Breaking News: Gas Prices Are Crazy High

(Not that breaking ;)

Earlier in the week I filled up my truck for $70. That's about $50 more than it was 10 years ago.

How much does it cost to fill up your vehicle and are you driving less? I know I am.

Let us know.

Justice Jim Smith Awash In Oil Money

Jim Smith raised about $40,000 in June from oil industry executives.

Why are oil industry executives contributing to the Jim Smith Supreme Court Campaign?

Sam Hall:

In a time of $4-per-gallon of gas, perhaps Smith’s financial backers should think more about finding ways to cut the cost of gasoline for the consumer than backing a Supreme Court justice who has, for more than a couple of these donors, ruled on their behalf.

Jim Smith's opponent for that seat is well respected jurist Jim Kitchens and to match those slick oil dollars they are trying to raise $50,000 in small donations in contrast to the large donations coming from big business' that want to continue to corrupt our courts.

Roger Wicker Picked Inaction Over Protecting Mississippi Consumers

As we’ve shown you here and here Roger Wicker seems determined to whitewash his record of failing the Coast. This is example #6 of how Roger Wicker failed our Gulf Coast and why for showing such lack of foresight he should not be allowed to serve as one of Mississippi’s United States Senators.

Roger Wicker actually voted against cracking down on price gouging on gasoline. Really.

In September 2005, Wicker voted against strengthening penalties against oil companies engaged in price gouging in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Roger Wicker is no “longtime friend of the Gulf Coast” as he claimed in his first ad.

If you’ve got a suggestion on why Roger Wicker is bad for Mississippi in general or bad for the Coast specifically please e-mail us at cottonmouthblog AT gmail DOT com or leave a comment.

Senator Roger Wicker Voted No On Possible Solutions To Gas And Energy Prices

Roger Wicker voted against the Consumer-First Energy Act that would lower prices at the pump by addressing the root causes of record high gas prices, including rolling back tax breaks for big oil companies and investing in renewable energy. Wicker, who has taken almost $250,000 from the oil and gas companies, voted against the legislation despite the average price of gas in the United States having reached $4 per gallon.

Why did he vote against the bill?

Wicker Has Taken Almost $250,000 From Oil And Gas Industry. Since coming to Congress, Wicker has accepted $248,235 from oil and gas interests.

Jeff chronicled some of his other pro-oil/anti-consumer votes in this previous post.

New York Times Covers Specific Hardship Of High Fuel Costs In The Delta

The New York Times:

Here in the Mississippi Delta, some farm workers are borrowing money from their bosses so they can fill their tanks and get to work. Some are switching jobs for shorter commutes.

People are giving up meat so they can buy fuel. Gasoline theft is rising. And drivers are running out of gas more often, leaving their cars by the side of the road until they can scrape together gas money.

Anthony Clark, a farm worker from Tchula, says he prays every night for lower gasoline prices. He recently decided not to fix his broken 1992 Chevrolet Astro van because he could not afford the fuel. Now he hires friends and family members to drive him around to buy food and medicine for his diabetic aunt, and his boss sends a van to pick him up for the 10-mile commute to work.

A trip from Tchula to the nearest sizable town about 15 minutes away can cost him $25 roundtrip — for the driving and the waiting. That is about 10 percent of what he makes in a week.

Cleveland Whiteside, who works with Mr. Clark and used to commute 30 miles a day, said his Jeep Cherokee was repossessed last month, because “I paid so much for gas to get to work I couldn’t pay my payments anymore.” His employer, Larry Clanton, has lent him a pickup truck so he can get to work.

Signs of pain and adaptation because of the cost of gas are everywhere. Local fried chicken restaurants are closing because people are eating out less. At the hardware store here, sales have plummeted to $30 a day from $250 a day a month ago.

If the Delta wasn't already hurting enough it appears fuel prices have made it that much more difficult to even survive.

It's reading things like this that really make me angry about the folks who blame the folks who live in the Delta for their poverty. They work just as hard as the wealthier complainers, but just can't get by. They are the survivors and they need help.

Fed-Up When You Fill-up

$1.25 for gas... those were the days...

