12:19 AM
OGB community
It seems that every day, the American public is being manipulated by someone or something. One day, one side or the other tries to manipulate us to their point of view, often by "spinning" information to put their view in its best light. About a year ago, a book was published that indicated that during the 2008 election campaign, both sides spent almost all their time discussing political "spinning," while almost no time was spent discussing policy strategy. That would be upsetting if it was an isolated case - however, it seems almost epidemic in American politics for politicians to "always be running," and they never seem to transform from politician to statesman.
Have you ever wondered that gas prices at the gas tank seem to go up as soon as oil futures group, but do not drop nearly as precipitously when oil futures drop? There was a time when oil and gas pricing was predominantly dictated by supply and demand. Today, it appears to predominantly impacted by whim and manipulation! I know it infuriates me when I drive past a gas station and the price is lower in the morning than it is in the afternoon, even though that station has not gotten a gasoline delivery during that period! To me, that is a combination of manipulation, greed and contempt for the consumer. Yet, our political leaders address the issue more with rhetoric, than with any real action. Alternative energy usage, including natural gas, clean coal, solar, wind, etc., should all be aggressively pursued if our political leaders wanted to impact that market, but instead they play the blame game! I guess, in all fairness, since the same leaders depend on taxing these commodities, they are unwilling to do "the right thing."
The Surgeon General has for years, warned of the dangers of cigarette smoking, yet no politician would consider outlawing these unhealthy products, because they are so dependent on the tax revenues received. It is the same thing with rising gas prices, since most states have sales taxes as a percentage of the price of the gasoline, and therefore lower prices mean lower gas tax revenues.
We should demand that politicians become statesman, and think "outside the box." Doing that would not only address our potential energy dependence, but improve our trade deficit situation, increase domestic
employment by redeploying some of the jobless into these essential alternative energy related industries.
There is hardly any business that does NOT use manipulation as part of its marketing plan. I am sure that you have noticed certain retailers that constantly run "Buy One- Get One Half Price" sales (actually a total of a 25% discount), while others weakly run percent off sales. How about jewelers who appear to have inflated retail prices, only to promote their "great" discounts?
Why all the manipulation? Because it works. Human nature searches for bargains, so retailers make consumers believe they are getting one. It is certainly the rare retailer that promotes their every day off-pricing.
There are many things that Americans should be upset about. Isn't it about time for U.S. citizens to demand more from their political leaders, their businesses, their banks, and their energy/ utility/ gas companies? Let's all join together to say, "NO MORE!"
Have you ever wondered that gas prices at the gas tank seem to go up as soon as oil futures group, but do not drop nearly as precipitously when oil futures drop? There was a time when oil and gas pricing was predominantly dictated by supply and demand. Today, it appears to predominantly impacted by whim and manipulation! I know it infuriates me when I drive past a gas station and the price is lower in the morning than it is in the afternoon, even though that station has not gotten a gasoline delivery during that period! To me, that is a combination of manipulation, greed and contempt for the consumer. Yet, our political leaders address the issue more with rhetoric, than with any real action. Alternative energy usage, including natural gas, clean coal, solar, wind, etc., should all be aggressively pursued if our political leaders wanted to impact that market, but instead they play the blame game! I guess, in all fairness, since the same leaders depend on taxing these commodities, they are unwilling to do "the right thing."
The Surgeon General has for years, warned of the dangers of cigarette smoking, yet no politician would consider outlawing these unhealthy products, because they are so dependent on the tax revenues received. It is the same thing with rising gas prices, since most states have sales taxes as a percentage of the price of the gasoline, and therefore lower prices mean lower gas tax revenues.
We should demand that politicians become statesman, and think "outside the box." Doing that would not only address our potential energy dependence, but improve our trade deficit situation, increase domestic
employment by redeploying some of the jobless into these essential alternative energy related industries.
There is hardly any business that does NOT use manipulation as part of its marketing plan. I am sure that you have noticed certain retailers that constantly run "Buy One- Get One Half Price" sales (actually a total of a 25% discount), while others weakly run percent off sales. How about jewelers who appear to have inflated retail prices, only to promote their "great" discounts?
Why all the manipulation? Because it works. Human nature searches for bargains, so retailers make consumers believe they are getting one. It is certainly the rare retailer that promotes their every day off-pricing.
There are many things that Americans should be upset about. Isn't it about time for U.S. citizens to demand more from their political leaders, their businesses, their banks, and their energy/ utility/ gas companies? Let's all join together to say, "NO MORE!"
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