The Stink of Gases

In case I haven't made myself perfectly clear, the blowing coming from windbag politicians over the "issue" of high gas prices is one of the most frustrating and annoying sites on today's political landscape. I've lost complete patience with the endless news reports, the political posturing, and Bill O'Reilly. The entire debate is based on two false premises: 1) that politicans should be "doing something" about the price of gasoline. As Cicero puts it: "No American should ever have to live in fear of being fined or jailed for selling a product at a price higher than bureaucrats think it should be." And 2) that the government actually could do something to lower gas prices that would actually do any good (more likely, any move to control prices would cause a significant amount of harm).

What's worst about this situation is that it brings out the absolute worst in politicans, with generous helpings of hypocrisy coming from all sides. Jacob Weisberg has a great piece in Slate about the political games being played with gas prices - it's a must-read if you're interested in the issue.

UPDATE: Tim Cavanaugh also has a good piece over at Reason.