66 Comments - Anon - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:20 am: Did anybody see the NBC nightly news last night? They showed what others pay for gas in countries like England, the Netherlands, and even in oil rich Russia. Needless to say, this isnt gouging we are seeing in the U.S. — its more like a market correction. Gas prices will only rise and its time for american consumers to accept it and for american car makers to get in front of new fuel technologies. If you dont like to pay for gas then buy a hybrid, move closer to work, drive slower and for shorter distances. There is also mass transit that should be considered. The bottom line is that we need to stop focusing on the price of gas and learn to deal with it, while at the same time look for new energy sources to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Personally, I think high gas preices are good becuase they will discourage consumption and reduce pollution. Drive it up, OPEC! - Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:22 am: St. Louis gas stations are selling for $3.619, while stations in the Metro East are at $3.889. I assume the difference is the Illinois sales tax. What was the price the last time there was a state gas sales tax holiday? About a buck-eighty if I remember correctly….are there any numbers on the windfall the state is getting on gas sales this year? - The Doc - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:25 am: I shudder to think of deficits the state, Cook County, and Chicago (the latter two of which recently raised taxes to unprecedented levels) would be facing if not for sales tax on gasoline. Yet another reason why our state and local governments need first to tighten their respective belts before considering implementing any tax increases. - True Observer - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:27 am: “The Second City has become first in the nation for high gas prices” If he’s referring to Old Town O.K. But everywhere else it’s Third City. Obviously, he’s too busy playing the Senator to have noticed. - Pat collins - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:28 am: One thing that would help a lot is: 1) Make it easier to build and expand refineries. 2) Reduce the number of “special blends” refineries must make to satisfy clean air requirements. http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2005/06/the_case_for_mo.html Of course Sen. Dumbin wont’ do anything about that! - Wumpus - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:30 am: Rich, kind of sassy this morning. Everything okay? - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:31 am: Reduce special blends? That’s easy. Just make the blends for the West Coast, and we would all have cleaner air and those oil companies wouldn’t have to worry about the “special blends.” - He Makes Ryan Look Like a Saint - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:32 am: Durban Also voted AGAINST allowing us to open up drilling for oil in the regions that are currently protected. It is time for SOMEONE in Washington to stand up and LEAD. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:33 am: Quimby- I think the state’s sales tax “windfall” since gas prices went from $2 to $4/gal. is in the hundreds of millions of dollars over the last 3 years (probably about a half billion). Some economists would tell you that it is not really a “windfall” as consumers who would have paid the sales tax on other items have had to cut back purchases of non-essential items as gasoline eats further into their personal or household budget. - Just Sayin' - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:38 am: Well, there’s a lot of reasons for the gas prices going up. But don’t forget that it’s also a product of a weak dollar. The weak dollar helps us export more goods abroad, but it can bite us big time when we’re bringing in goods (like oil) from other countries. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:40 am: Let’s also not forget the saber-rattling with regard to Iran. Every time the Bush team talks about war with Iran, prices go up. Bush actually HELPS Iran by talking about war. - Cal Skinner - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:40 am: Does Cook County still levy a gas tax to finance Cook County Jail? - anon - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:41 am: elect Obama President and the entire country can enjoy an Illiois run government - Chicago Law Grad - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:46 am: I think a higher tax on gas is a good thing. People in Chicago have a mass transit system that reaches most parts of the city. Also, most people could use a mile or two of walking. Higher gas prices keep people off the roads, infusing mass transit with money; helping the environment; I hate to say it (cliche alert), but breaking our dependency on foreign oil; and giving incentives to car companies to make more fuel efficient cars. Should there be some abatement for people who need to drive for the livelihood? Yes, there should be; and there is. Tax laws allow you to take mileage off as a business expense. It’s not a perfect system, but I think we need higher gas prices, not lower. - Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:46 am: 6 degrees…I agree it must be a huge amount and the current budget shortfall would be even larger without it. I would certainly count the gas sales tax as a windfall, though. At least until this summer, I believe people are adjusting to higher gas