Before You Fight a GAS WAR Identify the Enemy

I recently received an email titled "Gas War an Idea that WILL Work" suggesting that I should, after forwarding the email to 10 people, not purchase any gas from Exxon/Mobile, forcing them to lower their prices. My husband and I have those cute little "fast pay" tokens which we both use to buy gas from Mobile. Since I like the convenience provided to me by Exxon/Mobile I'll pass on this boycott. I replied to the message that I won't buy gas from BP as they are French owned and make commercials that make me change the channel.

The following was my husband's response when he received the same email from another source ..............................................

We have decided we don't want oil refineries built, to save the environment.
We have decided we don't want nuclear power plants built, same reason.
We have decided there will be no off shore drilling, same reason.
We have decided the Alaskan caribou is sacred, same reason.
We have decided to add expensive anti-smog chemicals to the gas, same reason.

At the same time, being the full of shit generation we are, we have bought bigger cars and built bigger houses.

Then, when the price of oil and gas goes up, we whine about ExxonMobil.

My suggestion: Build refineries, build nuclear plants, and drill wherever the oil is. If we don't want to do that, then buy oil company stock. As long as the leftist environmentalists control our energy policy, oil company profits will increase as will the value of their stock, then we can afford to buy gas at any price.

Boycotts are for communists. {end of husband's response}

Now, I think boycotts are perfectly fine for a democratic republic like the United States of America. I don't join the screaming mobs who blame everything on "Evil Corporations" you know, those horrible organizations who provide jobs, benefits, investment opportunities and goods and services. Communists and Socialists decry Capitalism and the profit motive as inherently evil. I know that the "profit motive" is the best encouragement to provide goods and services for the lowest price, best quality and using the least resources. Productivity has been increasing over recent years and workers benefit from this. Anti-Capitalists always point to the workers who are not needed once productivity increases ignoring the higher wages paid to the now skilled workers who are producing more with less.

Here's a question, why is the amount of tax we pay when we buy gas kept hidden from us? When I buy groceries the amount of sales tax I paid is clearly listed on my receipt but the receipt for gas shows what I paid per gallon in total without mentioning the tax amount. I'm told it is illegal for gas stations to breakdown the price for us. Here in Illinois I'm told the amount of tax is not per gallon but per dollar of gas purchased. This way when the price goes up the tax goes up too, increasing the burden on the consumer and providing a windfall in tax revenue.

Throughout history and all over the world today dictators hold power by providing the people an enemy to blame for all their problems, that way the people don't rise up against their real oppressor, said dictator and his or her corrupt regime. Socialists, Communists and Big Government liberals use this same tactic in stoking animus against "BIG OIL". Using misdirection the media reports endlessly on the oil company profits ignoring the reasons for the increase in gas costs just like they ignore any decrease in gas costs when those occur.

Oh, and regarding the sacred caribou, when we built the Alaskan Oil Pipeline we were assured that this would kill all the caribou. Since the completion of the pipeline the caribou population has quadrupled. Apparently the caribou appreciate the small amount of heat that the pipeline generates. So the enviormentalists were WRONG AGAIN!