| By Bob Weaver
With America's addiction to oil, there is no relief in sight for consumers at the gas pumps.
With the OPEC meeting scheduled, Iran and Venezuela have spoken out in favor of oil output cuts while many other OPEC representatives agree that oil supplies will not be increased this spring.
With the sinking U.S. dollar, this will likely push prices even higher for US consumers.
Whether President George Bush is responsible for the 135% increase in pump prices during his watch, his family connections to oil interests are indisputable.
How much oil costs have contributed to the national debt being up three trillion dollars is uncertain, but the debt is astronomical.
With the destruction of the American working class, now the subject of presidential debates by the candidates blaming or supporting NAFTA and global markets, the pinch is being felt in the non-recession pocketbooks of most working American's.
Food, household products and services appear to be jumping about 30%-35%, although government statistics downplay the issue with their statistics.
The interest in the economy, at least in mainstream media, has surpassed the trillion dollar Iraq War with 135,000 committed troops, with most officials and candidates appearing to support a position of "staying the course." Obama could be the exception, since he did not vote for the war.
Oil has topped the inflation adjusted record set in 1980, with analysts seeing the barrel price rising to $120 and Triple-A saying it is likely prices will go to at least $3.75 a gallon this Spring, while others say $4.
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