Slight decline? You call the biggest single-day price drop in 17 years a "slight decline"?  If going from almost $148.00 per barrel to around $125.00 within a week is a slight decline, then I'd like to see your idea of an appreciable decline.

Despite your statement to the contrary, "most economists" do NOT attribute high oil prices to speculation.  Speculators are just the latest and most convenient scapegoat for high oil prices, now that the oil companies have set the record straight about their role (or lack thereof) in the price of oil.  The factors generating the speculation are responsible, not the speculators themselves.  The International Energy Agency recently cited strong growth in demand along with shortages in supply and refining capacity as key factors.  In fact, weaker demand, along with the strengthening US dollar are mostly what is causing the price drops I referenced above.

Would you rather that gasoline not be available at any price?  That's exactly what will happen if Congress gets its way.  I seem to remember that we were promised Congressional "action" to lower the price at the pump if we elected Democrats to the majority (this was when gasoline was around $2.25 per gallon).  We've seen what happens when politicians try to regulate an industry they know absolutely nothing about, and you want to turn them loose against the marketplace?

This just proves what I've said all along: the government just needs to get the h*** out of the way and let the market correct itself.