Price plummets on news of national speed limit legislation - Drive55.org update

[aztc]

Source: Drive 55 Conservation Project

Upon news of national speed limit bills introduced by members of both parties in congress, in both the Senate and House, combined with the fact that American drivers have reduced consumption by over 3% in recent weeks, it is little surprise that speculators are starting to retreat and prices are falling.

Of particular interest is the mild panic this development caused in congress as members realized the corresponding reduction in tax revenue . The congressional spending binge requires ever increasing revenues, never decreasing. This is one source of resistance to our proposals.

Nevertheless, the flurry of media interest has advanced the debate and substantially fulfilled the first phase of the project. In addition to live appearances on Fox News and several radio stations, and taped interviews for TV and radio, Tim has also had dozens of interviews with reporters from newspapers nationwide, resulting in hundreds of articles in regional papers, many available online. This level of publicity is more than we could have hoped for with the proposed $1 million dollar budget in the Drive 55 Action Plan and we have accumulated some important data as a result.

Public opinion for and against a national speed limit has a surprisingly small margin of about 12-14%. (36-38% for - 62-64% against)* This is the same margin as those that opposed the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac**, which was passed by the House on July 23, 2008 and will cost taxpayers $300 billion or more because they approved a blank check for the rescue. Note, they also increased the U.S. Debt limit by $800 billion.


Read more: http://drive55.org/content/view/81/1/

[Sanity Claws]

1. So Jimmy Carter was right

Jimmy, you were ahead of your time.

[WriteDown]

7. Twilight zone moment

This was Tricky Dick's idea.

[Sanity Claws]

10. You're right

I just looked it up. Amazing how memories can be wrong.

[Commie Pinko Dirtbag]

11. Joint credit, perhaps?

Carter was big on saving fuel. The 55mph thing is from Nixon.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

16. NIxon was the anti-Christ in many respects...

But he created the EPA and expanded the Great Society programs started under the Johnson Administration.

[aztc]

24. Carter liked saving lives

Carter supported keeping the 55 MPH limit not only because it saved fuel and reduced pollution, but also because it saved thousands of lives - sort of like it did these past few weeks when people in oil shock got some of the lead out of their right feet.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2008-06-25-traffic-deaths_N.htm

[WriteDown]

28. I'm not going to argue that Jimmy didn't like to save lives

but the correlation between speed and car accidents has been disproven.

[TomInTib]

2. $4.49 this morning, but I hate driving 55MPH.

I don't think it will pass.

[DJ13]

3. Hmmm..... was it the slim threat of 55mph or the pressure to halt speculation?

Tough one.

[bluestateguy]

4. I oppose this bill

It will give cops more excuses to pull over "suspicious" people, leading to more dubious searches, racial profiling and at the end of the day, more people arrested and in jail.

[Jeff In Milwaukee]

17. You and Sammy Hagar...

nt

[rawtribe]

5. Didn't work in the past

Won't work today.

Just a scam to increase revenue and up insurance costs.

http://www.motorists.org/blog/speed-limits/reinstating-55-are-they-crazy/

[HysteryDiagnosis]

6. If we could just get the DOT to put a small descending

grade on all the roads this would be over in no time.

[RC]

19. Don't forget funneling the wind to always go the same direction you are.

[cobalt1999]

8. Sure it did.

The threat of a bill which has zero chance of passing into law didn't do diddly squat to prices.

Reduced consumption combined with a reeling economy reduced the speculation.

[aztc]

25. Zero chance?

How do figure zero chance? Plus, Warner's bill calls for a 3% reduction in federal consumption NOW and merely a study by GAO so this will fly, no? Meanwhile, Speier's bill avoids the toxic 55 number in favor of the same number Warner's bill asks GAO to study, 60 MPH. Smells like back room deal to me! Zero chance? Man things are moving fast for a project that advocates slowing down!

[PSPS]

9. So, PR handouts now count as LBN?

This is just a self-promotion piece created by one person's (Tim Castleman) pro-55 project. (Also see http://www.timcastleman.com)

Even his own web page shows two-thirds against this idea in polls. While the idea behind it may be meritorious, it will never get anywhere unless there are lines at gas pumps. And that (a shortage) isn't what we're dealing with today.

[aztc]

22. Two National Speed Limit Bills aren't news?

Oil war raging over the Caspian and Iraq, soon Iran and because Bush and Cheney have kept every pump open so oil addicts can easily get their fix of $4 fuel, that's why it isn't important news? You can try to look at the glass half empty, but mine got fuller from my own silly math error - it is just 12-14% that need to be fully informed about how much they are wasting to fund petroleum warlords and increase climate change. It is far from just me at this point as one would quickly learn from a short visit to the site, Drive55.org - click on "Email we get" or on "Leaders>Map" and then click on icons to learn more about the real people that are behind this project. Please don't try to make this about me - it is not.

[damntexdem]

12. Well, it will put more money into public coffers:

all those speeding tickets.

[LiberalFighter]

13. There are other ways we can reduce our consumption.

Such as reducing our use of plastic bags.

Reducing our purchase of water in handy bottles.

Eliminating the use of liter or 20oz bottles of water for meetings or other business settings.

Walking or biking more.

[Lifetimedem]

20. You are right

Almost everything that was once in glass jars is now in plastic, things like ketchup , mustard, mayo, do not need to be in plastic..

[ileus]

14. down to 3.71 here. woo hoo.......petrol is free again.

[aztc]

23. Oslo $9.85, Paris $9.43, London $8.96, Venezuela .12 cents

Gas prices in world cities
City Reg. price in USD/gal.
Oslo 9.85
Paris 9.43
Copenhagen 9.24
Rome 9.03
London 8.96
Berlin 8.68
Hong Kong 8.05
Seoul 7.33
Sao Paulo 6.38
Tokyo 6.30
Singapore 6.13
Nairobi 5.94
Sydney 5.57
Montreal 5.57
Vancouver 5.50
Santiago 5.18
Toronto 4.98
Mumbai 4.94
Bangkok 4.78
Los Angeles 4.57
Johannesburg 4.41
Moscow 3.90
Havana 3.75
Buenos Aires 3.56
Beijing 3.40
Mexico City 2.62
Dubai City 1.70
Cairo 1.24
Kuwait City 0.92
Riyadh 0.47
Tehran 0.41
Caracas 0.12

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-worldgas10-2008jul10,0,2489191.story

[fascisthunter]

15. meh

[high density]

18. I think this is the wrong forum

Plus the PR piece is citing CNN web polls, then can't even do simple subtraction properly. :eyes:

[aztc]

21. You're right, it's 12-14% we need to inform

You are right, I blundered the simple math! It is a margin of 12-14% that just need to learn how much they are wasting, and all the other benefits that accrue from moderation in consuming this useful resource. Thanks for helping clear this up! :)

[rainbow4321]

26. Has gone from $3.99 to $3.79 near me in just, maybe, 1.5 weeks.

I'm in a suburb north of Dallas and it has dropped. There are a smattering of stations that are still at $3.85 or so but they are the ones on intersection corners with no competition.

Oh, wow...I just searched gasbuddy.com website and there are a couple at $3.69, also.

I know mass trans use has picked up BIG TIME in the Dallas area. The park and ride lot is overflowing to the point that drivers are using the department stores' parking lots next to the train station. Guess the oil people are realaing that some people are not going to put up with their bullshit.

[Renew Deal]

27. They're taking credit for something they didn't do.

The 55 MPH national limit is a dumb idea. It's too slow for many parts of the country. If people want to save gas by driving slow, they can choose to do that.