We're over a barrel, & I'm sick of it!

A pretty good cartoon that illustrates our leader's hypocrisy when it comes to oil. This is quickly becoming one sticky issue for the president. However, it's not Bush's approval rating that I care about (which, by the way, even the National Republican News Channel, Fox News, is reporting to be at an all-time low). What I really care about is money out of my wallet, and how we're getting screwed.

However, the best part about all of this is watching and listening to hopelessly inept politicians (mostly the Republicans in power) attempt to pander to the electorate for votes in an election year.

Probably my favorite was Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist's idea of a $100 rebate to taxpayers to help pay for gas. What a hilarious joke, and a waste of $15 billion. It seems like whenever there's a problem, the Republicans have two strategies - talk about the War on Terror to scare everyone (But not the cost of the war), and offering another fucking tax cut that future generations (not Bush's) will have to pay for, with a staggering amount of interest. Thankfully, the rebate proposal appears dead in the Senate. That would be like putting a Band-Aid on a severed limb.

USA Today has it right today - $3 per gallon has been about 25 years in the making. This is the result of a piss-poor energy policy since the days of the Jimmy Carter presidency, and it's certainly been exacerbated by the current Bush presidency. Bush and Cheney, two former oil men, and now they see $3 per gallon and proclaim, "We need to do something about that." It's a mess that Republicans have largely created. Who gets the lion's share of campaign contributions? Republicans do. To be fair, Democrats deserve nearly as much blame, though. Why? Because they are too wimpy to fight for what's right - conservation and alternative fuel sources.

I love how conservation has pretty much always been painted by the Republicans as some sort of liberal elitist plot to prevent people from being able to drive the cars they want without any consequences. Wasn't it Dick Cheney who implied that conservation is a personal virtue, but really it translates into some sort of moral weakness? What a surprise. Bush and Cheney have spent their political careers protecting the oil industry and people like this man:

Former ExxonMobile CEO Lee Raymond (who Bill Mahr has dubbed "Fat Bastard" - priceless), who just received a $400 million golden parachute from the company. Raymond gets the golden parachute, the American public gets the golden shower. ExxonMobile, the world's biggest oil company and historically one of President Bush's biggest political donors, has reported staggering profits in the last few years, including $8.4 billion in the first three months of this year alone, its best first quarter ever. Oil executives and politicians are getting rich off our hard-earned money, and I'm sick of it.

Of course, as soon as prices spike, members of Congress rush to get in the front of the cameras, promising an investigation into price gouging. Without fail, it never happens or nothing turns up. Bush said last week that there was no evidence of gouging. Wow, that was a pretty thorough and quick investigation. From start to finish, that was, what - 2-3 weeks? It took him over a year to agree to a watered down 9-11 investigation.

Probably my favorite Bush line last week was his refusal to support an excess profits tax for the oil companies. He reasoned that was not necessary, suggesting that oil companies reinvest their profits to increase refining capacity. I love how the president suggests things and then points to it as doing something about a problem. Kind of like how he campaigned during the 2000 election on the mandatory curbing of greenhouse gases and carbon dioxide emissions. Once he got into office, he quickly backed away from that promise, instead encouraging voluntary reductions. Way to take a stand, W. Nothing like further appeasement of your big oil/big business friends.

Two other Republican initiatives crack me up when it comes to lowering the price of oil - ANWR and the strategic petroleum reserve. ANWR, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, contains lots of oil underneath it. Republicans have been clamoring for their oil buddies' permission to drill for oil there, and Democrats to date have successfully blocked it. I have three words for that idea - NO FUCKING WAY. I've got one word why: Valdez. Exxon destroyed the lives and livelihoods of many people, to say nothing of the environment. Of course the company claims that if allowed to drill in ANWR that it would be safe and environmentally friendly. Sure. To make matters worse, Exxon has refused to pay out a $5 billion court-ordered settlement to the fisherman and citizens whose lives were devastated by the oil spill. What's more, we now import 60% of our oil. We cannot drill our way out of foreign oil dependence - there simply isn't enough oil available under our country to make that happen.

I get a kick out of the president's pledge to release some oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to ease price of oil, when 1. it really won't make much of a difference, and 2. we lack adequate refining capacity, so putting more oil on the market is like giving a cadaver a tax cut. Psst - don't tell that idea to Bush or Senate Republicans - nothing like courting the cadaver vote.

So what can we do? I've got a few ideas, but the three best ideas are conserve, conserve and conserve.

I know, it's not easy. But, here are 8 great ideas that can help conserve the amount of gasoline you use: 1. Run multiple errands at once 2. Make sure your car is tuned up and the tires are at the recommended inflation. 3. Buy a car that's good on gas, preferably a domestic hybrid, if Detroit ever starts producing decent ones. My current favorite is the Toyota Prius. 4. Don't buy gas from ExxonMobile. Yes, I know that EM supplies gas to some retailers like Wawa, but you can still make a statement by not buying at Exxon or Mobile stations. 5. Support public transportation and candidates (no matter their party!) who support mass transit initiatives. 6. Write letters to your legislators voicing your opinion on mass transit. 7. Flat out drive less when you can, by changing jobs when possible (I'm doing this before our wedding, and part of it is the rising cost of gas and my disgust with commuting - I'm getting a job in the city I can walk to), riding a bike or... GASP! Walking! It's great exercise and costs nothing but time. 8. (And this one is awfully tough for me) - When you do drive, slow down. You'd be amazed at the gas you save by driving 55. It's something I have to work on, but I'm trying.

It's time for Americans to do something about the rising cost of gasoline other than bitching about it. Let's fan the flames of discontent by firing all of these lawmakers who are soaked in oil and gas and who are happy to stage PR gimmicks like "investigating" price gouging. We know we are being gouged, but the same lawmakers who receive massive campaign money from oil companies aren't going to punish those companies for predatory business practices like price gouging. So, let's punish the oil companies and their political patrons buy using less and pulling the voting lever.