Oil/gas prices artifically low though subsidies...

[zaj]

Maybe I'm just catching up on this topic, but I've not heard this discussed anywhere before.

It occurs to me that the hundreds of billions (or even trillions) of dollars we are spending on war, defense and nation-building in the Middle East are all being spent for the purpose of securing access to oil as it is a critical resource for our economy. But I don't see that these costs are appropriately reflected in the price of oil in the US. These expenses are decoupled from the very product that they are being spent to secure by being paid for by our income tax dollars.

By not linking these costs directly to oil though an imported oil tax, we are in effect subsidizing the price of oil with respect to alternate fuel sources that would otherwise be more price competive without such oil subsidies.

Republicans and other free-marketeers should be able to recognize this market failure and see the value and really the *need* to invoke massive oil taxes. I'm fully willing to "trade" increase oil taxes with decreased income taxes. I'm not here to increase our gov't resources... I just want to link the costs of this war to the resource that is causing our need for such war.

If we assume that the total cost over the last 10 years are a mere $500,000,000,000 (basically double the Iraq war costs, and a massive under estimate of the actual long term costs, IMO), we would need to tax (the gasoline equivilant of) 120 billion gallons/year of foreign oil at a rate of $0.75/gallon in order to properly reflect these costs.

[LaPera]

1. There's plenty of gas here on the mainland, but the oil

companies own all the refineries and will release only what keeps pofits at their peak...They are controlling the flow, cry stortage and increase profits...Bush sure as fuck not going to call them on it...That's his "base", big time donors, contributors...donating all he and the republicans need and a nice healthy off-shore account with the chimps name on it...It all about controlling the flow and they can charge whatever they like, just by simply holding back...Supply & Demand...first lesson in business.

Smart for the oil companies, but fucked for everyone else at the pump...do you think they care, they are all fucking greedy, lying republicans.