ARE WE GETTING SCREWED OR WHAT?

Nothing like getting pissed off about one thing and forgetting about another. I get so infuriated about this oil crap that is constantly being shoved down our throats and up our butts. No one wants to accept responsibility for what is really happening. All the news media is telling us is that the price of crude keeps going up, at last news release it was upwards of $98.00 per barrel. Now I know that the war and the conflict with the major oil producing nations is partly responsible for the rise of crude, but the real issue is one that is not often talked about. The real issue is the value of the dollar, which has been declining steadily, the less it’s worth, the more it takes to buy anything, including oil.

Major companies here in the US have been outsourcing jobs overseas for a number of years and this dear friends is the reason things are the way they are. This means that we have been doing is increasing the value of foreign currency and when that happens the dollar goes down! Walk into any retailer and try to find an American crafted product. Jeans made in Mexico, shoes made in Viet Nam, tools made in China, what the fuck! Sam Walton, founder of Wal Mart must be rolling in his grave. You see Sam was a great American and he believed that the American worker was our greatest asset. But the jobs are no longer here. By going overseas companies don’t have to pay for vacations, health care benefits, and of course they save billions in wages. But do you think we benefit in the least from this? Also, imported items have to pay import taxes when they come in to the country, and do you know who pays for that? WE DO! It’s in the price of every good that’s imported. Are we stupid or what? By supporting all this crap that is being made overseas we are directly supporting the higher cost of oil! Let me go one step further, let’s say you have to call customer service for this widget you just bought and can’t figure out how to assemble. The item is made in China, and the customer service rep is in, you guessed it, India. ARGHHHHHHHH!!!! Doesn’t that just piss you off? It does me, I end up slamming the phone because I can’t understand a single word that is being said to me.

We are the only ones that have control of our future, and unless we make some changes in our everyday lives the change will be irreversible. This is one thing the government can’t bail us out of, it lies entirely in our hands. I have been closely watching the presidential candidates and let me tell you, we are so royally screwed in both parties. It’s so bad, I can see Dick Cheney voting for Obama! I guess what I’m trying to say here is that we need to hold the major companies responsible for the state of our country, and for every job that is lost here. If I have to grow tomatoes in a coffee can just so that I don’t have to buy one that has been grown in Chile, so be it. If my next pair of work jeans has to come from a thrift store so that I’m not forced to buy a pair assembled in Guatemala, so be it.

We can not continue to support companies that have gone and taken OUR livelihoods overseas, that is our money, our families that need to be fed. This is how I see it.

Bring Back NIXON!!!!

Ok, so I know Nixon is really dead, but this was one Republican that had balls, or at least he used them the right way. So he got caught with his hands in the Watergate break-in, and how many since then have been caught but nothing became of it? Oh yeah, Bill got caught with his pants down, but at least he did it in style, cigar and all. More on Bill at a later post.
What brought Nixon to mind is that in the mid 70′s there was an oil crisis, that is, a shortage.
So Nixon decided to do something drastic, he lowered the speed limit nation wide to 55 mph! Now that took balls. Lowering the speed limit had multiple benefits. First, it saved millions of barrels of oil. Second it saved thousands of lives that needlessly end each year due to high speeds on the highways. But the key here was saving millions of barrels of oil, less demand for crude. So if I remember correctly from my Economics class, less demand creates a greater supply therefore, lowering prices on the open market. What a F%#*ing concept! And we don’t do this now because? Could it be because we have a leader with ties to the rude crude dudes? I was reading an article recently by one of the many statistical wizard’s stating that gasoline is likely to reach $4.00 a gallon by this coming summer. So that means that diesel fuel will be at least fifty cents higher. So anything that is transported by common carrier (18 wheelers) is sure to be more costly. We deserve it! They say that the pen is mightier than the sword so pick up yours and pass your sentiments to someone that can make a difference. In the mean time set your own speed limit to 55, you literally have nothing to loose and a great deal to gain.