HIGH GAS PRICES-LAWMAKERS AND BIG OIL ENJOY A  LEWINSKY RELATIONSHIP


THE KUHNS REPORT

LAS VEGAS- Hello America, and how is the world treating  you?

Here we go again. Gas Prices at all time highs.What a rip off. The average gas price in California today is $4.668, a gallon. Some places in California are charging $6.00 per gallon. In fact, a gasoline station in Long Beach, California had a price of $6.65 a gallon.

I have been preaching for years that the gasoline market was being illegally manipulated but no one would listen. At the time of my complaint gasoline was selling for $1.34 a gallon. I wrote my representatives in Congress complaining but the politicians response was, with a boiler-plate pre-written letter saying "there is no manipulation of gasoline prices." However, it was amusing that a few months after my complaint Congress called all of the oil company execs  before Congress to explain the reason for high gasoline prices. Those hearing turned out to be a joke. All of those Washington lawmakers ranted and raved before the cameras so they could get their fifteen minutes of face time on TV and then they sent the oil magnates home. The same thing happened a few years later when gas prices rose again. Congress has held two or three hearing and feigned outrage over the last decade but they never, ever do anything to fix the problem.

Hell, when George Bush was running for re-election he was caught being told by the Saudi Royal family that in order to get him elected for a second term OPEC would raise gas prices and then a few weeks before the election they would lower them so the people here in the country would think he was the one responsible for the  lower gasoline prices. Manipulation? You bet.

Mark my words people - -I predict gasoline prices will fall right before election day. But I also predict that once the elections are over the gasoline prices will rise again.

Over the past two decades the oil titans heading up Exxon, Shell and all the other big companies have been playing the shell game of raising prices by fifty, sixty cents or more and then, when people complain the prices drop, BUT only a penny or two. The result -- the oil companies have a new low base. Example, gas was $2.00 gallon, it rose to $2.80 a gallon, but when the oil companies drop the price a few pennies, now they have a new low base of $2.80. Then when they raise it again,- - example $3.25, and then lower it to $3.20, that is their new low base. The oil companies have been playing this game consistently for decades until now people think that if they pay $3.50 cents a gallon they are getting a deal. The sad part is the lawmakers in Washing know and can see what the oil companies are doing by fudging with the price per gallon but since the oil companies buy off both Republicans and Democrats in Congress, they turn a blind eye. Remember these sleazy politicians get their gas paid for on our taxpayer dime and  I would venture to say that most if not all of the lawmakers in Washington are at least a millionaire. If they had to pay for their gasoline to fill their vehicles, they  CAN afford it.

There is no doubt in my mind that the oil companies want to get the price up to $6.00 and $10.00, per gallon. These continued  price spikes and hikes which are followed by the one or two penny drop will continue until the people in this country take to the streets with peaceful protests demanding that the government take action against the entire oil industry.

A suggestion: The government could nationalize some gas stations. Have the government stations set a fair price and the competition with those big oil idiots would cause prices to fall like a rock. Why not? Obama bailed out the auto industry. If the government can run an auto industry why not run some gas stations. Other countries set gasoline prices. A good example is Mexico.

How crazy is this? We taxpayers subsidize these idiots while they make $50 and $60 billion dollars in profit EVERY quarter.What are the lawmakers in Washington doing about the problem? Nothing. A few are asking for an investigation into the matter alleging gas price manipulation.  Rather than taking direct action  the Washington is again calling for a hearing. Come on! Another hearing to have the Congress shout empty threats is a continuation of the "lets pacify the public, like we  understand and are doing something."

The political game also continues. Just ten minutes ago while writing this commentary a news person on the radio announced that the administration said that gasoline prices will come down" by election day."Hear me folks - -they will drop right before election day.

The administration blames the high prices on summer-blending of gas and refinery shutdowns for repairs. That's a bunch of crap people. This is the United States. If the refineries are in disrepair the government should mandate that the refineries have scheduled maintenance which should be inspected by the government regulators on a regular basis. Doesn't it worry the citizens that all of a sudden each and every year the refineries shut down for repairs on each coast. Hasn't the administration and these fat cat oil companies heard of staggering maintenance and repairs so while one refinery is being serviced the other refineries around the country can still provide gasoline without
interruption? And the other excuse by the oil companies saying that there is not  enough refineries. Simple solution. BUILD more refineries. The government should also mandate that there be sufficient refineries scattered throughout the United States. How hard is it to have the  oil companies build an additional two or three refineries on the West coast, an additional two or three on the East coast and one or two additional refineries on the North and South regions of our borders? No one can argue that these money sucking oil companies cannot afford it. They have more than enough funds to build additional refineries and clearly enough monies to keep the refineries in excellent repair.

I say the only thing stopping the additional refineries from being brought on line is because the oil companies doesn't want them and they use their lobbying people to stuff millions of dollars into the pockets of Washington politicians to see it their way.

Folks, we here in the United States shouldn't be paying more than $2.00 a gallon  for gasoline.Remember, when Obama took office gas was priced at $1.34 a gallon. Now it's costing $6.65 in Long Beach, California.

 It does not take a rocket scientist to see the political aspect of the price of gasoline. The same gasoline we are paying $3.87 and $6.00 a gallon IS the same gasoline we had at $1.34 a gallon. It certainly hasn't changed. It comes from the same place it has been coming from since the early nineteen hundreds. I recall paying $0.18 cents a gallon for gasoline 1962 and that gas in no different that the gasoline we are now pumping into our gas tanks. The only  thing that has changed is the corruption  and greed in politics. It is no secret that the lawmakers in Washington have a Lewinsky type relationship with the big oil honchos. That has got to stop. We need "people power" to stop this government scam. The people recently showed their power when the credit card companies tried to screw us. There was a change. Why can't we do that again? Let the lawmakers know enough is enough.

If these out of touch politicians would address the bread and butter issues like gasoline prices, high food prices, keeping jobs in the U.S., and actually creating shovel ready jobs by building our bridges, schools, highway's, infrastructure and electrical grids this economy would be  rocking and humming along.- And, that's  opinion. Make your own decisions. You decide.

Bradley W. Kuhns,Ph.D., O.M.D.
Dr. Kuhns can be reached by e-mail at:
bradleykuhns@gmail.com