And I cannot be convinced that the lowering of gas prices that occured just as we were voting last time was a coincidence...cause they went right back up aftewards.
Not that I am a conspiracy theorist or anything...but really, now.
Gasoline prices are always higher in the summer months - the demand is at a yearly peak and the government regulations dictate a more expensive gasoline formulation.
Come fall, the demand drops, cheaper formualtions are marketed, and retail costs go down - all without benefit of conspiracy.
For the 2006 election, the worldwide price of crude did a large slide from July to October thanks to OPEC (them fereners). After the market bottomed out, the Arabs decided to help pull the price back up and cut back on production - crude went up and gas prices rose - without any help from a US conspiracy.
And it should be noted that gasoline prices do not follow a national conspiracy pattern. Retail gasoline prices here in DE are LOWER today than they were a year ago! You guys in WA and CA are paying about 50 cents a gallon more at the pump than do I in Delaware or my daughter in MD.
We still have not reached the annual inflation adjusted prices set in 1980 ( but we will if prices stay where they are).
der Brucer