What the US Government Should Do About High Oil Prices -- Nothing

Nearly everyone in the US is struggling with the high price of gasoline driven by the recent run up in crude oil prices. Rightly so. In the United States, gasoline is closer to a utility service than a luxury item. The layout of the country requires gasoline to drive the economy. Where in Europe their transportation infrastructure was built upon rail travel, the United States has the greatest car-based infrastructure in the world. To get to the point, the US needs gasoline. So naturally, when prices go up, people look for relief. The question to ponder is; should US citizens look to government for that relief?
The US exists in what is supposed to be a free market economy. A free market has proven to be the most successful economic system. When government gets out of the way, the natural ambition of people is able to thrive. One needs only to look at the recent rise of the Chinese economy after the government loosened the reigns and moved towards a free market system to see the power of a free market economy. A free market is intended to be just that: free. Free from government meddling. Given time, free economies have been able to correct themselves. The forces of supply and demand are powerful. Perhaps even more powerful than anything the US government can do.
However, it's an election year. Candidates love to make promises to people. Republican or Democrat alike rarely miss an opportunity to promise government action to alleviate any ill. And what is government action? Essentially it's spending money. What is government money? It's our money! Spending money to try to save money does not make sense, especially when you consider the device spending the money is the highly inefficient government machine. Regardless, this does not stop the pandering from politicians. I'm reminded of the old saying "When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail." Government seems to believe that more government is the only solution to any problem. Perhaps even more troubling than the political pandering on the campaign trail is the citizenry demand for government action. The victim-mentality of a large segment of the population constantly looks to government to solve every problem. This fuel that drives the growth of Big Government. Unfortunately, the price of that fuel seems to be all too low these days. Let it be known that although the Democrats are synonymous with Big Government, the Republican party is hardly innocent of the recent build up of Big Government.
I urge people to have a little patience and a little faith. Understandable that can be difficult, but it's necessary. I'm right in the high gas price fox hole with the rest of you. But I have faith in the free economy. Without any government action whatsoever, the price of oil has gone down for 2 weeks in a row. Again, the forces of supply and demand are at work. The market could not sustain such high gas prices. People are changing their habits. Americans are using less gasoline. Demand is down. Prices have followed. All this with no government action. I'm hardly naive enough to believe that were are out of the high-oil woods. The price can certainly spike back up. It can continue to climb. And if that happens, the free market will again react. Technology will step in. New technology that we have not even yet anticipated would eventually come to fruition. It might not happen over night, but I have the highest faith that the market would certainly respond quicker and more effectively than any government action.
So, is there anything the government can do? Certainly there are actions the government can take to promote beneficial behaviors. First and simplest, they could reduce regulations on drilling, allowing for more drilling. This is a great example of how government intervention staggers a free market economy. Loosening the regulations would allow the free market to respond to the natural market demand. I'm also open to hearing about potential government economic incentives. Perhaps tax breaks on alternative energy companies or users. However, beware of government intervention in the free market! Ridiculous ideas like a "wind-fall profits tax" is one of the scariest things I have ever heard escape the lips of a politician. What's even scarier is that when those words were uttered, the crowd cheered.