prices through credit card debt and other means rather than cutting back. Remember the outrage after Hurricane Katrina sent gas to $3.50? Sounds like a bargain now…. - wordslinger - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 9:53 am: Speculation in commodities is driving a lot of the gas and food price surge as investors seek save haven from the subprime mess. And we didn’t want India and China to stay poor forever, did we? I know in Sunday school we prayed that their lives would get better someday. Durbin is kind of a moth to the camera lights, but he’s about the only thing we have going now on the national level. Obama is preoccupied. An aside: Months ago, I wrote letters to Durbin, Obama, Blagojevich and Daley requesting that they do what they could to stop the proposed increased dumping in Lake Michigan by the BP plant in Whiting, IN. In a couple of weeks, I received letters from Durbin and Daley — they agreed and were doing this, that and the other thing. Obama responded a few weeks later with a letter of general concern. Blago? Still waiting. - Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:04 am: Automated Governor Correspondance Acknowledgement (not as good as the press release a few weeks ago) Dear Wordslinger, The governor thanks you for your concern/ praise/subpeonea you sent to our office. Please rest assured the governor is working endlessly for/against this issue and is waiting for the General Assembly to pass legislation/proposing an unfunded, untested initiative to correct/honor/ fund with the capital plan your idea. The governor has kept your letter on file and added your name and address to our campaign database/ junk mail list/ defense witness list/ All Kids registration. Please accept the governor’s deepest apology/plea bargain/IFA director appointment for the delay in responding to your letter. The governor knows how hard the great people of Illinois work, but with the volume of mail/certified letters/ the TV the work piles up. Also, someone was fired/resigned in disgust/ left the balcony doors open and we are short-staffed at the moment. Cordially, The Governor’s Staff - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:05 am: According to the US EIA, IL consumed 7,330,806,000 gallons of motor fuel in 2006. I converted barrels of gasoline and distillate fuel to gallons (i bbl = 42 gallons) http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/state/state_ene rgy_profiles.cfm?sid=IL At 6.25% sales tax, each dollar increment in the price of fuel is worth $458 million per year in the state coffers at the 2006 rate of consumption. - Vote Quimby! - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:11 am: Thanks for the research…no wonder there’s no talk about a state gas tax holiday! Although I think one percent goes to the cities. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:13 am: Vote Quimby, That’s about $20 per person. That will make all the difference. - What planet is he from again? - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:17 am: What he said: “See when you’re the governor you don’t fill your gas up.” What he meant: “See when you’re the governor you’re really out of touch with reality.” or “See when you’re the governor you can fly everywhere and you don’t need to worry about filling the tank.” - BehindTheScenes - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:21 am: Sen. DD has never met a tax he didn’t like, gas taxes being no exception. Gas stations who get the brunt of consumer complaints should post a list of gas taxes (federal, state, local) on each pump so consumers can see how their government is helping them (while IDOT, who gets the bulk of the gas taxes is cutting back on servies). - PhilCollins - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:24 am: Illinois is the only state in which the state legislature allows city and county governments to charge gas taxes. I live in the town of North Chicago, and the gas in North Chicago and Waukegan usually costs 30 cents to 35 cents less than the gas in Chicago, since the Chicago stations charge a Chicago gas tax and a Cook Co. gas tax. All Cook Co. residents should drive to other counties, to buy gas. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:49 am: Behind the scenes: IL has never deposited its state sales tax on gasoline into the road fund. It goes into the general fund. The fixed per-gallon state tax on motor fuel (19c for gasoline and 21.5c for diesel) does go into the road fund. At today’s prices, there is about as much going into the general fund as there is into the road fund when a gallon of fuel is sold in IL, with a fraction also going to the local units of government (see below). http://www.gaspricewatch.com/usgastaxes.asp Quimby: You are correct, the local’s share of sales tax is 1.25%, or 20% of the total 6.25% sales tax. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 10:56 am: Phil- If counties or municipalities pass a gas tax by popular referendum or by legislative act of the people’s representatives, it is a voluntary act to finance transportation or get projects built quicker. People always have the option of voting down transportation sales tax referenda, or by voting in representatives who will vote down legislative tax increases or repeal some of the taxes that are already there. