Gas Prices -- Don't Be Fooled

Sometimes newspaper headlines can be downright irritating. I know this Fort Worth Star-Telegram headline irritated me:

Gas prices way down from peak

Who are they trying to kid? Are they trying to convince us that we're actually getting a good deal on gas from the giant oil companies? This is just the kind of thinking the oil companies are hoping for. They raise the price a large amount and everyone gets upset. Then they lower it a tiny amount and everyone thinks they're getting a good deal. Well, you're NOT!

Let me point out a couple of things. While you're celebrating the fact that gas is now only about $3.55 a gallon in Texas, let me remind you that last year at this time gas was selling for around $2.70. And in January of 2007, the price was around $2.00. Do you still think $3.55 is a good price?

And the price of a barrell of oil is creeping up again, so don't expect the "low" price of $3.55 to last very long. The oil companies have a good thing going right now and they're not about to give up their record-breaking profits. We'll probably be looking at $5.00 a gallon gasoline next year.

But I don't expect the prices to rise too much until after the election. These big oil companies know who their friends are -- Republicans. They'll probably temper any price raises until after the election in an attempt to get McCain and as many Republicans as possible elected.

After all, the Republicans have given big oil companies about $33 billion in government handouts over the next five years. Check out the blog Bluedaze for an excellent accounting of the Republican handouts to big oil. It's downright shocking! Republicans can't find the money to help people in this country who are hurting, but they have tons of money to throw at big corporations (who are already making record profits).

Of course, once the election is over and they continue the march toward $5.00 a gallon gasoline, they're going to continue to blame Democrats for not letting them destroy our national preserves and coastlines with new drilling. But they won't tell you about the millions of acres in leases they already have that they're not drilling on. Why don't they drill on the leases they already have before they demand more.

The reason is politics. The "we need new drilling" mantra is just a ploy to try and stave off a Democratic victory in the coming election. The American people would be damn fools to fall for this political ploy. Even if the new drilling was approved, it would be five to ten years before the new oil hit the market.

There's something else they're not going to tell you, also. A huge portion of the oil produced in the United States is SHIPPED TO FOREIGN COUNTRIES by the oil companies. Why should we believe the new oil produced here would stay in this country? If we stopped shipping American oil overseas, we would have plenty of oil. But they're not about to do that, because then the prices would really drop and they're profits would also.

We have to face facts. Big oil has one hand on our throat and the other in our pocket, and they are not about to let go of either.