Three Dollar Gas

The American public says the high price of gas is their number one concern. They seem to want somebody to do something about it, but they are not sure who needs to do what. Here is a glimpse at their thought process.

“Perhaps President Bush could - no, forget that; I don’t believe anything that idiot says, and I do recall now that he still thinks of himself as an oilman, Harkening [pun intended] back to the days when he dumped his stock on some poor suckers before his oil company , Arbusto, went ‘el busto’ “.

“Maybe Congress will step up and take on the President and the oil companies to get the price down. But these Republicans have had total power over our government for six years and all they have done is suck up to Bush and f___ up the country. Their idea about giving us a $100 rebate reminds me of the scam they pulled by telling us everyone was going to get a tax refund averaging $1,000 per family, and I got $100 while fat cat Republican donors got $100,000. Come to think of it, a lot of those donors who got the big tax refunds are probably the same people who are making money on this gas gouging, so this Republican Congress is not going to cross them.”

“Let me think. Who speaks for the consumer public on these matters? When our government is not responsive to watching out for our pocketbooks, who looks out for us? Well there are groups that criticize and complain, but I can’t think of any group that organizes and takes action. I heard some talk about a grass roots boycott of Exxon because of the $400 million dollar retirement bonus they gave their CEO, but I realize that idea isn’t going anywhere. I know there are only about five oil companies and they are so secure in their joint control of the market that they don’t even advertise to compete with each other. In fact, they don’t even compete - they all charge the same gouge.”

“So I guess I have to look out for number one -me. Let me do some quick math. I drive an Explorer 15,000 miles a year and average 15mpg at three bucks a gallon. If gas was back at two dollars, which seems more fair, I would be paying $2,000 a year instead of $3,000, so I feel I am being ripped about $1,000 a year. I knew that $100 rebate was a joke. Make it $1,000 and I might call it even. But really, it is not the oil companies who would pay the rebate, it would be the taxpayers - I would be paying myself a rebate and Exxon would still be gouging me.”

“If I can’t lick ‘em, maybe I should join ‘em. I could buy some Exxon stock and get enough dividends to make up for the $1,000 gouge. But wait, I forgot about the other ways the gouge costs me money, such as businesses having to raise prices because of the extra fuel costs they incur. That’s too complicated for me, so I’ll just buy enough stock to get my $1,000 back in dividends. The last dividend Exxon paid was 32 cents a share, so I will need to buy about 3,000 shares, and the stock is selling at about $64, so ... I would need to spend $192,000! If I had that kind of money to invest, I wouldn’t be complaining about three dollar gas.”

“I could make changes in my driving, maybe go to an Escape hybrid. That would reduce the gas gouge from $1,000 to $500. That’s not enough to switch now, but I‘ll keep it in mind for my next car. I could drive less, and I will consider that, but for now, I feel most of my driving is necessary.”

“Having gone through this mental exercise, I realize that when the market allows gouging and the government won’t do anything about it, then it is time to change the government. In fact, this Republican dominated government has done so much to mess up our country, that I am going to vote for a Democratic Congress in November and then in 2008 I’ll vote again for a Democratic Congress and a Democrat for President. The last time the Democrats truly dominated our Government, in the 1960s, we got some pretty good deals, like Medicare and Civil Rights protections. Forty years has been too long for the Democrats not to have a chance to show us what they can do for America.”