SURELY YOU JEST!

(MSNBC-MONEY/Frazer Chronicle)

 

Okay the summer's over, kids are back at school, co-eds are back in the college dorms and going to Saturday afternoon football games, baseball is winding down,  professional football is back at smashing heads, the leaves are turning, and there's a definite chill in the air in the morning.....at least in the Mid-West, and gasoline prices are, well.....ya that's another story all together.

 

Remember in the spring when gas prices jumped at the pumps.....hey, that's a pretty good little phrase, "a jump at the pump," anyways, gas prices spiked in the spring, just like every other spring for the last umpteen years because of the "summer formula." Guess the "summer formula" is a cure for all the crap that we put into the air the other 9 months of the year, or at least that is what we're told.

 

I used to drive a tractor-trailer for a living, and I can remember filling both my saddle tanks would cost right around a grand every time I stopped, a real back-breaker for any kind of profit for the truck owner. I never did figure out why diesel fuel costs more a gallon then my car or pick-up truck, oh well, I've never understood why some women have a hyphen in their name, guess it's one of life's little mysteries.

 

I read an article this morning about why gas prices are on the move again, "not in a downward movement," and this petroleum guru, Charley Blaine said that the 3 major reasons for the upward trend in gas prices at the pump were, (1) reduced gasoline supplies, (2) hurricane Isac scare, and (3) the political tension between Israel and Iran.

 

Gee Charley, ya left a whole bunch of stuff out,  for why gasoline prices suddenly shot up by, oh, say .40 cents over the past several weeks, luckily I'm here to keep things in the proper prospective.....and at the same time, "school" Charley on facts that he can add into his information "package," for his next speech on his speaking tour.     

 

AND THE REASONS ARE:

First off, everybody knows why gas prices are spiking, sure it's that time of year,  when that formula thing is reversed, and drivers can really start polluting the airways, but more then the pollution question that is always posed by the "tree huggers," the real problem is that we will be using less gas, therefore petroleum companies will be making less money unless they raise the price of gas, so, guess what, they chose to raise the prices.

 

I wonder how much B.P. makes every time they raise gasoline prices by 1 cent, the figure has to boggle the mind, or at least mine. My calculator doesn't add that high, world-wide, it's in the hundreds of thousands each and every day.....and oh ya, twice on Sundays.

 

Also a reason that pops into my mind is the fact that "they can," petroleum companies  have been training us for  years with the  up and down gasoline prices. If you want proof of the "they can" attitude I have, exactly what do we say when gas prices go from $3.99 a gallon to $3.79 a gallon, don't we say to one another, "gee, the prices are getting better." And if the prices ever again return to the $3 dollar level, won't we call that price "fantastic."

 

Another reason, "which I must add I don't know much about," is the stock market, petroleum brokers, those hedge fund guys and those speculators. Call me crazy, but aren't these people almost "one in the same," they all want to make money on the backs of our hard labor, "unless your retired like me," and they simply do not care who they hurt in the process.

 

Some of us talk about why these people, "Wall Street, speculators, petroleum brokers, or hedge fund guys," and wonder who gave them the power to act like God and influence our lives to such an extent.....well my friend, the answer is easy, we did. By not being involved, by being miss-informed, and by not watching these jokers.

 

A very few people control the  pulse of the entire world with regards to the petroleum supply, and like the saying goes, "it ain't us." We are almost at the mercy of whoever controls the crude of the world, and the pipelines that supply us. Of course we still think that we are "players" on the world scene, but how long were we in Iraq, and how long have we been in Afghanistan, two countries with so little where-with-all that they don't even have cable T.V. with the capabilities to carry Tru-T.V.

 

IN THE FINAL ANALYSIS:

Everybody has an opinion about the reasons for higher petroleum prices, too cold, too hot, spring, summer, fall and winter, a flat tire on the tractor-tanker, rough water in the ocean, so ships with crude on board  can't make their deliveries. Fires, hurricanes, busted pipelines, environmentalist, shut-downs for maintenance, summit meetings, tension between countries and a partridge in a pear tree, I can go on.....I've got time, but you get my point.

 

In the final analysis, the single reason as to why gasoline prices fluctuate so much, "always towards a higher price" is simple, so simple that my little 8 year old grand daughter can figure it out, "money." Greed my friends, pure unadulterated greed.

 

These jerks aren't kidding either, they mean business, and are willing to go to great lengths to keep things the way they are. There's just one thing that I  would appreciate from these people that are playing God,  would they please stop screwing up the warm months of the year with their higher prices, I need those warm days and nights.

 

Greed in the morning, in afternoon, the evening.....all night long, it's how they operate, oil wells operate on a 24 hour basis. Who you ask are these people....."glad you ask that question," again the answer is really quite simple, anybody who is willing to undertake the capital necessary to drill for oil or natural gas, and the dangers inherent with any business venture. To a slight degree even me, you see my wife's family owns mineral rights on a section of ground, and were all hoping for a gusher!

 

Rest assured that if (my) well comes in, at least my vote will be to keep the price of crude at a reasonable rate, say at a $100 a barrel, you see we only get every 8th barrel, and then it's split 3 ways, so we need that high end price.....but that's as far as I would go with the price for (my) oil, I mean the $100. And...."I'm not kidding, and don't call me Shirley.