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:01 am: All my adult life we have been having a gas crisis. Yet nothing has been done in all my adult life to do something differently. We don’t live in a European country the size of Illinois, sharing space with 80 million others. We haven’t been living here 2000 years. So let’s not pretend we can copy the energy policies of Germany, where the temperatures rarely go over 80 degrees and you can take a train and travel anywhere in less than three hours. Lets not even compare. They’re pessimists who see clouds and carry umbrellas, while we see clouds and still plan picnics. Our approach to life is just as valid as theirs - and a lot more fun! I believe gas prices can double and we will still just complain. Sure, we might drive smaller cars and consider living closer to work, however we have the freedom to consider our own priorities and make our own choices. What works for you, will not work for others. Respect the decisions others make and don’t dictate one solution approaches as though we all live in Switzerland. Cut the taxes. Gas prices generate higher returns for governments than it does in corporate profits. If we want to accuse corporations of being greedy, then why are we letting greedy governments off the hook? There is no government incentive to reduce gasoline consumption. Without gas taxes, Illinois would be hanging a sign on it’s border reading, “Closed”. So lets stop blaming others for our personal decisions. Want to slash gas prices by half? Park your Durango and get a Focus. It is your choice. - Truthful James - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:06 am: Perhaps somebody wiser than I will tell me how it is that “…The speculation is really driving the price in a big way…” There are two types of speculators — financial speculators and product speculators In the first instance. I buy a future that says I have the right to buy X barrels at Y price on or before a certain date. If the price of the commodity does not rise to that level by the call date my right is worthless and I have lost the cost of the call. I won’t exercise that right for I can buy x barrels at the lower market price. I lose the cost of the call, but I protected myself. If it rises to above that price for whatever reason, I can buy at the call price (somebody has to deliver the oil purchased at the market and he loses) and I have protected myself against the possibility of a higher market price on the call date. That by the way is what Southwest Airlines was doing big time. In so doing they kept down the cost of flying their planes and were able to continue lower fares. The financial profits from hedging lowered the effective cost of their fuel. But for everybody on the right side of the hedge, there must be somebody on the wrong side. Now, say I buy the product itself, but neither sell it or use it. I must store it or pay somebody to store it. The best way would be to leave oil in the ground, unrefined. It does not deteriorate there. Gasoline on the other hand both deteriorates and evaporates. If I have a monopoly or am part of a monopsony by withdrawing supply I can affect current and near term prices as long as demand is rising or flat. If demand falls however, my additioanl supply will cause the price to fall further. If the opposite is true, I can sell as much as I want. reserving more for later sale at an expected even higher price. On the other hand, if I represent an extremely small part of supply, the effect on current prices is infinitesimal. I can not sell at a profit until the market price rises and covers my holding costs as well. In this case, whenever I enter the market I have zero effect on the now current price. It always feels good to blame speculators especially when additional supply is constrained at the hole in the ground and we users demand more. Where then along the chain from hole in the ground to the pump is there speculation. OPEC and the rest bring only enough oil out so that the value of the finite remainder does not fall and so that the entry cost of alternative sources of energy remains higher than the production cost of oil originated product. If you owned a forest, for instance, when is it most profitable to cut clear and plant new trees. Oil producing countries have a duty to their own citizens. Oil is then delivered to U.S. refineries. Product speculation would exist if, for instance, petroleum was stored and refined oil, gasoline and the rest were thus withheld. Our refineries are old but certainly not underutilized. Building new refineries is an expensive proposition, made more costly by environmental restrictions and more chancy given the development of alternative sources of energy. Where is the speculation here? Speculation would be to take profits and invest them in alternate energy sources. One more question. Oil prices FOB the refinery are not higher here than in the rest of the world. Increased demand from India and China — which wil not abate but grow higher — is raising the price of the commodity world wide. Refining is capital and not labor intensive. Not much difference in costs here The major difference in price in the several United States is twofold The cost of hauling from Refinery to the Pump; the level of taxation in each state. State and local taxes. Taxes, separate the price at the pump not only among the states but also in the international community. End of story. - Ela Observer - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:06 am: It’s 11am and no one’s bothered to say boo about Steve Greenberg. He must be toast. