I laughed.
Jynx: Huh?
Here are gas prices for CA, adjusted for inflation. It’s only in the last year or so that those prices rose above the peaks they reached in the early 1980s (about $2.70/gal). Note that in 1989 the price of gas was exactly the same (within less than a penny) as it was in 1970.
The dollar fell in value by a significant amount. Its value against the euro dropped almost by half and some of you have noticed the rising exchange rates in Britain and Canada among others.
Thanks to China, the yuan being pegged to the dollar helps us aquire affordable goods from them and keeps consumer consumption up. Unfortunately, the artificially low value of the Yuan makes exports to China less profitable. on the other hand the exports to Europe and other parts of the world with expensive currency are more profitable.
Since we don’t get oil from China, we have to pay more dollars for it and the increase trickles down to the pumps. What our immense deficit did was take all the money people had in U.S dollars and tax it by around 30-40%.
A broad, legal way of imposing a crazy high FairTax*™ to finance the war. Ah, life is funny. 
*Which, as it names suggests, gets fairer and fairer the richer you get ;), giving everyone a compelling reason to achieve the american dream. Take that you stupid hippies!