Price Gouging after the Flood

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Sauer- I think we've covered this ground before.  I believe the gov't tax is a flat rate per gallon, not a percentage of the sales price.  Not sure how Ohio assesses their fuel taxes.

Yes, but some states have a sales tax on fuel on top of the cents per gallon tax. The higher the fuel cost the more money the state gets in sales taxes. Indiana has a sales tax on gasoline as do many other states. last year Indiana thought about doing away with it, but decided to keep it for bridge & road repair.

[restored2x]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

quote:Originally posted by restored2x

There is no such thing in our day and age as a politician of any affiliation being for the little guy.

Politics are about money and power - period. You can choose Pepsi or Coke - but it's still just soda. They are all a bunch of bull-crappers who live in their own world and say whatever sells to the rest of us.

Show me just ONE politician who is truly passionate about anything. Gore and the environment? More political bullcrap and hypocrisy - his monthly electric bill is half my yearly salary!

Anyone who even talks about the need for a third party alternative is treated like they wear aluminum foil hats to protect against alien brain upload.

Party and national politics is a joke. Time wasted on campaigning and arguing about national politics amounts to nothing more than does farting in a windstorm.

Needless to say - I am not looking forward to the upcoming election year. I loathe it. Whoever gets in as our new president, Coke or Pepsi - same crap - different label.

I mainly did that as a dig on the last few libs on this forum who believe voting Democrat will dig us out of the morass in Washington.

You haven't been around the forum for very long to know me yet.  I'm a registered non-party-line-voting  Republican and equal-opportunity lampooner of both parties.

I came to the conclusion long ago that legislators are nothing but conduits for the real power in Washington- the lobbyists.

You and I have very similar views on gov't. []

Oh Gore, not only about the electric bill, how about he's invested up to his neck in green technology?

Conan:

I don't know you - but I think I like you.

We need a bunch of likeminded people to get up in arms (not literally) and show some vision and passion for making our nation work. Maybe it will never be done on a grand scale again - but perhaps we can make a difference locally.

Maybe this board can make a small dent in local policy and direction - and still be apolitical.

[RecycleMichael]

quote:Originally posted by restored2x
Conan:

I don't know you - but I think I like you.

Great...a love connection.

We were talking about motor oil...not massage oil.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by recyclemichael

quote:Originally posted by restored2x
Conan:

I don't know you - but I think I like you.

Great...a love connection.

We were talking about motor oil...not massage oil.

I always heard these kinds of things happened on the internet but was never a believer until now. [}:)]

[AMP]

quote:Originally posted by buckeye

quote:All motor oil passes an API standard and for the most part sans the additives it is all basically the same product, different viscosity that means the thickness of the product, but still the same stuff in the bottles. Different viscosity oil is used, based on the types of bearings being lubricated in the device based on the engineers' design.

That's a dangerously incomplete understanding.

Check out the forums at www.bobistheoilguy.com to get a taste of oil.  Is the oil Group II?  Group III with a little IV and called synthetic?  Group IV with a little Group I to hold the additives?  Boutique-style mainly Group V, only available at your local speed shop?  Each group of molecules has different characteristics and the overall characteristics of the oil depends on those ratios and how they interact with that oil's specific additive package.  It's not so simple...

Pretty simple to me, I just walk into the Dollar General store and buy oil that is stocked on their shelf.  Pour it into the crankcase of what ever vehicle I am driving at the time an go on down the road.  I have 302,000 miles on one truck, 282,000 on a second and 196,000 on a third, and all of them have been running on Dollar General or Family Dollar  gereric brand oil since I first bought them.  

I have built race engines that burn Nitro Methane fuel and the only change in oil for them was to run straight 60 weight that we got for free from the local oil distributor.  Other Pro Stock engines, Dirt Track engines I have built I run the same old Dollar General oil in with no oil related failures that I have seen.   I have always assembled the engines with the same oil we run in them as well. Few of them have set National Records and won four chanmionships over the past three years so I can't complain about the performance from that oil.  

I have friends that run Red Line and other synthetics that swear by them.  Curley Sutton used to run DA Oil that was distributed our of West Tulsa.  I have never been much of a advocate of oil, just keep it clean, filtered and refresh it every 3,000 miles in normal duty wear for street use.  Running a good oil filter is probably the most important part of motor oil maintenance.  All petroleum based oil comes from basically the same place, out of the ground.  It all wears out, all gets dirty, all breaks down with escessive heat.  If the engine is tuned properly and not under undue stress most brands of motor oil will supply adequate lubrication.