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:08 am: With the state/local sales tax split, every $1 rise in the price of fuel translates to an extra $366 million to the state and $92 million to the locals from the 6.25% IL sales tax, using the above sources. - Plutocrat03 - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:18 am: Were number ONE!!!! Yeeaa, oops that a bad thing in this case. Illinois gas prices are tops again while BP AMOCO tries to expand its refinery in Whiting, to ease supply constraints. OOOO I know, if we hound them out of business, how high will the gas prices be then? Stupid policies by stupid politicians continue to haunt all. Remember the mom in the 10 year old minivan cannot afford to fill up like the commodities trader in his Porsche Cayenne. Allowing energy prices to shoot up like this is the most regressive thing our brain dead politicians could do. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:24 am: Hey Pluto, Maybe those prices will teach that mom to figure out where the bus lines are. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:31 am: As much as I hate to pay $4 a gallon, we Americans cannot complain. We just can’t. Gas is readily available any time we want it. We have decent roads or, in some areas, excellent roads. We knowingly drive inefficient cars. I agree that a market correction has occurred, and people shouldn’t be shocked. It just goes to show how ignorant most Americans are about world issues and markets. Maybe - just maybe - if more people voted and paid attention, we could deal with issues like domestic oil supply, renewable energy, CAFE standards and gas taxes in a real and considerate manner. Durbin needs to start advocating for things other than investigations, hearings and blue ribbon panels. Please, Senator, work on an ANWR compromise. Greenberg is done. He may as well drop out. With no offense to his campaign manager, 22 is too young to run such an important race. Just because he volunteered doesn’t mean he did anything substantive. For all we know, Mr. Corbett could have dropped lit or stuffed envelopes. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:34 am: TJ- OPEC and the rest bring only enough oil out so that the value of the finite remainder does not fall and so that the entry cost of alternative sources of energy remains higher than the production cost of oil originated product. The entry costs of alternative energy sources, as well as the entry costs for hard-to-get domestic oil, have largely been surpassed at $4/gal. The only things that are keeping us from going full in are the uncertainties that oil prices from the usual sources will again fall (making our new investments infeasible or less valuable) or resistance from a regulatory or public opinion standpoint. Not to mention that it will take time to turn over the vehicle fleet to a more efficient energy-using fleet. As the biggest energy consumer, the USA does have the most opportunity to conserve its energy use of any nation on earth; however, some of the financial benefits of that conservation, if it yields lower prices, will then be lost as developing nations take advantage of those prices and increase consumption, thus raising prices again with supply and demand, if additional supplies or methods are not made more plentiful. - Team Sleep - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:37 am: If OPEC refuses to increase output, we have to start drilling and keeping our own oil. Doing nothing and hoping that “research” will work out in a few years is not going to help anyone at this time - or possibly even in a few years. Only in America do we seemingly not use our own natural resources for our own good. Between our own natural gas supply, ANWR/shelf oil and coal-to-liquid, we could partially sustain ourselves. By doing nothing, we are becoming MORE reliant on oil barons, sheiks and terrorits. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:38 am: TS, more of the same is not gonna solve the problem. - Truthful James - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:46 am: SDS Respectfully, A closer analogy might be made if we used the before tax cost of alternative sources vs petroleum. I don’t think we are there yet. The analyses I have seen show that only natural gas is less expensive and that may be because the transmission lines (pipelines) are already in place. Transmission without or with little line loss (superconductivity) and storage infrastructure for electricity (not there yet) will indeed change the factors of production Biofuels are subsidized, take away that subsidy. We need to start thinking more about the subdividions of energy use — transportation, heat generation, industrial production (petrochemical) and dtermine what alternatives are necessary to lessen demand for petroleum in each. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:50 am: Hey Skeeter, One of the problems with public transportation is that it is usually a poor substitute for Mom’s Taxi in about 98% of the geographical area of this state. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:53 am: Six, that’s a bit of a stretch, don’t you think? - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:10 pm: No. I am a supporter of public transportation, especially where it is most cost effective. If “the bus” could replace all errands and driving, or a significant portion of them where the mom in the minivan would save money on balance, then Skeeter’s statement would be valid. Where is this even possible? I submit maybe Chicago, and a few of the college towns like C-U where an extensive and convenient system is available. IL has a land mass of 55,593 square miles. Being generous, Cook County has a land mass of 945 square miles or 1.7% of the state’s total. add in a few other communities well served by transit and you might get to 2%. