[TheRealVille]

As is often the case, you did not understand my post. I agree that the price of gasoline is not immune to the law of supply and demand.

However, there are a few conspiracy theorists here who claim that greedy oil companies are free to set the price of gasoline however they want to fatten their wallets. When prices drop, their voices fall silent.

The point of my post was not to allege price fixing by Obama or the Democrats, it was to challenge the conspiracy theorists to explain the drop in the cost of gasoline based on their "analysis" of rising prices.

Although you did not intend to do so, you seem to agree with me that global oil prices drive gasoline prices, although there is sometimes a lag between changes in oil prices and changes in gasoline prices. EPA requirements, which change with the location and season, also contribute to price volatility.

There is no quandary for me - politicians can and have impacted the price of gasoline through tax rates and regulations, but periodic increases and decreases in the price of gasoline are normal and have nothing to do with politics.

I guess we mostly agree then. But, make no mistake, oil companies did/have been making record profits with their gas prices, for the last several years, while Americans have suffered at the pump, that's an indisputable fact. Further proof that big money is getting richer, while the middle is shrinking. The valley between the rich and the middle is the biggest it's ever been, and upward mobility is at it's lowest. Wages are stagnant for the middle, and growing for the rich.