Jonathan, you're really not thinking it through:

The Fed tax per gallon is fixed. If less gallons are bought (the recent trend as people are travelling less and cutting back on gas purchases) then less gas tax collected. The Fed gov'
t wants prices to be lower so more gas is bought and more taxes.

__________________
Mid-South Rocket Society

NAR Level 1 - 3/12/11
NAR Level 2 - 4/9/11

I guess your perspective depends highly on which media outlet(s) you choose to pay attention to:

http://mediamatters.org/research/201202080012

Doesn't matter much to me, though--I pedal to/from work and most errand-type trips, logged more miles on the bike last year than the car, so I tend to burn carbs, not carbon.

I applaud and commend your resourcefulness. We should all avoid driving for short trips. I try to walk to the stores near my house, for example.

Nit: The "carbs" in carbohydrates are still carbon - when you exercise, you're giving off CO2 just like a car, only not as much

Doug

.

__________________
YORF member #11

I'm retired but I live in a rural area. I walk into town (2 miles) most days. Walking only 'cause I take my two dogs with me.

Kinda hard to hold a Jack Russel and a Lab on a leash while riding a bike.

Besides, I live 1,000' from Lake Huron and the dogs and I enjoy walking the beach much better than walking along the highway.

I think I average about 25 miles a month on my truck.

Say...an electric pick-up truck would work for me!

__________________
"I'm a sandman. I've never killed anyone. I terminate runners when their time is up." Logan from "Logan's Run"

http://sandmandecals.com/

Here is a heat map showing the highest prices across the country:

http://gasbuddy.com/gb_gastemperaturemap.aspx

The highest prices are $3.89 per gallon. $5 a gallon gas is only, $1.11 away

Jonathan

P.s. To show my age and when I was aware of such things, I remember when gas was $0.70 cents a gallon ... others here probably remember the Model T

Trees love CO2. They eat it and give us O2. Save the planet. Plant a tree.

High fuel prices induce a recession shortly thereafter...

So much for the "recovery"...

later! OL JR

__________________
The X-87B Cruise Basselope-- THE Ultimate Weapon in the arsenal of Homeland Security and only $52 million per round!

Yet they never "get it," do they?

__________________
Enjoy life, it has an expiration date.

I for one DO think the gov't SHOULD tightly control the price and profit margins of gasoline within the USA just like ANY OTHER UTILITY MONOPOLY.

Anyone that thinks the oligopoly that the oil companies have is not a functional monopoly is a fool.

Just like Electricity, Natural Gas, and Water, gasoline is a UTILITY and should be treated as such by the gov't to ensure stability of supply AND price. People would not tolerate wildly fluctuating Electric, Gas, and Water prices and it is high time the same standard is applied to the oil companies. "You WILL continue to suppy maximal production at XXX price level" via edict. If that causes them to take a few years of record losses after a decade of record smashing gouge-level profiteering, SO BE IT !
Exxon, Texaco, Chevron, Mobil, Citgo, et al should be put on notice.

This is one of very FEW areas that I see the gov't being able to help the avg. Joe.

__________________
When in doubt, WHACK the GAS and DITCH the brake !!!

Yes, there is such a thing as NORMAL, if you have to ask what is "NORMAL" , you probably aren't !
Failure may not be an OPTION, but it is ALWAYS a POSSIBILITY.
ALL systems are GO for MAYHEM, CHAOS, TURMOIL, FIASCOS, and HAVOC !

That makes perfect sense, just like Nixon's wage and price controls back during the oil embargos in the 70's. But first, let's have congressional hearings like we did when Dubya was running the show. Drag Cheney and Halliburton out of mothballs and rake 'em over the coals again. You know, subpoena all the Big Oil Executives and humiliate them in the MSM. B.O. and Pelosi to the rescue!

And those rotten Canadians, selling their oil to China. How dare they.