Tom Friedman thinks that if Obama gets the nomination, he should keep Dick Cheney as the VP. Well, not really, but I do agree with him that the administration's policy toward Iran does seem confused and confusing. It's kind of like "indecisive cop/bad cop."

But what I really wanted to comment on was this strange sentence:

Mr. Obama would also be more effective if he not only stressed how much further he was ready to go than the Bush team to engage Iran, but also how much further he would be ready to go in bringing meaningful leverage on Iran — by, say, opting for a gasoline tax that would help bring down the price of oil...

He states this as though it should be obvious that raising gas taxes would bring down oil prices. Sorry, I don't get it.

Is the idea that by increasing taxes, it will reduce demand, and hence lower prices? Well, it may reduce demand (and economic growth, perhaps rendering it negative), but the real problem with oil prices (in addition to the supply-disruption risk in the Middle East) is a burgeoning of demand in fast-growing China, India and other places. Like Kyoto, it won't do much good for us to tighten our belts here when we're becoming an ever-shrinking part of the demand for oil world wide. It would have been nice for him to explain why this would be a sensible policy.

Friedman just wants to tax oil so that only the rich can afford to drive.

I'd like some sort of tax on oil products, just because the US subsidizes them both directly and through using the military to protect oil transport infrastructure. If that results in a short term economic slowdown, then that's a small price to pay for eliminating a large externality and promoting better economic efficiency.

using the military to protect oil transport infrastructure.

Karl, I agree with your first statement on subsidy, but don't completely agree with the military protection part. The US military protects many strategic aspects of our economy. This would be like complaining that the US subsidizes all naval shipping by protecting the sealanes. I also think that is a good use of taxpayer dollars.