The Cost of the (S)election . . . at Every Fill-Up

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Some probably think it was worth anything to get rid of the Orange Man – who got rid of himself, when you think about it, by not doing anything to prevent the spread of weaponized hypochondria.

But we’re finding out what it’s going to cost us.

Over just the past six weeks or so, the average price of a gallon of gasoline has risen from just over $2 a gallon to almost $3 per gallon. It is more than $3 per gallon in some areas – and is almost certain to get that high – and higher – everywhere else.

(S)elections have consequences.

The new el presidente – Third World jefe form, now appropriate in what was once the first world – sent us the bill almost as soon as he got (s)elected; it just took a few weeks for it to get to us.

He sent us the bill via decrees – these are styled “executive orders” to make them sound less like the decrees of an el presidente-jefe. They included the summary cancellation of the Keystone pipeline and the intimations of similar and more to come – all of them designed to make gasoline more expensive by making it more expensive to get the oil from which it is made.

To prevent as much oil from being produced here as was produced here prior to the selection. This axiomatically increases the scarcity of oil here and thus the price of gas everywhere.

It is very likely to get a great deal more expensive than it already is.

But let’s consider just how much it costs already – without considering how much it is likely to cost soon – and then you can decide whether the selection of the el presidente-jefe was worth it to you.

On average, the cost of a gallon of gas is about 50 cents higher now than it was before the Orange Man self-evicted (the “steal” was performed months before the selection when the Orange Man failed to do anything to prevent absentee ballots from being vetted before they were counted).

The average car has a 15 gallon gas tank. It costs about $30 to fill ‘er up at $2.10 per gallon, the cost of gas before the selection. That same 15 gallon fill-up now costs about $42 at $2.80 per gallon, which is less than many people are currently paying. But for the sake of cost-benefit analysis and erring on the conservative side of the ledger, let’s say the average car currently costs about $12 more to fill up than it did before the selection.

Most people fill up once a week. That’s $12 times four (per month) which equals just shy of $50 more per month, courtesy of the new el presidente-jefe and his “executive orders.”

Times that by twelve and you get about $600 in upticked fuel costs for the year – almost exactly as much, as it turns out, as the “stimulus” check most Americans received as their consolation prize for the loss of their livelihoods as the result of the Orange Man’s failure to prevent the spread of the weaponized hypochondria that cost him the election – and which is now costing us every time we gas up our vehicles.

It will cost you a great deal more than your “stimulus” check if you drive a truck or SUV. It is usual for a full-size pick-up or SUV to have a 20 or even a 25 gallon tank. What cost just over $52 (i.e., 25 gallons at $2.10 per) before the Orange Man failed now costs $70 (the same 25 gallons but now at $2.80 per). Which works out to an additional $18 per tankful. Times that $18 extra by four and you get $72 extra per month and (by 12) $864 extra per year.

Which, after just two years, will tally up to more than the second round of “stimulus” the el presdente-jefe is getting ready to issue the fools who can’t do addition and subtraction. So let’s do it for them and maybe they’ll see and grok what they bought.

Two years of $864 extra comes to $1,728 extra for gas and $328 more than the $1,400 “stimulus” checks issued by the grace of the el presidente-jefe.

Even if you drive a very economical car, the upticked cost of gas is going to vitiate both “stimulus” checks before the next (s)election, by which time the cost of gas is likely to be a great deal higher than $2.80 per gallon.

But even if by some miracle the cost of gas stabilizes at $2.80 or so per gallon, life in the United States has gotten much more expensive thanks to the selection. Keep in mind that it’s not just what you’re paying extra at the pump. It is also what the truckers who brought you your food (and everything else) are paying extra at the pump, which is reflected in the cost of your food and everything else.

This to include the cost of the oil and gas (natural variety) that many use to heat their homes. It is also going up, compounding the cost. It is probably a gross under-estimate but the average American can expect to spend at least as much on fuel to move and on everything that is moved by fuel and which is heated by fuel than everything they received as alms from the Orange Man and the el presidente-jefe combined.

Like the weaponization of hypochondria, all of this could have been avoided – if the Orange Man hadn’t failed to prevent the weaponization of hypochondria.

And not only that.

Had the Orange Man acted to prevent the spread of weaponized hypochondria, we’d likely be paying less for gas and everything associated with the oil from which gas is made – because there’d be even more oil being produced and the more of a thing there is, the less that thing usually costs.

And, of course, we’d be a bit less edgy with a spray-tanned Orange Man behind the tiller – all his many faults notwithstanding –  than a man who may not even realize he’s behind the tiller.

. . .

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106 COMMENTS

    • Hi Anon,

      I think there is more than a slight chance the country will go full Dr. Zhivago – with the proletariat housed in the homes of “the rich” and other such fun. The only way this is going away is if it is beaten back.

      • Almost two, probably four and maybe 10+ years of full blown Leftism on deck. It isn’t going to be beaten back IMO. I simply can’t see how it can be now as the Overton window will not allow ‘whitey’ to push back. That be raciss an all.

        The ultra rich have little to fear as they can go mobile, but what is left of the ‘not identified as a minority’ middle class and lesser millionaires probably should worry. This train is picking up speed and not stopping anytime soon.

        • Hi Anon,

          Probable – but it could go another way. It is also possible that what Nixon styled the “silent majority” (and today, this includes basically most normal people who just want to work and raise their families and be left alone to live their lives in peace) may finally reach the breaking point and – as you say – push back. I can tell you there are a goodly number of people I know who’ve had their fill and are near it already. If the Free Shit Army approaches, there will be blood.

  1. Air travel is still way down. NO cruise ships. Manufacturing is still in the doldrums. OPEC cutting production. Futures contracts are falling. Yet gasoline is getting more expensive.

    BTW, CORN ETF is up $6 from the 12 month low in August last year…

    Because I have no idea how to price a stock in this market, I’m investing in solar with a battery backup. The electricity COOP is telegraphing they will be implementing California-style time of day rates at some point in the future. Right now it is voluntary and consumers can get a credit for curtailing off-peak usage. But I have a feeling that will magically become surge pricing once they get the system worked out. And might as well take advantage of the tax incentives and subsidized financing. After all, “we” Coloradans voted for it back in 2004 with the dubious green energy amendment, and so I will be paying for it either way.

    • Looks like we’ve returned to the “Stagflation” that plagued this country in the Seventies and early Eighties until Reagan came along.

    • Hi Clay,

      I blame it on the Orange Fail. He is responsible for the (s)election of Biden, which was finagled via mass absentee voting, which he allowed and which was enabled by the weaponization of hypochondria… which the Orange Fail did nothing to prevent.

      • I, respectfully disagree. This is not the OF, this is all us. The blame goes to every American that has turned their back to what our government is doing, who believe in a falsified pandemic rather than what our own eyes are seeing, allowing the media to manipulate our minds, and believing that someone out there gives a shit about any of us. We have no one to blame but ourselves. This did not happen overnight and was not brought on by Trump. This has been decades. The government has eroded individual rights away every day for the last 100 years. We stood back, did nothing, and watched.

        The chickens have come home to roost. We allowed the government to educate our youth, destroy the family unit, and turned our backs on our peers. People who don’t choose to act cannot fault when someone else does.

        We are watching communism unfold. The USA will never return. Her tales of vice and victory will become obsolete. To talk about America as she once was and all that she accomplished (at least for a short time) will be overthrown by cancel culture. This country’s people don’t have the balls to save her. We once did, but those days are gone. We have proven we are weak, self indulgent, and pretty damn dumb.

