HELL NO, WE WON'T "GET USED TO" BEING USED...

...to finance our own demise through "inexplicable" oil company/OPEC price gouging. But that's not even what I wanted to write about...

Yesterday, the Huffington Post had a headline saying "Get Used To It" regarding this story, which says:

"WASHINGTON — Motorists can expect gasoline prices around $4 gallon through next year, the Energy Department said Wednesday, with oil prices staying well above $100 a barrel."

That one sentence begs the question: How does the Energy Dept. know that--that gas will stay around $4/gallon? Are they clairvoyant? Have they been to the future and back?

Oh sure, they say it's only a "projection" that these things will come to pass. They'll say that OK, they really don't know such things for sure but are able to make predictions based on current trends, computer models, etc. Yeah, maybe. But let's not forget this little tidbit:

The 24/7 Wall Street blog, which is affiliated with both Dow Jones' MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal, carried an article over the weekend that entertained the possibility of oil tipping the $200 mark, citing experts in the industry who expect the $95 a barrel level to be surpassed by the end of the year if the recent stock market turmoil continues.

The ultra-secretive Bilderberg Group, a consortium of power brokers from banking, business, politics, academia and oil, met in Munich Germany in May 2005 when crude oil prices were around the $40 a barrel mark.

During the conference, Henry Kissinger told his fellow attendees that the elite had resolved to ensure that oil prices would double over the course of the next 12-24 months, which is exactly what has happened.

During their 2006 meeting in Ottawa Canada, Bilderberg agreed to push for $105 a barrel before the end of 2008. This information was gleaned from sources inside Bilderberg who have proven reliable in the past.

This shit is rigged, yo, plain and simple. Check my cartoon about it at Eggs Is Tense...

PAID $3.45 FOR GAS TODAY...

...and apparently that's cheap for regular grade. This evening I saw it as high as $3.56 for regular.

Gee, it wasn't even 4 months ago that I paid "only" $3.09. But oh yeah, the head of OPEC told us that oil prices aren't set according to supply and demand. They're set according to a "common understanding" that we, the rabble, have to be brought low financially while they enjoy record profits. Isn't that nice?

Maybe we should start a cartel and do some things according to a "common understanding." Like make them quit gouging us. Just an idea...

OPEC HEAD: OIL PRICES HAVE "NOTHING TO DO WITH SUPPLY AND DEMAND..."

...rather, the price of oil is the product of a "common understanding," says one Abdalla Salem el-Badri, the secretary-general of OPEC. Here's the quote from the AP story, so it's clear I'm not paraphrasing or spinning:

"'Oil prices, there is a common understanding that has nothing to do with supply and demand,' el-Badri said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Rome."

This little tidbit comes to us in a story about the national average gas price hitting $3.50!

It's interesting that the head of OPEC tells us that the price of oil has nothing to do with supply and demand, yet this AP article attempts to justify the new record oil price of $117.83 with the following factoids:

-"Militancy and lawlessness has [sic] grown in recent years in Nigeria's south,
and attacks on oil infrastructure have become common."

-"Nigeria is a major supplier to the United States. Attacks there in the past two years have cut nearly a quarter of the African country's oil output."

-"Crude oil also rose Monday after the 150,000-ton tanker Takayama was attacked off the coast of Yemen as it headed for Saudi Arabia."

-"In Mexico, oil production slipped 7.8 percent in the first quarter to 2.91 million barrels a day as output at the country's traditional oil fields wanes, state oil company
Petroleos Mexicanos said."

-"In Scotland, workers at Ineos PLC's 196,000-barrel-a-day Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical plant have threatened to strike for 48 hours from April 27 over changes to an employee pension plan."

Hmmm...all of those sound like reasonable excuses for the price of oil to go up. However, the head of OPEC, of which Nigeria (which, as you'll recall is a "major supplier" to the U.S.) is a member, just told us that supply and demand have nothing to do with the price of oil.

What Is This "Common Understanding?"

