The Real Story of the Gas Rollback Event Meriden :
Part of a series of articles on Political Events in Connecticut by Tim D. Enchanter
Thursday, October 18th, 2012 from 4-6pm at Danby’s Gulf Station in Meriden, CT
http://americansforprosperity.org/connecticut/newsroom/americans-for-prosperity-connecticut-to-host-gas-rollback-event-in-meriden
I was part of the Gas Rollback Event sponsored by Americans For Prosperity. They had me directing traffic because they had run out of places in the line for the low gas price. Here’s the TRUTH from an Eyewitness as to what transpired:
The event was a special lowering of the price of gas to the price it was under President Bush … $1.84/gallon … any other price you have seen is either a mistake or misprint. AFP paid the difference between the regular price and the $1.84 for 15 gallons per car. This was available to the first 150 cars in line and the event started at 4pm and was scheduled to end at 6pm. For The Record, it took until 7:30pm to get the last car through at only 15 gallons per car, so 150 cars was actually generous because it took 3½ hours instead of just 2.
However, people had started showing up early and the line was filled at 11am. When I showed up at 3pm, the CT Director, JR Romano, told me he had gotten there at 1pm to find more cars than they could handle and gave me the sad task of turning people away.
The sign I was holding read “Sorry, Last Car, Back To High Obama Prices” and I held it because that was my job. I wish it had just read “Sorry, Last Car, Line Full” because there were many people who were obviously living in their cars, some with children, and I felt that spiking the point was insensitive. Unfortunately, they were unprepared for this huge turnout and we could only work with what we had.
What was truly insensitive and downright dishonest was the Democrat reaction. A couple obnoxious college kids showed waving Obama-Biden lawn signs and saying, “It’s all a scam!” One car I turned away had some guy who kept claiming that he was an Obama supporter and should be allowed to get some “Obama Gas” because he saw the lawn signs.
These signs were not allowed but some people felt that it was better to show up in violation of policy and make false accusations than to ask permission and not show up at all. When Democrats campaign, truth is the first casualty, rules follow soon thereafter. One young man who was the classic I-know-better-than-you college liberal brought a sign listing “Len Suzio’s Ethics Violations” and claimed that Len Suzio was buying votes with gas.
This was a blatant lie told by Democrats like Suzio’s challenger, Dante Bartolomeo, in an attempt to make as many false charges as possible in order to disqualify her opponent. We have seen this before and it seems to be the Democrat Standard Operating Procedure. They used this against John McCain, Sarah Palin, and everyone they don’t like.
The tactic is simple: File so many ethics charges against your opponent that the public thinks they are corrupt even when they are not. The ethics charges being dismissed never get reported and the name of the target is never exonerated, but nothing can stand in the way of getting a loyal Democrat elected … not even actual ethics.
For The Record, Len Suzio and Wayne Winsley each showed up, along with Dante Bartolomeo, to an event to promote what they feel is important. Wayne Winsley discussed Federal Policy while Len Suzio discussed State Policy. Each discussed the solutions they saw to the high gas prices that hurt the people of Connecticut. Len’s focus was on the Connecticut Gas Tax and trying to lower it. He was there to raise awareness and encourage people to call their legislators. Continued
"The biggest single increase in Connecticut gas tax history is scheduled to be imposed on Connecticut's hard pressed families effective July 1, this year. This increase will push Connecticut state gas taxes well above $0.50/gallon (not including federal gas excise taxes). With the increase Connecticut will have the biggest gas tax burden of any state. It's no wonder why gas prices in Massachusetts are $0.25 to $0.30 per gallon cheaper than Connecticut.
