Strategic Petroleum Reserve

Sunday’s Washington Times featured a piece by Alan Reynolds on the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that simply astounded me. He reported that, “Since November 2001, the U.S. government has been adding about 160,000 barrels a day to the 651 billion barrels already stockpiled in the SPR. During that time, oil prices rose from less than $20 a barrel to as much as $37. The Energy Department can't resist a bad bargain and plans to buy another 202,000 barrels a day in April.”

So let’s get this straight, when gas prices are at an extremely high level not only is the Bush administration refusing to release some of the reserve to ease this burden on the American people but also they are going to create an additional 42,000-barrel a day demand.

Now I just got done looking at the income tax return prepared by my accountant and because I have a one-day a week delivery job for which I am paid a set amount I have to pay a self-employment tax because the government says my part time job is a business. Yet the income is also added to the family’s gross income. I am taxed twice then the Bush regime uses that money to artificially raise the price of the gasoline that I need.

And people sometimes ask me, why are you a libertarian? Why do you despise the government so very much?