Gas Gouging Election Year Market Manipulation?

It has been so very interesting to listen to the mainstream news media commentaries on the horrendous increases which have occurred in the prices Americans are now forced to pay at the pump in order to get to work, run to the doctors, or take a much needed and overdue vacation.

Many of the pundits have offered up such half baked rationalizations it has been incredible, especially in the last few weeks.

A few short months ago, gasoline was at $2.60 a gallon at most stations off the interstate exits.

Less than thirty years ago, it was still at a little over a $1.00 a gallon, having made a 100% increase from ten years before.

There is no logical explanation at this point to why Americans are paying through the nose to power their automobiles.

Except greed.

Both corporate and governmental...

Even Obama's excuses seemed rather flimsy during his recent speech at the Daimler plant.

How much war related gasoline is being consumed by the government keeping all those Humvees, drones, jets, and ships in foreign ports equipped which Americans are paying for both at the pump, and through their other taxes and this mammoth ever-escalating deficit?

The higher the gas prices go, of course, the higher those state and local gasoline taxes also go.

This added tax is not tax deductible at this point even. In other words, those sales and use taxes are not deducted from the amount of discretionary income most Americans get to, say, pay the mortgage.

This is an election year, and all those election coffers need to be stuffed, after all, by most of those oil companies and their lobbyists, too.

No matter that you no longer have any income to pay for that unregulated utility bill, or that house that is now going into foreclosure.

The monster must be fed.

And fed.

Washington Hypocricy Evident Once Again

Once again, it appears that the hypocricy in Washington has become evident for many Americans outside the Beltway.

While the media labeled "coalition" of forces in the West, including America and its historic "allies" Britain, France and the allied forces since World War II are now waging war on Libya in the "no fly" zone which was established this past week by those same forces, protests by Americans were held across the nation against America's continued involvement in Iraq.

It was reported that the rebellious Americans who defer from American foreign policy on the war were arrested for being too near the White House gates while conducting their demonstrations.

Will wonders never cease?

While Washington is supporting the rebels in Libya, it is arresting its domestic variety for staging their demonstrations where they would have the most coverage and impact.

In front of the White House.

Meanwhile, gas prices throughout the country have gone from $2.65 per gallon one year ago, to the "new" pricing of $3.20 a gallon - an over 30% increase in less than a year.

I wonder if those prices reflect all those barrels that were scammed during the months long "cleanup" and then refined in Britain during Deepwater Horizon this past summer, or whether the revolts now in the Middle East will be reported to blame.

Stay tuned.