Gas pump sticker shock

The price of a gallon of gas went up today to $3.45 a gallon, up from $3.19 yesterday. I can't say that I really understand why these sudden price jumps occur, and what I hear from the media is everything from the instability of the Middle East to the falling dollar against international currencies. Apparently, the Saudis trade oil in American dollars, and when our currency weakens, the price of a gallon of oil goes up. I don't know what would happen if they traded oil in stronger currencies like the Euro - after all, I'm no economist, but nothing makes any sense to me anymore. The stock market keeps losing value (although the Dow-Jones Industrial average went up over 416 points today - coincidence?), the dollar keeps weakening, oil prices are skyrocketing, causing the prices of everything else to go up, and yet we're told time and again that the economy is in great shape and that we're in no recession. Well, people are hard pressed to believe that stuff anymore. They are seeing how far their earning power has fallen, how hard they're struggling just to keep up and how high gas keeps going, and going, and going, with apparently no end in sight. What does not help is that before the invasion of Iraq, oil was trading at $25 a barrel, now it's well over $100 a barrel. There must be some correlation here; in fact, I know there is. This is a war, after all, that costs us billions - yes, that's billions with a "B" - per day, and will end up costing several trillion until our country gets it through their thick skulls that this war is slowly bankrupting us. We're playing right into Osama bin Laden's hands. This is how he brought down the Soviet Union, by bankrupting them via a long war in Afghanistan that finally ended up such a drain on their economy and resources that the whole Soviet Empire became an untenable situation, and thus, it fell. Well, since the Current Occupant and his sycophantic supporters were so gung-ho for this war and bent on Empire building they are slowly driving us into the same fate as the Soviet Union. Fortunately, it reassures me to think that history will not treat this administration kindly. These rising gas prices are bound to cause such an uproar that something will need to be done, quickly, before people just won't take it anymore.

The whole upside to this thing is that maybe it will at last force home the whole issue of the extreme need for conservation. People still run out and buy oversize pickups and SUV gas hogs and insist on owing the road with them. Americans have a long standing love affair with their cars, but you can still have fun and drive a smaller vehicle. My 2007 Hyundai Accent hatchback (pictured here) is one such example. It's sporty, it's pretty, it's fun to drive, it has Euro styling, it's fuel efficient and it's surprisingly roomy for such a little car. I notice heads turning when I drive it down the road. The bright green color is a real eye catcher. It also has the added advantage of a Superior Green Rating from the American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy! That's because it comes equipped with an ultra-low emissions engine. This car has turned out to be a smart investment, if you want my opinion. I expect to be driving it well past its 100,000 powertrain warranty. I still don't see a lot of smaller cars on the road, and the ones I do see the most frequently are the supposed "American" vehicles, the Ford Focus and the Chevrolet Aveo. Well, have news for you - there is practically no such thing anymore as a purely American car. So many of them have enough foreign made parts to make them practically a foreign car. In fact, in one amusing story, there has been some ongoing "discussion" in our funny little "Sound Off" column in our local paper that stems from someone complaining about someone flying an American flag with a foreign made car in the driveway, and there are have been many follow up opinions rendered on this situation since, many of which are either annoying are at the very least amusing to read.

Well, I guess we'll see how bad gas gets in the coming days and weeks. It's going to put the big kibosh on a lot of folks vacations this summer, perhaps even mine included. I'm debating whether or not I will be able to afford any travel this year as gas prices continue their uncontrolled skyrocketing. So much for an economic stimulus! The government is supposed to send us tax refund checks soon as a way to spur us all to do some spending, but I suspect that most of us will either use it to pay off long standing medical debt (since our health care system is also irretrievably broken) or other bills, or will stuff it away in savings and not spend a dime of it. The best way to jump start the economy would be to drop the price of gas $2 a gallon back to its pre-Iraqi invasion prices. Everything would benefit by just such a stimulus. Everything we buy depends on the price of oil. Everything. If gas continues going up uncontrollably, it will send the economy into such a tailspin that we could well go into another Depression like we haven't seen in over 70 years. Bush could well exit his presidency with the label of another Herbert Hoover. So many similarities to what happened then, especially the credit crunch brought about by the subprime mortgage crisis that has spiraled into other sectors of the economy. All I can say is that it's going to be a rough ride, and who knows how long it will last. Bush and friends are probably laughing all the way to the bank - after all, they are oil men. I hope that this administration has taught people the importance about being careful and judicious about who you choose to run the country. Just because someone seems like a great guy to have a beer and a backyard barbecue with does not necessarily mean that they have the skills to run a country. This past eight years serves as the best argument for the restoration of the teaching of history in elementary and secondary schools and at colleges and universities. May we never repeat this same mistake that we've made these past 7 years trusting our country to a bunch of liars, thieves and scoundrels.