Why $2 Gas Is Amazing – Three reasons it should be cheaper. By Timothy Noah:
To put it in terms that supporters of the three Bush tax cuts can understand: Poor planning for the postwar occupation of Iraq is costing you money at the gas pump.
# The US is a member of the OPEC cartel, even though cartels violate US law (well, if you’re abrogating the Geneva Convention, who cares about price-fixing?). But does that help? Apparently not: prices are kept high to help the Iraqis (and OPEC in general), rather than lowered to ease consumer prices.
# The oil from Iraq isn’t flowing at even pre-war levels, so the “war that will pay for itself” shows little chance of doing so.
# And the Saudis are also unable to keep prices low in support of the White House incumbent (as they generally do).