Steve Chapman
In the field of petroleum, location is everything. If you want to find oil, you don't drill in Rhode Island. And if you want to find wisdom about gasoline markets, you avoid Washington, D.C.
In good times, the confusion and folly of our elected leaders have only limited impact. But when pump prices rise to painful levels, as they have lately, you can safely assume that whatever politicians say and do will be poorly conceived and ill-motivated.
As of last week, the cost of regular gas nationally averaged $3.65 a gallon -- up from $3.23 a year ago and double what it was when Barack Obama became president. In some places it exceeds $4.
The price of milk or ground beef may climb without setting off mass outrage, but gasoline is more visible and harder to do without. And the great advantage is that when fuel gets expensive, each party has ready-made villains to roll out.
Read more: townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/2012/02/26/pandering_at_the_pump
In the field of petroleum, location is everything. If you want to find oil, you don't drill in Rhode Island. And if you want to find wisdom about gasoline markets, you avoid Washington, D.C.
In good times, the confusion and folly of our elected leaders have only limited impact. But when pump prices rise to painful levels, as they have lately, you can safely assume that whatever politicians say and do will be poorly conceived and ill-motivated.
As of last week, the cost of regular gas nationally averaged $3.65 a gallon -- up from $3.23 a year ago and double what it was when Barack Obama became president. In some places it exceeds $4.
The price of milk or ground beef may climb without setting off mass outrage, but gasoline is more visible and harder to do without. And the great advantage is that when fuel gets expensive, each party has ready-made villains to roll out.
Read more: townhall.com/columnists/stevechapman/2012/02/26/pandering_at_the_pump
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