Column for March 31, 2005

The price of GAS has become a pain in the, pocket book! For many years I drove a full size Chevy van with Benny and the Jets painted on the side. When it got to the point where it was costing me $50 to fill it up, I switched to a Ford mini van. The mini van got about twice as many miles per gallon. Of course the problem now is GAS has pretty much doubled in price. So it is still costing me $50 to fill up even thought I am getting half as much GAS.

I do believe you have to fight the GAS prices. You do this by getting your GAS at the cheapest place. It is free enterprise, reward the station that has the lowest price. Even if it is a penny or two the other stations see who is selling and how much. I have seen time and time again people going to their regular station out of habit and right across the street GAS will be several cents lower. You have to reward the station with the lowest price. The minute a station sees a drop in sales they drop the price. If they keep selling there is no incentive to lower prices.

I have also received several e-mails saying we should not buy from GAS companies who buy oil from Saudi Arabia? I haven't really figured this one out yet but I guess supply and demand might figure into the price they set for a barrel of oil too. So they say BP, Citgo and Sunoco are the places we should buy GAS from.

This column not only appears here in the center page of the Gazette newspaper it ends up on several web sites. I always tell readers to feel free to pass the column around, post it, e-mail it, give it to the people at work. Recently it showed up on www.JoeFcitizen.com a new controversial political site, generating a lot of interest and traffic. I am a musician not a politician who likes to say I am pro-common sense and anti-dumb stuff. All of my past column are also posted on the message board at www.bennyandthejets.com.

Fellow musician Rock Krzeminski who has spent many years touring the county performing with his band Rock's Gang is becoming more and more political in his old age. He believes the state needs to come up with a tire tax similar to the deposit tax we now have on bottles and cans.

Attention Bluescasters, Bonnie Rockets, Steve King, Sun Messengers, The Reflections, Tommy C, The Mega 80s, Sal, Grinder, Jamie Coe, The Killer Flamingos, Model Citizen, Bump, Ultraviolet, Pat Brennan, TK Scott, Jotown, The Road Hogs, Uncle Kracker, Robb Roy, Bridge and any other band you can think of, the Mill Street Pub in Pontiac is having a battle of the bands night every Thursday. They invite all area entertainers regardless of style to participate. Unlike some talent or jam nights there will be guaranteed money for this event. For more info contact Earl at 248-454-8132 or email him at info@millstreetgrille.com.

To reach Ben E. Jet call (313) 730-1627 via e mail benejets@aol.com and see the web sites www.bennyandthejets.com and www.reverendguitars.com.