Gas prices would go up, not down, under Democrats. Liberals still tend to blame President Bush for high gasoline prices. I remember being taught in fifth grade Social Studies class that a U.S. president does not have the power to force prices down. (Jimmy Carter was president at the time, inflation was out of control, and, yes, gas prices were high). Since then, my understanding of that has only gotten better. If a president had power to control consumer prices, he would have far too much power over people and businesses, and this would not be a free country. Limited government is what sets us apart from monarchies and dictatorships.

I recently was shopping in a hardware store, and I heard the man behind the counter (who was not a young man by any means) loudly telling another person that "Bush is an oil man, and that's why gas prices are so high!". You would think that someone in his position would have a better understanding of supply-and-demand economics. Maybe he does, and (like many liberals) he is simply willing to forget everything he knows for the sake of his ideology. It sounded to me like he was parroting Nancy Pelosi's claim that oil prices were high because "there are two oil men in the White House". Any objective person can tell that is simply election-year pandering, but liberals will believe what they want to believe.

A recent probe found no evidence of illegal price-gouging by oil companies, which Democrats have been accusing them of ever since Al Gore's presidential campaign in 2000. Of course, the liberal media is downplaying this finding -- or, should I say, lack of findings.

If Democrats regain power, their attempts to regulate the oil industry will only drive prices up further. Sen. Charles Schumer (D, NY) has suggested taxing oil company profits. What will this accomplish? Companies will raise prices higher, so that they will continue to reap the same profits as they did before any new taxes were enacted. Businesses do not give up their profit margins. If they do, they are likely to go out of business, because profits are the reason that private-sector businesses exist. What will consumers do if the hated oil companies go under? Drill for their own oil? Build their own refineries?

For all their demagoguery on energy prices, Democrats have only stood in the way of any progress that might result in a decrease of those prices. They oppose new oil drilling and exploration, keeping us dependent on oil-rich countries that hate us. They pay lip service to conservation, but they oppose federal measures that would encourage it.

The RNC website features a "gas calculator", which supposedly computes how much Democrats' policies would increase your personal travel costs. The results can be taken with a grain of salt, but the point is well taken.

http://www.gop.com/GasCalculator/