First, we have become "use" to higher fuel prices. That is bad. If I was Bush or Obama- I would of only spent the stimulus money on building 40 nuke plants along the great lakes- from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin. Next I would of made (at government expense) every gas station within 250 miles of the great lakes install natural gas pumps and hydrogen pumps within 1 year. This would have collapsed our dependency on imported fuel, reversed a one way trade and most importantly- reopened many factories and other automotive industrial infrastructure that has been idled for past 20 years as every global car company would be sending engineers to the USA (midwest) to design and test hydrogen cars. Can you imagine the stimulus this would of caused- from hotel rooms to rebuilding of test tracks to machine shops, tool and die- etc. I am convinced we truly want big oil firms to be protected of their dominance. The switch to cars fuel from oil to cars fuel from nuke plants (indirectly via hydrogen) and nat gas as an alternative fuel would of been a revolution as big as the internet in the late 1990s. No need to raise taxes as commerce would of brought in lots of tax revenue.

Anyways- here is an article that may give us some short term oil price relief-

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?p...fMrdKPPQ&pos=5

I'm sure the oil companies are paying bribes along the line somewhere

Bribes? No, no, no. It'* called lobby and PAC money. Fact finding trips. Flights around the world in Corporate jets. Slush retirements funds for another day. Employment after terms. Jobs for wives. securities and investment inside info. But never bribes. That wouldn't be civil.

There'* no difference. One'* legal and ones not. Its all the same in the end