Presidential Candidates Need Gas.....Plan That Is

Political season is in full swing. Promises are being made. Babies are being kissed. Politicians are up on stages telling all of us how bad we've got it and how they hold the coveted secret to fixing all that ales us.

Rather than grandstanding about what our current administration has or hasn't done, I would like to hear just one presidential candidate talk about an issue that burns me every week or so....gas prices.

This is not a political BLOG and for the most part I try and stay agnostic when it comes to such things as politics and religion. However with this particular issue, I am deeply concerned with the economic impact that it will continue to have on our country. Yes my friends if we continue to feel it at the pump you can be sure it will affect how quickly our economy truly does dive headlong into the dark recesses of the recession-esq pool.

When the Iraq war began and prices shot up over $ 2.00 here in Texas people were outraged. Every other day I would get an email from some protesting friend asking me to boycott this gas company or that gas company. We could, as with most customer satisfaction issues, likely get the attention of these often greedy gas companies by deciding how and where to vote with our dollar. Some people did it but most didn't and today we quietly continue to pay the ridiculous increase while secretly cursing the companies at the pump.

I remember telling my wife at the time that once the country was groomed to pay higher prices the prices would never go down. I truly believed that once they had us over a particular price point and there was no national revolt, there would be nothing to stop them from putting forth increase after increase. Six years later there's talk of the national average for gas hovering around $ 4.00 this summer and how these gas prices are continuing to drive up everything from the groceries on the table to how much more we will pay for our jeas. Like I said, there's nothing stopping them and oddly enough, there's no one presidential candidate really talking about it.

Don't get me wrong I understand what drives the gas prices. But when our country fights so hard to protect many oil producing countries, you think we would be entitled to some good buddy discount or something. Or at minimum, quit shoving it in my face that this gas company CEO or that gas company CEO gets a multi-million dollar bonus or golden parachute when he or she retires. But alas that doesn't happen in the real world and those of us who depend on our cars for our living just have to suck it up and find the extra coin to continue driving. I wonder if McDonald's is still hiring for third shift?

It just seems to me that if these presidential candidates were really concerned with mapping out the direction the country is going to go they might just consider how many of us can afford to pay our own way to meet them there. Otherwise, I hope there's some extra room on their fancy buses to give me an my family a ride. A week with my crew might just make lowering gas prices agenda item number one for our newly minted Commander in Chief.

But like Dennis Miller always says, "Hey that's just my opinion. I could be wrong."

Ripple On!!!