NBC News Insinuates Gas Prices the Fault of SUV Drivers: True?-->

[Dr. Jones]

Last night, NBC Nightly News ran a segment where they interviewed some SUV owners in Houston. They ran the same spot this morning on the Today Show. In this spot, the people did admit that they will not give up their SUVs despite high gas prices.

Now the question: Are we shooting ourselves in the foot? Could high gas prices be partly OUR FAULT?

Higher gas consumption equals higher gas prices. Filling up our SUVs once a week is just ridiculous! We refuse to give up our SUVs that are causing this massive consumption, then complain about exhorbatant gas prices? Imagine the savings if only people could trade in their gas-guzzling SUVs for a compact or midsize car!

We lived with station wagons in the 70's. Could we do it again? Or are we STUCK with high gas consumption through our SUVs which we REFUSE to give up?

Maybe instead of pointing the finger SOLELY at the oil companies (who are also to blame of course), I think we really need a reality check. If we traded in our SUVs, gas prices would go down. Period. End of story.

Anyone up for it?

[ixion]

1. well, they haven't helped

I don't think they are the SOLE reason for the current dilema, though.

[Dr. Jones]

6. Yes, including oil companies not building new refineries.

But I guess the point I'm trying to make is this: Isn't it hypocritical for us to compain about higher gas prices, and then turn around and outright REFUSE to take an action that would result in far lower gas prices (namely, trade in our SUVs)?

It's like smoking. I know it'll kill me, and I've been plenty warned. But I keep doing it. One day I get lung cancer and die. Who's fault is that? I could have taken the action to quit, but I didn't. So I basically screwed myself. I think it's much the same thing with SUVs.

[gasperc]

54. oil went to $75/bar despite the lack of Refineries

they are all crap arguments

The cost of pumping oil in SA, Iran and US companies didn't suddenly jump from $35/bar to $75/barrel because union wages went through the roof or the cost of drilling suddenly went through the roof. The cost went up because the world supplies about 88million barrels/day and the world uses about 88million bpd. There is no room for error in the supply chain. The oil producers are making gross profits because of this fact. It costs them about $15-20/barrel to pump oil out of the ground. THEY ARE MAKING $55/BARREL BECAUSE OF TIGHT SUPPLY. THAT'S WHAT IS MANIPULATING THE MARKET. The US could build TEN new refineries and gas would still be $3/gallon because of the tight supply of crude.

THE DEMAND OF OIL MUST BE REDUCED TO SNAP THE SPIRALING PRICE SHOCK. Americans and the world will adjust our habits faster and faster as the price continues to climb. This will be too slowly with out seriously damaging the economy. Conservative politics has crippled us here in the states. The GOP's massive culture of greed and corruption can not even look beyond their last major contribution to reasonably debate the subject.

Expect great price oscillition, and more shock as riots in Nigeria become more severe, possible terrorist attacks choke off just a few hundred thousand barrels/day ripple through and cause further spikes and all bets are off should a major hurricane strike a key oil platform/refinery region.

[Joe Fields]

2. The rise in gas prices is soley due to corporate greed....

and price gouging.

[Dr. Jones]

11. Of course that is true, BUT...

one cannot discount market forces. If we reduced consumption, the effect would be lower gas prices. Period.

[BeatleBoot]

3. Bush = Oilman Cheney = Oilman

Fairly facile frankly.

[kenny blankenship]

4. Wow you really hate SUVs don't you? So do I but, please...

don't surrender to unreason. People drove just as many SUVs when gas was holding between $1 and $1.50. The increase in price isn't for lack of supply of the raw material, petroleum (yet) but rather because of opportunistic speculation and jittery nerves in the oil trading market, and opportunistic price gouging by refiners and distributors. Why are the markets subject to extraordinary swings of greed and fear? Because of war and the threat of more war.

[Dr. Jones]

15. Yes there are other forces, speculation, etc...BUT...

if we did trade in our gas guzzling SUVs, the net result would be an increase in supply which would result in a decrease in cost at the pump. Other forces would indeed continue to cause trouble, but conservation is a good start, don't you think?

BTW, I don't "hate" SUVs, that's silly. I just think we have to find a better alternative. Conservation, conservation, conservation!

[kenny blankenship]

17. Did you miss the part about oil supplies not being particularly tight?

It's not demand outstripping supply. Which means small variations downward in demand won't affect price.

