Gas prices are going up

Gas prices are going up.

I am not sure if anyone noticed but gas prices are going up. They say by this summer gas prices will hit $4.00 a gallon. I hear that when you take in inflation it is still less then what was being paid in the 1970s. Well I don’t care about that! What I care about is that I am paying all most double then what I was paying a year ago. I keep on hearing about the big bad Oil Campiness so I went and did some research. I was surprised how many websites had this information.
Now let’s look at this for a moment. North Carolina has 30.15 cents in gas taxes (which is one of the highest in the nation). On top of that is a 18.4cents in federal taxes. Exxon reported that it only made 9.5cents on a gallon of gas. So the state made 20.65cents and the Feds made 9.1cents more then the Big Oil Company. But that is not all; you have to still include the 21% imbedded taxes that liberals won’t tell you about. I paid $3.19 a gallon for gas the day before yesterday. Now let us subtract: Those who like me went to government schools that means take away. 3.19 minus the imbedded taxes leaves 2.52 then minus the state and federal taxes leaves us with $2.03 now what the oil companies made which leaves us with $1.93. It cost about .54cents to refine crude oil that leaves $1.39 cents to transport and profit for the local gas station owner. So who is really gauging us? Looks like the government to me. Oh by the way the Democrats in the house want to raise the gas tax even more.
Now lets look at something else we have three grades and over 50 different blends of gas. Every time a refinery has to switch to make a new blend they have to recalibrate and that cost money. This also adds to the price of gas. So the way I look at it if the politicians were really concerned about us they would get rid of one grade and only have one standard blend and cut the tax rate on gas. They will not cut taxes because it gives them power to buy votes and they will not reduce the blends because they will not be able to blame the Oil Campiness any more for high gas prices.
So that leaves us we need to write our Congressmen and Senators and say enough. We need to let them know that if they continue we will vote them out next election and then make sure we do.

Dave

To President George W. Bush

To President George W. Bush

Sir:
I have supported you through all the ups and downs. Even today when many people do not want to admit that they voted for you I stand up and say yes I did and I still support him. Now don’t get me wrong I disagreed with you on some issues. But, we can’t agree on everything.
What I would like to know is what happened to my Republican Party? I remember when the Republican Party stood for the common man. You know the little guy like me. When people would say ho no it’s only for the big business guy I would proudly stand up and defend my Republican Party. I would explain how if it were not for the big business we little guys would not have jobs. I would explain how under the Democrats the military was all but forgotten, except when they needed their votes. But, we in the military as a whole knew better. That’s why they never got our votes. But, today the Republicans or should I say the last 16 years they seem more like Democrats. Spend, spend and increase spending again seems to be their new way. What happened to a smaller government and accountability?
So now that I have said this I want to inform you that I can no longer support the national party with my money. If and when the Republican Party returns to its principles I will again take another look but as for now I will be looking for a new home. Maybe the Liberation Party.

Thank You and God Bless




David G. Speckhardt Sr.
Selma, NC 27576

US Army Retired.

Vererans Supporting our Troops

I retrieved this from my local news paper The Selma News in Selma North Carolina.

“Three retired Veterans who signed up to do a 1-year tour of duty in Iraq have returned with a new mission, "Resolve to Win". MAJ Dennis McCool, along with retired soldiers, LTC Marc Breslow and MAJ Carl Heerup, are marching from South Carolina to Washington DC.
The veterans say the reason is to support the troops and their mission by demonstrating resolve to do a difficult task. "Resolve to Win" hopes to create a dialogue about our National will to win. They firmly believe that you can not support the troops without supporting the mission.”

What I ask is this:
Where is the national news on this one? Why is this first time I have heard about this? Whenever we see a protest against the war it makes national news but when people are trying to support the troop’s the national news media runs and hides. Oh sorry I forgot if it helps the war effort and George Bush it’s bad but if it hurts the war effort and George Bush its good. For some reason that just don’t sound right, you would think that supporting our troops should be number one regardless of where you stand. I did not agree with us going into Iraq, but we are there and we need to finish it. Other wise those brave young men and women that lost their lives would have died in vain. But, then I did serve for over 20 years in our military defending this great country of ours. So maybe I just look at things a little differently.
God Bless them.
God Bless our Troops
God Bless America
God Bless George Bush


David Speckhardt Sr.