OK, oil isn't going to hit $110 a barrel today. All the speculators are convinced. At least, that's what they're saying. SO does that mean that they are finally going to start selling, and prices will go back down? Do these speculators realize that they have destroyed companies? Three AIRLINES have shut down in the last 2 weeks. There's a 4Th and 5Th possibly coming within the next 2 months. Why do you think that AA and all the other airlines are grounding their fleets, do you really think it's because of "wiring inspections"? NO. It's because the price of fuel is so high, they can't afford to fly. I don't find it coincidental that so many flights have been canceled since oil went over $103 a barrel. Overall usage is down in the basic consumer sector, yet speculators keep driving the price up. Greedy, greedy bastards.
Since the housing market has collapsed, investors are putting their money into commodities. OK, I get that. However, they are driving up the prices so high that people like me can't afford to drive and eat on the same days. I AM NOT JOKING! I have a Scion XB, it gets about 30 miles to the gallon. Last year it cost me about $27 to fill up. I filled up last Friday, it cost me $37. Ten dollars more. It doesn't sound like a whole lot more, does it. But when you look at it from my perspective, it truly is. I now live a further 26 miles away from work. (A grand total of 31 miles from work.) So, to get to and from work, is about 62 miles a day. Approximately 2 gallons a day. Since my tank is about 10 gallons, that means I have to fill up twice a week. OK. Gas is $3.33 a gallon, it costs me $6.67 to get to and from work every day. I work 5 days a week. That's $33.35 a week in gas. I make $10.75 an hour. I work 25 hours a week. $268.75 gross wages. I bring home about $220 a week. So, take out my $33.35 and we have $186 bucks a week. Wow. That's a whole whopping $744 a month. That won't even cover my mortgage.
I know that I talk a lot about money on here, but I have to. It's a fact that money makes the world go 'round. However, my world is about to stop turning. We aren't in a recession, we're in a depression.
Why hasn't the republican party realized that? Since taking office, George W. Bush has made $3.2 Million dollars. I know that's not a whole lot of money compared to some CEO's and CFO's and a whole host of alphabet letters. But, still it's a nice chunk of change. I have no idea how much his investments that he had prior to becoming president have made him, and I don't really care. He came from an oil family, he owned part of a baseball team. I don't know if he still does have a stake in the team, but the oil money has got to be making him a boat load. Especially now. I find it convenient that oil has gone so high in the last year of his presidency. How is it, that since we're "winning" the war in Iraq, that oil has done nothing but go up? I mean, prices weren't even this bad after 9/11. As recently as 2005, prices were only around $62/barrel. What the heck has happened to spark such an increase? I know that the Sheiks and dignitaries in other oil producing middle eastern countries cannot possibly be hurting for cash. I know that inflation has gotten out of control in the US, but seriously? What has changed?
George W. Bush is leaving office. That's whats happening. He'll be out of control of the country, and he wants to do as much damage as possible to the country before he leaves it. I would have thought that putting the country into a war that we will never be able to fully get out of was enough, but man, I guess I was wrong. How much more can we possibly take? I know that every president wants to leave his mark, but this is getting ridiculous. I can't take much more of this. I feel like I'm going to have to start protesting or something. Food prices out of control, gas prices out of control, energy prices out of control. Yet, wages have stayed flat and more people are out of work this month than last month.
How can we continue down this path? People are losing jobs left and right, and jobs are even harder to come by. People are taking jobs in sectors that they never would have before, and because of all the competition, employers are going to start paying less and less. Don't they see the horrible end? We will be a poor nation, comprised of geniuses working in factories, and retail outlets. Making less than half what we made at our last job, working 2, 3 or more jobs just to pay the bills and eat. (Not to mention, that what we'll be eating is nothing but ... well, I'm not sure what we'll be eating.) I can see it happening, and there's nothing I can do about it. Nobody listens to me, and I can't expect them to. I don't count, remember?
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