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:17 pm: Six, land mass has little correlation to population density in this state. Most people simply don’t live in rural downstate areas. It’s a red herring. - Truthful James - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:31 pm: There ought to be an argument made for greater use of jitney cabs — the traditional but monopoly busting mode of transport on the south side of Chicago — in the six County area. - Pat collins - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:36 pm: solving the oil crisis MORE nukes. Use the output to REDUCE use of natural gas to make electricity. Have the US Post office and other similar users start to use battery driver trucks. For delivery, it’s ok, and you’d get scale. More drilling, and refinery capacity. Demand than Mexico allow US companies to be able to invest in Mexican production OR US will cut off Mexican immigration and put taxes on remittance. Doable, and effective. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:42 pm: Good plan, Pat. If we could just tax those people making $3 an hour, all of our problems would be solved! - plutocrat03 - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:47 pm: Skeeter Time to enter the 21st century. Mom’s taxi is used for everything from medical visits to soccer games to music lessons. That does not include community volunteering. There is also the security of keeping the kids safe and under mom’s control inside her own environment. There is not enough money in the world to develop the public transportation system to allow for this kind of mobility. Telling a mom to find public transportation to do her ‘appointed rounds’ is cruel,condescending and arrogant. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:51 pm: Cruel, condescending, and arrogant? For the most part, that’s how my wife and I get around (we use the car only when absolutely necessary). People make choices. Want to live in a suburb that hasn’t decided to invest in transportation? Pay the price. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:53 pm: By the way, Pluto, “mom?” At least half the time, I’m the one running the errands for the twins, since “mom” is working. Welcome to the 21st Century. - VanillaMan - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:55 pm: Regarding Ozinga’s new staff: These people are for real. It looks as if the GOP has decided to keep this House seat. While Greenberg is flaying and hoping to win over Bean’s seat, Ozinga has built a team to keep Weller’s seat. And the GOP is responding strongly with this team. This will be a race to watch. In Halvorson’s favor is Barack Obama’s 30 pt poll lead in Illinois over McCain. She also has benefitted from DCCC and other liberal heavyweight’s financial support. There is reason to believe she is favored. But Ozinga has some strengths. This district is not purple turning blue, but red turning purple. This means there should be enough of a GOP base to build a majority on as it was gerrymandered to do just that. Will county growth has exploded, but newcomers are not Chicagoans, but former south suburbanites seeking shelter from Chicago-ish problems brought into their previous neighborhoods via Section 8 housing and sub-prime mortgages. Just as Northern Indiana is booming, Will county is growing at South Cook’s expense. Halvorson’s senate district is mostly South Cook. She lives only blocks away from the county line in Crete. If this Congressional District took in more of Jesse Jackson Jr.’s district, the demographics favoring her would be better. But it isn’t. So Ozinga has a chance. His team will help that happen. Halvorson’s cake-walk has come to an end. She has to be hoping that Blagojevich disappears, that a budget is passed without making news and that her silent partner, Emil Jones, stops making news too. That is unlikely, and it might be a hot summer for Debbie. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 12:57 pm: Yeah, let’s not hide behind mothers’ skirts. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:05 pm: Rich- I didn’t bring population density into it, you did. Being that as it may, higher population densities and tighter distances between destinations are definitely favorable to mass transit solutions where a greater amount of trips are feasible by other than the car. We are talking 6,000+ people per square mile and up to make it really effective, 3,000 or 4,000 people per square mile for marginal effectiveness. There are 102 counties in the state, and only 3 have a density over 1,000 as of the 2000 census (Cook, DuPage and Lake). There are many communities like Chicago and the close-in suburbs that have high or fairly high densities (Oak Park 11,000, Cicero 14,000, Skokie 6,500, Chicago 12,500, Maywood 10,000). Cook County itself, including the unincorporated areas as well as the cities and villages, is 5,700. But once you get beyond Cook County, we are looking at places like Naperville at 4,100, Crystal Lake at 2,600, Oswego at 2,000, New Lenox at 1,800, etc. Add to that the lack of centralized destinations in the far flung places and it becomes a very difficult market for transit to serve, other than niche applications like Dial-A-Ride and PACE’s commuter van program. As such, the majority of the state will see some, but not a lot, of accessibility for their needs via transit. This could change incrementally over time if people start settling more in a Chicago and close-in suburbs type of pattern than a suburban, exurban, or rural pattern (mainly by people moving back to these established areas rather than away as has been the case in recent history). Density is a dirty word to planners and zoning boards outside Cook County, at least for now. