On gas prices

I haven't touched on politics here yet, but occasionally there is something I like to talk about. Recently, I was called for an opinion poll. I had to agree or disagree with various positions of McCain or Obama. One of them was about gas prices and I was supposed to say whose position on controlling gas prices I found better. I think I said they are both idiotic and I disagree with both.

In the primaries, I was impressed with Obama. Clinton had suggested we cut back on gas taxes to relieve prices. It was an idiotic idea, pandering for votes, and it wouldn't have worked anyway. Obama didn't suggest such simple fixes. But now he is suggesting we tap into the strategic oil reserve to relieve gas prices, which is just as stupid. McCain panders as well.

The problem is that they aren't honest enough to admit that first, gas prices are mostly beyond our control, and second and more importantly, that the desire to limit gas prices directly conflicts with the desire to be less dependent on foreign oil.

Gas prices have started to come down recently. Why? Because prices finally got high enough to force people to conserve and use less gas. Demand went down, and so did prices. If we want to become less dependent on foreign oil, we need to use less oil. Demand has to go down. There is no other way around it. We have been saying we should use less gas, buy fuel efficient cars, drive less, etc., for years. None of those things decreased demand and Americans fed their appetite for SUVs. If we had changed our habits, then we could get lower prices and also be free of foreign oil. But the only thing that has decreased demand is higher fuel prices. It is also the only thing that has made alternative energy viable and economical.

I would love it if one of the politicians was straight with us. If he told us that we don't want to decrease gas prices too much, or we will be feeding our oil habit. Or at least said that whatever measures we take to decrease gas prices are going to cost us in the long run. I suppose there could be some role for government in gas prices. If they increase too fast, it is very hard on the economy, and we should try to buffer the economy against drastic changes in oil prices. But ultimately, we have to take the medicine. Obama was at least right that filling our tires will help us. I wish we would all do that without high gas prices as an incentive. It's simple. If you want lower gas prices, use less gas.