Politics, it's such a gas

As the price of gasoline goes through the three dollar mark the politicians are doing exactly what you would expect them to do; all the wrong things years too late. A quick trip over to memeorandum tells the story.

• Democrats will propose eliminating federal gas taxes for sixty days; 18 cents a gallon

  The measure, proposed by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), would reduce the cost of gas by $0.184 per gallon and the cost of diesel by $0.244 per gallon. The move, aides say, will provide $100 million dollars per day in relief.
  
  Democrats say the money will be made up by cutting six billion dollars in tax breaks to oil firms. Currently, the money from the federal gas tax goes to the Highway Trust fund.

  The ultimate bandage that will cure nothing but political woes.


• Bush Eases Environmental Rules on Gasoline

  President Bush on Tuesday ordered a temporary suspension of environmental rules for gasoline, making it easier for refiners to meet demand and possibly dampen prices at the pump. He also halted for the summer the purchase of crude oil for the government's emergency reserve.

  Another political bandage except this one is loaded with infection. But what else would you expect from the oil industry president.


• Bush Orders Probe Into Gas Pricing

  President Bush, faced with rising public discontent over high fuel prices, today directed his administration to help investigate possible price gouging....

  Of course this is the ultimate spinning joke. Bush is not going to find his pals in the oil industry guilty of anything.

Both the Democrats and the Republicans have refused to look at conservation for the last 30 years. The only way gasoline prices will go down is to use less and the only way the shock could have been avoided was to start doing something about it 20 or 30 years ago.

In all honesty the politicians are only partly to blame. Any politician who told them they were going to have to give up their gas guzzling ways would have never been elected.