Why does gas cost so much?

Every year I have watched the prices for gas soar higher and higher. Only now are people really starting to notice, feel, and complain about the outrageous price for just a single gallon of gasoline. The high cost of gasoline of course drives up the prices of everything else contingent upon the resource, such as food which has just recently gone up 30%. People are finally starting to drive less. It’s not that noticeable yet, but where people are still driving to and from work as usual, they are not on the road as much in the evenings. The restaurant business is slowing down, and many family vacations will have to be canceled this summer.

There are no signs of relief.

What amazes me about this whole thing is that people already want their god the government to step in and do something about it, perhaps not realizing that it is the government which is very much to blame for what we are paying at the pumps, and consequently, what we are paying everywhere else too. The government, and the big-government-loving mainstream media, will inevitably point its finger to the oil companies and blame them for being greedy, as though the government and media are the arbiters of moral paradigms with regard to what constitutes greed. People should be allowed to buy and sell property for what they think it is worth.

Expanding the government’s power in the regulation of prices and supply with respect to gasoline will not solve any problems, but it will create many more. Legislation has been passed to criminalize those who charge more than what the government says that they can for a gallon of gasoline. Everything is about supply and demand. When an out of control government with the apparent collective economic knowledge of a middle-schooler steps in and sets a price on something like gasoline it will create long lines as people who could not afford gasoline before suddenly can.

Place the blame back where it belongs, on the government. Much of what you pay at the pump is not for gasoline at all, it is taxes. About 1/3 of what you pay when you fill up your tank is actually state and federal taxes on gasoline. The difference between greedy oil companies and greedy governments is that if you try to withhold your money from greedy governments you go to jail (not to mention that you really get little in return for your money).

Many people think that the rising prices in gasoline and everything else is just inflation. Not true. Again, government and media will point to prices, prices, prices and people will label it “inflation”, but this is not what inflation is. Inflation certainly causes higher prices, yes, but inflation is not the same thing as higher prices. Rather, inflation is an increase in the money supply. Happen to know who controls our money supply? You guessed it, the government. Specifically, the Federal Reserve, an unconstitutional body with a chair appointed by the President. The Fed frequently injects billions of dollars into the economy. Remember hearing all of that stuff about the Fed cutting interest rates? Any idea where the Fed gets the money to do that? If you wonder where that money comes from, well, the Fed just prints it. Wouldn’t that be nice? You need money, you just print it! Unfortunately for the people who are not on the Fed’s brownnoser list, none of this money will be crossing their paths for years to come, and by the time it does it will be worth much less due to the increased number of dollars in circulation. The value of the dollar drops, and while the Fed has an instant bundle of cash to blow wherever it wants, ordinary people are stuck with a weak dollar. Each dollar buys less, and hence prices are higher. Sound familiar?

How about those who supply us with oil? An economist actually gave me an argument in favor of the war in Iraq which was essentially that since someone must control the resources in that area of the world, and the US has the power to do so, the US might as well. Interestingly enough, oil prices have shot up since we have been in Iraq. (Think back a few years ago and you cannot miss the correlation.) A barrel of oil in 2002 cost $28. Add a little over $100 to that price and you have the current price of a barrel of oil. Why is it the case that oil has become so expensive? What is going on here? As with everything else, supply and demand is at work again. The production of oil in Iraq is half of what it was in 2002, before the US decided to invade it (unconstitutionally, because of UN sanctions, without any threat posed to us by that country, I might add). That’s right, half as much oil is coming out of Iraq as what used to due to pipelines being destroyed, fires, and other undesirable features of a country ravaged by war. The Middle East is less stable than what it was (another side note: there were no suicide bombings or Al Qaeda in Iraq prior to the US invasion of that country) before 2002. We reap the terrible consequences of our government’s poor actions.

The War Party…I mean, the Republican Party…is currently talking up the idea of an unprovoked nuclear strike against Iran. (The last time I checked, that would make us the aggressor, not them.) The liberal, immoral John McCain has made jokes about bombing Iran, a country with no nuclear weapons and no means to create any for many more years, if even then (according to the CIA). Iran is a sovereign country with the right to enrich uranium for energy just like other countries and has violated absolutely no treaties (such as the NNT) or sanctions (there have never been UN sanctions on Iran), yet war hungry Republicans are ruminated with a desire to “turn Iran into a chunk of glass” and have nominated Insane McCain to propagate the lies which would allegedly warrant their doing so. We have already placed trade sanctions on Iran. Our total disregard for what Scripture has to say about just war and the sanctity of life will cost us in many more significant ways than what we pay for gasoline, but it will surely cost us there as well. If the US pursues war with Iran, another supplier of oil, watch prices go well over $6 per gallon.

And yes, we do need to drill offshore in an environmentally safe way, but again the government has made this virtually impossible. It is extremely expensive to build an oil refinery, and it takes years just to get the permits from the government in order to do so. Those seeking to build refineries have to confront numerous lawsuits even after all of this. There has not been a refinery built in the US for over 30 years, and it is not surprising.

Obama and McCain are not proponents of the real changes in monetary and foreign policies required to save our economy, nor are most of your men and women representing you in government. Take the necessary steps in order to make sure that in the future, they will be. This country desperately needs to return to honoring the principles set forth in the Constitution rather than laughing at them and dismissing them as crazy. The answers to our current struggles in politics are easily found but have not as of late been easily injected back into politics. Just open up the Constitution and read it. Obama and McCain are blaming the free market, and this will result in nothing other than higher prices and fewer freedoms.

Could this be just one more reason people are not satisfied with the candidates offered by the two major parties this year? I recommend using your vote and your money, but most importantly, your voice, in supporting the new party for conservatives, the Constitution Party. According to a recent Fox News survey, nearly half of Americans surveyed would consider voting for a third party candidate. The Constitution Party is the third largest according to voter registration and is steadily growing! (Meanwhile the Republican Party continues on its downward spiral into liberal politics, statist economics, and failed foreign policies - and it is shrinking in size!) This is the year to let the two major parties know that they cannot just give you whomever they wish as candidates.

Support the Constitution Party to bring America back to its ethical and economical roots. http://www.constitutionparty.org