18 cents a gallon in federal taxes, gas at $3.45 a gallon on average, you should be glad you have it so good.

Gas could be a lot worse. We’ve been sheltered from the real pain a lot of other countries face at the pump, where sky-high taxes feed various economic programs.

Ha, imagine if we tacked 50 cents a gallon on to fund single-payer healthcare in the US.  The insurance companies would be running ads about how they were saving America by lobbying against the tax. It’ll never happen.

CNN Money said we’re getting a pretty good deal at the pump. In Sierra Leone, gas costs $18.42 a gallon; in Aruba, $12.03, but is anyone really driving around Aruba that much?

Europe pays a lot more per gallon, while Venezuela and Saudi Arabia pay pennies. 18 cents a gallon in Venezuela, thanks to Chavez. I wonder what it would cost to drive a tanker truck down to Caracas and back.

The government’s done what it can to hold prices down, CNN Money says, so when the price spikes around the world, we feel it a lot more. Plus the big cars and suburban 5,000 square foot homes with oil heating don’t help either.

Personally, I blame the oil traders. They’re earning massive returns for bidding up the price of oil, without conscience or fear of penalty. Did you know the US figures for income and disposable income showed extremely minor increases for the first quarter of the year? You probably didn’t notice that, only the price on the gas pump and the things it drives up like groceries.

We’re lucky to have it so good.