She Said-TOPIC: Gas prices-Oil companies gouging motorists

A not-so-funny thing happened on the way to the gas pumps last week. While McMinnville’s generally been good in terms of competitive gas prices, everywhere I turned the price of regular gas was $3.49.

With gas prices rising, sometimes two or three times a week, I’ve started filling Mustang Sally’s tank each week instead of waiting till it’s nearly empty.

Finally, finally, finally, I found a station where gas was $3.46 without driving all the way to Timbuktu. And, while gas has indeed gone up again, on Monday prices found ranged from $3.52 to $3.57.

According to analysts, it’s not going to get better anytime soon, with many predicting $4 a gallon gas by summer’s end. So much for any economical stimulus package.

While I do believe in a free marketplace, I also believe in a fair marketplace. Throughout history, large companies have proven, time again, that unwatched they will unerringly seek to merge into monopolies that will not hesitate to drive prices up to the heavens in the quest for record profits. Thus, anti-trust laws such as the Sherman Act were passed.

James’ analogies on supply and demand don’t work. Gas isn’t peanuts or Hannah Montana tickets, both of which we can live (and work) without. Without gas to get us to and from work, in our current economic slowdown, we’ll all be in a pickle. Yes, let’s explore alternative energy sources. We see that it can be done as witnessed by the growing number of hybrids on the road.

When President Bush first took office in 2001, gas prices averaged $1.47 a gallon; today the average is topping $3.60. The House, under Speaker Nancy Pelosi, has proposed measures to curb rising costs. That package includes calling on Bush to temporarily suspend purchases of oil for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which is 97 percent full. This measure alone could reduce gas prices by an estimated 5 to 24 cents a gallon.

There are ways to get out off the highway robbery of rising gas prices which are hurting American workers while providing record profits for big oil.