        This new age of “wokeism” will be our country’s last breath. I expect an attack on her shortly whether by invasion, grid, or biological warfare. The only thing we have left to thwart an overall takeover our are guns, but we have become so complacent I am sure that won’t be a fight either.

        Trump didn’t destroy this country, we did.

        • Hi RG,

          Yes, but none of us were in a position of authority to prevent the weaponization of hypochondria. The Orange Buffoon was. And what did he do? He let Fauci assume the presidency. What did the Orange Buffoon do next? He let weaponized hypochondria become the excuse for mass absentee balloting. And then he did nothing to prevent mass electoral fraud – as by at least attempting to make a case for the vetting of these ballots before they were counted.

          And then what did the Orange Buffoon do?

          He derelicted his duty to do something to stop “the steal” after the fact. If, in fact, the election was stolen – and I believe that it was – and if, in fact, there is clear evidence to suggest it may have been – which I believe there is – then if the OF also believed it he had a duty to stop it by whatever means necessary.

          What did he do?

          He sent out geriatric Rudy and the geriatric general; he Tweeted his usual bloviating, gaseous Trumpisms. But he did nothing to stop it.

          Again.

          Yes, the populace that bought into the “virus” is also culpable. But the reason Joe Biden is president is because Donald Trump failed.

          Going forward, those of us who oppose the weaponization of hypochondria must oppose those who don’t or didn’t do anything to “stop the spread.” This includes the Orange Fail but also every single god-damned Republican who talks up how wonderful it is that the Orange Fail facilitated the “vaccine” at “warp speed.” That’s you Hannity.

          Everything hangs in the balance. No issue is more fundamentally important right now than dissipating sickness psychosis.

          • Maybe we need to accept that we were all duped by a NY real estate developer. Maybe he was never on our side.

            Why not blame Obama for weaponizing Trump? Why not Bush for creating Obama? I could go on and on.

            They all have one thing in common, we put them there. America’s woes did not start with Trump. We need to move past the blame game of “Orange Man bad.” This is what the media wants. Every bad thing that happens under the Biden Administration will be Trump’s fault, as it was Bush’s under the entire Obama Administration.

            I blame Trump for hiring inadequate people. One would thing that a savvy business person could smell BS, but maybe that was the ploy. He is one of them. He said pretty words, told us what we wanted to hear, complimented us, bought us dinner (tax cuts and deregulation), and we let him. We allowed him the goods and are surprised when he snuck out of the window the next morning. He was never going to commit or have our back. He is a philanderer. We were had.

            I have no great hatred or love for Trump, honestly, he isn’t worth valuable head space, but one must focus on the future. We can look back at history for past experience, but we can’t dwell there, because nothing gets solved.

            The days of Trump are over. He won’t be returning. We can go down a long line of couldas, wouldas, shouldas, but that rectifies nothing.

            • Hi RG,

              I will cop to that. I was fooled; I wanted to believe he wasn’t just another Washington con man – or at least, not entirely. And I’m still not sure that he is that. But I am certain he failed to do anything to stop the spread of weaponized hypochondria and in fact enabled it – as by giving the podium, for months, to Fauci. This was and remains inexcusable.

              He failed when it came to the most important issue of our time. For this, he deserves contempt and – if he has any decency – a quiet retirement, far away from politics.

              Moving forward, the lesson is that no one who doesn’t reject weaponized hypochondria and act to stop its spread is worthy of any political support. Such a person is either an imbecile or a tool.

          • Eric, if the Orange One had at least pardoned Assange and Snowden on his way out I could have some respect for him despite all the disappointments. But he didn’t, and I don’t.

          • Eric,

            I think that what RG was saying is that we brought this on ourselves by failing to push back on a lot of things. The numerous 2A infringements over the years come to mind. So do the extra constitutional conduct of agencies like the IRS; they violate the 4A and 5A all the time! WTF didn’t we swarm Washington long ago in response? I think that’s what RG was getting at, and she’s right.

            • Hi Mark,

              I agree – the sheep-people are responsible for accepting it. But I will never forgive the Orange Fail for not even trying to do something to calm them down, as by not standing mute beside the odious Fauci for months, while the latter played the Fear Organ every damned day.

              • Fair enough. OM also could’ve done something about George Soros, as in kick his ass out of the country! Hungary, Soros’ home country, had the good sense to boot him out; WTF didn’t we? He also could’ve frozen the assets of Soros, so he couldn’t fund Antifa and BLM; OM could’ve starved the beast, as it were. OM could have sent the ATF after Antifa and BLM, since they were using Molotov cocktails in last summer’s riots, because Molotov cocktails, per federal law, are considered destructive devices, and are therefore illegal. Whether you agree with the law or not, OM COULD have used it and the ATF to deal with Antifa and BLM. By doing nothing, he looked weak, indecisive, feckless, and pathetic. So yeah, OM could and should have done something too.

            • Thanks, MM. OM was only a symptom of the problem we are now facing. I think we give him too much blame for what is now in front of us. There were some areas he did well and others that could be much enhanced, but America’s mental state of mine was not something I can fault him with. This country’s people once had a certain mental toughness. We had the ability to bounce back, to face hard times, and improve our lot. A few still have it, but most don’t and a country cannot be rebuilt upon the shoulders of the minority.

              • Morning, RG!

                As you know, I voted for the Orange Man – twice. I wrote a number of articles that touted the positive things he did. I never expected him to be a savior as that would have been servile as well as idiotic. But I did expect him to not just stand there like a pompadoured ape for months while President Fauci trauma-conditioned the populace of this country. This is inexcusable. Why didn’t he fire Fauci? Does Fauci have pictures of OM and a goat in bed? Was he afraid to fire him? Then he is a coward. The other explanations are that OM is a fool – or that he is a tool. Which is it? There is no good explanation.

                The OM could have replaced Fauci with Atlas or the surgeon general, who was initially reasonable until he, too, became a peddler of sickness psychosis. It’s outrageous.

                I understand that at first, OM was – like most of us – caught off guard and I don’t fault him for what he did initially. I fault him for what he was doing by the fall of 2020, when it was known that “the virus” didn’t kill 99.8-something of the population; that the virulence and transmissibility were being maliciously exaggerated to justify an Orwellian leftist regime of medical tyranny.

                The bastard didn’t even try. No attempt to convey the facts in a serious “fireside talk,” for example. Just belligerent, self-referential Tweets about his greatness and how much he loves the flag. He wore the god-damned Diaper, too – notwithstanding that there is no federal or state law requiring it and he was the goddamned president and didn’t have to do it. But he did do it – and thereby sent a very powerful signal-affirmation of sickness psychosis.

                I understand that the president does not have authority over state elections. That’s a dodge. The Left is never inhibited by such procedural folderol. And in any event, the Orange Man certainly could have publicly discussed the fact that mass absentee balloting is unprecedented and that the system is not prepared to deal with this and then argued strenuously, repeatedly, that these votes ought to be vetted before they are counted.

                He had the pulpit to do that – and he did nothing.

                The (s)election wasn’t stolen. He gave it away.

                • “Just belligerent, self-referential Tweets”

                  If, and that’s a huge IF, another populist is elected, please STAY OFF social media.

                  SM has been the leading downfall of society and must be treated the same as any other monopoly.

                  • I agree, West Va –

                    SM has infantilized public discussion; it is no accident that this is referred to as “Tweeting”… which sounds (and is) like something a not-very-bright 12-year-old girl would do.

