Big Gas, Small Car and Vice Versa: That’s the American Way

Gasoline prices are bumping two bucks a gallon--again. And just like the last time this happened, news outlets are trying to make us somehow feel, if not guilty, a little better by reminding us how much more our European counterparts pay. That is, whenever any space is left after the blather about which of the two reigning political parties has the best solution to our gas-price “problem.”

We should expect gasoline prices to be higher in Europe because fuel-related taxes there are higher. Living on a continent full of social democratic governments, most Europeans expect their taxes to be high, and their leaders rarely disappoint them.

The United States, on the other hand, is a nation of free-market consumers who, while often priding themselves on being price conscious, are oblivious about how they are taxed. Especially troubling to Americans are taxes hidden in the prices of products.

The state sales tax included in the price of a gallon of gas is a good example of a hidden tax that, once exposed, raises the ire of consumers. Exploiting this outrage has propelled election-year campaigns for years, and the trick for consumers is to not let partisan one-upmanship get in the way of “fixing” our high gas-price problem.

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Republican efforts to stop charging sales tax on gas could be taken as a step in the right direction if they weren’t such a broad leap. Although it makes sense to stop subjecting state and federal gasoline taxes to sales tax, any “relief” should stop there. This won’t amount to the 15 cents per gallon Republicans are touting, but cities and counties rely more heavily on sales tax than does the state. The Republicans’ plan may offer relief at the pump, but any money we don’t spend on gas will be lost to some higher fee cities and counties will have to impose to recoup their losses.

This is not to say, however, that the Democrats’ solution is any better. Demonization of an American industry should make even the most uninformed voter nervous. Claiming that oil company profits are too high, Democrats want to bring them to bay. We can only assume that they plan to fine Big Oil if the companies do not comply with some arbitrary acceptable profit margin.

And for those who can’t envision the outcome, here’s a clue: Capitalism always passes the buck! Ask anyone who smokes what “teaching Big Tobacco a thing or two” has accomplished. (Laugh at us now if you must, but if Democrats succeed in bringing oil companies “into line,” you can count on us to console you.)

So the best thing Californians can do right now is to urge their representatives not to do any more damage and let Nature take its course.

In a time-tested, survival-of-the-fittest sort of way, trips to the mall and soccer-game commutes are going to become cost-prohibitive. The intrusive gas guzzlers we so love to hate are, once again, going to give way to more fuel-efficient family wagons. Fuel consumption will drop and oil companies will find it increasingly difficult to unload their crude. Gasoline will become plentiful, prices will return to “acceptable” levels, people will begin to buy tanks again and, a few years from now, we can start a whole new campaign season.

It’s the American way!