[Ian David]

5. The real reasons gas prices are so high?

Gay marriage, steroids in baseball, Natalie Holloway, violent videogames, The Duke Lacrosse Team, illegal immigrants, Tom Cruise, Angelina Jolie, Neil Young and most of all... Grizzly Bears.

It's true!

[etherealtruth]

9. the Bears DO play a prominant role

O8)

[Ian David]

31. Bears are godless killing machines and they want our honey.

And our picnic baskets.

Grizzly bears are the single greatest threat facing America today.

That's why I nominate Troy Hurtubise for The Department of Homeland Security.

[tnlefty]

7. Have you checked the gas mileage on Volvo or Saturn station wagons?

I did and these and some of the other wagons that I looked at didn't have good MPG ratings. I bought a 5-speed, 4 cylinder Saturn Vue 2 yrs. ago because it was rated as well and in some cases got higher MPG ratings than wagons did.

[Dr. Jones]

16. One fault of American auto makers is that

they haven't focused on conservation. I believe they're working on hybrid SUVs, but I don't think they're to market yet.

Personally I think my next car will be a Prius.

[liberalpress]

22. Hybrid SUV's

I own one -- a Ford Escape

30 MPG

90 less carbon emissions

50% less in other pollutants.

[Dr. Jones]

26. Now that's what I'm talkin' about.

Which is great! We need MORE AD CAMPAIGNS urging Americans to trade in their current SUVs for a hybrid vehicle. We need more willing Americans to realize that we can make an impact and help ourselves to lower gas prices!

[AndyTiedye]

38. We Have One Too. Good Mileage. Comfortable. Union Made in the USA

what's not to like?

[liberalpress]

48. That's why we bought the Ford

to help prove to AMerican carmakers that there was a market out there and we will buy AMerican

[MADem]

8. Blame the victim!!!!!!!!

I hate SUVs, myself, but that's total horseshit. Who sold them? Who gave TAX BREAKS to people who bought them? Who decided that MPG standards weren't a priority? Who touted them as bigger, badder, safer? I mean, come on...these SUV drivers didn't just wake up one morning and decide out of the blue that they needed a gas guzzling bigass vehicle to make their lives complete--they were seduced, with tax breaks, lies about safety, and advised that if they didn't have one, they weren't as good as their neighbors.

Now, they're stuck with a big piece of shit that, if prices keep going up, could serve as a small home if they lose their house trying to pay for gas....

[Dr. Jones]

21. So people were magically and mysteriously sucked into buying SUVs?

I don't buy that argument.. I personally was never affected with this strange and mysterious magnetic force sucking people into purchasing SUVs. Furthermore, any "keeping up with the joneses" going on is the fault of nobody but the person. I STRONGLY believe this. Nobody is holding a gun to your head, forcing you to keep up with the joneses.

No - mystical, cosmic forces are NOT the reason people stick with their SUVs.

[MADem]

29. I wasn't either, but YES, they were, and to say otherwise is to deny

reality. And where you got mystical, cosmic forces from what I averred is completely beyond me.

Read and learn: http://www.selfemployedweb.com/suv-tax-deduction-list.htm

http://www.taxpayer.net/TCS/whitepapers/SUVtaxbreak.htm
This is what unleashed the friggin' genie:

Under current tax policy, the U.S. government grants massive tax breaks to purchasers of SUVs. The original intent of the provision was to increase capital investments by farmers and other small business owners who rely on light-trucks or vans (ie. construction companies). When this provision was added to the tax code, luxury passenger SUVs were not the market force they have become, and it appeared a good way to help small business owners by accelerating depreciation and avoiding a luxury-tax surcharge.1