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:10 pm: ===I didn’t bring population density into it, you did.=== - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 11:50 am: Hey Skeeter, One of the problems with public transportation is that it is usually a poor substitute for Mom’s Taxi in about 98% of the geographical area of this state. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:17 pm: Also, to make greatest effective use of this density, commercial and industrial uses must be interspersed with the people who live there. A “food desert” where no good grocers are available for 3 or 5 miles within a 12,000 person/square mile dense area leads to a lot of automobile trips. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:24 pm: Rich- Geographical area is not density. Geographical area is square miles or square kilometers or what have you. Density is the amount of people within a certain area divided by the area. Peace SDoS Hoping to some day become the official statistician of this blog. - Anon - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:27 pm: This is impressive stuff Ozinga has here. NRCC must be super serious about this one. - Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:28 pm: Six, your statement was about the percentage of land mass that didn’t have access to decent public transit. What logically follows is that those people who live in that land mass do not live in high-density areas. - Pat collins - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:33 pm: If we could just tax those people making $3 an hour What do you think high gas prices do? Nothing in my plan suggested that at all. It was about increasing supply AND reducing demand. That’s how you lower prices. - Pat collins - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:34 pm: As an FYI, I got an email from Greenberg about a fundraiser he had in Barrington recently. He made 175 K from it, so he said. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:37 pm: Agreed, to a point. But the 98% also illustrates the point that, for *millions* of Illinoisans, the prospect of public transit serving their needs is nonexistent or not all that great. Unless they pack up their belongings and move to one of the few transit-friendly locales here. Off the top of my head, I’d say that maybe half the people in the state have access to public transportation that they could or would occasionally use, but only 10% live in one of those few, densely-packed places where they could go car-free, more or less. - plutocrat03 - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:44 pm: Gee Skeeter Around here, moms get 75% of the daytime speeding tickets because they are within the home range while their other halves are not. The suburbs are being taxed for transportation they do not get. The folks in Palatine have had their fill of outgoing revenues. Likely a rising sentiment. But we deviate from the issue. Pols like Durbin make stupid decisions all the time and the public has to pay for them. I omit BO from criticism here because he is too new to have amassed an uninformed record. His CN anti-merger position is a good start to a dim record. You cannot legislate away the laws of thermodynamics. It takes energy to make moder life modern. There are no easy answers . Do we need new technology - yes, do we need reasonable energy prices in the meantime. Despite Rich’s protestations, we need to produce more crude, become better able to prices more gas, make more clean electricity while we all chase the elusive future tech. If we could produce a $5 fuel cell today, it would be useless without an available fuel source. I would hate to think future generations will have to live a poorer life because we make bad decisions today. One can always gore someones ‘pursuit of happiness’. Look at all the energy one could save by canceling professional sporting events, cultural efforts etc. Heck we can eat a less diverse diet for that matter. I mean who really needs bananas anyway? That is not a choice we should make. - Skeeter - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 1:58 pm: That’s interesting, Pluto. You spoke about where you live. Do you live in the 1950s? Everyplace I know, the fathers are doing much of that work. But I digress. You seem to want everyone else to pay for the decisions that you make. You chose to live in an area lacking public transit. I didn’t make that choice. Now, having made that choice, you want everyone else to solve your problem. If you live in an area where there are not sufficient bus lines, either move or take action to get those bus lines. But stop blaming the rest of us because of decisions that you made. - Truthful James - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 2:03 pm: One of the reasons we are having moans and groans here is that we have reached an interesting point. The price of gas alone should not be as big an issue in our society were it has become. If you look at the disposable income generated in the American household in a vacuum, gas prices have not been that large a percentage. In fact in places