Gas Prices At Record Highs

With gas prices close to $4.00 per gallon in some parts of the United States, the amount of disposable income for families is down and anxiety up.

Sixty percent of employees confirmed that the price of gas has significantly reduced the amount of money they have to spend on other things, while 45 percent reported the need to pay off debts more slowly or not at all. Finally, 26 percent indicated that the cost of gas has necessitated going without basics such as heat or air conditioning, or even cutting back on food purchases, over the past few months.

With oil companies reaping record profits while still enjoying tax subsidies, it is unconscionable that people are deciding between food and gasoline. Why exactly are prices rising so quickly? They say that refinery capacity is down causing the price spike but Hillary Clinton has called for an investigation.

"We need to investigate whether we need stronger inspections or other processes in place to ensure that refiners, number one, are leveling with us when they talk about refineries being down, and number two, that they invest adequately in maintaining and improving their facilities to avoid this in the first place," Senator Clinton said. "I think that the series of factors that go into this problem really deserve attention because ultimately the oil companies are making more money than they have ever made before. They are not reinvesting it the way they need to in refinery capacity, modernizing refineries and improving their processes. That means that they don't use those profits to keep our gas supply as affordable and regulated as possible and I'd like to know why."

The American public is being screwed by big oil. It's time the American people fight back. We must demand our tax dollars are used to create alternate sources of energy not wage war. Our dependence on foreign oil is the most pressing national security issue we face yet we seem to do nothing to end it. How much per gallon will it take for real citizen action?