REMINDER: Travis Childers ‘Fed Up When You Fill Up’ Tour Today

BOONEVILLE (Thursday, May 8, 2008) – Travis Childers will temporarily roll back the price of gas – and outline his plans to reduce the skyrocketing cost of gas – today during his “Fed Up When You Fill Up” tour in Mississippi’s 1st Congressional District.

Childers will stop in Grenada, Columbus and Tupelo. He will offer the first 50 motorists at each location up to 10 gallons of gas for $1.25 a gallon – the average price on March 5, 1997, the day Republican Greg Davis voted in the state Legislature to increase the state tax on a barrel of oil produced in Mississippi.

Childers and Davis meet in the Tuesday, May 13, election to fill the unexpired term of the vacant 1st District U.S. House seat.

“FED UP WHEN YOU FILL UP” TOUR
11 a.m.: Grenada, Kent’s Citgo, 709 Lakeview Drive
3 p.m.: Columbus, Express Mart No. 7, 1604 Gardner Blvd.
5 p.m.: Tupelo, Speeedy Gonzales EZ Stop, 1725 N. Gloster St.

Back to the economy

I didn't get a chance to post this article from the Sun Herald yesterday. It's not completely uncommon for people to steal gas- in Jackson, everyone has to pay before they pump since Katrina. However, stealing $1600 worth of gas is astounishing to me, and further proof we're all in some tough times, especially in the independent trucking business.

Truckers make off with 400 gallons of diesel fuel

JACKSON COUNTY --Two tractor-trailer rigs pulled up to a gas pump at the Wade Quick Stop and BP gas station late Thursday night or early Friday morning and stole $1,600 worth of diesel.

The station, on Mississippi 63, was closed when the culprits made off with 400 gallons. Sheriff Mike Byrd on Monday warned all gas stations to turn off the electricity to their pumps at night.

"Somehow they got the pump to come on," Byrd said. "Someone went into the control top of the pump. I have no idea how they did it."

An Awkward and Interesting Race To Come?

From a Sun Herald article I learn that:

Musgrove and Wicker are longtime friends and shared an apartment in Jackson when they served together in the state Senate.

I'm curious as to how this might effect the tone of a Musgrove vs. Wicker race.

Are their bonds still so strong that they would stay away from the low blow?

Will both use surrogates and independent expenditures to do their attacks to avoid looking like they are attacking a friend?

Or will all be fair in love war and (add) politics?


If Musgrove or the DSCC decide that attacking Wicker is a good idea (and it is) Will Bardwell suggests some attacks:

SCHIP: Wicker opposed expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program earlier this year in an effort to deny extension of government-funded health care to 9 million uninsured children. Nearly 50 Republicans supported the bill in the House of Representatives despite the White House's opposition, but Wicker wasn't one of them. Undoubtedly, he'd defend the vote as an exercise in fiscal conservatism, but weighed against the health of 9 million children, that argument could sound hollow -- particularly in a cash-strapped state like Mississippi.

Big Oil: Way back in January, Wicker opposed a Democratic-led bill to repeal tax breaks for U.S. oil companies and fund renewable energy programs. Wicker also has accepted nearly $330,000 from energy companies over his congressional career. Wicker's not the only one, but that only goes to paint him into the just-another-Washington-insider corner. I can't think of any good answer that Wicker could muster.

Iraq: Mississippi is as conservative a state as there is, but Wicker's voting history on the Iraq war might still provide Musgrove some traction. Back in June, a poll showed that more than 40 percent of Republicans favored some form of troop withdrawal from the region, but Wicker has been as steady a rubber stamp for the White House as any member of Congress; as far as I can tell, Wicker has voted to approve all $482 billion for Iraq war funding. That's a big number to have hanging around one's neck for such an unpopular (and continuing) engagement. Even in deep-red Mississippi, this issue can play with moderate-to-mildly conservative voters that usually vote Republican.

Minimum wage: Wicker opposed the narrowly successful effort to raise the minimum wage to $7.25. That vote could be used to hurt Wicker among rural, blue-collar voters that hurt Musgrove in 2003.

