Quick fixes won't help

As gas prices skyrocket a number of "quick fixes" have been proposed by politicians lining up at the self-serving pump.

Foremost among them is a "gas tax holiday," proposed in various forms by Sen. John McCain and Sen. Hillary Clinton.

As much as we would love to see the price of gas drop -- it is literally killing this country -- these proposals are purely politically cosmetic approaches to the problem, and they're not likely to be approved, either by Congress or the president.

The problem, of course, is that any "holiday" on federal gas taxes would have to be paid for later (unless you want the nation's roads and bridges to fall apart). And even Clinton's plan, which calls for the admittedly obscene oil company profits to be taxed to cover the costs, really won't cover them even it you took every dime of profit from those companies. No, you and I, the taxpayers, will pay for it later, somehow, somewhere.

Our national politicians have gotten really good at "deferring" paying the nation's bills, but eventually, you have to make a payment on the credit card, and the longer you wait, the more it costs. These solutions merely pander to the anger consumers have today as they see what little disposable income they have disappearing due to rising fuel and grocery prices (the latter largely a product of the gas it take to get food to market). But they don't really solve the problem.

Oil producing nations and oil companies aren't producing enough gas to meet worldwide demands, which are rising. Both India and China have suddenly become gas guzzlers as their economies take off, and that means more people bidding for the limited supply of oil being made available, driving up the costs for a barrel of oil.

Even the use of alternative fuels has its drawbacks, as products previously grown to feed cattle and people are being diverted to meet the growing demand for ethanol fuels, triggering food riots in our overcrowded world.

In the end, the only true long-term solution to the oil crisis is to move away from a petroleum-based economy toward a hydrogen-based economy, but very little funding is being directed to achieving that goal, both in the public and private sectors.

In the meantime, we'll continue to opt for quick fixes with undesirable long-term consequences because the politicians are more concerned about the next election than the next generation.