Fun fun fun - Gasoline prices

It sure would be nice to be a nation that is energy self-sufficient. Isaac has shut down Gulf production and the big explosion at Venezuela�s refinery is going to put a big crimp in fuel prices for the next couple of months. From Bloomberg:

Gasoline Rising to Holiday High as Storm Surge Presses Obama
Hurricane Isaac and a deadly blast at Venezuela�s Amuay refinery pushed gasoline to an almost four- month high and threatened to revive a debate about energy costs in the run-up to the presidential election in November.

Futures jumped yesterday in New York as Isaac forced closures of Gulf Coast refineries and reduced rates at others. That market is also reeling from an Aug. 25 explosion in Venezuela that killed at least 48 people and closed the country�s largest fuel-making plant. Futures are up 23 percent since their 2012 settlement low of $2.5501 a gallon on June 21.

Prices at the pump will be the highest ever for the U.S. Labor Day holiday, AAA said yesterday. The surge reignites an issue that has pitted President Barack Obama, who has called for the elimination of billions of dollars of subsidies enjoyed by the oil and gas industry, against the presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney. It also spurs speculation that Obama will release supplies from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to ease prices for consumers.

I have a very big nit with this article -- the "billions of dollars of subsidies" are not unique to the oil business. They are the same simple corporate deductions enjoyed by every other business in the USA. Buy a capital piece of equipment and you can amortize it over a couple of years. Do something that results in a loss (a bad business decision, drill a dry well) and there are elements of those expenses that you can deduct from your taxes. The Federal Government is not running a bucket brigade of greenbacks into some crony corporate boardroom. Obama's energy policies are going to directly impact the lower income population -- those very people that he claims to support. I live in an area that is economically depressed and a lot of people I know are only able to find work in Bellingham -- 30 miles away. How will they be able to drive to work each day when gas is $5.50/gallon and they cannot afford a newer fuel-efficient car? Instead, billions of our tax dollars are pissed away on Unicorn Farts and other green energy swindles.