Over time, however, this provision has developed into a loophole-a loophole big enough to drive a 6,000-pound SUV through. The problem has arisen largely because the tax code classifies vehicles by weight instead of function. First, a truck or van is defined as a vehicle that weighs more than 6,000 pounds.2 Before the advent of the SUV, this was a sufficient way to separate passenger automobiles from other classes of vehicles. The growth of the market for large, luxury SUVs, has dramatically expanded the number of what are essentially passenger vehicles weighing over 6,000 pounds. In addition, the weight classification for a passenger automobile is determined by the "unloaded gross vehicle weight," or the amount the vehicle weighs with nothing in it.3 SUVs are weighed according to the "gross vehicle weight" rating, which is the weight of the car itself plus the load the vehicle should be able to carry.4 This distinction makes it easier for certain vehicles to achieve the status of "light-truck" even if the actual vehicle weight is more in line with passenger automobiles. ....These changes to the tax code, which were originally intended to spur capital investments by farmers and small businesses that rely on heavier vehicles, have made the purchase of heavy SUVs extremely lucrative for any small business owner, whether or not the vehicle is necessary in their work. It has raised the deduction cap to $100,000 for small businesses, while retaining all other aspects of the tax cut. This makes the purchase of at least 55 large SUVs, passenger vans, and trucks-all priced under $100,000-completely deductible in the first year.

As a result, Hummer sales, and SUV sales in general, have skyrocketed and this trend has continued with the passage of the Jobs and Growth Act.10 This has raised a number of important questions about the effect of this provision. For one, this is another tax break that primarily benefits the rich. Skip Barnett, who owns a hummer dealership in Atlanta, said that most of his buyers are small-business owners with incomes of over $200,000.11 The tax break has encouraged people from all lines of work, including real-estate agents, lawyers, consultants, and many others-for whom this provision was never intended-to purchase a luxury SUV instead of a luxury automobile, which is not eligible for the same deductions. Assuming that the average SUV buyer pays 35% on income taxes, and that the average SUV costs $40,000 (all of which is now deductible), this will cost the treasury an estimated $14,000 per taxpayer that takes the deduction, up from an average of $11,060 before the cap was increased to $100,000. For every 100,000 taxpayers that take advantage of this loophole, it will cost the treasury an estimated $1.4 billion!



When a bunch of GOP lawmakers would give you a break for buying a pig car, but none for a hybrid, that's seduction. And the seduction was facilitated by this regime.

And now, that people have been screwed and abandoned, they've overspent and believed the hype, they keep their cars because business is no longer booming, and they don't have the cash flow to buy something new.

I have never owned an SUV, I have old cars, well maintained and carefully driven, that get just over 300 miles off of a ten gallon tank of gas. This shit isn't affecting ME like it is others, because I modify my behavior, drive less, combine missions, and do a little walking every now and again. But I can empathize with the people who weren't paying attention. They were victims--they were sold a bill of goods, and maybe they weren't the sharpest knives in the drawer, but they aren't criminals.

[marions ghost]

34. amazing numbers !

I didn't know it was this big. thanks for posting

[MADem]

42. The only reason I know about it, to be honest, is that I know a few

small business owners whose spouses were proudly tooling about in brand spanking new behemoths, obscenely luxurious gas guzzlers, and who BOASTED that the car ended up costing them next to nothing--and there's no real requirement that you actually USE it for the business, you just have to HAVE the business to get one.

I thought about all the poor wage slaves taking the bus, driving the beater, struggling with the moped on an icy morning, working for some of these folks, and it stuck in my craw. The American taxpayer PAID for a lot of those guzzlers on the road, and it's because the GOP gave them away to a select group as a trade-off for votes, in essence. They're rolling, fuel-sucking BRIBES...

[marions ghost]

44. yep that was the first thing

I thought of when you posted it. Bribery. Buying the votes of small business owners--who really don't have as big an incentive to support Bushco as the big corporations. And cheating the taxpayers of money that could go into mass transit for example.

So now is the govt going to pay to put gas in them?

[MADem]

45. Yeah, they want to give everyone a hundred bucks worth of gas!!!

That will last a week or two, for those with big commutes...oh, and the trade off is, ya gotta shaddup about them drilling in ANWR!!!

What fine sports those bums are!!!

[marions ghost]

32. No doubt about it SUVs were pushed

and with gas prices lower, nobody saw any reason not to buy them. In fairness to SUV owners, SUVS do have their attractions beyond macho. Americans transport a lot of people and or junk around. They must often travel long distances by car because other options are limited. They like having a car that they don't have to be prissy about. They like to have something they can load all their 'recycle' in even. When gas prices were low, with few incentives to control pollution from cars in general, nobody worried.

And now all of a sudden, consumers should feel guilty??? Too harsh a judgment.

They SHOULD feel angry at being pawns in a game that left them high and dry, scraping to buy gas. They should feel duped. They should feel that maybe they should've opened their eyes a little wider and seen the Big Picture. But they should not feel guilty. That's just smug righteousness from those who were not sucked in.

