Dennis RomeroThe jobless rate is down. People are starting to spend money again. Some of Wall Street's biggest stocks, like Apple, are trading at record highs. Damn, this Great Recession might have just turned a corner for the better.
Finally.
Wait a minute. Did you say $5.59-a-gallon gas? Right here in L.A?
Oy vey.
It's almost like there's a conspiracy to keep the pressure on President Obama at all costs. Improving economy? The end of war in Iraq? The death of Osama Bin Laden? We'll up the ante with historically high gas prices!
Interesting side note: Republican presidential candidates have been pestering Obama to get tough on Iran's allegedly nuclear-weapon-loving ways. You know what has triggered these gas prices? European nations getting tough on Iran's allegedly nuclear-weapon-loving ways. (Iran has been pulling back on its exports to Western nations).
You know who's now blaming Obama for this spike in gas prices? Yeah — GOP presidential candidate Newt Gingrich, who's promising $2.50-a-gallon prices if he's elected.
(How's he going to do that? Invade Saudi Arabia?).
Credit: losangelesgasprices.com
Anywho, AAA says average prices in California are up to $4.315 per gallon. In a press release, the organization also blames “one of California's major out-of-state gas suppliers, a Washington refinery” which “caught fire and will be shut down for at least a few weeks.”
(There's always a refinery outage when foreign supplies are squeezed. Or is it that we only notice during these times of huge increases?).
The AAA's estimates never seem to reflect the reality of prices seen on L.A. street corners, however.
Behold the $5.59-a-gallon price at Chevron near Staples Center (811 W. Olympic Boulevard). We love setting national records.
The prices are the highest since 2008 — another election year (hmm).
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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