                    • That’s fairly much what SM is good for, infantile posts on the order of “hey, look at ME”, by literal 12 y.o. girls or their emotional equivalent.

                      Any Internet forum is only as good as (1) the site owner/moderator WANTS it to be and (2) as much as the participants stay CIVIL and on point. Sure, we can all disagree (like I do with you about OM), but rarely do I see the regulars on this site degenerate into calling each other “Foo-foo head” or something like that.

                  • “Twitter” is for twits, IMO.
                    Their symbol is a bird, right?
                    Ergo, meant to be attractive to those with bird-compatible brains, whose putative “thoughts” can all be expressed in very few characters.
                    Those with (possibly) more complex thoughts and ideas not welcome.
                    ‘Nuff said.

                • Morning Eric, 🙂

                  Let’s analyze. If Trump won re-election in November and was still President today what would be different?

                  1. Do you believe the PCR cycles would have been reduced as they were on Jan 20th by the WHO?
                  2. Would Republican governors have found their balls and start reducing mandates just to piss off the opposition?
                  3. Would the media have let up on the cases and every associated death from Covid and the vaccine?
                  4. Do you believe that people’s mental state would be any different?
                  5. Would schools be opening?

                  I believe nothing would have changed and the proverbial boot would still be smashed against our necks. I believe the never ending dictation would result in more suicides and opioid deaths for people wanting to escape by any means possible.

                  Don’t get me wrong I don’t believe Biden has made us any freer than under the Trump Administration, but I do believe there isn’t the same sick perverted joy that the left celebrated by denying such freedoms.

                  I voted for Trump twice, too. My first vote was a vote against Hillary, not a vote for Trump. My second vote was against a senile old man and his scheming Veep who I feared would put forth the most progressive agenda that this country has ever seen. Also, not a vote for Trump, but against the establishment.

                  I have no anger at Trump. He may have been a mole, incompetent, or just downright dumb, who knows. He is no longer calling the shots and we need to focus on those that are.

                  • Re:

                    My first vote was a vote against Hillary, not a vote for Trump. My second vote was against a senile old man and his scheming Veep who I feared would put forth the most progressive agenda that this country has ever seen. Also, not a vote for Trump, but against the establishment.

                    Looking back, that’s been my voting record since President Reagan

                    That is, the lesser of two… incompetents.

                  • Hi RG,

                    I agree, not much would have changed – because the Orange Fail is either an idiot, a coward or a tool. His inability or unwillingness to understand weaponized hypochondria and combat it is the bottom line fail of his presidency. Rather than wonder about what he might have done had he won this election, let’s consider what he did – and did not do – while he had the power to do something other than he did (and did not do).

                    He could have fired Fauci. There is simply no excuse for his not doing so. For his standing there mute like a trained orange ape while that little Freak terror-trauma’d the country every damned day for months. Inexcusable. I will despise Trump for that, forever. And also every gutless, go-along-to-get-along Republican who doesn’t challenge sickness psychosis; who applauds “warp speed” development and availability of the “vaccine.” Fools – or tools – such as Sean Hannity, for instance.

                    These people are Quislings of the worst sort and may they burn in Hell for it, someday.

                  • FWIW, the first time, I voted for Gary Johnson, as in the People’s Republik of Cali(porn)ia, the Dummycrats could put up Madama LeFarge and she’d win its 55 electoral votes in a landslide. At least by inflating Johnson’s otherwise meaningless popular tally, as he still didn’t come close to winning ANY electoral votes that might have thrown the election into the House, I was making my quadrennial “a pox on BOTH your houses” statement. And Johnson did increase his own Libertarian record by 4x. When the morning after the 2016 election and I’d realized that Trump had won, then, at first, I felt…”Oh, SHIT, what have we DONE?”, since I had no idea how he’d preside. He did well enough, not AS well on some things that I’d have preferred, but well above what I expected, and certainly far better than a HRC presidency would likely have proved.

                    With the LP putting up a “nice” but rather uninspiring candidate in ’20, and based on what I’d seen thus far, I could actually vote FOR a non-LP candidate (which I’d done prior since ’96) since Reagan. We know what happened in that election, and it’s as much that his own party back-stabbed in as anything. They had the ability in the respective state legislatures where the election fraud was obviously to call “BS” on it, and they would not, either b/c they too were in on it, or were too afraid to stand up to it. Hence why I never considered re-registering as a Republicunt. Hell, I may re-register as a DEMOCRAT here in CA just to fuck with them.

        • And don’t forget single-issue voters. There are plenty of people who will automatically vote based on their view of abortion. Many others who only consider the party line on the 2nd amendment.

          Still others who work for government and don’t want to risk their livelihood.

          But the overwhelming majority single-issue voters are people who have a vested interest in growing the leviathan, or at least keeping things just the way they are. Everyone “knows” that a well-regulated healthcare industry is necessary, ‘lest some snake oil salesman tricks you into drinking poison. And everyone “knows” that the only way to defeat The Terrorists™ is to fight them over there, even if they’ve not caused harm to any Americans (or were chummy just a few short years ago). And a major disruption in the economy will screw everyone out of the Wall St casino before the house has a chance to get to it first.

          Better the devils you know, especially when they have seniority.

            • I love George Carlin. A great comedian with an acid wit. After seeing your post I looked at some of his stuff again. I see a perversion of his core, They are twisting George Carlin’s message. Sad. Wonder what they will do to Ron Paul when he dies. Or maybe he will be the first president of the Confederation.

          • Well, single-issue voting is fairly much an argument AGAINST “Democracy”, since it’d indicate the voter is being swayed by emotion rather than intellect. I am often reminded of this little missive by the fictional, bat-shit crazy Air Force brigadier general, Jack D Ripper (yes, the name itself, like the Soviet Premier ‘Kissoff”, was a pun)…

            “Mandrake, do you know what (Georges) Clemenceau (the WWI French President) said about ‘war’? He said it was too important to be left to the generals. And when he said that, he might have been right. But I say, ‘war’ is too important to be left to politicians, who haven neither the inclination, nor the training, for strategic thought.”

            Where this great experiment started going off the rails was when (1) there was this foolish notion that everyone that had hair one between their legs, and could walk to the polling place and articles a few words of English cold and should vote, and (2) we brought WOMEN into the fray. I know, I’m gonna catch a LOT of “flak” for the latter one, and I won’t seriously propose to revoke the 20th Amendment, knowing full well that it ain’t gonna happen. Still, am I wrong in noting that “Democracy” is a crock, as so much of the population doesn’t carefully consider ALL the various issues before exercising their franchise? Furthermore, when so many can be enlisted in the “Free Shit Brigade”, i.e., vote based on whatever largesse they THINK they’re going to get at the expense of OTHERS, then it’s proof that universal suffrage provides the elements of its very negation.

      • I don’t blame it entirely on Trump.

        There was just so much one man could do when faced with the opposition party colluding to steal the election.

        I knew something was amiss when election results from the battleground states was jiggered during the AM hours following election day.

        As a retired communications engineer, with experiences gained first with the old days of bulletin-board communication, the Internet changed EVERYTHING.

        Not just the preponderance of social media, but also the nonsensical idea that electronic voting tabulation would be trusted to companies that allowed their boxes to

        1. be accessible via thumb drives

        2. be connected directly to the internet.

        WTF?

        • Hi Proud,

          I fault him for letting the opposition steal the election, which he did by letting the opposition weaponize hypochondria, which let the opposition enable mass absentee voting, which the OF did nothing to combat, as by by insisting each of these ballots be vetted before it was counted. He had months ahead of time to do so. He did nothing.

