Our nation's gas situation

I'm sure most of us are experiencing the gas prices right now. With oil at over $116/barrel, filling up our vehicles hurt more than ever before. Last I checked a gallon of regular unleaded cost $3.49. That's a huge increase from last April. I've been seeing prices go up throughout the year so when I purchased my replacement vehicle, I decided on a 4-cylinder instead of the V6's I've been driving since my first car.

Now lately, the presidential candidates are taking stances on the gas issue. McCain and Clinton both are pressing to lift gas taxes during the summer season. We're talking about less than $0.20 per gallon. Obama and Congress studies show this would save the average person less than $30.00. Come on. Let's be serious. Do you think lifting the tax is going to do anything? Prices will still go up, and probably by more than twenty cents. I'm not going to comment on the presidential race, because obviously McCain and Clinton are focusing on an issue that they know affects middle class America. But the way we are handling this gas issue is ridiculous.

We should be making changes to our dependency on oil in general. You can't expect me to think it's okay for people to complain about gas prices but huge SUV's are still on the road. You want to save twenty cents a gallon? How about dropping from a V8 to a V6? Or what I did and go from a V6 to a 4-cylinder. I am getting an average of 25mpg versus my 18mpg before with my old car. That's an average of 70 extra miles per fill up - five round trip drives to Boston for me. People are too quick to look for an easy fix to their situation and do not realize the bigger perspective of things. We need to step back and realize that there are other ways to make it better. There's public transportation, bicycles, motorcycles (even larger motorcycles get better mileage than the average car). But lifting the tax does nothing.

Furthermore, the gas tax also funds public roads maintenance. Where are we going to find the extra money to fund that part of our lives? Some suggests taxing the petroleum suppliers, which isn't a bad idea. Some suggest find money from other government expenditures. Why should we even resort to looking for money. Keep the tax, maintain our roads, and let the citizens make better choices to help with the elevating prices. I know people who walk more and drive less because of this. So suck it up and do what should be done anyway.