If you're like me, you probably wonder what "common understanding" the head of OPEC is talking about. Also if you're like me, you really already know what the understanding is but search for just the right way to accurately express it. Well, search no more, for here it is, from the Boston Herald:

"[Peter] Beutel [a Cameron Hanover analyst] estimated that the 25-cent gas
increase over the past two weeks takes about $100 million out of American
consumers’ pockets each day, funneling money away from other purchases."

There it is, the "common understanding" among OPEC members that truly determines the price of oil--$1,400,000,000 dollars transferred to the already obscenely wealthy. That's $1.4 BILLION sucked out of our pockets in just 2 weeks! And that's only an "estimate!" It could be even higher! Who doesn't "understand" that? If you could make an extra $1.4 billion in 2 weeks without the hassles of providing better products, better services, or any of that jazz, wouldn't you do that? Of course you would! Now you "understand!"

OPEC Is A Cartel...

...and by their very definition, cartels are formed to regulate prices:

"car·tel Audio Help /kɑrˈtɛl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kahr-tel] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed esp. to regulate prices and output in some field of business."

Or better yet, from the same link:

"car·tel Audio Help (kär-těl') Pronunciation Key
n.
A combination of independent business organizations formed to regulate production, pricing, and marketing of goods by the members."

Just one more--they get more damningly accurate as you scroll down the page:

"cartel [noun]
a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service; "they set up the trust in the hope of gaining a monopoly" [syn: trust]"

Great cartel article here. Gotta go night-night--I think the point is abundantly clear, i.e., that we're being raped economically and it's on purpose, it's by design and the people who we elect to supposedly look after our interests are just letting it all happen.

PAID $3.04 FOR GAS TODAY...

...and a place down the street was selling it for $3.06. These prices have sparked some discussion on the Hattiesburg American forum, and I reproduce one of my posts there below:

All I'm saying is that the previous inflation-adjusted record average gas price was in 1981, when Reagan was in office and there was a war going on in Iraq. That same month, this is what happened:

"...U.S. Secretary of State Alexander Haig told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that he saw the possibility of improved ties with Baghdad and approvingly noted that Iraq was concerned by "the behavior of Soviet imperialism in the Middle Eastern area." The U.S. then approved the sale to Iraq of five Boeing jetliners, and sent a deputy assistant secretary of state to Baghdad for talks."

The declassified memorandum that details all this is here.



Reagan was also shot that month.

The new inflation-adjusted record average gas price has now been achieved during Bush's term. And strangely enough, there's a war going on in Iraq.


Coincidence? Not bloody likely.

I'm not at all saying that Democratic presidents haven't had their share of foibles--LBJ lying us into Vietnam, Truman using the atom bomb even though he knew Japan wanted and was trying to surrender, etc.

But I'm saying that when wars in Iraq converge with Republican presidents, we seem to get record average gas prices. And interestingly, in the case of both records, in '81 and '07, men named George Bush were either president or vice-president.

Also, not exactly sure what 1977 gas lines kenjutsu is referring to. The first Arab oil embargo was in 1973, when Nixon, yet another Republican, was in office.

There was of course the energy crisis of 1979, due to the effects of the Iranian revolution, and there were gas lines then.

"Back in the 1973-1974 period and in 1979, folks waited for an hour or more on gasoline lines that at times stretched for miles, and people could only buy gas on alternate days, depending upon whether their license plate ended with an odd or even number. The federal government even printed gas-rationing coupons, although they were never used."

Gas prices "climbed throughout the 90's?"

Gas prices, according to kenjutsu, began to "climb throughout the 90's." He notes that this started in approximately 1992, the last year Bush I was in office.

As ol' Ronnie Raygun said--"Trust, but verify":

All prices listed are for U.S. regular grade gasoline:

1/6/92: $1.04
12/28/92: $1.06
1/25/93: $1.05
12/27/93: $0.99

Point taken? No? OK, let’s skip ahead a few years...

