If there’s any doubt left as to why the republican party has suffered the collapse that it has, let it go. The reason is obvious: republicans have turned into democrats - big government, big spending, control your life democrats.

Here’s a prime example:

An influential Republican senator suggested Thursday that Congress might want to consider reimposing a national speed limit to save gasoline and possibly ease fuel prices.

Sen. John Warner, R-Virginia, asked Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman to look into what speed limit would provide optimum gasoline efficiency given current technology. He said he wants to know if the administration might support efforts in Congress to require a lower speed limit.

Congress in 1974 set a national 55 mph speed limit because of energy shortages caused by the Arab oil embargo. The speed limit was repealed in 1995 when crude oil dipped to $17 a barrel and gasoline cost $1.10 a gallon.

As motorists headed on trips for this Fourth of July weekend, gasoline averaged $4.10 a gallon nationwide, with oil hovering around $145 a barrel.

Warner cited studies that showed the 55 mph speed limit saved 167,000 barrels of oil a day, or 2 percent of the country’s highway fuel consumption, while avoiding up to 4,000 traffic deaths a year.

There is no case for government intervention here. The benefits of driving 55 are had by those who are doing the driving, therefor they have every incentive to do so already. They can balance the considerations on their own (using less gas versus more time spent driving) and decide which matters more to them.

If people actually care about using less gas and saving money, then they will drive at about such a speed without government mandate. If they don’t care, then there’s no justification for a politician, elected to represent the people, to institute something they don’t want. In either case, government should butt out. A republican should know better.

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