Politicians who condemn Big Oil for its current windfall need to look in the mirror. High prices for gasoline and other petroleum products also benefit Big Government. Much of the cost of a gallon of gas, after all, comes from taxes, not from price-gouging. The pain is made all the worse at the pump because many of these taxes are based on a percentage of the price per gallon, not on a set amount.
Thus, the higher the price at the pump goes, the more tax money is raised. There is no limit. Politicians who really want to help consumers should not seek to cap oil company profits, but their own tax take.
I’m not holding my breath.
About Stan Guthrie
Stan Guthrie is an editor at large for Christianity Today magazine and for the Chuck Colson Center for Christian Worldview. His latest book is God's Story in 66 Verses. He also is author of All that Jesus Asks: How His Questions Can Teach and Transform Us, Missions in the Third Millennium: 21 Key Trends for the 21st Century, and A Concise Guide to Bible Prophecy. He is co-author of The Sacrament of Evangelism. Besides authoring, writing, and editing books, Stan is a literary agent, bringing together good authors, good books, and good publishers.
Stan writes the monthly Priorities colum for BreakPoint.org. He has appeared on National Public Radio's Tell Me More, WGN's Milt Rosenberg program, and many Christian shows, including The Eric Metaxas Show and Moody Radio's New Day Florida. A licensed minister and an inspirational speaker, he served as moderator for the Christian Book Expo panel discussion, Does the God of Christianity Exist, and What Difference Does It Make?
