American cars don’t sell elsewhere anyway, other than the Middle East.
Ford and General Motors have their own European and Australian divisions (Ford of Britain and Vauxhall/Opel; Ford of Australia and Holden) which already build cars more suitable to the Euro market.
AFAIK, Jeep is the only US brand which has more than a trace share of the foreign car market (that is, without rebadging).
I, too, a resident of the same sleepy little town, would like to personally thank the Redneck Rumor Mill for the needless panic.
I’m not a believer, but I really kind of am hoping for The Rapture.
At least I’d be able to get some gas.
And, as of this morning my local fishwrapper is placing the blame for the gas shortage on a poor, underpaid state worker. I mean, sure, it had to have been that one single person. Never mind the fact that this paper was, itself, publishing article after article with nothing but speculation, rumor, and hype. I’m sure this solitary email sent to a couple friends and family had far more influence than a major media outlet.
There are not enough rolleyes in the world.
XJET, do not underestimate the power of the mighty Redneck Rumor Mill. I’ve lived here for 11 years and I do believe the RRM has more power to influence the teeming millions (okay, thousands in this town) than the mainstream mullet wrap/media outlet.
They won’t listen to the Democrap, but they *will *listen to their cousin Bubba. I blamed it on the RRM last Friday and it appears the Democrap’s story pretty much backs me up. If you can stand back from your frustration for a minute, it’s funny to watch them fluff themselves in a frenzy, but I’m sick and twisted that way. 
I didn’t know Universal Health Insurance was favored by the Barracuda.
I disagree. Supply isn’t ordinarily limited. It was due to a single exceptional circumstance that demand peeked for an extremely limited amount of time. It’s not the gas stations duty to see that everyone gets a little. They contacted x amount of gas and expected to sell it at y price. Just because a bunch on people suddenly want it, doesn’t give them the right to constantly raise prices. Do you REALLY think they are raising prices to stave off demand? Or are they raising prices to make every single buck they can from people? This actually hurts the situation, as the rapidly raising prices CAUSE people to run to the gas station before it gets worse. What if they would have added a little water to the mixture instead of raising prices. Would you still present an argument that they wouldn’t have had to do that if people wouldn’t be trying to buy so much gas?
Reporting gas stations causes them to act in an ethical manner, rather than trying to make every last dollar they can during times of emergency. (Even though in this situation is was mostly an over-reaction).
How can gas stations be charged a higher rate when they buy gas at market prices? Is Sunoco all of a sudden raising rates in that area for their franchises?
Well, yes. The wholesale price of gas went up quite significantly. Business responds to perceived upcoming shortages in much the same way as people do.
Idiacy in the state who put Bush in power, who knew?
Don’t look at us. The Supreme Court put Bush in power, and none of the sitting judges then (or now) are Floridians.
Why can’t they do both, like the late Earl Warren?
Regardless of whatever else you’re saying, this is so grossly wrong it’s ridiculous. Supply is always limited, under all circumstances, everywhere, for everything. Period.
I hope they’re happy.
Pure genius here. Way to take a statement and give it the most narrow reading possible.
Of course everything is limited. Matter itself is limited. However, what I was saying is that we have an ample amount of gas in the US to supply the country and extra for Texas, if needed. There is no threat of a prolonged shortage of gas.
Nor is it the gas station’s duty to sell something for less than it’s worth.
Yes! It does! That’s how a free market works. When people want something, and there isn’t enough to go around, the price goes up! The price they paid for the gas is immaterial.
Of course they’re raising prices to make a buck. That’s how the fucking market works. People who have a commodity that suddenly becomes more valuable will sell it so they can make as much as they can off of it. Artificially keeping them from raising prices causes a misallocation of resources. People who don’t really need gas will buy it because it’s artificially cheap. If things are bad enough, you’ll get some kind of a black market. People who really need gas will still pay extra for it, but it will be much less efficient.
If there aren’t stupid restrictions in place, they can just raise their prices steadily as they run out of gas. The run on gas will be worse when they can’t raise their prices further because of foolish people trying to prevent “gouging”.
:rolleyes:
I’m disappointed that you guys have turned a perfectly good bashing of my fellow townsfolk into an economic argument. 
So now a rumor went around this morning that Nashville was going to be out of gas at the end of Friday. And guess what? Because of panicky idiots, we are out of gas at the end of Friday. According to AAA, 85% of the gas stations in the Nashville area are empty.
I went and got gas Thursday afternoon cause I was on E. Stopped at a station right near downtown, whipped in, whipped out in about 10 minutes. Today? Gas stations had security directing traffic to the pumps. People were following gas trucks to see where they were going. There were fistfights at the pumps. This is insane.
And it’s not just people that need gas, cause they’re almost out. I can understand that. No, these people are filling gas cans and topping off their car, just to make sure they don’t run out. That’s right, filling gas cans and taking them home. Just cause someone said that Nashville would be out of gas. Idiots.
I know, right? I’m over here in Murfreesboro, and it’s the same situation. I actually managed not to have to wait in line, by some divine stroke of luck. As soon as I pulled in, a line formed right behind me. I had to get some gas, or else I wouldn’t make it home tomorrow. But I didn’t fill up, because I don’t need that much right now. Everyone else around me was, of course, filling up tanks and gas cans. No wonder there are stations all over town with no gas. This is ridiculous.
Not nearly insane as listening to the hardcore conservative friend of mine tonight scream in panic about how “we’re not going to have any gas before December!” and that “The government should step in and do something about this, now!” (Gee, if the damage to the refineries in Texas is so severe that we’re not going to have gas until December, why don’t the Europeans start shipping it to us like they did after Katrina?) Of course, he gets all his news from the blathering idiot local talkshow hosts who basically started this whole mess by telling everyone that we were going to be running out of gas. :rolleyes:
Oh, and if you actually need gas, but don’t want to deal with the long lines and hassles, my suggestion is to find a station with pumps that take credit cards and isn’t open 24 hours. The pumps, generally, will still work afterhours, though most people don’t know this, so you can cruise in, get your gas, and get out. I did that tonight. I really didn’t relish the idea of paying $4/gal., but I was on E., and even though I carpool to work, I figured that it’d be a good idea to have enough gas in the car to be able to drive to work a couple of days this week, in case the guy I ride with isn’t able to get any.