Bottom line:
Until energy cost get under control the economy is going to continue to plummet.
Inflation due to gas prices and high energy cost are impacting everything from food to tires. People are hanging on to their money because their SUV's cost $130 to fill up.
I'm not too concerned with what other countries are paying for
oil. I lived in Sweden and paid very high gas prices but the towns are built for walking and the country is small. So it didn't have such a negative impact like it does here in the good ol' USA where our cities are spread out and our transit is auto dependant. Our economy is set up for driving / trucking and until that changes we better have cheap gas to make it run.
I thought that is why we bailed Kuwait out in Gulf War 1?! But the Kuwaitis are not returning any favors.
Maybe we should tell the Saudis, lower prices or we not stop playing nice.
Russia on the other hand (the world's second largest exporter of
oil) is lovin' it. They are making billons and in the process they are weakening us on the world stage. What a sweet deal for them. Europe needs
oil not Quarter Pounders so our whole international strategy is going to he11 in a hand basket. Meanwhile Russia is modernizing their military and flexing their new muscle. Challenging the US on many fronts.
Plus our European friends with high gas taxes actually get something in return - the best roads in the world and many other benefits like an advance rail system.