5/26/97: $1.20
7/28/97: $1.16
1/5/98: $1.08
3/23/98: $0.99
1/4/99: $0.91
12/27/99: $1.26

I think we can conclude that the price of gas didn’t ONLY “climb throughout the 90's.” The price FLUCTUATED.

Gas prices under Bush

Lowest gas price of Bush admin.:
12/17/01:$1.04

Lowest price since beginning of Iraq war:
5/12/03: $1.42

The price of regular has not been that low since then. And since March 14, 2005, gas has never been less than $2.

Where’s the data come from? From the Energy Information Administration in good ol’ Washington, D.C.


Under “Area,” click on “United States.” You have to have Excel or an Excel viewer to see the chart. All data above was taken from the first column.

FIRST TIME I'VE EVER PAID OVER $3 FOR REGULAR GAS
















This was on New Year's Day, just outside Gulfport, MS...and whaddya know, oil hit $100/barrel today!


Very interesting info from Americans Against Escalation In Iraq:

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE CLAIMED THEN VS. WHAT THE FACTS ARE OF OIL AND IRAQ TODAY

Wolfowitz: “[Iraq] will finance itself relatively soon” with oil
revenues

“The oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100
billion over the course of the next two or three years. Now, there are a lot of
claims on that money, but… We are dealing with a country that can really finance
its own reconstruction and relatively soon.” [Institute for Policy Studies, Paul
Wolfowitz, 3/27/03]

US Spending $10 billion a month in Iraq, But in 2003 Gov Officials
Insisted Iraq Will Not Require Sustained Aid

“The White House projected yesterday that postwar Iraq will not require
long-term U.S. aid, in part because of oil reserves that the Bush administration
contends will offset many of the costs of reconstruction. "The United States is
committed to helping Iraq recover from the conflict, but Iraq will not require
sustained aid," said a report from President Bush's Office of Management and
Budget.”” [WP, 3/29/2003]

Colin Powell “Iraq will not require the sorts of foreign assistance
that Afghanistan will”

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made a similar point Wednesday on
Capitol Hill. "Iraq will not require the sorts of foreign assistance Afghanistan
will continue to require for some time to come," Powell said, explaining that
Iraq's talent and resources will be "put to productive uses, instead of buying
and manning weapons and palaces for Saddam Hussein." [WP, 3/29/2003]

Let's remember our lesson: (War + Iraq)Republican President=Record Gas Prices!

Oh, and apparently, it turns out that the more troops we send in to this quagmire, the more we lose as it now turns out that 2007 was the deadliest year for American troops.

MORE GAS RECORDS? THIS IS GETTING OUT OF HAND!

Here's something I wrote today on the forum in response to this from a couple other posters regarding the topic of gas prices:

#1: I have said this before in the forums on here. The government should not step in at all when it comes to businesses.

#2: "In the end, it is the American consumer who is to blame. Oil companies will continue to push gas prices up. Right now the American consumer is telling the oil companies that we will stomach these types of prices for gas."

My response

Out of necessity, government is intimately involved in business and commerce. It's the government that issues money. It's the government that sets up the rules that create what many erroneously call "the free market." It's the government that maintains and manages the infrastructure (roads, rails, air travel, harbors, etc.) that allows business to be carried out.
It's the government that allows the creation and regulation of corporations.

Government should not unnecessarily impede commerce, but neither should it allow those engaged in commerce to indulge in rapacious practices. We should always seek a happy medium between government regulation and self-regulation (where business and commerce are concerned).

The price of gas is a special case because its price affects the price of literally everything else. The consumer is no more to blame for the price of gas than sick people are to blame for the price of medicine. That is to say, gas is a necessity--people cannot do without it. They must buy it.

In such cases, reasonable measures must be taken to ensure that the public is not being taken advantage of. Unfortunately, we either do not have such measures in place or they are not being enforced.

Instead, we are witnessing and being subjected to an outrageous, unjustifiable transfer of wealth from the bottom to the top. The argument that the public should band together and do something about this situation (and other ones like it) is an enticing one. However, I would argue that we did that already when we created our system of government. The problem is not "the government," the problem is effective corporate control of our government and those who represent us, i.e., Thad "Poison Pill" Cochran.

