Letter to the Editor: Fueling Fear!

Fear fuels high gas prices  Photo: Micov

Dear Editor,

Gas prices have jumped to $3.50 a gallon. Fifteen cents per gallon increase in one week.

Why?

Is there enough oil in the world? So far.

Did all of the oil tankers break down? Not that anyone knows of.

Are all of the refineries closed? Nope.

So, why has gas prices risen so fast?

Oil speculators have forced the price up because they are afraid that changes in Libya might affect access to oil. Think about that for a minute: Because a bunch of money changers are "scared," we are paying $1.00 plus per gallon more this year than last year. They claim to be scared that access to oil might be restricted. In truth, it looks more like an excuse to raise oil prices. (Nine out of the top 20 companies with highest earnings are oil and gas companies).

The Saudi government has already said that they will make up the difference, no problem. In fact, in order to avoid problems, some of the Saudi princes are talking to their citizens to try to make the changes in the government that are toppling nearby regimes.

With this in mind, I propose that we begin paying our bills using the same logic.

When the gas credit card bill arrives, write them a letter indicating that since you are afraid that your car might break down in the near future, you can only pay 80% of the bill. After you pump gas at the station, go in and tell the attendant that because you might have a medical bill to pay when you get home, you can only pay $2.00 per gallon.

While I am not normally a "government should take it over" kind of guy, this is an area of the US economy that the government should regulate. Oil and gas prices that Americans can pay should be set by the government, either a special committee in Congress or the whole Congress. Changes of more than 10% from the original price should require a vote in Congress.

We do this with food indirectly, through subsidies and supply control. With something that can wreck the entire economy in weeks, this is something that we need to take out of the hands of speculators who are apparently emotional enough to need medication.

We need to pay our bills based on future fears and see if that is a satisfactory excuse for the companies that using that excuse with us.

Sincerely,

Robert Peryea
Green Bay, WI