Gasoline surges to the highest level since August 2008

[bowtieguy]

i wouldn't have an issue w/ $5/gal gas if other taxes and fees weren't so incredibly ridiculous and waste of tax revenue wasn't so incredibly squandered!

meanwhile, the politicians fill their pockets as many responsible consumers struggle. and we criticize big business and specifically big oil...we're a nation of hypocrites and ill informed tards.

[theclencher]

I heard that 400 U.S. citizens have amassed an amount of wealth EQUAL to 50% of the entire rest of the U.S. citizenry. The have/have not spread is widening ever more quickly and ever more extremely and I think it is nothing more than a game... I mean, once you have $100,000,000 socked away for yourself you almost can't even spend any more, so then the continued rape of the commoners is merely for sport.

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by theclencher

I heard that 400 U.S. citizens have amassed an amount of wealth EQUAL to 50% of the entire rest of the U.S. citizenry. The have/have not spread is widening ever more quickly and ever more extremely and I think it is nothing more than a game... I mean, once you have $100,000,000 socked away for yourself you almost can't even spend any more, so then the continued rape of the commoners is merely for sport.

politics, is not allowed on this forum, and for good reason!

[bowtieguy]

i'm w/ ya clencher. unfortunately the average joe cannot crunch the #s in regard to how said individuals earned(or not) their fortune, how many people they employ, their economic(spending) impact, etc.

pro athletes, hollywood heros, real estate gurus, and the like...is it govt's responsibility to decide who gets to keep what, beyond a fair or flat tax?

i'm by no means an economic expert or prophet, but i've said for quite a while that VERY difficult and unpopular decisions lie ahead for all levels of govt. irrespective of the elite earners and their greed, the future of the greatest nation in history falls on the few in our govt's leadership.

cuts in taxes, jobs, and spending(in govt) are paramount to our survival. i'm not confident that this will happen. over compensated pensions(and benefits), entitlements, immigration, and corruption have become acceptable. i applaud the governors around the country trying to make said cuts, however.

[theclencher]

Originally Posted by *************

politics, is not allowed on this forum, and for good reason!

Where's the politics?

[imzjustplayin]

Originally Posted by theclencher

Where's the politics?

complaining about how some people have more money than others falls into the arena of "class warfare" which to me is politics.

[theclencher]

It's a fact so too bad.

[dieselbenz]

Originally Posted by theclencher

It's a fact so too bad.

In your imagination.

Originally Posted by theclencher

I mean, once you have $100,000,000 socked away for yourself you almost can't even spend any more, so then the continued rape of the commoners is merely for sport.

I have my sport, you have yours. Deal with it.

[theclencher]

Nope, pretty sure I saw it on TV and online in several places...

[imzjustplayin]

I find it annoying that clencher and others are very presumptuous in thinking that because of the increasing wealth gap, automagically, it's through the pillaging of the common people's wealth and so they're suffering because of it. In very simple terms, "globalization" is the reason for the increase in wealth gap, but not necessarily at the expense of say the American people. Let's just say the wealthiest person in the world is 1% of gdp, and that comes out to 100 billion and the national market is 1 trillion dollars, ok. They amassed this wealth because of some product they own which has mass appeal and therefore they can make money from many people. This person's wealth for a long while has been fixed at 1% of GDP due to the product this person has, his market share can no longer grow and the overall GDP is not growing, but is fixed at 1 trillion dollars.. Alright, so what if, through "globalization", this person can now sell their product into other markets, so instead of being limited to a 1 trillion dollar market, can enter into the world market which is for example at 100 trillion dollars? Well, assuming this person is as successful internationally as he is nationally, he will this time be still be 1% of national GDP, but also 1% of World GDP, and have 1 trillion dollars instead of 100 billion dollars.

All of this of course is a fictitious person in a fictitious national and world economy with a fictitious product but the parallels between this guy and real CEOs and other wallstreet people should be uncanny. So tell me, how is this guy hurting the people of the United States when all the NEW wealth being accumulated is because of expansion into other markets? Even if you agree that you don't have an issue with this "fictitious guy", I think the real issue with you is that you don't like the idea of any person having a lot of money and feel its the people's job to "normalize" things when any one person gets "too far ahead" and "too far ahead" being an arbitrary guideline..

Wealth redistribution would accomplish absolutely nothing except push the price of goods through the roof, resulting in hyper inflation. You don't build nations via wealth redistribution nor government handouts. What pisses me off about people who are pro-wealth redistribution is that they see "rich people" as big piles of cash and then all they do is daydream about all the "great stuff" that could be accomplished with that cash had those evil rich people not been hoarding that money. I have more to say about this but I'm hoping this discussion will end as politics isn't allowed on this forum anyhow.