          The guy is either a shill and in on this whole dirty business or he is an idiot.

          Neither being good.

          • There was only so much that he could do when it came to the elections. The elections are run by the states not the federal government. The states are responsible for the joke of an election that we had, as well as, being mainly responsible for the hypochondria that we faced. THEY shut us down, not the federal government. The states mandated masks, the local governments mandated mask, businesses mandated masks, but the federal government (at least under Trump) did not.

            I blame Trump for pushing the vaccine and its “warp speed.” I blame him for hiring Fauci and Brix, but the stupidity of the average person to not think for themselves and put the pieces together on this Plandemic is on us as individuals, not the Orange Man.

            • Fauci and Brix are career Federal employees with Civil Service protections. I forget whether they’re under the Senior Executive Service or not; if so, easier to dismiss if performance standards aren’t met. Since they’re both MDs, likely only the Surgeon General can recommend dismissal, and in general, like attorneys, doctors seldom, if ever, publicly question their peers competence.

        • Maybe we need to reintroduce caucuses instead of voting machines. That would stop a lot of fraud. Everybody can count how many are for Person A and how many are for Person B. Plenty of witnesses.

          • No, TOTALLY ELIMINATING voting machines is the only way! Eliminate the voting machines, and go back to paper ballots. Yes, one can commit fraud with them too, but they can’t be hacked; they can’t crash or stop working, either. Finally, if one will commit fraud with paper ballots, it’s a lot harder to do; committing fraud with paper ballots takes some work! It also leaves the guilty party more open to exposure.

  2. Looks to me like the final and complete destruction of any relationship between “money” and wealth is well on its way. Money can be printed (or key stroked). Wealth cannot be. Prices are becoming more and more arbitrary since there are damn few market principles involved in setting them anymore. Both demand and supply being managed by edict.
    The Psychopaths In Charge have gotten their hooks deep into the Soviet style control they have long sought. Far more disturbing than the price of gas is the fact a great many of the psychopaths want to dispose of it entirely, as part of their plan to make us live the delusional pie in the sky utopian unicorn life they like to pretend is possible this side of the grave. Much of what passes for political discourse is devoted to what degree such will occur, and what exactly needs to be done to achieve it, not to whether it should be done or not. Far too many believe that government can provide a solution. Despite the fact that the only thing any government has ever proven efficient and expert at is killing people, which they are indeed quite good at.

    • ‘Far more disturbing than the price of gas is the fact a great many of the psychopaths want to dispose of it entirely’ — JK

      This morning, the New York Slimes whines piteously,

      ‘A new car sold today can last a decade or two before retiring. This slow fleet turnover poses a major challenge for climate policy.’

      What inverted, ‘we have to destroy the village in order to save it’ rhetoric!

      Tragically, vehicles are just lasting too damned long. While this may benefit hapless consumers, it’s ruining the atmosphere, wail the frayed-collar stenographers (most of whom don’t even drive).

      I’ve got news for the presstitute rabble: between the runaway inflation created by trillions of ‘free money’ and bitter clingers like myself, that leisurely fleet turnover is gonna get a whole lot slower as the economy swirls down the toilet bowl. Got Charmin?

      • Hi Jim,

        The NYT is even more fatuous than you describe. Ten years? Almost any modern car has a useful service life of 15-20, even without unusually fastidious care. I routinely see cars 15-plus years old on the road and if the NYT delinquent who scribbled that pabulum had done even a cursory bit of Googling, he/she (it?) would have “learned” that the age of the typical car in service is 12-plus years.

        What does this imply?

        It implies that they – the minions of destruction – will be compelled to attempt to force us out of our cars.

        Der Tag Kommt.

      • >most of whom don’t even drive
        Yes, exactly. I had a good friend in college long ago who grew up in Manhattan.
        Family had no use for an automobile. After graduating university, he had to take driver’s ed, about which he joked it was “like being back in 9th grade again.”
        As Earl Butz said in another context, “They no play-a the game, they no make-a the rules.”
        Ten years? Still driving my 1989 F150, which bought brand new in ’89.
        Bienvenidos a Havana, amigos. 🙂

        • You’ve hit on EXACTLY the problem, “Turtle”. Too many of these “New-Yawk” twits, writing from their loft apartments in Manhattan, literally looking down their noses at we “unwashed” out there in “Flyover Country”, PRESUMING to lecture us.

          Fuck ’em.

          • Agree. 🙂
            My university friend, at least, is not a twit – he is far too intelligent to presume to be der Führer, and adjusted well to living in the “real world,” where the deer and the antelope play. 🙂

            But, we certainly have our share of such twits in California. There is, for example, the infamous Scott Wiener, the carpetbagger from Philadelphia, who presumes to tell us Californians we should not have single family zoning.

            And then there is SCAG, which aspires to do the same..

            As you said, fuck ’em.

    • As long as they get first crack at it, money is still valuable. But they think about it like a banana: the longer it sits on the shelf the less it is worth. But too green isn’t good either. There’s a sweet spot for unloading dollars and I think we’re getting pretty close to that point. $1400 stimulus checks might just be the last straw. Better spend it fast or that $1400 will look more like $800.

  3. I think the phrase “economic depression” is way to nice to describe what’s coming. We’re going to have to come up with something more appropriate. Like “economic apocalypse”.

    Headline on ZeroHedge today:
    “House Passes $1.9 Trillion Stimulus; Next Stop, Biden’s Desk”

    Teaser:
    “No Republicans voted for it.”

    Yeah those “fiscally conservative” Republicans. I’ll bet most were accomplices in Orange Fail’s highway robbery last year.

    Noone’s on our side now. Plan accordingly.

  4. Wasn’t gas at about 419.9 cents per gallon during the blissful Obama years? Oil was at 147 USD at the peak madness.

    Deficits don’t matter, nor does the price of a gallon of petroleum, rock oil is the bees knees, you want it, bad.

    If oil were worthless, it wouldn’t matter. Farmers love oil, no more workhorses farting in your face all day like Nancy does these days. You’re far away, consider yourself lucky.

    Back in the seventies before the oil conun-drum, pun intended, there was a gas war going on in and during 1970. The price paid was 19.9 centavos per gallon.

    You have to buy some of it, at least two dollars worth of the stuff, ten gallons will take you somewhere fast.

    After that, I remember gas going to 39.9 cents per gallon then to 59.9 centavos around 1977 or so. It was devastating, nobody could cope. 119.9 per gallon was heaven after that. 1987, if I can recall correctly.

    Those were the days.

    A barrel of oil is 42 gallons, a drum is 55.

    If it goes gone, there will be hell to pay.

    • What I find a delicious irony is the whining delusion that in 2016 that Trump was elected, rather, he was (Vladmir) “Putin” office. And yet, world oil prices PLUMMETED during his tenure, in fact, just to keep the refineries operating, for a time, producers were PAYING recipients to take the oil about a year ago, as that still was cheaper than a complete shutdown. Retail gasoline prices dropped to about $2/gallon in many places, which, adjusted for the long-term devaluation of that Federal Reserve “Monopoly Money”, would be about two bits in 1971 dollars. I recall those times, as, when my Pop, then a major in the USAF, would have my big Sis and I out on an errand with him, and he’d have us look for the cheapest gas, as there was a definite “Gas War” going on in Central Florida at the time. Folks, the Russian Federation is hugely dependent on exports of mineral wealth, particularly oil and natural gas, so price increases obviously HELP them, especially to pay to modernize their military. For example, they had to put off production of their new Borei-class SSBNs and their new T-14 “Armata” Main Battle Tank, both due to inevitable problems in a submersible or clanking “Science Fair”, but mostly b/c they simply were running low on cash. Now we see world oil and natural gas prices going up like a Scud missile.

