Gas Prices Fueling Political Squabbles

The Times notes last week's political squabbles over oil and gas prices, and the strategies being put forward by both parties:

"Republicans block a worthy Democratic attempt to strip the five biggest oil companies of $2 billion in tax breaks they do not need. Democrats then crush an outrageous Republican effort to expedite lease sales in protected coastal waters while undermining safety reforms adopted after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico."

The Times notes that increasing drilling permits now won't have any direct effect on increasing the oil supply, much less the price of the pump, and that eliminating oil subsidies does not make for an oil strategy.

The Obama administration is staying the course:

"Mr. Obama has made the right arguments in the past - that the way to achieve true energy security and protect the environment is with greater automobile efficiency, alternative fuels and mass transit."

Meanwhile, gas prices are decreasing on their own. On May 20, the nation's average gas price had dropped almost a dime from their high of just below $4 gallon.

Thanks to Kenyon Karl