On Gas Prices

It seems that every time the price of oil goes up a dollar a barrel gasoline goes up a dime at the pump. Then when oil falls by two dollars a barrel the price of gas goes down a nickel at the pump.

I'm exaggerating of course.

But we are being ripped off. Thank God and the Founding Fathers that oil companies have to post their profits and losses publicly. Exxon-Mobil posted the largest profit of any company in history for the past year, and profited over 3 billion dollars in the first quarter of 2006.

As I said on the Immigration post, look who benefits. The oil companies took over the government when Ronald Reagan came in. He halted the alternate fuels research Jimmy Carter started and got gas prices down again, so it fell off the radar. Until now.

In the 2000 election George W. Bush bragged about how he would be able to jawbone the Middle Eastern governments to keep gas prices down. The average price was $1.46 when he took office, and they're $2.91 now. Twice as high. Some jawboning.

So what has been the response of our illustrious Congress? Giving the bloated oil companies more of our tax dollars so they can afford a $400 million golden parachute for the retiring chairman of Exxon-Mobil and so the executives will have more to squirrel away in their secret Cayman Island bank accounts.

Is it time for a change or what?