[BlueCaliDem]

10. Gas guzzlers don't help, for sure!

But let's not forget *'s war in Iraq, which left the "supply" side with enough excuse to raise the prices on crude oil, and that is solely this regime's fault.

I don't know but...every road leads to the invasion of Iraq being about oil in so many different ways! For all the excuses (i.e., WMD, security for the United States, "war on terror", revenge for Hussein's "death threats" against Poppa Bush, so-called "regime change"), it always seems to come back to....oil in whatever shape or form (like, controlling Middle East oil; preventing the dollar from being toppled by the Euro, etc,).

But yeah...gas guzzlers don't help to keep pump-prices affordable.

[Dr. Jones]

25. I agree...

I don't know but...every road leads to the invasion of Iraq being about oil in so many different ways!

Here's one way: EXECUTIVE ORDER 13303 giving American oil companies carte blanche legal justification to steal Iraqi oil without retaliation.

Back to the SUVs - indeed there are many forces at work, especially fear of war w/Iran. But reducing consumption here in the U.S. could have a positive impact on gas prices, that's all I'm saying. And trading in our SUVs for smaller cars would help.

Anyone believe that consumption is a good thing? I thought it was.

I'm getting some weird vibes in this thread.

[BlueCaliDem]

35. Consumption is good. ConserVATION is better!

Anyone believe that consumption is a good thing?

Sure. But anything with a "too" placed in front of it, never is. That's just common sense.

But reducing consumption here in the U.S. could have a positive impact on gas prices, that's all I'm saying. And trading in our SUVs for smaller cars would help.

It would help a great deal, in addition to conserving energy through using low-watt, savings light bulbs throughout one's home (which we do since here in California, Southern California Edison uses oil, rather than coal, in order to produce electricity), and unplugging cell phone/equipment chargers from the sockets when not in use!

We have five cars: 1998 Toyota Camry XLE(hubby's company car), 1996 Toyota Previa SC (for moi and the family), two "toy" cars for hubby ( a '67 912 and '76 912E Porsche) and a really low gas-mileage 1997 Honda Civic (gets 35 miles p/gallon) for 19 year old son.

Being that I'm the homemaker, I also do the bills, and although we have three credit cards from ExxonMobile, Shell, and Conoco-Phillips (formerly known as Union 76), our gasoline bills per month never exceed $200.00 (usually far less, as in the $130-145 dollar range) combined.

Naturally, my husband uses the lion share of the gasoline-budget since he has to do house-calls for clients and does this with the Camry, but when I fill my Previa tank, I can drive on it for about 3 weeks! It costs me approximately $45 dollars p/month to drive the Previa, and since the two Porches are "toy" cars, they only get driven once, maybe twice a week "for fun", but then again, the 912's get very good gas mileage, as well as our other cars since they're all kept well-tuned, with tires well-inflated.

What I do, for my part, when using the Previa (that uses a bit more gasoline on account the SC stands for "super charged" for extra power), is plan out my errands in a way that I drive in a circle from starting to ending point wasting no distance, and I drive during "off-peak" hours to avoid traffic, but if I had to work out of the house, I would've chosen a Honda Civic.

I don't understand why people feel the need to have gas-guzzling Humvees, and SUV's when they live in the city! Those damned things are a menace in traffic, and parking lots, and it really irks me when I see most of them with those magnets "Support our Troops" even sometimes combined with "W 04"!

About those "weird vibes"? I guess some people just love their gas guzzlers, and you know the old adage of "love makes blind"? :)

[Dr. Jones]

43. OOps, I meant "anyone believe CONSERVATION is a good thing..."

Passed the editing time limitations...oops...
:silly:

[reichstag911]

12. Partially,...

...in the sense that SUVs drive up the demand for oil, thus shifting the point at which the demand and supply curves intersect to a higher price point. I think the greater contributing factors, however, are a couple Bush policies, one foreign, one domestic. On the domestic front, the Repub refusal to investigate -- under oath -- oil company collusion leads to their feeling permitted to rape Americans to whatever extent they wish. In foreign affairs, the great Bush Crusades in the Middle East, by geometrically increasing uncertainty and anxiety in the most oil-saturated region in the world, drives up the supply curve, thus again, the price point at which demand and supply curves intersect.

