Here is what my rabid right wing friend just emailed me:

[tinfoilinfor2005]

This was originally sent by a retired Coca Cola executive. It came from one of his engineer buddies who retired from Halliburton. It ' s worth your consideration.

Join the resistance!!!! I hear we are going to hit close to $4.00 a gallon by next summer and it might go higher!! Want gasoline prices to come down? We need to take some intelligent, united action. Phillip Hollsworth offered this good idea.

This makes MUCH MORE SENSE than the "don't buy gas on a certain day" campaign that was going around last April or May! The oil companies just laughed at that because they knew we wouldn't continue to "hurt" ourselves by refusing to buy gas. It was more of an inconvenience to us than it was a problem for them.

BUT, whoever thought of this idea, has come up with a plan that can really work. Please read on and join with us! By now you're probably thinking gasoline priced at about $1.50 is super cheap. Me too! It is currently $2.79 for regular unleaded in my town. Now that the oil companies and the OPEC nations have conditioned us to think that the cost of a gallon of gas is CHEAP at $1.50 - $1.75, we need to take aggressive action to teach them that BUYERS control the marketplace..... not sellers. With the price of gasoline going up more each day, we consumers need to take action. The only way we are going to see the price of gas come down is if we hit someone in the pocketbook by not purchasing their gas! And, we can do that WITHOUT hurting ourselves. How? Since we all rely on our cars, we can't just stop buying gas. But we CAN have an impact on gas prices if we all act together to force a price war.

Here's the idea:

For the rest of this year, DON'T purchase ANY gasoline from the two biggest companies (which now are one), EXXON and MOBIL. If they are not selling any gas, they will be inclined to reduce their prices. If they reduce their prices, the other companies will have to follow suit.

But to have an impact, we need to reach literally millions of Exxon and Mobil gas buyers. It's really simple to do! Now, don't wimp out at this point.... keep reading and I'll explain how simple it is to reach millions of people.

I am sending this note to 30 people. If each of us sends it to at least ten more (30 x 10 =3D 300) ... and those 300 send it to at least ten more (300 x 10 =3D 3,000)...and so on, by the time the message reaches the sixth group of people, we will have reached over THREE MILLION consumers. If those three million get excited and pass this on to ten friends each, then 30 million people will have been contacted! If it goes one level further, you guessed it..... THREE HUNDRED MILLION PEOPLE!!!

Again, all you have to do is send this to 10 people. That's all. (If you don't understand how we can reach 300 million and all you have to do is send this to 10 people.... Well, let's face it, you just aren't a mathematician. But I am, so trust me on this one.)

How long would all that take? If each of us sends this e-mail out to ten more people within one day of receipt, all 300 MILLION people could conceivably be contacted within the next 8 days!!!

I'll bet you didn't think you and I had that much potential, did you?

Acting together we can make a difference. If this makes sense to you, please pass this message on. I suggest that we not buy from EXXON/MOBIL UNTIL THEY LOWER THEIR PRICES TO THE $1.30 RANGE AND KEEP THEM DOWN.

THIS CAN REALLY WORK.


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I responded by saying, "I only buy gas from Citgo (Venezuela) which does not come from the middle east."

What do you make of this???

[NYCGirl]

1. Snopes is already on the case:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

2. It's bogus:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

[Matariki]

3. Urban Legends Reference Pages:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/gasoline/gasout.asp

[Mr_Spock]

4. This looks familiar

I think this is a repeat/resend from a year or so ago.

[Turbineguy]

5. In 1999

Oil was $10 per barrel. When Bush was inaugurated it had gone to $30.

So that's $20 due to Bush being in the Whitehouse.

Then came the attack on Iraq and oil went to $50

Katrina was a special one time event.

Demand for oil would have sent the price up too.

But $40 or so of the $70 per barrel is due to Bush and his policies.

If Gore had become President we would have probably been paying $30 per barrel now and the republicans would have wanted to impeach Gore for that.

Any republican/Bush lover is just getting what he voted for.

[LSK]

6. this has been going around a lot lately

Counter with vote for Democrats who are not in bed (Tom) with the (Delay) oil companies (Bush).

[tularetom]

7. Well SOMEBODY better buy gas from Exxon

I heard the other day that their retiring CEO got a golden parachute that would leave him more money than God. How the hell do you expect them to be able to pay him if everybody boycotts their products? You want this poor bastard to have to get a job as a greeter at Mall Wart? If this fine Amurkin doesn't get his money the terrists have won.

[Cleita]

13. Cheeze, he'd have to get a second hand private jet wouldn't he?

Poor bastard!

[tinfoilinfor2005]

14. Bless his poor little heart. Next thing you know, he'll end up buying

a losing baseball team in order to write it off on his taxes and they'll end up doing something stupid like winning the series. Some people just never catch an even break.

[Ksec]

8. I never buy gas from Exxon or Mobil

I buy at a BP which is probably just as bad as any of them.

Did anyone ever consider that this is bushs fault. Hes the ahole whos got the Middle East in an uproar. His type and their war mongering is why we see so much terrorism and thats a huge part of why gas is so high IMO. .

[tinfoilinfor2005]

11. I'm with you. I told my daughter that I hold him personally

responsible for everything that is going wrong in the world today, from the war in Iraq to poverty to global warming to my fat thighs. And I really mean it. Everytime I put on a pair of shorts, I scream out loud, "Damn you george!" I'm not sure when and I'm not sure how, but I'm absolutely certain that he had SOMETHING to do with it!! Bastahd!!!

[libodem]

9. Given if this a valid deal

if we joined them, I wonder if a strike like this would have any actual impact?

[lonestarnot]

10. I think we should have a national strike.

[tinfoilinfor2005]

12. I guess I was just semi impressed that she would even admit

that there was a problem in the country today, given that her precious george was at the helm. :P

[walldude]

15. Boy this one is really making the rounds this week...

This is the third time I've seen this posted...

[cantstandbush]

16. People can stop buying gasoline if they wanted to. Most don't want to.

So they are willing to pay the price. It only takes courage and persistence to pull off an effective boycott. Just remember Rosa Parks the blacks who stood their ground, pooled their resources, and almost bankrupted a bus company.

We need to stop consuming at all levels. If consumers went on a national don't-buy-much-of-anything boycott, the powers would get the message. If we don't drive, we won't buy either. But i don't believe the American people are mature enough, selfless enough, or uncomfortable enough to do it.

[Speck Tater]

17. The math is faulty

Of the 10 people you send it to, by the fifth or sixth round, most of them have already gotten it from somebody else. There's a LOT of overlap, so the numbers just wouldn't get as high as they claim.