Oh goody!
Gas prices jumped a nickel over the weekend. This rise happened in spite of the fact that the price per barrel of oil dropped by $1.43.
Hey wait a minute, weren’t we told in the last month that gas prices were going up because of the instant linkage between the barrel price and refined price? Shouldn’t the gas prices FALL as quickly when the barrel price drops?
You’d think that… BUT you’d be wrong!
Now, the gas prices are continuing to rise in anticipation that there will be a supply glitch as the refineries switch from Winter to Summer grades. (WHAT???) I know that supposedly the formulation is different depending on season. I’m not sure that I believe it. I’m more convinced that this is another excuse for the oil industry to drive up prices and increase their profits.
Remember some of the other excuses we’ve heard recently?
Oil prices are going up because of tension with Iran, last year it was tensions with the Iraq, the year before that it was tensions because of Chinas sudden prosperity and their burgeoning oil demand, the year before that it was blah blah, before that blah blady blah.
There’s always some almost plausible reason, if you’re not looking too closely…
The point is, if you really look at it there is NO good reason, no quantitative, no REAL reason for the volatility in oil prices. Each year the prices go up due to some trumped up crisis NEVER returning to their (Pre-crisis) price. Yet somehow each year the oil companies post record profits.
You know that oil is shipped right? So that means orders have to placed at least a month if not two before it’s needed. What happens when oil is delivered to ports but the demand isn’t as high as anticipated? YOU STORE IT!
It makes no sense to turn the ships around or to offload only a portion of the shipment you’ve ordered unless you can sell that partial shipment somewhere else.
We’ve had a remarkably warm Winter in this country this year. That means that fuel use is down, certainly heating oil and probably electric usage.
Why then are fuel costs going up? Didn’t we stockpile the surplus oil?
This shouldn’t be read as me being anti profit. I’m a capitalist through and through, but there is such a thing as Usury rates and there are laws against that kind of exploitation. The oil companies are not a monopoly, but their prices are obviously fixed. It’s time to bring all the oil companies up on anti-trust charges and let THE PEOPLE not Congress sit in judgement. Maybe then we’d see justice done.
Has it occurred to you that $5 or $6 a gallon gasoline is actually good for the Republican party? So is high unemployment caused by high energy prices.
Why? Think about this… There is a long standing history of collusion between the Captains of industry and politicians.
Now think about high energy prices suppressing the economy making the people restless and how that effect could turn the Presidential race and any congressional seats up for grabs in favor of the Republican party.
Once a candidate preferred by industry is elected, the energy prices go down, employment goes up and it looks like the American people “Made the right choice for the country…” when in fact they made the right choice for industry.
Even if the Democratic party carries the day… Industry still profits, and can slowly lower the energy costs, stimulate the economy and wait another 4 years for a chance to put an “Industry Friendly” President in office.
As I’ve said before, I’m not… or rather I wasn’t a big conspiracy kind of guy.
Honestly, I think most politicians are too stupid to carry off a conspiracy and they sure as hell couldn’t keep their mouths shut about it. BUT I can’t help wondering if the politicians are puppets of industry.
I could see industry moving behind the scenes. I could see politicians being compartmentalized, each knowing only enough to carry out their assigned job.
I’ve begun to think this way in part because politics makes no sense.
The majority of Americans couldn’t care less about Gay rights, marriage, or what have you. The majority of Americans don’t care that a woman has access to abortion or to birth control. A large portion of America while being people of faith aren’t willing to shove their faith down the throats of others. Yet all these issues are talking points for politicians.
WHY?
We have far more pressing issues that need to be addressed.
The only explanation I can think of for trotting out the same old tired issues again and again is that our government is trying to put on a Roman Circus.
In that context… all the sudden politics makes sense… It’s a “Reality” show!
“This week on real politics, will Rick Santorum insult the transexuals in Ohio and be glitter-bombed? Find out TONITE at 7!“
Makes a lot more sense that way doesn’t it?
When you think about it this way, you kinda have no choice but to get really cynical about the whole process.
For me, the icing on the cake is the volatility in oil pricing.
Which leads to only one conclusion… it doesn’t matter WHO is in office, they’re all the bitches of one industry or another.