      Sometimes things just ain’t what they’re purported to be on TV.

  5. My full size truck has a 36 gallon fuel tank. Filling that up is painful now and it will become worse as the Communists in DC consolidate power. The impending disaster that I think will come will make the 1970’s gas lines look like better days gone by. And it will not matter it the majority of the population rises up to throw them out. They are working on taking over the election laws from the states, amnesty for millions upon millions illegals with more pouring in. They have the media, big tech, chamber of commerce, Wall Street and ballot counting systems rigged. The only thing left for them to do is to deploy troops into every city and town just like in DC.

    • I met a traveler from an antique land,
      Who said—“Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
      Stand in the desert. . . . Near them, on the sand,
      Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
      And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
      Tell that its sculptor well those passions read
      Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
      The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed;
      And on the pedestal, these words appear:

      My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings;
      Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!
      Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
      Of that colossal Wreck, boundless and bare
      The lone and level sands stretch far away.

  6. I thought of the gas wars from the 1980’s for some reason while reading this. I sure do miss those low cost competitions for my fill up.

    In light of the price increases and expected future ones, like we live in 3rd world country now, I’m wondering, would it be better to get a diesel powered carbureted lawn mower or a fuel injected gasoline powered one?

    I sure do wish Eric did lawn mower test ride reviews like he does for cars. There’s such a mish mash of lawn mowers out there to pick from.
    And, I wonder if I’m gonna regret not trading my SUV in for a Yugo.

    • Better to get chickens and sheep to take care of the grass. The 4 footed kind of sheep. I am with Eric on that.

      Thanks demonrats and republirats!

      • I Don’t have a fence for the sheep and I’m intending to feed the chickens with mulch in the winter, from cut grass and such, rather than wood chips.
        Guess I’m running two parallel plans, one is for the worst, the other is for something better or a bit 3rd worldish? I imagine many people are doing the same.

  7. It’s probably better to just grunt and groan using no words, words cause problems. The word ‘mandate’ is pure evil. The word ‘mask’ is offensive.

    Come on, man! lol

    Grunting and groaning will be honest communication. har

    Americans drive all day long just to make it to the next gas station. They’re robots. Even worse, they charge their phones using a usb port surgically attached to their brains. It’s obscene! har

    Of course, if you had to walk thirty miles there and back to get what you want from the grocery store, you’d be in a world of hurt.

    Be thankful you have what is available. It’s there for a reason, none other. It’s called an economy, you stupid grunt and groaner.

    China is now up to 4 billion tons of coal consumed annually. They like electricity too, want it all day long.

    I suppose they could use potatoes to generate a flow of electrons, but it is of low grade, you light a light bulb, that’s it.

    China has anthracite coal deposits, fields, the Chinese are going to burn coal night and day until the cows come home. Coal is king, gets them there and back, every day.

    Whatever floats the boat. Whatever charges the EV.

  8. I can’t blame uncle joe for the current gas prices given the Texas fiasco & Saudi oil storage attack shot prices up recently.
    And I highly doubt the OM would not have signed on to Trillions more funny money printing.

    The future will be joe’s(KKKamala’s). They will rubber stamp any foolish green cult legislation that comes their way, which will likely be much more damaging than the current gas price.

    • Ayatollah Biden did prevent Texas energy companies from increasing electrical production from natural gas to compensate for the reduction in “green” output they knew was coming. For some reason this doesn’t get any media coverage. Interesting.

  9. Just an FYI for anyone on here that received any type of unemployment wages in 2020. If you have not yet filed your 2020 taxes I would recommend holding off for a few weeks. Once Biden signs the pork bill there is a $10,200 exclusion for unemployment wages for anyone who made less than $150K in 2020. Any amount over that will be taxed at your ordinary tax rate, but the first $10,200 will be excluded from taxes. If you have already filed you can amend once the US Treasury and IRS have updated their systems with the new changes.

    • Hi RG. Your tax update reminds me of all the years I worked for BNA and kept up with all the tax legislation. Not sure if you have used their products in your practice. In fact, since I retired a few years ago I’m not even sure what products they put out anymore. BTW, my specialty was international tax, but it was impossible to avoid learning the basics of domestic tax changes.

  10. I have serious concerns not only in regards to the cost of gas and in essence, electricity, but I am having nightmares on the possible shutdown of a major supply line – trucks…large ones that require a CDL.

    As of right now, the trucking companies (long haulers) are getting about $4.00 per mile. In average times I think they may about $2.50-$3.00 per mile. Eightsouthman correct me if I am wrong on these figures.

    Currently, 30-60 days out I am hearing rumors of $6-$8 per mile. That’s crazy, but it also makes perfect sense.

    1. CDL training facilities have shuttered due to COVID so they are not training at a rate that they normally would
    2. The ones that are open are forced to “social distance” due to COVID, once again lessening the amount of trainees.
    3. The federal and state governments are using hired carriers to haul the vaccines all over this country. This takes eligible drivers out of the system that would usually pick up shipping cargo, farm raised food, and other deliveries, etc.
    4. Others have found it is much cheaper (and easier) to stay at home and collect unemployment.
    5. Being a business owner I have noticed it is taking a LONG time to get any type of building supply/material, replacement part, etc. FedEx and UPS have been holding up okay. I had a few issues with them last month, but they seem to be back on track, but the shipping of certain parts is taking weeks (if not months) to receive.

    Fuel is already up 33% in my area and this is just in six weeks. I am so nervous I actually ordered more propane for next winter (coming next week) since I have no idea what fuel costs will be by September/October. I am anticipating $5 gallon for propane. I expect fuel prices to be around $3.75 in my area around Memorial Day. What does this do to the cost of food? It is already up 30% on average, this could possibly double or triple the costs if these hauling rates are true.

    I won’t even ruin everyone’s day and tell them what is in the $1.9 trillion pork bill that just passed. If you have kids you are going to love it (especially if they are in daycare). If you don’t you are screwed and I would suggest renting a few.

    • Hi RG,

      I just got my tanks (propane) filled and the cost has increased bigly. So much so that I am going to cut up 3-4 cords of wood this summer, something I stopped doing to save the time/work but which is becoming well worth doing again, thanks to Uncle Joe.

      • I am still able to get it for under $2.50 so I might as well fill up. I don’t see it coming down anytime under the Biden Administration. This way I am at least set for next winter and whatever the hell that brings.

        • Do you have mild winters? Or, a Great Big Tank? We filled the 500 gallon tank 3 times since November.
          I thought about getting a bigger tank, but I’ve not got the funds and even with a 1000 gallon tank that’s probably not enough to make it all the way through winter.
          I’m expecting to live like an Eskimo next winter.

          • This was one of our colder winters, but I have a system that is electric with a propane backup. If we feel the heat pump is struggling we
            switch over to propane at whatever temperature we have it set at. Currently, it us set at 32 degrees so once the outside temperature reaches that the gas system kicks in.

            We have had it for 19 years and it has worked well. We’ve only had two winters that we have had to fill up the tank twice that season.

            I believe we are the only ones in our neighborhood with a 500 gallon tank. Everybody else has a smaller 100 gallon tank for their gas fireplaces. When we built the house my father told me to buy the tank outright and have it buried. I am glad I listened although at the time I barely could scrape up the $2500 the tank set us back, but it was worth it and has paid for itself over the years.