[AMP]

The sales rep for Slick 50 carried around with him a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton Engine that had a plexiglass cover exposing the view of the con rod and crank.  He ran that same engine for years during his demonstration talks, with zero oil in it.  

He gave me a contaiiner of Slick 50 and asked if I had any old motorcycles out back that we had little or not money in and could do a test with.  I replied sure a few of them.  He suggested we treat one with Slick 50, then drain out all the oil, remove the oil filter and ride the motorcycle on the street, highway and around town for two days and he would be back on the third day to check up.  

We used a Kawasaki KZ 400 which had plain bearings both on the crankshaft ane on the camshaft.  It had solid lifters with no hydraulics so it would function with no oil.  

I rode that motorcycle to Owasso, and back to Tulsa on Highway 169, I rode it to Sand Springs and back to Tulsa on Highway 412, I rode in back and forth to my house in stop and go city traffic.  I took friends with me for rides, pointed out it had NO Oil drain plug or Oil Filter in it, and the Oil Light stayed on bright the entire time we rode around on it.  

On the third day, the Slick 50 salesman returned, we serviced the engine with motor oil and installed a new filter and to the best of my knoledge that thing may still be running today.  It never created any knocking noises, or exibited any sounds that any metal breakdown was occuring.  It did make more noise running than one with oil in it, but I did not notice much difference in performaance or other mechanical problems.

Sure made a believer out of me that the Slick 50 product reduces friction and wear.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

The sales rep for Slick 50 carried around with him a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton Engine that had a plexiglass cover exposing the view of the con rod and crank.  He ran that same engine for years during his demonstration talks, with zero oil in it.  

He gave me a contaiiner of Slick 50 and asked if I had any old motorcycles out back that we had little or not money in and could do a test with.  I replied sure a few of them.  He suggested we treat one with Slick 50, then drain out all the oil, remove the oil filter and ride the motorcycle on the street, highway and around town for two days and he would be back on the third day to check up.  

We used a Kawasaki KZ 400 which had plain bearings both on the crankshaft ane on the camshaft.  It had solid lifters with no hydraulics so it would function with no oil.  

I rode that motorcycle to Owasso, and back to Tulsa on Highway 169, I rode it to Sand Springs and back to Tulsa on Highway 412, I rode in back and forth to my house in stop and go city traffic.  I took friends with me for rides, pointed out it had NO Oil drain plug or Oil Filter in it, and the Oil Light stayed on bright the entire time we rode around on it.  

On the third day, the Slick 50 salesman returned, we serviced the engine with motor oil and installed a new filter and to the best of my knoledge that thing may still be running today.  It never created any knocking noises, or exibited any sounds that any metal breakdown was occuring.  It did make more noise running than one with oil in it, but I did not notice much difference in performaance or other mechanical problems.

Sure made a believer out of me that the Slick 50 product reduces friction and wear.

They did a TV commerical about a car that ran with no oil coast to coast many years ago. If Slick 50 is so good why don't the car companies use it in their new engines it'll save them a ton on warranty work? That is a big question for me. As for buying Dollar General oil, I have found their oil is not all that cheap. Wal-Mart oil is cheaper as is some auto parts stores like Auto Zone.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by AMP

The sales rep for Slick 50 carried around with him a 5 hp Briggs & Stratton Engine that had a plexiglass cover exposing the view of the con rod and crank.  He ran that same engine for years during his demonstration talks, with zero oil in it.  

He gave me a contaiiner of Slick 50 and asked if I had any old motorcycles out back that we had little or not money in and could do a test with.  I replied sure a few of them.  He suggested we treat one with Slick 50, then drain out all the oil, remove the oil filter and ride the motorcycle on the street, highway and around town for two days and he would be back on the third day to check up.  

We used a Kawasaki KZ 400 which had plain bearings both on the crankshaft ane on the camshaft.  It had solid lifters with no hydraulics so it would function with no oil.  

I rode that motorcycle to Owasso, and back to Tulsa on Highway 169, I rode it to Sand Springs and back to Tulsa on Highway 412, I rode in back and forth to my house in stop and go city traffic.  I took friends with me for rides, pointed out it had NO Oil drain plug or Oil Filter in it, and the Oil Light stayed on bright the entire time we rode around on it.  

On the third day, the Slick 50 salesman returned, we serviced the engine with motor oil and installed a new filter and to the best of my knoledge that thing may still be running today.  It never created any knocking noises, or exibited any sounds that any metal breakdown was occuring.  It did make more noise running than one with oil in it, but I did not notice much difference in performaance or other mechanical problems.

