Renata wrote in
:

On Sat, 26 Apr 2008 10:34:44 -0700, Mark & Juanita
wrote:
-snip-
We have gas prices going up now because of
the required cafe blends for each specific city that requires refinery
shutdown and reconfiguration every year.
-snip-

Uh,... nope. Cafe blends have been around for years. Prices hadn't
"surged" like they are these days.

the gist from the article:
"You see very time the Fed lowers interest rates, it weakens the
dollar and the Fed has been very active slashing these rates in order
to keep the big banks afloat. That dollar devaluation then raises
gasoline prices at the pump, about 8 cents per gallon per each 25
percentage point cut by the Federal Reserve.

Since September there have been 12 of these cuts made - eventually
costing America 96 cents extra for each gallon of gas."

entire article below

-R


The Fed pushes gasoline prices even higher
by Jackie Corr | April 23, 2008

Butte, Montana | As we well know the price of a gallon of gasoline
keeps going up. And nobody sees an end to this surge let alone a drop
in price. For just this past weekend the price of oil per barrel
jumped again to an all time record high of $117.01. The New York Times
commented that "what was striking about this latest milestone was what
didn't happen: there was no shortage of oil, no sudden embargo, no
exporter turning off its spigot."
But there is something going on and it means more bad news for the
American public. And that is the Fed's Ben Bernanke has been pulling
out all the stops to save Wall Street from paying for the mess they
made while keeping all the profits. On Sunday in the Washington Post,
the conservative writer George Will said Americans should tell the
congress the free ride is over and it is time to start dismantling
Wall Street Socialism.
In Will's words, "the Fed has no mandate to be the dealmaker for Wall
Street socialism. The Fed's mission is to preserve the currency as a
store of value by preventing inflation." But that is not the way that
George Bush, Treasury head Hank Paulson, Bernanke and most of the
congress see it.
You see very time the Fed lowers interest rates, it weakens the dollar
and the Fed has been very active slashing these rates in order to keep
the big banks afloat. That dollar devaluation then raises gasoline
prices at the pump, about 8 cents per gallon per each 25 percentage
point cut by the Federal Reserve.
Since September there have been 12 of these cuts made - eventually
costing America 96 cents extra for each gallon of gas. Between
September 18, 2007 and March 18, 2008, the Federal fund rate was
lowered from 5.25% to 2.25% and the discount rate was lowered from
5.75% to 2.50%.
Check the dates: In Butte on October 3, 2007 the price of a regular
gallon of gas was $2.80. On New Years Day $3.06. St Patrick's Day
$3.25. As of this writing the price is $3.50 ($3.49.9) a gallon and it
will go even higher in the coming weeks, roughly $3.75 a gallon, as a
result of the Fed's giving in to Wall Street.
Of course, the Fed has yet to mention this gasoline price surge in
statements concerning those rate cuts for Wall Street and for good
reason. As George Will pointed out, continued dollar deflation means
higher and higher prices for the American public and even more $
billions for Wall Street investment banks like Goldman Sachs.
And there's more. Before the current Fed cuts in the interest and
discount window mentioned above run their course, regular gasoline
prices will have reached $3.76 per gallon according to the Fed
formula, nearly a dollar increase since last October. And like the
moon follows the sun, a higher price for gas further pushes up already
rising food prices.
So it's no wonder people want change and the hell with experience.
"Bailout Ben" Bernanke, Hank Paulson (a former Goldman Sach's CEO) and
of course, Alan Greenspan, the former Fed guy, are long on experience
and look where they got us. And we might also remember the present
disaster originated in the unregulated Wall Street investment banks
who were set free to plunder and loot after Bill Clinton and Robert
Rubin in 1999 deep-sixed the old New Deal banking law, Glass-Steagall.
And what have they learned? Needless to say, the Wall Street guys and
gals are still calling for more tax cuts even with a war going on that
is further bankrupting us.



Glad I'm not in Butte Montana with those fluctuating prices now. Beer was
pretty expensive there too (other than BUDMILLERCOORSMOLSON). I worked
there for a bit and really enjoyed it. Met really good people. Sang a
bit, danced a bit, drank alot and incline ramped my head off. Ah pre-
retirement. Screw the fluctuating prices, I'd go back in a New York
minute.