War Tax Report: 06/27/2026

The cost we’re paying for the war – which is on-hold for the moment – is down. But it is still high. Regular unleaded is under $4 per gallon, nationally – but it used to be under $3 per gallon, before the war started. That means most people are still paying $15-20 more for every tankful. That is – by far – a heavier tax than the sales taxes paid at the grocery store. It amounts to about $1,000 per year – and that’s assuming you have a medium-small crossover or similar with a roughly 15 gallon capacity gas tank. If you drive a truck or SUV with a 22-24 gallon tank, your tax is considerably higher.

The question on everyone’s mind is: Will the tax go away entirely or will it just go down some, temporarily?

The answer gets into whether the “deal” isn’t choreographed kabuki.

We are led to believe that Trump has yanked Netanyahu’s chain. Public disclosures of supposedly private phone calls. Political necessity dictated this. The war was/is a double problem for Trump in that most Americans don’t support it or at best support it tepidly and – far more of a problem – the war hasn’t gone well. It is probably true that most Americans would have cheered Trump like a latter-day MacArthur had the Iranian “regime” collapsed into its own footprint after just a few days of the usual “shock and awe” bombardment. This of course reflects horribly on America in that it shows Americans – not all, of course but lots of them – are all for war when it goes well. That is to say, when it costs them nothing but the other side everything. A better America would abjure wars of choice and conquest. Unfortunately, that America ceased to exist a long time ago. It may never have existed, truth be told. Even as long ago as just after the American states secured their independence (this was prior to America becoming a consolidated state) many Americans were gung-ho to go to war with Britain for the sake of France. Lee Greenwood wasn’t around then, but his spirit was.

Anyhow, it was necessary for Trump to put some plausible space between himself and Netanyahu. To tamp down the perception that Israel runs America and that Trump is a kind of major domo of Netanyahu’s. Hence the very public disclosures of angry personal phone calls. It is – it could be – kabuki. Trump looks like his own man again; “Bibi” gets put in his place.

But has “Bibi” been put in his place?

This seems unlikely, if only because “Bibi” is not the kind of guy to be put in his place. He is the kind of guy that puts guys like Trump in their place. He is, after all, the guy who literally did put Trump in his place – as major domo of the satrapy that styles itself The United States. Without the support of “Bibi” and his legions, it is doubtful Trump would be president because it is unlikely (nigh impossible) for anyone who is not obeisant toward Israel to become a congressman, let alone president. This hardly requires further discussion.

Maybe the kabuki goes something like this:

Trump makes a big deal about the “deal” he has struck with the Iranians. He makes an even bigger deal about putting “Bibi” in his place. Americans are relieved, even though they are still paying an extra $15-$20 at every fill-up. It beats paying an extra $40-$50 at every fill-up. Or not being able to fill up at all – which might well have happened if the war had remained hot for another few weeks. The situation is something like being glad the cop loosened the handcuffs a little bit.

So we get a little relief, for a little while. Maybe it lasts through the 4th and the gauche festivities that are planned. Including the playing of that insufferable Lee Greenwood anthem. Then the tail is pinned on the Iranian donkey. There is an “attack” upon the “Homeland.” They are after our freedoms, again! If the attack upon the Homeland is spectacular enough, it won’t be necessary to play the Lee Greenwood anthem.

Maybe Americans ought to be thinking about this scenario ahead of time – and asking themselves why the Iranians would want to “attack” the “homeland” when they have already won the war.

. . . 

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