I had not read this thread until tonight, but man are there some VERY insightful comments on the whole issue. I did not realize the profit on gas, to the oil companies, was only a bit over 8 cents and that amazes me. The commentary from all angles: war cost, politics, supply and demand, ect., are really all inter-related in many ways, but the presentation of these here is extremely well thought out and put together. I traded my old SUV in (on an even trade) 6 months ago for a Toyota Matrix and I thank god everytime I close out 350 miles and have to only put $40 in the tank. My SUV WAS costing $60/tank BEFORE this insanity. Thank you all for the well written and presented posts, I am going to print this off and use it as a reference for when I start teaching again.

Rob