With gas prices soaring, this is more or less an across-the-board tax hike for just about all of us, even if we don’t drive a lot or have a car with great miles-per-gallon ratings.

We still will pay more for food, clothing, household appliances, travel etc.

As you know, every year we hand over an additional $4 billion in federal tax breaks to the big oil companies. The speculators are the ones running the oil companies and have it all figured out. They know some day the wells will run dry, electric cars will be the norm, so right now they will pry every last dollar from us.

I hope I am wrong and gas (fuel oil for homes too) will drop in price and it won’t rain in Seattle for the rest of the year. I might not survive if I hold my breath on this one.

Joe Giannunzio, Redmond