What oil companies have and do (and don't have and don't do)

Renewable fuels must play a part in getting us out of this mess.

If you saw "Who Killed The Electric Car," you know that electric cars were a viable solution to the very problem we're facing right now. But oil companies don't sell electricity.

Biodiesel would be a great alternative. But oil companies don't sell vegetable oil.

Hemp fuel would be a great alternative. But oil companies wouldn't be able to keep the lid on hemp production and besides, hemp production is illegal.

But oil companies do have very good friends in the White House...

UPWARD INCOME REDISTRIBUTION SCHEME: RECORD GAS PRICE EDITION

So, another record average gas price.

For the last four years--i.e., since we invaded--up to 15% of Iraq's oil has just...poof!...disappeared. And no one knows exactly why.

But we do know that the average price of gas just hit another record high.

Armed Madhouse Theory

Greg Palast has written about the possible reasons why the oil has "disappeared." In his book "Armed Madhouse," he details the plans for Iraq's oil that were argued over by the neocons and the oil industry.

Long story short, the oil companies won the argument and Iraq is producing far below its capacity and now we learn that even some of that is vanishing into thin air. And why would western oil companies want Iraq to produce less oil?

Simple--it's all part of the income redistribution plan for those who want socialism for the rich and capitalism for the poor. Gas prices are kept artificially high and then, inexplicably, western oil companies have record profits. And the profit records being set are not records for say, this decade, or the last twenty years, or for just the oil industry.

No, that's for chumps--the profits we're talking about are setting records for all time, for all industries, for the entire world.

Iraq "loses" some oil here and there, and ExxonMobil sets records both in profit and gas prices. In the process, more money is extracted from us--i.e., your income, my income, everyone's income is redistributed to the rich.

$60 for a tank of gas

This past Friday, I had to take a long trip and filled up my tank--I got a little over 20 gallons of gas and it cost me almost $59. In late 2001, the average price of gas was around $1.24/gallon.

I have the same job now as I did then and my cost of living raises have not kept pace with this dramatic price increase. What cost approximately $25 in late '01--less than 6 years ago--now costs more than twice that. Good post on this over at Americablog.

Believe me, I could use that extra $25-$35 for, I don't know, an oil change...

(WAR + IRAQ) REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT=RECORD GAS PRICES

So last week the average price of gas reached an all time high:

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. average retail gasoline prices rose to an all-time high over the past two weeks, due to a number of refinery outages, according to the latest nationwide Lundberg survey.

The national average price for self-serve regular unleaded gas was $3.0684 a gallon on May 4, an increase of 19.47 cents per gallon in the past two weeks, according to the survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

The prior all-time record was an average price of $3.0256 per gallon, that was reached on August 11, 2006.

Supposedly the price increase is due to "refinery outages" and the source in the story says there have been "at least 12 refinery incidents" in the last two weeks. Anybody know anything about those 12 incidents?

I have definitely felt this:

"So far this year the average price of regular unleaded gasoline has surged more than 88 cents per gallon..."

I'm sure ExxonMobil has felt that "surge" also, but not in the same way as you and I...I'm sure they'll break the all-time quarterly profit record again...

Considering all the people I encounter that cite high gas prices during the Carter administration, I found this part interesting:

"However, the current price is 6.4 cents short of the inflation-adjusted high that was reached in March of 1981, at that time regular grade self serve gasoline was $1.35 per gallon, but on an inflation-adjusted basis today that would translate into $3.13 per gallon."

That was at the beginning of Ronald Reagan's first term...I'll have to file that little factoid away for future use--the inflation-adjusted high for gas prices came under Reagan...

Oh, and one other thing--when that record was reached, there was a conflict involving Iraq going on, just...like...now. So I guess we have more proof of this theorem: (war + Iraq) Republican president =record gas prices.