Posted on 09/28/2006 6:55:59 AM PDT by Nevadan
The global pressures of supply and demand that sent energy prices skyward over the past year have brought the cost of gasoline closer to earth, at least for the time being.
Oil production along the Gulf Coast hasn't been interrupted by major hurricanes, so domestic supplies are up. The geopolitical climate of the Middle East has cooled. Crude oil futures, which traded at $78 per barrel in July, now go for close to $60. As a result, Americans are paying anywhere between 30 and 70 cents less for a gallon of gasoline than they did this summer. In some parts of the United States, gasoline sells for less than $2 a gallon.
However, for some Americans, good news is bad news.
American suffering is the core of the Democratic election strategy. Surely, President Bush ordered the price cut to trick the unwitting masses into returning Republicans to Washington. (Just like he ordered prices to rise a few months back to help his oil buddies.)
It's a ridiculous conspiracy theory that defies all reason. Nevertheless, a new Gallup poll asked Americans whether President Bush's administration "deliberately manipulated the price of gasoline so that it would decrease before this fall's election." And 42 percent of participants said they agreed with the statement.
Not surprisingly, two-thirds of the survey participants who bought this baloney are registered Democrats. But the contempt these people have for the president has created a gaping crack in their anti-Bush rhetoric. They would have Americans believe George W. Bush is the dumbest man alive, yet so fiendishly brilliant he can manipulate markets around the world, possessing "the kind of magisterial clout unknown to any other human being," Bush spokesman Tony Snow said Monday.
A Category 4 hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico or genocidal threats from Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could reverse this price plunge very quickly. But then, if either of those scenarios played out, the left would blame President Bush.
You'd expect a small sampling of any population to hold outlandish opinions as a result of some perceived injustice, a lack of opportunity, a limited education or plain old bad luck. But when more than 40 percent of the population buys such ridiculous conspiracy theories, it can't be pinned on life circumstances. Clearly, the opinion that President Bush rigs energy prices from the Oval Office is held by a wide spectrum of America. These people aren't merely ignorant of history and economic theory. They find comfort in believing that sinister, mysterious forces control the world around them. In this regard, they're no different from the millions of Arabs of all social classes who believe their repressive Islamic nations are being kept down by a Zionist-American plot.
"If we're dropping gas prices now," Mr. Snow said Monday, "why on earth did we raise them to $3.50 before?"
This Gallup poll reveals the toxic partisanship that has overwhelmed the electorate. It also lays bare the economic illiteracy of too many citizens living in the world's richest nation.
"One day I asked him why do your think they make a water tower and store the water up in that big ball of a tank? "Hmmmmm.. I dunno, why?"
Well, why?
Water pressure.
Reminds me of the anecdote concerning Ronald Reagan's first words upon entering the Oval Office after inauguration:
"Ok, where's that lever that controls the fuel prices?"
I figured that is why it is stored up in the air, but what is the reason that they store water? Or are you saying that the storage supplements the water treatment systems to maintain water pressure.
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I figured that is why it is stored up in the air, but what is the reason that they store water? Or are you saying that the storage supplements the water treatment systems to maintain water pressure.
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Yeah. They keep a tank in the local area to feed to the residents and keep filling it from the larger water system.
Wow, I never realized that. For some reason I always thought that residents were either directly connected or that they were on wells. I always figured that water towers were an emergency supply.
Thanks. My goal is to learn one thing every day. Now I can go back to sleep mode.
Despite what you hear from liberals, we love, honor, and respect our military!
Kill a bad guy for me, but stay safe.
Anyone with any sense knows it's Rove...
It's Rove, I tell you!!!
Bush's Fault?
Look at the price of oil now. (October 29, 2007) Now say the same crap! But the economy is so good. WHERE?
It’s mostly because the dollar has lost a lot of value. Oil is priced in dollars, so more dollars are needed to buy it.
Blame “inflation”.
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