gas prices

As you all know, gas prices in the US have increased and decreased dramatically in the past three years. When increasing we were shelling out as much money as we could to pay for the blood of the USA, and now when they have decreased dramatically to historic lows allowing American families to yet again enjoy the goodness of life before gas rose considerably. But why is it that prices can be so high, yet so low in a short span of time. This is due to the law of supply and demand, and various fiscal policies our government with the middle eastern countries.
When a barrel of oil rose in price tenfold, we saw the price per gallon only triple or quadruple. This does not make sense, but this is due to fiscal policies our government uses to subsidize the true cost of oil. The federal government subsidizes the oil industry with numerous tax breaks and government protection programs worth billions of dollars annually. These benefits are designed to ensure that domestic oil companies can compete with international producers and that gasoline remains cheap for American consumers. The cost of securing our access to Middle East oil - deploying U.S. forces in the Persian Gulf, patrolling its water and supplying military assistance to Middle East countries - is estimated at $50 billion per year, which adds additional dimes to each gallon of gasoline we purchase. If our government did not pay for this, the cost of gas would be even greater, as oil makes up 75% of the gas we use in our vehicles.
Supply and demand also caused the great flux in oil we have seen in the past couple of years. When supply was cut short not too long ago due to middle eastern conflicts disrupting the steady flow of oil we once received. This is reflected in the price as demand stayed just about the same, and the equilibrium point in the oil market shifted to a higher price for a lower quantity. From 2005-2008 prices soared from $50 to over $140, and gas prices reflected that (4.00 per gallon or more) as less quantity was supplied the sellers were forced to raise the price in order to compete at the equilibrium without causing shortages or surpluses. When oil prices decreased to a fraction of what they used to be, the equilibrium price of the oil market decreased as well, with more quantity supplied, this allowed sellers and buyers to come back into a favorable equilibrium point.
I think that what happened to the price of gas was fair. Sure it became very expensive, but if you just gave up one time going out to meet, or a couple of movies, then you could easily make up that price jump. For the cost of a barrel of oil to increase over tenfold, and have our prices max out at $4.00 a gallon is a pretty good deal. We can predict what will happen to price through the supply and demand curves, and maybe be a little more thankful for what we have, and the high standard of living we have achieved , and be thankful of our government fiscal policies toward the countries we are importing oil from.
Gas prices vary greatly in times and trouble, and was reflected in the past couple years to a price that was guided by the our governments fiscal policy, supply and demand, and Smith's "invisible hand".
http://www.gasbuddy.com/gb_retail_price_chart.aspx?time=24
http://www.iags.org/costofoil.html
http://www.dailywealth.com/archive/2008/jul/2008_jul_01.asp