College loans: Mississippi has plenty of education problems on its own without Wicker's opposition to a bipartisan effort to cut the interest rates on federally subsidized student loans in half. More than 120 Republican congressmen supported the College Student Relief Act, but Wicker wasn't one of them. Musgrove would do well to make him explain why.

I do hope that whomever we Democrats choose can take the fight with proper financing to the Mississippi and National Republican machines.

Update: Wicker gave Barbour $10,000 in 2003 in his race against Musgrove so I doubt that friendship is still as strong.

Wes Teel on Lott and Republicans (Humor)

Wes Teel who was one of the victims of the Minor prosecution writes at The Gulf Coast Realist:

Personally, I have a problem with Trent Lott. Any man whose hair does not get messed up in the middle of a hurricane is suspect in my book. His hair simply cannot be real. The coiffure is some sort of helmet. It may even be connected to the internet. Certainly, it is connected to Fox News, the O'Rielly Factor, Hannity (not Combs), and, of course, Rush.

I am convinced that each morning a designated staffer goes to his house and bolts his hair into place on his head. Yes, bolts it on with industrial strength bolts - probably supplied by a defense contractor. Lott would not take a chance that his personal head gear would fall off when he bends over while kissing a special interest on the butt - and he has never met a special interest he didn't like. Until the day State Farm denied his personal insurance claim on his storm damaged house - that was a character builder.

I agree that Trent's hair is something else. When I visited Washington D.C. the first time I told some staffer (of a non-Mississippian) that we were going to his office and he asked if his hair was real. It's kind of a big deal in some circles which is ridiculous and funny.

But, don't you know so many, many Republicans truly are gay and hide in the closet (as we Democrats know they do). By asserting macho issues they seek to hide their secret lives. That's why they pretend to be macho men - and in some cases macho women, are you listening Ann Coulter - by starting wars, rattling on against women's rights, opposing gun control, and, of course, let us not forget, denying there is any semblance of truth in the concept of global warming - bring on the oil rigs boys !

That last remark might seem to be a stretch, but think about it for a minute and it's really not. Oil rigs. Guys in work clothes. Hot sweaty guys working in hot steamy climates. When they bend over what shows ? Rhymes with racks. Yes you know. Remember the workman guy from the "Village People". The one with the tools hanging off him. Come on, I'm talking about the tool belt folks. Get your mind out of the gutter, will you ? The very image could could turn a low life right wing Republican on. Yes, yes it could. Now you just stop right there. Think about it.

You're thinking about it, aren't you ?

Bring on the oil rig boys.

Check out his site. He's been wronged, but he has clearly kept a sense of humor.

Wes Teel's Gulf Coast Realist

A Funny Thing Happened At The Gas Pump

From a press release:

Agriculture Commissioner Lester Spell is apparently listening to challenger Rickey Cole’s speeches. For several weeks now, Cole has been mentioning the fact that the fuel pumps at Hubbard’s truck stop at the intersection of highways 27 and 18 in Utica had not been inspected by Spell’s office since April of 2005. This weekend, Cole noticed that each of the pumps at the station was sporting not just the usual one but three shiny new yellow inspection stickers boldly bearing “Lester Spell, Jr. D.V.M.” in prominent letters.

On his way from Ovett to Utica yesterday, Cole stopped in Collins and in Ferguson (just north of Monticello) and photographed inspection stickers at stations in those towns. The pump in Collins was last inspected in May of 2006. The pump in Ferguson hasn’t had a visit from Spell’s crack team of inspectors since February of 2003.

Whomever Spell sent to Utica to inspect the pumps at the truck stop must not have had enough time to work the whole town. The pumps at the Pit Stop on Highway 18 in Utica haven’t been inspected since April of 2005. Perhaps most disconcerting, the fuel pumps at the recently reopened convenience store at Highway 27 and Cayuga Street in Utica have not been inspected since April of 2005, even though that store just reopened a few months ago after having been closed for more than a year.

On his campaign website, Spell claims that he will “continue strong enforcement of consumer protection laws that insure safe foods and correct pricing in grocery stores and make sure customers get what they pay for at the gas pumps.”

