"most freepers are embracing the "free market", which is killing us right now with respect to energy prices."
Obviously you don't understand how a free-market works or you wouldn't be advocating putting energy prices in the hands of our elected officials. That is insanity! You can't champion a free-market and then turn around and put certain items off limits.
Here's what will happen......either consumers will get fed up with the high price of gasoline and begin riding bikes, or carpooling, or buying motorbikes/small cars, etc or they will continue paying at the pump. If it's the former, then demand for gas wanes and the prices come spiraling down and voila, just like that, the free market corrected itself. And, more times than not, the free market will OVERCORRECT and we will have once again very cheap gasoline prices because the market didn't anticipate this type of consumer reaction. And if the consumers keep paying at the pump for higher gasoline prices, then the rest of us have to listen to people like you complain about the prices.
If you don't like the price of gas.....then go buy a bike or get a second job or move closer to your job or work on an invention to replace combustible engine and become rich. We all have choices!
this is not a price control - just the opposite, the prices are being "controlled" now by the hedge funds to the tune of $10-15 per bbl. I am advocating that price control be broken.