How you liking that Hummer now buddy?



It was only a matter of time and I doubt the trend is going to reverse itself (lower prices).

You?re seeing gas prices rise in the blink of an eye, and it seems a sure bet they?ll go higher. That?s why a major Internet sports-betting parlor began offering odds on rising gas prices this month, and why business is booming for traders who buy and sell oil contracts.

Still, in the bizarro world we live in, the same day people are talking about the high price of gas, this little tidbit comes out:

The Bush administration is expected to abandon a proposal to extend fuel economy regulations to include Hummer H2?s and other huge sport utility vehicles, auto industry and other officials say.

The proposal was among a number of potential strategies outlined by the administration in 2003 to overhaul mileage requirements for light trucks - sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks and minivans. It had been seen by industry officials as likely to be adopted.

But the impact of the tougher requirements would have been borne almost solely by the increasingly troubled domestic auto industry, a concern for the administration.

Yes, the higher prices are becoming the fodder of columnists everywhere:

I remember the exact time when last hit by a $50-a-tank earthquake - the gas pump as well as the circumstance. It was Aug. 14, 1981. My family and I were packed and loaded for a 2,253-mile round trip from New York to Yellowstone Park. As I pulled into the gas lane, the attendant was rubbing his hands together at the sight of our rented recreational vehicle, a 1976 Dodge Coachman standing 11 feet high and measuring 22 feet bumper to bumper.