Less than a year ago, I wrote an essay about the incredibly high price of a gallon of gas. It was (gasp) $1.89 a gallon. If I had only known.

At the start of 2001, the year in which George W. Bush took over the office of the presidency after being installed by a bare majority the Supreme Court, the average price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.38. Last week, when I filled up my car, I paid $3.03. Let me repeat that.

$1.38 per gallon in January 2001

$3.03 per gallon in September 2005

That means while George W. Bush has been president the price of gasoline in America has more than doubled. You are paying more than twice as much for a gallon of gas today than you were a scant 6 years ago. Now, the last time the price of gasoline doubled, it took from 1978 until, well, 2001. In 1978 the price of gas was $.65 per gallon. That was right before President Carter decided that the US dependence on foreign oil was a dangerous thing and took steps to remedy the situation. It was a battle that he lost, because the oil industry responded to his dependence-cutting measures by withholding supplies, which resulted in a "shortage" that was blamed on Jimmy Carter.

So it took 23 years to go from $.65 to $1.38 but less than 6 years to go from $1.38 to $3.03. That's an increase of 220%. That means the oil industry's profits have gone up 220% and all they had to do was buy an election. I suspect right now that is one industry that is thinking their campaign contributions were money very well spent. Because in case you haven't noticed, the increases go up in quarter- and half-dollar increments but the decreases come down in nickel increments.

Only the truly stupid or the deliberately ignorant could fail to know that the Bush family money comes from the oil industry. The price of gasoline more than doubles during the administration of a president whose family money comes from the oil industry. It doesn't take higher mathematics to add that up. It is difficult to understand why Americans are not more upset about this. Even more frightening, if Americans are are blind to such blatant political machinations are this, are they even paying attention any more?