  11. It’s more than your car.

    This idiocy will flow to electricity and natural gas, so it’ll be more expensive to heat/cool your house and cook. And by proxy, your water and sewage bill, as they take power as well.

    Also add to that anything that uses a truck – like food delivery, trash pickup…

    They don’t get it. They won’t get it. They never will get it. This is the 4th democrat presidente in my lifetime, and every one has screwed things up.

    • So there was a Republican POTUS that didn’t? I hadn’t noticed if there was. One has to go back to Calvin Coolidge to find a POTUS that didn’t screw things up too badly. The main reason he didn’t is because he did damn little of anything, as it should be.

  12. It had even gotten to $1.40 (amazing when you consider where I live) for a few weeks during the last year of the OM. Now its $2.80. So almost a $1.50 more here.

    Maybe we should print up some “thanks Biden” or “tanks Biden” stickers to slap on gas pumps (I know its not the station owners fault and they would have to remove them). But if enough people would do that, maybe it would send a small message. It would at least annoy Biden’s few actual supporters. It’s not like we can actually do much. We likely did re-elect the OM, so voting isn’t much of a way to do it anymore since they will cheat to get their way.

  13. Eric – it’s much more than the high cost of a fill-up for your ride. One compensates for THAT by cutting back on discretionary driving, of course, IF you can. But you may have to LITERALLY tighten your belt, as food prices, especially for fresh produce, will escalate, as they very much reflect fuel prices. And, with the relatively cold winter this year, especially in TEXAS, where much of the nation’s citrus and “truck farming” is done, the greater demand for heating oil gets reflected in less gasoline being produced at refineries.

    Me, I check the airlines for deals to see family members in NV, AZ, and TX. Looks like it’ll be about four years before I’ll be joining them, save I get a transfer to San Antonio, TX with my current outfit. Either way, I’m not gonna miss the once-Golden State of Cali(porn)ia one Gott-dammerunged bit.

  14. I think it’s a lot more complicated than you think. There are plenty of books, videos, and articles written about the so-called “Deep State” but if you want a short one that discusses the military-industrial complex and why things don’t change, no matter who lives in the White House, read “National Security and Double Government” by Michael J. Glennon. He’s a relative insider, a Professor of International Law at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, Tufts University (description from Amazon). He was writing pre-Trump, and explained in the first part of the book why foreign policy under Obama didn’t change from that under Bush II, campaign promises notwithstanding. Apparently, Glennon’s expertise is in foreign policy, but expand what he says to the banksters and corporations, and you have the whole picture.

    Another interesting source that explained some of the reasons Orange Fail lost last November is the series from the Deep Capture web site. Basically, the Trump White House was a zoo, a disorganized mess. And so was his “battle” to overturn the corrupt (s)election. After reading both the book and the series of articles, I know better than to think OF could have changed anything. Shame, as I voted for him last November (first time I voted in 20 years, and likely the last time I ever vote).

    • Duly bookmarked for ordering soon; thanks. Sounds like a timely update to ‘Tragedy and Hope’ (1966) by Carroll Quigley, who saw this coming.

      Federal elections are strictly for entertainment purposes. The Uniparty always wins, as designed and intended.

      Dementia Joe would be the ideal empty figurehead to serve the powers behind the throne, if not for his worsening incapacity (‘What am I doing here?’).

      But the obstreperous Kamala-chan is not yet fully tamed and subordinated into doing the agencies’ bidding, and may never be.

      Behind her in the succession order is the even less reliable Nancy Pelosi. Like ‘Rice-a-Roni, the San Francisco treat,’ Pelosi is way past her sell-by date, and wasn’t that great to begin with.

      What to do, what to do? It’s enough to keep a conscientious spook awake at night.

  15. I have little to say other than people who participate in this once every 4 years farce deserve what they get.

    For shit’s sake.

    Hope many times in your life dro you have to be reminded that your vote means jack and shit?

    I’m only about 50 and knew if my 20’s that this was a bunch of bullshit.

    For crying out loud.

    Who in their right mind thinks these overmonied fuckwads cans relate to our day to day? Welcome to being indoctrinated.

    If you think an Orange Big Mouth and a barely functional Corpse Puppet represent you, then you deserve to be fucking subjugated.

    That’s the price for no independent though and though should fucking choke on it.

    • You’re absolutely right, James. If you refuse to participate and ignore it, it will just go away. Just plug your ears, close your eyes, and go nanananana…

      It’s a farce. It’s rigged. It’s not a democracy. All true. All irrelevant.

      Your vote and your voice mean very little. Very little and nothing are not the same thing.

      The closer to home you are, the more your vote and voice mean. Standing on the sidelines and kvetching as you are herded into the boxcar is not an option for me.

      What voting really is, is an attempt to guide the elected servants into virtue. Its highest function is to avoid the necessity of violence to put sociopaths in their place.

      But by all means, don’t sully yourself by voting.

      • Ernie,

        “What voting really is, is an attempt to guide the elected servants into virtue”.

        What voting really is, is the most successful system ever devised to grant perceived legitimacy to an illegitimate system. It also largely de-fangs direct opposition. Jury nullification, civil disobedience, tax protests, etc… are all deemed illegitimate by the political class, “Don’t like it? Well, vote to change it”.

        Voting “close to home” as you say, may make sense. But, at the Federal level, your individual vote is meaningless (except for any symbolic value you place on it).

        Cheers,
        Jeremy

        • “It’s a farce. It’s rigged. It’s not a democracy. All true. All irrelevant.”
          By all means, practice jury nullification, civil disobedience, and tax protesting (do them as unobtrusively as possible- there are no rules, only force).

          Voting is an attempt to force legitimacy onto an illegitimate system.

          Societal systems of rules exist whether we want them or not- if you don’t agree feel free to make a frontal assault on an army.

          In other words, the only way to fight organized groups and win is to organize in groups. I don’t like it much either. But I learned long ago not to argue with reality.
          Cheers.
          Ernie

          • Hi Ernie,

            I don’t condemn voting, I just recognize that, in reality, any individual vote, at the Federal level is meaningless and cannot alter the outcome of an election. It is true that large groups of votes matter, so it is rational to attempt to influence others to vote the “right way”. But, there will be just as many people out there exhorting others to vote the “other right way”. So, not much chance there either. Likewise, higher voter turnout doesn’t matter much, we still get two sociopaths to choose from, and the “extra” group of voters is likely to be roughly split.

            “…the only way to fight organized groups and win is to organize in groups”.

            Well, I choose the non-voting group, along with discussion, writing, dissemination of info and, if I ever get the chance to be on a jury judging the fate of someone charged with a “consensual crime”, I will vote to acquit, no matter what the facts say. I just don’t see voting as a realistic solution. Sure, it may occasionally produce a less bad alternative and a slight respite. But it also perpetuates, and legitimizes, a system that forever metastasizes and becomes more tyrannical. There’s a reason why the power elite constantly bleats about the virtue of Democracy, and it’s not because it limits their power.

            So, I imagine the effect of everyone voting (no change) and the effect of nobody voting, and I conclude that the latter, though currently unimaginable, is preferable. If this, or extremely few people voting, were to occur it would signal a widescale rejection of the legitimacy of the sociopaths who claim the right to rule us.

