margins....while getting subsidized by tax dollars. The industry will be making ZERO sacrifices in support of Ukraine or consumers. They'd sooner accept major political abuses or nuclear war than reduce their profits.
 
I want to make something very clear. When somebody abuses the system to the tune of a handful of coins, there is anger involved.

Herdfan said:
You will never hear me complain about someone buy food, any kind of food, with food stamps. What does piss me off is when it is abused. In college, my best friend worked at a c-store. Kids from the apartments across the street would come over with food stamps and buy a the same thing. I don't remember specifically what it was, but it was just over $1. The rules in place at the time allowed real change to be given if it was under $1. So the kids would bring $2 worth of stamps, buy the item and get real change. Several kids would do this over a short period. Then the dad would come over with the change and buy beer. With the money that was supposed to be used to feed his kids.
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When somebody abuses the system to the tune of billions of dollars, there is empathy for them:

Herdfan said:
Ok, so here is a question.

Let's say we tax Bezos on his $99B increase in wealth. If Amazon stock goes down and he loses $99B in wealth, does he get a tax credit?

We have never taxed on unrealized gains. I don't think many people would be happy if their mutual funds increased $20K in value and they had to pay whatever percentage of tax on that gain and then the fund goes down in value wiping out that $20K they just paid taxes on.
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Herdfan said:
Yes, $20K is a low number. But what starts out as a Billionaire tax will creep down to Millionaires and then to everyone else. If there is a way for a politician to extract a tax from it, they will.
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So seriously, the person who saved enough coins from food stamp change to buy a beer (last century BTW) is the “system abuser” that you’re angry at. As for the billionaires abusing the system that they pay lobbyists to create for them… you actually defend the abusers AND the system.
 
SuperMatt said:
I want to make something very clear. When somebody abuses the system to the tune of a handful of coins, there is anger involved.



When somebody abuses the system to the tune of billions of dollars, there is empathy for them:





So seriously, the person who saved enough coins from food stamp change to buy a beer (last century BTW) is the “system abuser” that you’re angry at. As for the billionaires abusing the system that they pay lobbyists to create for them… you actually defend the abusers AND the system.
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Billionaire influence on right wing media. Gets people riled about pennies and convinces dupes that rich people shouldn’t pay their fair share.
 

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