Even though petroleum companies are reporting record high profits, on March 29 the Senate voted to continue giving gas companies grants worth $2 billion.
The high price of gas at the pumps has put this country into a great economic recession and it is unconscionable that elected officials in Washington continue to do nothing about it.
When the minimum wage was $1 per hour, gas was 28.9 cents a gallon. That made gas 28.9 percent that of minimum wage in 1964. Now gas is approximately $4.05 per gallon and minimum wage is $7.50 an hour, which makes gas now 54 percent of minimum wage.
Gas should be only $2.16 per gallon with the current minimum wage.
The politicians are not listening to the people and the people can change that by refusing to re-elect any incumbent. And, if the newly elected don’t take the hint, then we reelect someone else who will listen to the people.
Randall Probert, Bethel
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Although I agree completely
Although I agree completely with the picture you're drawing here, nothing will change until we get consumption in check. I'm sorry for all those people driving single in an SUV that never gets used for sport nor utility, but your 12mpg beastie is part of the problem. Supply and demand people. They charge more because they CAN.
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You listen to some of the talk shows with "those in the know" and they will tell you that gas is high cause people have cut down on consumption and therefore some refineries are shutting down so the price goes up. I don't own an SUV but why should I ride a bike while all of Wash. drive SUV's, fly all over and their way of life continues without change. No one is "tightening their belts" except for the little guy. Its not even a campaign issue as they all are avoiding it and like everything else its the other guys fault. No matter who gets to be President he don't have the power to override the crooks in Congress or throughout the Federal gov. You can't even have a day where no one buys gas, bread, steak or whatever cause those that have the money will still do it cause they can and the little guy loses again. When you pay this much for gas and read when the big oil companies post their profits for the quarter its enough to make one sick. There is something very wrong in this country and its being wrecked by crooks, greed and politicians.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.Great analogy, Randall, on
Great analogy, Randall, on the minimum wage vs. price of gasoline. However, the liberals will tell you it's all the republicans' fault for not having allowed the minimum wage to keep pace with the rising price of gasoline, thereby creating today's 54% imbalance. Never mind that the minimum wage is not and never was intended to be a living wage. It's intented to be a wage that requires the recipient to possess only one minimum job requirement; a pulse.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.A little quick arithmetic ...
... says that minimum wage should now be $14 to maintain the ratio from the good old days. In round numbers, that would double everything - including gas at the pump - and ripple throughout the economy. When the dust settles, we would have $8 gasoline and $10 Big Macs.
The unions would love it, since many contracts mandate wages as multiples of minimum wage.
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Or, as Mr. Probert suggests in his letter, let the Govt. figure out a way to get the pump prices down to $2.16 a gallon. They're 'good' at controlling things.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.I need to ask the Parrot a question.
Since this is the opinion section, he's entitled to squawk freely.
Is it just me or do others feel it's rather deserted in here, since around the time the format changed, on-line and off-line?
Some of our buddies (like the wheelchair warrior) have vanished completely. Others (like the historical sailor) are staying well away from the opinion section. Has there been a purge?
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The Pirate was thinking the very same thing. It has been like a virtual Ghost Town. As you pointed out, some are conspicuous by their absence. The parrot thinks someone may have put republican Kool-Aid in the water supply.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.I propose a toast.
To glorious silence, with a stiff slug of grog. Not too much, though, because I fear the dead will speak again.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.I'll drink to that... If they
I'll drink to that...
If they do return, may they return enlightened.
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Would you like to respond? Login or create a new account. You'll need to verify your account before you can respond.All US companies get these grants ...
... or subsidies or breaks - choose your favorite emotional word. The president's proposal would single out the oil industry for special tax punishment, a big part of his plan to make energy prices "necessarily skyrocket".
In the Democrat vocabulary, the word "subsidy" means "the difference between the tax they want to collect and what they legally can collect". If they don't get all they want from some company because it's obeying tax law, the rest of us have to make up the difference. No, it just means politicians have fewer of our dollars to waste.
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