It is perhaps not so much punishment of conservatives as it is the normal process of consolidating communist power. Restricting the physical movement of the population is imperative. Mobility makes for more efficient opposition, and there is a lot of opposition to BHO in the heartland.
You have expressed my point very concisively.
The “natives” out here are getting restless. I can hear the drums.
I had someone telling me that about 30 years ago during the energy crisis when gas first went up from 25 cents a gallon to 50 cents a gallon.
This guy wasn’t a lunatic survivalist, either, but he saw what was coming.