Exxon has reported record earnings for the third quarter of this year.

Well, DUH! Our gas prices have doubled in recent months and show no signs whatsoever of returning to a reasonable rate in the foreseeable future. My little economy car is now costing me the whopping sum of $40 per week to operate, with my two requisite trips to Raleigh; formerly I could do two trips and a little local driving on $25.

They’ve got us over the proverbial barrel — the oil barrel, that is. What can ordinary citizens do that the Government won’t?

I mean, I love President Bush — I voted for the man, and I fully support him on the war on terror; he told us September 11, 2001, exactly what we’d be facing, and he was right. But his economic policies are killing me — !