And there goes the Quazy Wabbit sniper popping out of his little, comfortable, Wabbit Hole for another shot at old Vi. Were you on that aircraft carrier in between being a NASCAR driver and manning the tank in the battle against Rommel, Dank? ~lol~
And for all of you history buffs, Nixon started the price controls on gasoline, and like all artificial pricing, shortages resulted. When Jimmy Carter came into office, he instituted his "windfall profit taxes" which created even more "shortages." Those gas lines were caused by the government's (both Republican and Democrat) attempt to "do something" and as is the usual result, we ended up with the unintended consequences of gas shortages, even/uneven days, and the long lines. So, how did Carter try to solve the problem? ... With another problem of course ... the 55 mile per hour national speed limit. The intention there was to save gasoline consumption. The unintended consequence of that? ... Higher inflation because the cost to move goods and services increased. Time is money, no? Then during the Carter years, we had double digit inflation. When Carter was removed from office, and Reagan took over, the Federal Reserve raised the interest rates through the moon in a successful effort to curb Carter's inflation. The friggin' mortgage rates climbed to over 18.5%. Even the VA rate was 15.5%. So, thanks to Carter, we entered into a bonafide economic depression in the early Reagan years that was to last until 1984.
The lesson? When government offers you something for nothing, be sure there isn't a hook in it.
Vi
PS: For those too young to know, Even/Uneven days refers to the last number on your licence plate. If your's ended with an even number, you could buy gas on one day, uneven number, and you were allowed to buy on the following day.