The bulk of the increase would arise not from oil shortages, supply chain challenges or even war in the Middle East, but simply from new, confiscatory increases to fuel taxes, sufficient to drive most low- and middle-income Americans out of their cars and force them economically onto transportation.

The naivety of such a policy, however, is readily apparent to anyone who understands market economics, as well as anyone who remembers what nearly $4.00/gallon gas did to our economy in 2008. To wit: we’re still recovering from the economic slow-down it caused.

To make matters worse, gas at seven dollars a gallon would skyrocket inflation to unheard-of levels and force even the middle-class into the category of the “working poor,” effectively killing off most small businesses.

Real bright idea, Obama… go sell insurance quotes to Acorn and leave the country alone, will ya?

While his word is likely to be less reliable than good insurance quotes, for now the nation can breathe a sigh of relief and hope that a real conservative, like Sarah Palin or Bobby Jindal, rise to the top in 2012.