[fabsroman]

Billy,

I think the oil companies should be investigated for price fixing, but otherwise, I think they should be able to set whatever price they want. With competition, they shouldn't be able to price gouge. Something tells me that there is some price fixing going on.

Telling the oil companies what they can charge is just like communism. Next, we'll be telling the doctors, attorneys, CPA, construction contractors, plumbers, etc. what they can charge.

If you don't want to drive too far to work, move closer. Problem is that most people bought their nice house with a nice yard over an hour away from work because they couldn't afford the same thing in the city. I had a client move over an hour away from work because he could get a house for 1/4 to 1/5 of what the same house cost by his work. At first, everything was fine. Then, he started complaining that the hour drive was getting longer and longer because the traffic was getting worse. Everybody had the same idea he had. So instead of spending 2 hours on the road, he was spending 4+ a day on the road. Because he was always late, he was always speeding. He got a ton of tickets, lost his license, got busted twice for driving with a suspended license, was sentenced to a month in jail, and lost his job.

I work from home, but my wife is currently driving 40 minutes each way to the job she just started 5 months ago, which is less than the hour plus she used to drive each way before that. We are looking to buy a house now, and we will be buying it in a more expensive area, closer to her work, just so she can cut down on her drive time, the mileage on the car, and the gas bill. I'll also be closer to my parents so they can help with baby sitting. It will probably cost us $100K more than buying it further away, but it will be worth it over 30 years.

Everybody wants the big house and the big yard for cheap. The thing is, the price paid for the house remains the same over 30+ years. The price of gas, cars, and vehicle service escalates.

High gas prices also helps prevent pollution because less people are willing to drive around just for the heck of it.

I could really get started on the number of trucks and SUV's that I see with a single person in them, but that would be a long tirade too. I figured out that at today's gas prices, it would probably be cheaper for a person to buy a second small car like a Ford Focus that gets 35 miles to the gallon, versus driving a truck or SUV that gets 15 or less miles to the gallon. At $3 per gallon and driving 15,000 miles a year, the gas savings between the two is $1,800. In 8 years or 120,000 miles, the Ford Focus will have paid for itself, not to mention the fact that the more expensive truck/SUV wouldn't be destroyed being driven on miles that its size/towing/hauling capacity are not needed on.

As you can probably tell, I'm not very sympathetic toward people crying over the price of gas. Those are usually the same people that have bought houses on the farms that I used to hunt on.