            I am also amused that, according to the apostles of Democracy, my non-vote must be worth twice that of someone else’s vote. You see, according to doctrinaire conservatives, my non vote was actually a vote for Biden, while to doctrinaire “liberals”, it was a vote for Trump. It is also telling that these same apostles insist that we “don’t throw away our vote” to a third party. They claim such votes were stolen from the “rightful” candidate. You see, these people believe that your vote belongs to the major party candidate that most closely aligns with your views. If you cast it for a third party candidate, who actually, or more closely, aligns with your views, it was “stolen”. Remember, Nader “stole” the election from Gore and Jorgensen “stole” the election from Trump.

            I realize that my hope that enough people conclude that the government that rules them is illegitimate, and express it through non voting, is extremely unlikely. But believing that voting for one sociopath over another will restrain them and limit government, is even more unlikely.

            Cheers,
            Jeremy

            • Jeremy,

              “ I realize that my hope that enough people conclude that the government that rules them is illegitimate, and express it through non voting, is extremely unlikely. ”

              Unlikely????

              Come on!

              Everyone I’ve talked to for the last 40 years knows govco is a scam.

              They’re all “Yes, but”.

              I have a pilot friend that claimed I was nuts for refusing to get a license in order to work. That was when our glorious leader was Obama.

              He was fired last summer when he turned 65 and was no longer allowed to drive an airbus full of people. No more 300k a year.

              His “Yes, but” response was that he could still fly cargo.

              He sits at home driving his wife crazy because all the cargo planes are being piloted by younger guys furloughed from the passenger airlines. COVID.

              What percentage of people who are licensed to work haven’t already concluded the “government that rules them is illegitimate”?

              That’s a serious question Jeremy. I’d say the number is in the single digits, percentage wise.

              As far as your hope about not voting, the first time I voted was for Reagan. After 8 years of Mr. government is the problem I realized that not only did I loose my virginity in the voting booth, I also lost my butt-hyman.

              Mr. government is the problem expanded government more than any of the previous glorious leaders. I then tightened up my sphincter and voted for Ron Paul for the rest of that century.

              This century I’ve refrained from voting for twenty years. Even when Hitlery was on the ballot.

              While voter turnout is up from 100 years ago (the Timorous Twenties ((that we are living in)) vs. the Roaring Twenties), the motivation is completely different.

              As a philosopher friend of mine says, “It pays to distinguish concepts from referents.”

              But back to the “Yes, but”s.

              My airbus driver friend has been voting for the gang that would extend his mandatory retirement age for the last several elections. He has recently learned that his vote didn’t matter. Happy birthday to him.

              He knew what was coming back in the 1990s when Bob Hoover had his medical pulled. https://www.faa.gov/other_visit/aviation_industry/designees_delegations/designee_types/ame/fasmb/editorials_jj/bobhoover/

              Hoover, by the way, was one of the greatest airmen to ever walk the planet. He escaped from a POW camp and stole a German airplane. A true walking set of balls!

              Hoover’s “Yes, but”, when I spoke with him briefly about loosing his government granted license to fly, was that he was able to get an Australian license.

              Oh my, the theory of competing governments. Would that it were true.

              That’s why I support the ruling party! 2+2=whatever they tell me it equals.

              Seriously, if voting does not become mandatory, the human livestock won’t have the time to vote.

              Everyone knows voting is illegitimate Jeremy.

              Just because you don’t hear them clamor about voting for their largesse doesn’t necessarily mean that they aren’t quickly learning.

              You say, “extremely few people voting, were to occur it would signal a widescale rejection of the legitimacy of the sociopaths who claim the right to rule us.”

              Wrong.

              For the sake of a humorous discussion, let’s say that Harvey Silverglate’s book was 30 or even 300 felonies a day. Going to bed, waking up in the morning, even simply existing is a felony. (Remember Chris Rock on drug ads https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JIwar_oRIAc )

              Eventually only government “injected, inspected, detected, infected, neglected, and selected” people will be eligible to vote.

              Only the people “moral enough
              to join the army, burn women, kids, houses and villages” will go to the voting booth. That is the future.

              Almost 25% are licensed, over 50% plus are govco, do you really believe the remaining 20 some will even be allowed to participate in our holy democracy?

              In reality, only a mediocre amount of those beholden to government vote. The hoi polloi go fishing.

              The reason the status quo exists is because of self perpetuation. A lot of looters vote.

              The ones that don’t vote now are signaling “a widescale rejection of the legitimacy of the sociopaths who claim the right to rule us.”

              You somehow hoping that the wolves will vote to NOT have the sheep for dinner?

              • Hey Tuan,

                My post was mostly about the futility of voting, not that not voting will work. Anyway, I’m surrounded by people (I live in Santa Fe) who believe that voting is a moral duty. They are more appalled when I say that I don’t vote than if I would say that I plan to vote for the “wrong guy”. So, I think your assessment that “everyone knows that voting is illegitimate” is wrong. In any case, voting (or not voting) is trivial, yet many people place huge importance on it. I see this as a sort of mass delusion. And it’s not just limited to the die hard Statists, libertarians who insist that voting is an immoral act of aggression overvalue voting as well.

                Cheers,
                Jeremy

      • Maybe not vote, but at least try to undermine them at every opportunity. If done en-masse, that action will have an effect.

    • Yes, James. The problem, though, is the rest of us are doomed to also pay the price – monetarily and otherwise – for them to have secured their “I Voted” sticker.

    • Votes still matter on a state and local level. Federal representatives are worth shit, but governors and state legislatures are still a powerful force. Take Florida and South Dakota. No matter what the psychopaths in DC say, states decide what happens within their borders. Vote for state and local candidates that will resist the illegitimate federal government and leave all federal candidate bubbles blank. Enough people start doing that and people will start getting the message.

      • Anon,

        “Votes still matter on a state and local level.”

        Mr. Carlin: So I have solved this little political dilemma for myself in a very simple way: on election-day, I-STAY-HOME. I don’t vote. Fuck ’em. FUCK THEM. I don’t vote. Two reasons. Two reasons I don’t vote: first of all, it’s meaningless. This country was bought and sold and paid for a long time ago. The shit they shuffle around every four years doesn’t mean a fuckin’ thing. And secondly, I don’t vote ’cause I believe if you vote, you have no right to complain. People like to twist that around. I know, they say, they say: “well if you don’t vote you have no right to complain”. But where’s the logic in that? If you vote, and you elect dishonest, incompetent people, and they get into office and screw everything up, well you are responsible for what they have done, YOU caused the problem, you voted them in, you have no right to complain.

          • A long, long, long discussion. One I’ve been involved in for a couple of decades, with myself. Not voting is my current position with the facts in hand. New facts may change my mind. I’d be glad to read anyone’s opinion and the rational behind it. Always looking for that insight that only individual critical thought can produce.

        • Montana voted Gianforte in as governor. The first Republican governor in 16 years. Why it took that long, I have no clue. Regardless, take a look at what’s been happening since. Diaper dictate lifted. Governor’s health dictates limited. Constitutional carry enacted.

          State and local votes DO matter.

  16. ‘Life in the United States has gotten much more expensive thanks to the selection.’ – EP

    Indeed it has. And tomorrow, the tab is going to rise astronomically, as the House of Reptilians … errr, Representatives … passes the MOAP (Mother Of All Porkfests) to the tune of $1.9 trillion.

    Though touted as ‘pandemic relief,’ this obscene spending orgy actually showers more loot on state and local governments – $350 billion – than on stimulus checks to individuals.

    California, the largest recipient (surprise!) gets an eye-popping $42.3 billion. That’s despite the state treasury actually receiving a revenue windfall, owing to the fantastical run-up in technology shares. Via its confiscatory income tax rates, California rakes in a fat share of such gains.

