Yup, it is sorta simple if you break it down to what it really is. Everyone wants to blame some kind of bad oil man for the cost of oil. Try this.

- USD gets lowered be cause of Fed cuts do to poor lending practices in the USA.

- BBL of Oil is traded on the market in USD currency.

- Given the unstable housing market crushing lending institutions in the states, futures traders lean to commodities.

- At the same time, the Federal Reserve cuts rates even deeper to save the floundering US economy and what is left of the real estate market.

- Now BBL value must go up, because it is USD and USD is plummeting against the Euro and even falling against the Yen.

- BBL of oil value goes up USD wise to keep up with both an unstable US economy and poor exchange value.

- Now couple in last summers push by the US congress to have 10% Ethanol as an additive instead of MTBE.

- Now corn crops become very expense.

- As a direct result, crops/livestock become expensive, and thanks to oil prices, shipping product becomes expensive.

What do you have? Not just rich old oil men, but a generally Fd up situation that is very hard to simply 'clean up'.


And we aren't done yet, this summer congress mandates a raise in minimum wage. Take that into account with escalating food and fuel costs, you'll see a huge increase in mom & pop and even chain restaurants going under. Consumers are spending less, and all their costs are going up.....not a good scenario. Somehow this doesn't stop democrats from talking about massive social programs.....


Wagner's quick hits:

- Stop funding reconstruction in Iraq. Fund the troops all you like but all building should be paid for at least 90% with Iraqi funds including their ever expanding oil revenue reserve that they aren't touching.

- Monetary donation in the form of hundreds of millions of dollars to food aid programs are temporarily halted.

- Any home appraisal done prior to August 2006 must be honored by a lending institution that wrote the appraisal in terms of refinancing a loan. And all future loans written as of August 2008 fall under the same guidelines. Makes the real estate industry a self-cleaning oven.

- Barrel of oil is traded in the more stable Euro.

- Alaska begins getting drilled for oil.

- Congress mandates that oil industry surplus revenue greater then the industry average for the last 24 months will be used to build new refineries and infrastructure within the United States. The EPA would be forced to take a temporary back seat.

- Maximize coal utility for general power in the United States.

- Begin a course to utilize US rail systems for mass shipping needs, not truck freight carried farther then 600 miles one way.

- Begin process to create communities that create energy, via solar panels, wind, water, doesn't matter but they must give energy back at a percentage of what they consume.

- Grants for companies to come up with methods that do not use petroleum to build roads/tar/rubber.

- and the only inquiry in to price gouging congress would be doing is to why in the last 5 years, diesel fuel surpassed gasoline in cost and increases at a greater rate.

...........to be continued.............

__________________

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"promote the general welfare, not provide the general welfare"

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.