There is a lot of truth here. But it's also true that corporations help form consumer attitudes. They use marketing to convince people that certain things are better, cooler and more desirable than other things.

Frankly, it puzzles me that my generation (the Boomers) embraced monster SUVs when, in our youth, the coolest cars were all small: MGs, Volkswagen bugs, etc.

I'm currently driving the largest car I've ever owned, a Ford Focus station wagon (30 mpg highway). But the next one may be a Smart car.

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"The whole modern world has divided itself into Conservatives and Progressives. The business of Progressives is to go on making mistakes. The business of the Conservatives is to prevent the mistakes from being corrected." G.K. Chesterton

McCain has the magic wand that Bush can't find.

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/in...nomy-not-unbad

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/in...ver-magic-wand

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Interesting theory but, isn't that whats been going on for the last 7 and some years? They've all stacked their prices and their going to continue to rape us until George Tush is out of office. If they were to be convicted during his term he'd just pardon them. I mean we are talking about Cheney junior here. Can't reasonably expect him or them to actually look out for the american people.

As per usual, not a scintilla of evidence is presented to support this claim, except that gasoline prices are apparently higher than you would like them to be, or think they ought to be.

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"Everything that guy just said is bull$h!t! Thank you."

-- Vincent LaGuardia Gambini

And that is how its done. They flaunt americans inability to "prove" anything. A meeting with Cheney by the big five isnt proof enough? You think they had crimpets and discussed golf?

It occurs to me that blindingsun cannot disprove that (s)he is an alien being who merely replicates the genetic structure of a human. By your logic, blindingsun is conclusively an alien.

On the other hand, if you take the time to read this thread (as well as other threads on PB dealing with the supposed manipulation of gasoline prices) and if you take the time to study even a modicum of microeconomic theory, I think you'll understand that fundamental market forces (e.g., demand from developing nations, limited refining capacity) are a better explanation for rising fuel costs than crackpot conspiracy theories.

The problem with gasoline prices in America is not that they are high, but rather that they were so low for so long that people began to feel as though they had an entitlement to cheap gas. This morning on Fox 29 or UPN, I forget which, they had snippets of interviews with people at the gas pump, and one young gentleman was quoted as saying (paraphrase), "Somebody's got to do something about these prices."

Yes, the belief that somebody must do something. And that is where bad policy ideas are born.

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"Everything that guy just said is bull$h!t! Thank you."

-- Vincent LaGuardia Gambini

From Slate today:

Emphasis mine.

An entitlement that led people to buy larger vehicles as well as larger houses sprawled farther into the exurbs.

And what few people know, Mexico is one of our two largest oil importers (Canada being the other one).

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