GET THE PRICE RIGHT

In a recent paper, the Milken Institute notes that the true cost of gas derived from oil from the Middle East is somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 to $12, when you factor in the cost of extracting, securing, refining, and transporting it: "Achieving Energy Independence." And yet we Americans pay "only" $3 a gallon for it. Obviously, it's not the oil companies that are losing $7 to $9 per gallon, for a bulk of the expense of oil from the Middle East is borne by the federal government, in the form of subsidies and military expenditures. In other words, that cost is borne by all of us taxpayers. So the next time you're at the pump, watching your car gulp and the numbers turn, don't be bitter that gas is so expensive; be thankful that 300 million other Americans are helping chip in so that it's as cheap as it is. Or, you know, you could read up on how we can change the way we approach alternative technologies and Middle Eastern politics so that we're not paying $10 to $12 a gallon for oil that we then turn around and sell for $3.