    Sickeningly, the plunder – every last penny of it recklessly borrowed – filters down to every state, county and city in the land.

    Injecting World War 2 level emergency spending into an economy that’s already bouncing back is an epic policy error. Not only will it crank some prices sky-high, but also by allocating hundreds of billions to mismanaged, corrupt governments, it ensures a continuing drop in living standards by starving the economy of productive investment.

    Clowngress truly is outdoing itself this time. Those who vote for this Third World folie de grandeur should BURN.

    • That putative $1400 payout for the privileged preferred recipients amounts to $14000 per taxpayer. On top of the ones last year.

      What cannot be repaid, will not be repaid. It will destroy the USA- but that’s been baked in the cake for many decades.

      She was born of good men, conceived in 1776, came of age with the adoption of the Bill of Rights, and grew to ripe fertile greatness for nearly 100 years. Then Lincoln raped her, Wilson birthed the bastard empire, FDR put the chains on her, Nixon hooked her on crack, and Bush, Clinton, Bush, and Obama gang raped the poor chained crack whore in their basement. Trump, for all his problems, showed her a bit of kindness.

      Time for a merciful death- and a glorious rebirth of liberty. Starting with you and me and the local boys.

      • To your presidential rogues gallery, I would add Harry Truman, who created the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the rebadged Department of Defense, the CIA, the NSA, and the National Security Council.

        Now the agencies merely brief the Gang of Eight on their vast, unaccountable black budget. Ordinary Kongress Klowns, out of the loop, are kept on short leashes (not that they would dare to bark).

        • The things that were going on in the “Military-Industrial Complex” were bad enough that the first SecDef, James Forrestal, jumped (or was he PUSHED?) to his death at Bethesda Naval Hospital (now Walter Reed Medical Center) in May 1949. Forrestal had lobbied to keep his job with GOP candidate Thomas Dewey in 1948, as he was expected to win, and Truman demanded Forrestal’s resignation.

          Who knows, maybe “Give ’em hell, Harry” was unhinged by the impromptu meeting with the alien(s) at Roswell, NM in July 1947..

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pbqOOLzk10

  17. Before the Republic was murdered for the Drooler of America, regular unleaded was $1.95 in in Nassau County NY. That same gallon is now $2.70 at the same gas station. 46% in 4 months.. Imagine where we’ll be in four years…

    The economic destruction cannot be overstated. The US economy kept limping along after the 2007/08 mortgage/real estate collapse – UNTIL oil spiked tp $150BBL. It’s not the straw that breaks the consumers’ back but the full gas tanks

    • $4.20 for 87 octane at an independent Chevron dealer here in Corona CA 92882 as of last Saturday. Company stations likely to be cheaper. $3.50 for “no brand” 87 octane.

      • Likely all the gasoline in western Riverside County comes from the same one or two distributors; the ostensible brand, if one is displayed at all, is irrelevant. Just fill up at the least expensive place within convenient reach.

        FWIW, I’ve resolved to NEVER use my ATM and/or credit card, instead, “cash only” as long as I can, for the following reasons:

        1) Many stations impose an ATM fee for a debit transaction, or charge higher per gallon if a credit card is used. Why pay a FEE to purchase ANYTHING if it’s not necessary?

        2) Many organized crime outfits, especially the Russian Mafia, have been involved in installed surreptitious credit card scanners in gas pumps that have card readers. Way too easy for your account to get hacked, especially if a corrupt station attendant has let his confederates get your PIN off the tonal signals (you’d be shocked how EASY that is!) when you punch it on the keypad.

        3) It becomes another way that Big Tech and/or the “Gubmint” TRACKS you; i.e., they know where you get fuel. Same principle should apply if you’re stocking up to “prep”…pay cash or barter. If we ever get into a SHTF situation, it won’t be hard for roving government goon squads to go through your ATM and/or credit card history to see if you’ve made large grocery and/or fuel purchases, to confiscate (i.e. STEAL) it.

        • Chevron sells gasoline from El Segundo refinery to non-Chevron retailers, but without their “Techron” additive, whatever that is..
          Independent Chevron dealer whose price I quoted tells me the company charges him more for product than what they sell the identical product, with same branding, at company stations. I like the guy, but I buy very little, if any, gasoline from his station.

          Odd thing is some refineries have changed hands. What was once Mobil Torrance (a.k.a. “CherMobil” years ago, due to their bad safety record) is now owned by another company. What was once Unocal Wilmington is, last I knew, owned & operated by Phillips. There are still Mobil stations around, but no Phillips 66 stations. I presume the Mobil stations are getting their fuel from Torrance refinery, but i do not know.
          I seldom get to South Bay, but I imagine Arco refinery is still up & running. Don’t know about Valero.

          • AFAIK, two of John D Rockfeller’s “bastard children”, i.e., the various Standard Oil Companies that came out of the great 1911 breakup, that is, Standard Oil of NJ (Exxon) and NY (Mobil, formerly Socony-Vacuum), reunited as ExxonMobil. Another bastard kid, Standard of CA (Chevron), eventually acquired non-Standard competitors Unocal and Texaco, but you can still find all three brands in various parts of the western USA. Conoco and Phillips also merged about the same time; that they bought Unocal’s Wilmington refinery is not necessarily a surprise, as Chevron likely either had an excess of capacity that ConocoPhllips could use, or, to satisfy CA and Federal antitrust concerns. Valero, as in Tosco? You betcha it’s going.

            Oil companies aren’t as “vertically” integrated as one might think, and considering their diversification into finance, as well as other energy sectors, INCLUDING solar and wind (I think that monstrosity just inside of CA as you cross on I-15 into NV at Primm is partly owned by Chevron). Truly, “oil” companies are better described as “energy” companies, and with all the lobbying they do, they may as well be considered defacto agencies of the Federal Government.

            • >they may as well be considered de facto agencies of the Federal Government.
              LOL.
              Or maybe the other way around. 🙁
              ‘Round about 1994, when most of the world’s major oil companies were about to “chow down” on fresh oil fields in the Caspian Basin, U.S. Congress held hearings, chaired by Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, at which Unocal, et. al. pled their case for constructing a pipeline from Caspian Basin through Afghanistan to the Indian Ocean. Guess who provides security? That’s called “protecting U.S. interests.” Smedley Butler had it figured out long ago.

              >“oil” companies are better described as “energy” companies

              Or better still, “natural resources” companies. Unocal once owned & operated Mountain Pass Mine, for example. At the time, Mountain Pass was the world’s largest (only?)
              source of rare earth elements. Internet search “Mountain Pass Mine” for further info, if you do not know the story.

            • >Standard Oil of NJ
              When I was a boy, SONJ sold gasoline under “Esso” brand, which later morphed into “Enco,” and later merged, I think, with Humble Oil & Refining to become Exxon. Not sure of the genealogy, but I remember all those brands from many years ago.

              Old joke:
              Q: What do you call a bee that flies around gasoline stations?
              A: An Esso bee.
              Maybe in more ways than one.

              • When I was quite young and ENCO was in the promotion stage we stopped at an ENCO stationto fill on the 28 cent gas. Then up in the sky there were four AT-6’s doing the ENCO name with synchronized bursts of smoke to make the logo across the sky.
                My dad told us that it wasn’t really skywriting, but I was impressed at how readable it was.

    • The Republic was murdered in the mid-1800s. And 2008 is what started the final destruction of the economy. Though he hasn’t produced too many videos, see the Goo-tube series Best Evidence. He explains it well using the Fed’s own data.

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