I am surprised at Charles Krauthhammer's suggestion (June 6, 2008) that taxing gasoline is a viable solution to the price problem. Taxing gasoline rather than immediately developing the vast US reserves of crude oil and natural gas would be mortal sin!

1. Such a tax would immediately result in a black market for gasoline.

2. There would be no corresponding reduction in other taxes - what Government has ever done such a thing?

The answer is development of all US oil and gas reserves ASAP. The US has oil reserves which, at the current level of usage, would supply the US needs for 50-75years. The royalties on the oil/gas production would fill the US Treasury, restore the value of the US Dollar, and stop the bleeding of the US economy through the unreal crude oil prices. During that period, incentives could be employed to develop alternative fuels.

As an aside, please notice that there no lines of cars waiting for gasoline - there is no shortage of crude oil. Why then does the cost continue to rise? The Saudis and other oil producers have not reduced production or increased their prices. It is the Merc where the problem has primarily been fueled. Futures contracts on purchases of crude oil are what is pushing the price up. On the Merc, there are "phantom" sellers, who have not one drop of real oil (what we used to call "wet barrels), and similar buyers who would not know what to do with one barrel of oil if that had to take delivery ("dry barrels’). They are gambling on the future price of oil. That bubble is about to burst, as the well known George Soros has predicted (I guess that means that he is a "short" seller).

Charles and most other commentators zero in on the gasoline price, but ignore the home heating oil problem. Even if automobiles could be reduced in size and gas consumption to European levels (to the joy of all democrats and their socialist leaders) we must still heat our homes (unless we just sit back and let global warming take care of that). Would Charles advocate taxing home heating oil also? As Jimmy Carter told us the last time there was a real oil shortage, there’s no problem, just turn the thermostat down and wear a sweater. Dah?

Taxes never produce anything and always impede the growth of an economy.