[RB TexLa]

13. we are not using the Trooper for our honeymoon next week

so everyone wait the price will go down without me driving a 9 MPG SUV for a week. :)

[SammyWinstonJack]

18. !

:evilgrin:

[Mrspeeker]

14. Why is it the consumers fault?

The automobile industry has done everything under the sun to deregulate trucks since regulation and at the same time misleading consumers into thinking SUV's are much safer and can go anywhere! When cars got regulated to put out a lot less admissions trucks didn't have to because a working man needs his truck. The automobile industry has taken full advantage of this. You couldn't have a hemi in a car these days but hey no problem for a Dodge SUV! The problem really is beyond our borders now as our beloved car company's have moved the SUV craze to CHINA, and you can bet they don't have even near the regulations we have here in the USA.

[magellan]

19. The weakening dollar, Iraq/Iran fear-mongering, and Oil Co profiteering

...are to blame.

[DBoon]

20. SUV drivers responded to public policies and "our" leadership

Reagan drove down gas prices, in part by sending the economy into a severe recession. Conservation and alternative fuel polices started under Carter were gutted. "Morning in America" meant obnoxious over-consumption was a sign of macho strength. This was the decade of Gordon Gecko.

We are seeing the effect of 20 years of artificially low gas prices - artificially low because they don't reflect the true long term costs of the fuel.

We are also seeing the effect of a culture of conspicuous mass consumption, that was deliberately revived after set-backs in the 1960's and 1970's. This culture equates conservation with privation.

Blame the political and cultural leaders for this.

[Swede]

23. They are part of the problem.

If there weren't 50 million suvs,but rather fuel efficient smaller cars,there would not be such a great demand.

[MadHound]

24. Well, they are partially correct

SUVs increase the consumption of a product with a limited supply, and as the SUV craze swept the nation, well that consumption escalated.

But frankly, all SUVs did was to speed up the inevitable, while spewing tons of excess pollutants into the air.

What we're really dealing with here people is global peak oil. Our supply of cheap, easily obtainable crude oil has peaked and is now probably in decline. The signs of this are everywhere, from the fact that Saudi Arabia is pumping in twice the volume of seawater in the Ghawar oil field(the world's largest oil field) as the amount of oil they get out, to the fact that Canadian oil shale is now an economically viable project.

We're reaching the end of our easily obtained oil folks, and it is just going to get worse from here. Sure, the oil companies are doing some gouging along the way, that was predictable. They're gouging now because in the future, as oil becomes ever more scarce and difficult to obtain, their profit margins are going to be thin as a razor's edge.

This is why we desperately need to switch over to clean, renewable energy and fuel sources, like biodiesel, wind and solar. These off the shelf technologies have the capability to run all of country cleanly and cheaply. We simply have to start thinking and acting long term rather than responding to this crisis with short term Band-Aid solutions. Otherwise we're all going right on over that cliff edge.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

28. Simple price gouging, as well as the explosion in demand by countries

like China with skyrocketing development and economic growth, probably have more to do with it, a gut feeling...

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

27. There's ALWAYS a price point at which 'refuse' becomes 'I give up'.

[havocmom]

30. US public letting Congress & WH get away with not raising mileage rules

certainly hasn't helped. There is such a thing as tacit approval. When we don't raise bloody hell about the fact that Congress & WH does not make sure US car manufacturers do more to improve fuel consumption rates, we are indeed part of the problem.

When we let our emotions override common sense when we make big purchases, we are part of the problem.

Not just SUVs. We need to address public transportation more actively. We need to address cultural values and norms.

When we let 'somebody' take care of things for us and refuse to pay attention and be active in our own governance, we are part of the problem.

When we sit still for GM blaming their woes on labor costs then turning around and saying the company will be fine as soon as they sell more SUVs, we need lessons in logic.

Here at our household, we drive very little. We are lucky that we can do most daily errands and commutes via shoe leather, but we designed our life to that end. We put less than 5000 miles a year on the car but we STILL considered gas mileage above all other considerations when choosing a car.

There are lots of ways to shrink one's personal footprint on the planet. It can be fun and educational. If we make it a social/cultural priority, we can help the environment a lot.

Grow a garden, raise some of your own chow. It's healthy and a political act. Think of all the adjustments we can make to our lives which can lower our impact. It's not just the SUVs, it is the whole cultural values thing.

What is really important? What do we really need and how much?

