As gas prices rise ever higher, many people are proposing different solutions to bring them back down.

But, in my mind, none of them really have legitimate merit.

Most of the "solutions," especially the gas tax holiday, would not work because the oil companies will just raise the prices more to compensate for their "loss."

The oil companies are making approximately $5 billion in profit each year and, even though oil production is on the rise, their profits are increasing as much as the prices rise.

I believe there is only one true way to help bring gas prices back down.

Cap the profits.

Even at a cap of $1.5 billion per year, the oil companies will still be extremely successful and, at the same time, make them more mindful of where the price levels are.

Also, as an added incentive to keep gas prices affordable to the average American, there should be some sort of penalty for exceeding the cap.

I'm thinking it should be similar to the "luxury tax" concept held on Major League Baseball teams, but more extreme.

For every dollar over the cap that a company makes, they have to match it out of their profits.

So, if a company ends up with a profit of $2 billion in a year where the cap is $1.5 billion, their excess and the "luxury tax" would be $500 million a piece, making their actual profit $1 billion.

What should be done with the "luxury tax" money, you may wonder.

I have an idea for that too.

I say the money should be spread around to city street departments and county highway departments to be spend exclusively for the repair and maintenance of roads around the country.

With this plan, it appears to be a "win-win" because either gas prices will go down or local and county governments will be able to afford to fix roads -- or both.