Much to everyone’s collective chagrin, gasoline prices per gallon topped $2 this week in Iowa. Rumor has it that gas prices in the Chicagoland area now range between various appendages and firstborn children.

As always, this has risen up to the level of a supreme injustice against the American people at the hands of either the Venetian princes at the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, or the shadowy cabal of oil industry executives, depending upon your political affiliation.

Given this, it comes as no surprise that both George W. Bush and John Kerry have made rising gas prices a part of their recent campaign themes. Of course, rather than make the hard sell of individual responsibility, each seeks to instead simply appease consumers through government-sponsored bribery.

Both have appealed for a need to “reduce our reliance upon foreign oil,” accomplished by either handing out prime drilling rights to political allies or cramming yet another efficiency mandate down the throats of automakers (and of course consumers by proxy). Of course, neither of these “solutions” puts the accountability where it belongs — squarely back upon the consumer.

The idea that one has a right to gasoline at $1.50 per gallon or less stems from the same welfare-state entitlement mentality that one has a God-given right to a check from the government in the mailbox at the end of the month.

Yet this is exactly what politicians play into when they propose yet another solution from Washington to what is simply an economic fact of life: scarcity. Gas prices will continue to rise as supplies dwindle (whether naturally or manipulated by an oil cartel) and demand rises — both in America and as rapidly industrializing nations like China and India ratchet up their own consumption.

As a basic rule, price is simply an indicator of these two conditions. Naturally, this has never stopped politicians from manipulating prices in order to curry political favor, yet none of this changes the stark reality of resource scarcity.

Keeping gas prices artificially low by subsidizing producers directly or simply providing indirect subsidy in the form of providing for “regional stability” fails to have consumers realize the full cost of their choices.

As price no longer reflects scarcity, demand for innovative technologies is stunted. After all, why pay a significant premium for an ultra-efficient hybrid car when the savings will never be realized at the pump?

The opposite approach comes in with friendly “mandates” from Washington to automobile manufacturers, as if consumers are incapable of making purchasing decisions based upon factors such as fuel economy. Many a left-wing career has been built upon trashing the evils of consumer choices like gas-guzzling SUVs, as if choice itself were the ultimate culprit.

Again, what is lacking here is any notion that the consumer is ultimately the one responsible for consumption choices. Rather than simply have consumers adjust their demands relative to price, mandates take the whole choice (and accompanying responsibility) right out of consumers’ hands.

The answer to all of this is to treat consumers like adults once more. If gasoline prices become unbearable consumers should be forced to make the hard choices, instead of being coddled. If individuals want the comfort and safety of an SUV, let them pay for it at the pump. These are the value priorities that consumers need to be making on their own, without the government distorting the picture for them.

This goes for every carrot-and- stick proposal to wean consumers off inefficient vehicles as well — instead of bribing individuals into buying more fuel-efficient vehicles, let the price crunch at the pump do the talking.

Once the marginal cost of driving becomes high enough, consumers can choose to make the switch on their own — or simply eat the costs themselves.

If dependence upon a scarce and politically unstable resource is a problem for America, it’s time for consumers to realize the costs of this on their own.