[ProdigalJunkMail]

33. I thought, long ago...

that when gas was really cheap and we were doing very little about the mileage of our vehicles that it would come back to haunt us someday. I don't think it is just the SUV crowd...but heck, a LOT of our autos get gas mileage that is for crap. So, yes, over the last 20 years of inexpensive gas we have been our own worst enemy...and now we are paying for our lackluster desire for more fuel efficient vehicles.

subjectProdigal

[Dr. Jones]

39. That's true, and high gas prices are here to stay.

Last year after Katrina, that really came to the fore. People have been warned.

So what are people going to do about it? The first logical step is to cut the cord that binds them and get rid of their gas-guzzling SUVs in favor of hybrid vehicles or smaller cars.

Conservation people, conservation!

[AndyTiedye]

36. Our Hybrid SUV Is Far More Efficient Than Those Station Wagons

and our other car is a Prius.

[Dr. Jones]

37. But since WHEN is conservation a BAD THING??

That's all I'm trying to promote here.

Just wondering.

[Mountainman]

40. Answer this please. If you own a SUV which you bought recently you still

have several years payments to make. Do you expect people to not make the payments? Buy another car and make payments on the SUV and the other car and not drive the SUV? Crash the SUV for the insurance and buy another car.


It makes no sense to expect people to switch from an SUV to a smaller car unless they do not owe money on the SUV and are willing to park it or take a loss on it.

Please when you criticize people use some common sense!

[Dr. Jones]

41. People trade in cars all the time.

One could trade in their SUV for a hybrid model. And people who are considering SUVs should purchase a hybrid model, or a smaller vehicle altogether.

[Sapere aude]

49. Most people would be upside down on the SUV car loan and would have

to make payments that would pay off the SUV loan as well as pay for the hybrid. It just is not economical to pay extra hundreds a month to save the same amount or less on gas.

When it is economical to do so people will change. It happened when small cars came along. At first they were only made in Japan and people said they were made poorly and were death traps. Stories about getting squashed like a grape in a Subaru were common. Then after a few years more and more people started buying smaller cars until that's all there was.

The same pattern will happen here. Over a few years people will change from SUV's to more fuel efficient cars.

[SoCalDem]

46. Solution? gas sold by weight of vehicle.

Driving a Hummer? you pay $8 a gallon
Driving a Honda/toyota/nissan (lightweight)? $2.00 a gallon

Legitimate work vehicles could get a waiver..

Demand for the Big-ole-beasts might wane, or people whould just have to pay the premium to have them..They ARE expensive vehicles, so it's safe to assume that most of their owners would fork over the extra $$ to drive their wasteful status symbols at any cost

[slaveplanet]

47. I wonder what effect the rapid addition

of foreign national adults to our population has on present US consumption?

Of course that has nothing to do with this current scam...

US consumption actually went down last year after Katrina.

But, If we were to lose 5-10% of the bodies currently on US soil that need to get somewhere, don't you suppose consumption would go down further?
So that then, they'd have a hard time using that same old poppycock "consumption" excuse.

Or maybe if we just forced them to follow the legal definition of "Dollar" they wouldn't be able to smoke the presses and slide the scale of the fiat FRN's so easily.

but that's still not the entire reason for this latest scam.
No, the Bilderbergers called for a $100 a barrel oil over a year ago, and like magic, that's exactly what's happening, and they don't plan on stopping there.
They also plan on sticking on a worldwide tax at the wellhead. I'm anxious to see how they'll blame OPEC for that one?
Being ruled from afar, without representation, is so much fun isn't it...

[ThatsMyBarack]

50. When I see empty gas tanks at stations,

I blame the "Jockmobiles" (as I love to call them) for stealing it all, and I wish that they'd come up with "Small Car Only" stations/pumps. That'll teach 'em. ;)

[Orsino]

51. "Could high gas prices be partly OUR FAULT?"

Of course they are, you dimwitted corporate whores. High gas prices are a function of supply and demand. SUVs burn gas.

[gulliver]

52. Let's "forgive" the SUV owners and blame the Republicans.

We had SUVs before Bush, and the gas prices weren't like this. The oil companies will do anything to deflect blame from themselves and their bought and paid for servants in the Republican party.

[Initech]

53. Of course, blame everyone but who's fault it really is...

THE FUCKING OIL COMPANIES' FAULTS!!!!