The price we continue to pay

Driving home before the BIG storm hits I hear on the radio that a barrel of oil is going for around $26.00. As I hear this announcement some moron in an SUK, oops, SUV, races around me. When gasoline was $4 per gallon these guys were getting in the way going real slow. Price drops and they're back to being a menace on the road. And none of them will ever wonder why the price of oil jumps up and down like a yoyo. The oil companies, along with the filthy rich who played games trading our mortgages using worthless paper, are part of the reason why we're heading to a deep recession, why it is that many are losing their jobs, why it is that many of us are too scared to spend anything for fear we won't have a job soon. They grew fat and happy and we just keep on paying. Will we ever learn that we cannot trade short term happiness for long term security? Probably not.

But if don't we will continue to live by the golden rule...those who have the gold make the rules.

And yet the means by which to change it all is right at our finger tips. Bringing regulation back to the banking and securities industries will keep them in line. They grew really rich when they knew the rules by which they had to live. Taking away those rules has led us right back to where we were before the great depression. The tech bubble bursting should have shown us that these boys cannot play well without rules.

Next, invest in companies that are researching and developing alternative fuels. It will free us from the tyranny of the oil companies. I have always found it rather puzzling that if the price of a gallon of milk rises $0.10 we scream, but gasoline can go up 100% and we just try to live with it. Well, we see how far that got us.

This is going to be an ongoing conversation, so more later.