Off The Cuff

Pump Pain, The Neverending Story

Posted by: From Arkansas in Are You Kidding Me?, Disaster news, Shame of America on May 07 2008

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

For those of you who have lived in a cave for the last few months, pump pain is the price at the gas pump. And the beat goes on!!! And on and on and on. Where it stops, nobody knows. Yes, I could keep that up for hours. But the real problem is that we are the consumers. All of the profits depend on us. And we are doing NOTHING about it. NOTHING. Why? Good question.

For most people, gas is an essential item. Gone are the days when the car was a luxury. Now it is a necessity that gobbles and gobbles money. The pain at the pump is increasing each time we head for the pumps. Why is that? The first reason seems to be because those who control the oil wish to control the American people. The American people do not mind being controlled so this might just work out nicely…..for the oil people. For the rest of us, it is a nightmare with no end in sight.

The middle east is where it starts. The oil cartel decides how much to pump out and how often to stop it. They decide the number of gallons they are willing to let go of so that other countries can use their machines. Now, I do realize that we have some oil of our own. Most countries are not so blessed. But the kicker here is that most of our oil wells are capped. Anyone care to comment on that? I would love to know why that is.

Then there is the fact that we desperately need more refineries. Not having built any for a long time, it would seem to be smart to do so. However, the congress appears to have the say on that and they are not interested. SAY WHAT??? Nope. They will not allow any more refineries here in the US. Strange isn’t it.

See, I remember back in 1972 when the gas stations had enormous lines at the pumps because of a supposed gas shortage. We learned later that there was no shortage but people did not know that at the time. There were huge lines of cars waiting sometimes hours to get to the gas pump. The blessed ones got some gas..it was being rationed. The others found the station running out of gas by the time they got there. It was awful.

But the real problem here is that it was a test to see what would happen in the US if there ever was a shortage. Well, we did find out. People panic. There isn’t enough to go around. If you don’t get there first, you miss out. A lot of people are too desperate to lose out. There will be panic and crime following shortly after that.

Power. That’s what turns the world these days. Power to tell people what they can do, how they can act, where they can go. If the people who own the oil want to do so, they could give enough oil to take care of the current crisis and that is what it is, a crisis. And it is not going away. Why? Because we are vulnerable and they know it. Our President goes, hat in hand, to beg those ****** individuals and companies over in the middle east…and oh yes, the head dude of Saudi Arabia for more oil. Of course, they act like friends of ours. The dude says…oh, I will be glad to help in any way I can….but he does not. The oil cartel says NOPE, we are not pumping another drop. They can just live without for a while until we decide when they can have it again. We don’t like the way they run things. Time for us to run things. It’s all about POWER!

Then, when the greedy middle easterners finally get around to handing over the oil we need in the trickle down method, we are supposed to bow and scrape because we are so grateful to them for finally gifting us with what we pay dearly for..more oil. In come the greedy oil companies here in the US. They have ALL reported profits, some of them RECORD profits. And they have the gall (I was thinking of another word but this is a family blog) to go before congress and beg for more tax breaks!!!! HELLO!!! They are ripping us off at the pumps and THEY want more tax breaks???? Are you kidding me???

Our gas prices have never been higher. We heard on the news today that they were expected to reach $4 this summer. At some point, I had heard that “experts” think that we will see $200 a barrel (that’s pure GREED and there is no other way to say that) and $10 at the pump. Yes, they are bleeding us dry. Yes, they want control over us. Yes, we could do something about it but it would take guts and I haven’t seen much of that regarding this issue in the US recently. The congress will not address the issue enough. Yes, they had a committee meeting and some of the senators didn’t like the CEOs of the oil companies having the gall to ask for more tax breaks. So what. They have done absolutely nothing to help us at the pump where it hurts the most. Because once the pumps hurt everyone (and they are currently doing just that) then we will hurt at the grocery store, the discount stores, the pharmacy, the electric company, the propane and heating oil company, the toy store, the car dealerships, the phone company and any place else you can think of. AND IT’S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW!!!

SO, what can be done? Well, it would certainly take guts to slack off with your gas buying. I know. We live in a rural area. We NEED to buy gas so that our car can make it when there is a family emergency. We do have a few. Those who must go to work each day have to have gas too. There is no way around that fact. Unless people carpool, and they do that, there are few solutions to the problem. Perhaps what needs to be done is have a national “We are mad as hell and we ain’t gonna take it anymore!!!” day. Think anyone will do that? Nope. Know why? Because no one can trust anyone else to abide by it. There will always be some person who is more interested in their own lives than anyone else’s life. If we were to all do this together, we could make a difference. It’s like that truckers’ strike that should have happened in April. It really didn’t. There were always those truckers who won’t shut down because they need their paycheck. It’s always all about me, me, me and how it will affect ME!!! People are too selfish and self centered now. And I know I will get a few arguments on this one. There will always be a reason, an excuse for why they cannot participate.

“It’s all about my kids. They need food too.” “My landlord won’t wait one more minute. I HAVE to work so I cannot shut down.” “I don’t care. I want to live my life. Screw the other guy. Let him find his own gas.” “Who cares?” “No one else will do it. I will shut down if the rest do but not if only a handful of truckers do it.”

These are but a few of the comments that will occur should someone actually want to shut down. Take my word for it, it won’t happen. Everyone wants to protect number one and their families. Never mind that if we all did this, there would be major changes coming. The fact is that America is arrogant, selfish, self centered and cold hearted no matter what you might think. Yes, when the chips are down, they respond….but when? If we do not do something soon, it will be too late. Then the others will have control of us. It is almost too late now.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!