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Tue.Aug.16.2005

2:44 am EDT        64°F (18°C) in Stony Ridge, OH

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After some observations I have made in the last few days, I believe I have all the proof I need that there is an unholy alliance between the Dumbya mis-administration and the giant American oil companies. All of the “it’s China and India causing more demand” crap can’t explain this at all. Consider the following table:

Location Observed gas price State gas tax
Erie, PA $2.489/gal REG UNL 31.1¢/gal
Austinburg, OH $2.279/gal REG UNL 26¢/gal
Elkhart, IN $2.799/gal REG UNL 16¢/gal

To the best of my knowledge, none of these three locations are in EPA “non-attainment” areas that require special lower-pollution blends of gasoline — meaning that motorists in all three places should be pumping the same gas. Based on the gas tax figures (taken from this page at GasPriceWatch.com), and the fact that it’s the same gas, logic would dictate that Erie should have the most expensive gas, that Austinburg should be a nickel cheaper, and that Elkhart should be a dime cheaper than Austinburg and 15 cents cheaper than Erie. So why do we have these crazy prices?

A lot of it has to do with the quagmire going on in Iraq. Some two-plus years after the commander-in-chimp staged a landing on an aircraft carrier (some 30 years late, I might add) to declare “mission accomplished,” the insurgency continues, and Iraq’s oil fields still have yet to brought back on-line. Meanwhile, the American public is getting anally raped at the gas pump, yet Big Oil continues to rake in record profits — $7.6 billion for ExxonMobil in the second quarter of 2005 alone. So what gives?

It is quite obvious that Dumbya is intentionally making policy decisions that benefit his Big Oil buddies and screw the American people. Believe me, it’s not like our military can’t utterly crush the insurgency — give me a break. We have the best-equipped, best-trained, and most experienced armed forces in the world. There is no way that we should be losing American soldiers’ lives to piddly little things like “improvised explosive devices.”

If Dumbya were to give the order to crush the insurgency, believe me, our military forces could have Iraq secure in no time. The thing is, that order will never come; a continued low-grade insurgency actually benefits Dumbya, the Republican Party, and the oil companies. With a continuing insurgency, they are able to use the supposed “threat” to American security to justify jacking up the crude oil prices on the commodity markets. There is also an electoral aspect to this; they can use the supposed “threat” as a tool to scare just enough people into voting Republican to keep the GOP ensconced in power (among their many other political dirty tricks). The whole thing is very Machiavellian — which isn’t surprising, considering that Karl Rove is a devoted student of Machiavelli.

I can very clearly and distinctly remember one particular fuel stop I made in a truck in March 2004. Bear in mind, that’s not even a year and a half ago. My company paid $1.569 (I swear, no typos there) per gallon of #2 diesel fuel I pumped into the truck at the Pilot truck stop in South Bend, IN. This past Saturday, at the TravelCenters of America location in Binghamton, NY, they paid a staggering $2.759 per gallon. Even better yet, in one recent post on the USENET group misc.transport.road, somebody linked to an image he had scanned of a gasoline receipt from January 2001; he paid $1.129 that day!

Gas prices have gone up 150% to 175% during the Dumbya mis-administration (and in fact, have even tripled in some places), and just since the election last November, they are up somewhere between 25% and 50%, depending on the location. I have just one question for all of the straight-ticket-GOP, ban-gay-marriage poor-white-trash redneck types out there: what hurts you more — two men loving each other, or paying two to three times as much for gas as you did under Clinton? That non-union $8.00 per hour you’re getting paid by Wal-Mart — less if you’re a woman — disappears REAL fast when it runs $50 to fill up your SUV, so I dare say you people have a lot more to be worried about than what the gay couple down the block is doing in their own bedroom. Is this what you wanted when you re-elected that SOB last year? Well, ya done made yer bed, so now y’all get to lay in it.

I had another short rant I wanted to make, but I’ll have to save it for another time, as it’s getting quite late tonight. Maybe I’ll have some time later this week.