[Jeffery]

I understand, but I also know that consumers would not spend as much as gas prices go up.

They'll change there habits, they may purchase things online they may make fewer trips. Likely all that will happen is that the way they pay taxes will all just be switched around.

Not to mention the families who would be forced to pay more for fuel and home heating up front instead of the smaller percentage taking from them in tax. They either get it taken out of their paycheck every month, or they pay for it every month, either way they'll end up paying less total if we leave gas and oil prices up to the market. Perhaps not much less, but less all the same.

If you artificially suppress the price of oil you will increase the demand for the systems which use it. The entire economics relies on the fact that when supply decreases relative to demand for a particular product price will go up and that will stimulate new growth in other fields as replacements, or new sources of drilling.

Now the republicans who are supposed to be all for the free market are fucking with it because there buddies at Exxon-Mobil told them to do so.