<DIV>Chas,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I think you know better than this. This is not about just people putting gas in their cars for snickers at the local convenience store. Some people are very dependent upon the price of energy being reasonable. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Truckers, farmers, taxi drivers, and poor families living many miles from the city cannot afford high prices at the pump. You must also realize that medicare only pays so much money for the elderly and disabled to get transported to doctors and specialist that they need to see. When the price of gas goes beyond the cost of what medicare or medicaid pays, they are prevented from getting the medical care they need in a timely fashion, which greatly impacts their quality of life. There are also gas heated homes with young children and elderly persons that are vulnerable to temperature changes. Your safety and well being is also at risk when police and ambulances are limited on how many miles they
can drive around town. I think the subject of gas prices being high impacts the quality of life for everyone. I think you are oversimplifying the situation.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am also surprised that you favor an unregulated energy source in our country, since most socialist countries in Europe which you wish the US to emulate, are well regulated or even completely controlled by the government. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>An unchecked, unregulated energy supply causes massive fluctuations in the economy and it can hurt people to a great extent in ways besides the contents of their rice bowl. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Best Regards,</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Donovan</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR><BR><B><I>Chasuk <chasuk@gmail.com></I></B> wrote:</DIV> <BLOCKQUOTE class=replbq style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #1010ff 2px solid">On Sat, Mar 1, 2008 at 2:40 PM, Donovan
Arnold<BR><DONOVANJARNOLD2005@YAHOO.COM>wrote:<BR><BR>> What if the next president did the same thing with oil? What if the military<BR>> forced itself onto oil rigs and started pumping more oil, and build and<BR>> opened more oil refiners to make sure we had affordable energy in the<BR>> country? What would be the consequences of that action?<BR>> If the president forced the private energy market to charge reasonable<BR>> prices by releasing its own oil production efforts and releasing oil from<BR>> its reserve?<BR><BR>I would be uncomfortable with our military acting as bandits so that<BR>our obese pampered citizenry could continue to make midnight runs to<BR>WinCo for Twinkies and Mountain Dew. I know, I'm simplifying, but not<BR>by much. Sometimes, these midnight runs include Twinkies, Mountain<BR>Dew, and Doritos.<BR><BR>Now, being really, sincerely serious, I would never, ever condone<BR>using our miltary as bandits, for whatever reason. Of
course, this<BR>"never, ever" has three exceptions, but I'm fairly confident that<BR>these three exceptions are far removed from reality.<BR><BR>1. I'm starving to death. My three bowls of rice and beans have<BR>diminished to a single bowl of rice and beans, and then to a bowl of<BR>rice without beans. The menu might vary, but my bare nutritional<BR>needs are not being met. Banditry is okay by me when it is necessary<BR>to guarantee my literal survival, no other proviso required.<BR><BR>2. The government spends at least $1 trillion on developing<BR>alternative energy sources. If we can spend that much money killing<BR>people, we can spend that much money developing ways to unyoke the<BR>world from the petroleum beast. If our scientists are given that much<BR>money to spend -- with oil companies, oil company lobbyists and oily<BR>politicians put on firm leashes -- thn we would find an oilless<BR>solution.<BR><BR>3. Walk. I didn't get my driver's license until I was 26 years
old.<BR>It expired when I turned 30, which I didn't renew for the next twelve<BR>years. Somehow, I managed. Generally, i walked everywhere. This<BR>obviously isn't viable for everyone, but it is viable for millions of<BR>USians who live two minutes from the supermarket and yet still drive<BR>to the store to pick up that loaf of bread, or that all-important<BR>Snickers. In other words, for my able-bodied peers who complain about<BR>the price of gas and yet still walk only when their car is in the<BR>shop, I whip out my smallest violin while simultaneously singing "boo<BR>hoo hoo."<BR><BR>Chas<BR><BR>=======================================================<BR>List services made available by First Step Internet, <BR>serving the communities of the Palouse since 1994. <BR>http://www.fsr.net <BR>mailto:Vision2020@moscow.com<BR>=======================================================<BR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR><p> 
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