where pump prices are upwards of $8.00 a gallon there is not that large a protest. What has happened is that our true disposable income is before consumer debt is paid. IMHO. what we are seeing is that teh combination of monthly consumer debt and car expenses is reducing available disposable income to a painfully low amount. Disposable income I measure is after the required payment of housing cocsts. Consumers have over bought in the housing markt as well. We are seeing a tue squeeze. - Greg - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 2:24 pm: It’s really tough to isolate the effect of “speculators” from everyone else. I see that term thrown around a lot in the general media, but not in the industry. It’s also difficult to define “speculators”; eg, is a pension fund a speculator because it wants to help inflation-proof its portfolio? There’s no doubt that some regulations that I suspect Rich is alluding to (position limits, leverage limits, etc) would create downward pressure, but so would any legislation that curbs demand. Markets are great at defining scarcity, and they’re basically saying “everyone in the world wants to own oil, nearly regardless of price.” Bottom line: if demand for oil is totally inelastic (ie, the world doesn’t start using less), then we can expect only higher prices. - Six Degrees of Separation - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 2:31 pm: Greg- The inelasticity (which I believe we have not gotten to the breaking point yet) and resulting higher prices will be an inducement for more players to get in the game (via more exploration, alternate technologies, and unconventional sources), and for today’s players to do everything they can to keep their golden goose laying eggs, and to shut others out (regulation, military might, economic power). Nothing new under the sun. - getreal - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 3:56 pm: Pat Collins - I would take Greenberg’s 175k number with a MASSIVE grain of salt. Established Congressmen have a hard time raising that much in a single night, let alone a political dunce with an inexperienced 22 year old for a campaign manager. - Plutocrat03 - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 4:56 pm: Well there you go again Skeeter If you want to cast insults and invective, I could go there as well. As far as demographics, facts are facts. Park districts don’t offer daddy and me classes because they would be empty. It is great to see a sharing of child rearing responsibilities, but things are no where near 50% even if you exclude all the single moms. The reality is that in this country people have a right to live as they see fit. If you choose to rub shoulders with your neighbors all the time, you are welcome. Mayor Daley and his cronies (up the food chain) have manage to burden the rest of the state with responsibilities the city should be handling in its own. Transportation is supported from outside the region it is delivered, the city even gets more money per capita for each student ‘educated’ in the disaster of a Chicago School system (what was that graduation rate published last month? So before you make claims that the suburban/rural residents have to give up their lifestyle, I recommend that the urban dwellers look around and start shouldering the responsibilities and pay for your own costs. (Chicago residents pay 1.1 - 1.2% of their property values annually in property tax, most collar suburbs are in excess of 2%, while some exceed 3%.) Doubling the Chicago property tax would generate millions for education, mass transit and infrastructure development. Then the State would be in better shape to handle it non-Chicago needs. - Nearly Normal - Tuesday, May 20, 08 @ 6:19 pm: Republicans will no doubt be concentrating their efforts in the Will County part of the 11th Cong. District. The part of the 11th district that follows I-39 from LaSalle into McLean County is an area that votes heavily Republican. Even with Obama at the top of the ticket, this area will no doubt stay in Republican fold. Lots of Yellow Dog Republicans here. - Skeeter - Wednesday, May 21, 08 @ 8:51 am: Per Pluto: “Well there you go again Skeeter. If you want to cast insults and invective, I could go there as well.” OK, so I was wrong. You meant “cruel, condescending, and arrogant” in a very positive way. Once again, you made the choice to toss insults, but now you don’t want to live with the consequences. I’m honestly not sure what the suburban park districts offer. I can tell you that when I take my year-old twins to classes (we go to a few places on the North Side), it is usually pretty close to half fathers in the room. When I take one of the twins to get groceries, I often end up saying hello or at least nodding to other fathers doing the same thing. Of course, I’ve made a choice to live in a place where I can walk to get groceries. But that’s not really important. This is about the impact of gas prices and not about sexism. Sure, you have a choice of where to live. Live anywhere you want. However, if you want your kids to play on a beach every day, you probably shouldn’t live in Du Page. People make choices, and those choices have consequences. If you make the choice to live in an area where the local population does not support public transit, then you are going to be at the whim of the oil companies. People are free to make the choice, but they really should stop complaining when it does not work out like they planned. Sorry, comments for this post are now closed.