Sure made a believer out of me that the Slick 50 product reduces friction and wear.

Did you ride around with your hand ready to grab the clutch for the potential lock-up at any second?

I've been through a few hair-raising lock-ups.

[patric]

Flooded Refinery Affecting Gas Prices
An Oklahoma state representative is accusing gas stations of price fixing. Oklahoma City state Representative Mike Shelton says he wants a full-scale investigation by the Oklahoma Attorney General, but News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports experts say Oklahoma's high gas prices start in Kansas.

Dewey Bartlett is just one of the oilmen who say the closure in Coffeyville is the number one reason we're paying more for gas.
http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=131334


Dewey Bartlett didnt bother to mention that we're supposed to be getting our gas from the Gulf Coast, where supplies arent affected by the flood (or maybe News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson didnt ask).

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

let's say abritrarily Kansas City gets most of it's 87 unleaded from C'ville.  Now that refinery is closed, they have to get gas from somewhere, perhaps the Gulf Coast where we supposedly get our gas which supposedly stretches refining capacity from there and perhaps other refineries.

That's a plausible scenario, and if that were the case here, why not just report that instead of using half-truths or smoke-and-mirrors?  

[Conan71]

Patric-

Mainly because I don't think the media cares to dig anymore than they have to.  Just bust out a headline about the high gas prices and people will tune in, regardless of what crap finally makes it into the story.

The cost of gas isn't even likely registering with the TV and radio news types much since they can travel in employer-provided vehicles on the company gas card.

I've slowly gained the personal belief that a lot of journalism these days starts out with a certain conclusion by the journalist which is bolstered by seletively interviewing only those who will make statements supporting whatever the point is the reporter thinks people need to know.

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by Conan71

Mainly because I don't think the media cares to dig anymore than they have to.  Just bust out a headline about the high gas prices and people will tune in, regardless of what crap finally makes it into the story.

I was thinking AAA and all the "experts" the media have been quoting, but yes, the news reporting on this subject has been superficial fluff at best.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by patric

Flooded Refinery Affecting Gas Prices
An Oklahoma state representative is accusing gas stations of price fixing. Oklahoma City state Representative Mike Shelton says he wants a full-scale investigation by the Oklahoma Attorney General, but News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson reports experts say Oklahoma's high gas prices start in Kansas.

Dewey Bartlett is just one of the oilmen who say the closure in Coffeyville is the number one reason we're paying more for gas.
http://www.kotv.com/news/local/story/?id=131334


Dewey Bartlett didnt bother to mention that we're supposed to be getting our gas from the Gulf Coast, where supplies arent affected by the flood (or maybe News On 6 anchor Scott Thompson didnt ask).

That was a good article. I also read a story in the Indianapolis Star that said much the same thing. Fuel will keep going up and is expected to peak around $3.50 - $3.60 per gallon. I guess another refinery is on the skids and is sputtering they are having mech problems. They run 87,000 barrels per day.. Fuel prices are higher now then when the hurricane closed many refineries in 2005. If a hurricane hits now in 2007 we may be seeing $4.50 or $5.00 a gallon gasoline easy.

[inteller]

those of us filling up for $1 a gal with natural gas are laughing right now.

this is all the more reason why refineries should be nationalized until there are enough to have a true market economy.

[sauerkraut]

quote:Originally posted by inteller

those of us filling up for $1 a gal with natural gas are laughing right now.

this is all the more reason why refineries should be nationalized until there are enough to have a true market economy.

I was always against having the oil markets nationalized, I believe in the free market, but this is not free at all, it's a monolopy. This is nuts. The gas prices are not falling and we had $3.00 a gallon fuel all summer long..  I favor the nationalized markets now, we have nothing to lose, as it is now each year it gets worse & worse, can't afford to drive.. This is getting very bad and if it keeps up it can ruin the American economy, drain people's savings and retirement accounts. Natural gas is the way to go, it has some drawbacks because if you drive away from home you may not be able to fill-up, but if they set up a network of nat. gas stations we'll have it made. it also burns cleaner than gasoline. Here in Ohio I don't know any place that does the conversions over to nat. gas- nor how much it costs. But if everyone switched over to nat. gas you can bet those prices will go up to around $3.00 a gallon too, the oil companies will get into the nat. gas business since they already have the stations and distribution system. So what ever fuel we use, we will be hosed. (People who use nat. gas in their homes could fill up at home)