Cole responded “Fuel pump accuracy and fuel quality hit Mississippi consumers in the pocketbook every day. Gasoline is just too high for any inaccuracy to be tolerated. Consumers can see for themselves that there are pumps around the state that Spell has not inspected for years. Once again, we have seen that Spell’s true performance in office falls far short of his self-promoting rhetoric. His credibility gap is so wide you could drive every cull cow in Mississippi through it sideways.”

Greenspan Says Iraq War Was For Oil

Polly and the Mooch:

From the Times of London:

AMERICA’s elder statesman of finance, Alan Greenspan, has shaken the White House by declaring that the prime motive for the war in Iraq was oil.
In his long-awaited memoir, to be published tomorrow, Greenspan, a Republican whose 18-year tenure as head of the US Federal Reserve was widely admired, will also deliver a stinging critique of President George W Bush’s economic policies.
However, it is his view on the motive for the 2003 Iraq invasion that is likely to provoke the most controversy. “I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows: the Iraq war is largely about oil,” he says.

Anyone see this reported in the US News programs? pretty big deal, I think.

The part here that gets me is the 'everybody knows' phrase. I think a majority of the people, particularly those who supported the President's war, think this isn't true. the main rationale? I hear the phrase "That couldn't be true". as if its too bad to be real (or I couldn't have been so wrong about the guy) is a rationale. I guess you take the better of two evils when "profound incompetence" is the other choice on the table. The problem is that they aren't mutually exclusive.

Polly and the Mooch

John Eaves' New Ad "Moneychangers"

"Nobody's Governor, but Yours" - I like that line and I think it is sincere.

Attorney General Jim Hood Continues to Fight for Consumers

Attorney General Jim Hood will take the 2 of 7 Mississippi oil companies to court that refused to settle on charges of gas gouging that occurred immediately after Hurricane Katrina. The two companies are Wilburn Oil of Mantachie, and Fair Oil of Louisville. These companies took advantage of needy people in crisis and they should get swift justice.

Mississippi law prevents prices from being increased during a state of emergency. The law, though, does allow retailers or oil distributors, such as Wilburn, to pass along price increases they incur.

That apparently is not what happened here.

After the storm, Hood said, his office was inundated with complaints alleging oil distributors of price gouging. He said many companies did raise prices, but that some did so to cover their increased costs.

He said he chose to pursue only the most obvious examples of price gouging. While admitting no wrongdoing, five companies have agreed to cooperate and pay a total of $293,255 to the state, including the cost of the alleged price gouging and penalties.

Keep 'em on their toes Jim, let them know Mississippi is not a place where you can swindle your neighbor.

The Daily Journal Article

Attorney General Jim Hood Takes it to the Gas Gougers

Attorney General Jim Hood continues to fight for all Mississipians and for the betterment of this state. Jim Hood has gotten 5 companies to pay a settlement for taking advantage of Mississippians following Hurricane Katrina.

LegalNewsline Reports:

Hood investigated seven companies, and the five that settled paid a total of $293,254.61, most of that amount coming in the form of penalties. Fair Oil and Wilburn Oil were the two that did not settle.

(Using part of the money)"We are taking an in depth look at the retail gasoline industry within Mississippi by conducting a market study with the assistance of the Economics Department of Mississippi State University," Hood said. "This will give us a significant tool to determine whether anything illegal is occurring and if so, what laws are being broken. This will be a major investigatory tool if price gouging is suspected in the future."

The breakdown of penalties (also from LegalNewsline) is as follows:
-Sumrall Oil: $54,849.51
Disgorgement $4,003.14
Penalties $40,000
Cost and Fees $7,287.29

-Prince Oil: $65,165.79
Disgorgement $9,591.01
Penalties $41,000
Cost and Fees $14,574.78

-Spaceway: $36,086.74
Disgorgement $2,799.45
Penalties $26,000
Cost and Fees $7,287.29

-Southern Oil: $62,861.94
Disgorgement $9,574.65
Penalties $46,000
Cost and Fees $7,287.29

-Moak Petroleum: $74,290.63
Disgorgement $4,003.14
Penalties $63,000
Cost and Fees $7,287.49