Gas

This is the part where I get frustrated by connecting some dots that the 'reporters' neglect to mention.
**bare with me**
I received some barbs when I asked why we needed the highway bill -- cause I knew that 18.3 cents of every gallon of gas sold went into a Highway Trust Fund. Now, like all systems, it has been modified over the years...as it sits currently, the tax from gas is split -- 80% of it funds the Highway Trust, and 20% funds Mass Transit.

The gas itself is regulated by additives, mixtures, burn rates, etc... These regulations vary from state to state, and cause the prices to increase because refineries must produce to meet the differing specifications rather than produce volume of a single standard. This is one of the problem points that can (and should) be addressed...IMO. Since fuel is an energy backbone of this nation and it falls into inter-state commerce -- I believe can be regulated federally (moreso than it is) (This is one of the few where I encourage fed to be more involved) As such, there could be a nation-wide fuel enrichment standard...this would enable the refineries to produce without modification -- and in situations like now where there are stations out of service...others can pick up the slack without having to change their mixtures.

As for Bush -- well, it's nice that he's tapped into the reserves...but we needed that before Katrina, not after. Although, he could drop 18cents per gallon by taking away the gas tax (temp) but that would only be a short-term ease...and not address the solution.