SO THIS IS HOW LIBERALS REWARD THE PUBLIC!

Government’s view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.” —Ronald Reagan

Just last April gas stations were selling gas for more than $4 a gallon. At that time
"experts" were saying that part of the blame for the jump at the pump is a lack of supply.They backed up there assertions with the statement that the latest government data showed a sharp drop in gasoline supplies. Never considering the off-shore or ANWR capacity for exploration and production.

"Unfortunately demand for gasoline has been rising faster than our ability to produce it domestically, “said Geoff Sundstrom, AAA spokesperson.

Even President Bush bought into the "ecofreaks" assertion that a big part of the problem is America's addiction to oil. And of course there were the socialists who hate "big-business", that said the oil companies "greed" was the cause for the gas price spikes.

Judy Dugan of Oilwatchdog.org said, "The oil companies have found that it is more profitable for them to sell less gasoline at a higher price and because current laws do not do anything to stop them, they do it."She obviously had a biased approach!

The so called experts were quoted as saying, "most Americans are not changing their driving habits because of the high prices"! Well, fast forward 7 or 8 months and we find that they all were wrong!

Today the U.S. Department of Transportation said that gasoline taxes paid into the highway trust fund fell by $3 billion in the 2008 fiscal year.

"Our current approach has us encouraging Americans to change their driving habits and burn less fuel while secretly hoping they drive more so we can finance new bridges, repair interstates and expand transit systems," Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said in a statement. "We need a new approach that compliments, instead of contradicts, our energy policies and infrastructure needs."

So guess what "experts" have to say about how to recapture the tax moneies lost due to the changing driving habits of the consumer and the rapid drop of gasoline.

One new approach would be to raise the federal gasoline tax from its current 18.4 cents a gallon. By comparison, the tax rate in the U.K. is about $2.85 a gallon. So it seems as likely in the current economic climate that Congress will entertain a plan to raise gasoline taxes. Especially if the Democrats achieve the super majority they need in the Senate. Tax and spend President-elect Obama would love to sign such a bill!And is right in line with Obama's promise not to tax the middle class, RIGHT!

Higher gas taxes they say, would finance improvements to roads and mass transit, encourage further conservation or offset the costs of the various federal bailouts. But the collapse of gasoline prices since the summer,a drop of more than $2 a gallon in my neighborhood, is an economic stimulus worth an estimated $200 billion a year.If gasoline prices stay low, demand for vehicles that use sophisticated technology to consume less gasoline per mile will depend on consumers making long-term decisions that aren't in their short-term economic interests. Otherwise, these new high-mileage cars might not sell for high enough prices to cover their higher costs.

And the ethanol industry , high cost alternative for gasoline, will become just one more industry to come, "with hat in hand", to the Congress for a bail-out! Which you can bet the farm that they will give them all they need. And guess whose pocket and pay check this money will come from. The middle class working man/woman!