singrdave

Join Date 07/2004

The Real Price Gougers

Gas rage is being placed on the wrong people!

External Link

Talk about truth in politics.

For those of you out there who may think that "BIG OIL" is responsible for the price run-ups of the past several months/years, and who cry and moan and complain about it on and on...

...well just remember a little something from Assemblyman Ray Haynes of California:

Do you want to reduce the price of gasoline by almost 60 cents a gallon immediately? Get the real price gougers. They take nearly 60 cents of every $3.00 gallon of gas. They should pay the windfall profits tax. They should be investigated. What are they doing with this money? How is it being spent? How are they ripping off the gasoline consumer?

They manipulate the market in oil. They withhold large amounts of the oil supply from the public, artificially reducing the supply so that the price of gasoline continually goes up. They prohibit the refining of oil, and, in fact, add useless, polluting chemicals to gasoline (claiming that it makes the air cleaner), which also artificially increases the price of gasoline. In fact, they profit from their activities at the expense of consumers everywhere. They gouge consumers, take home exorbitant salaries from their price gouging practices, and do absolutely nothing for the gas consuming public. They take the food from the table of the hardworking people of this state and country to satisfy their appetite for the big bucks they make from big oil.

How have these gougers avoided investigation so long? They blame others for the high price of gasoline. They use their public relations mechanisms to manipulate the press into shifting the blame from themselves to powerless scapegoats, and keep the flow of big bucks headed into their pockets from the pockets of working families.

Who are these gougers? They are the politicians and bureaucrats in the state and federal governments. Federal taxes take 18.4 cents of every gallon of gas. State gas tax is 18 cents a gallon. The state sales tax adds 22 cents to every $3.00 gallon of gas. Of course, the amount of sales tax goes up as the price of gas increases. Add these together, and the consumer pays 58.4 cents to the government for every $3.00 gallon of gas. These taxes don't include the income taxes paid by oil companies, which last year was over $108 billion to the federal government alone.

And what does the consumer get for this price gouging? Nothing. Government tells us they collect the tax to build roads and freeways, yet the freeways are overcrowded and the roads are crumbling. All the consumer gets is bigger government, and useless studies. Lots of government bureaucrats make six figure incomes from the gas tax to do absolutely nothing. Billions of dollars a year flow to these useless government executives and politicians, and they use these billions to line their own pockets and increase their power.

In addition, these same politicians purposefully place some oil of limits, artificially limiting the supply, increasing the price of gasoline, and shifting more of our national wealth to the terrorist nations in the Middle East. The United States has over 200 years of known oil reserves that no one can touch because the government won't let them. Add to this the fact that the government won't let anyone expand the refining capacity in this country, and mandates the inclusion of artificial chemicals to gasoline that can pollute our water, and the result is constantly-rising gas prices at the pump.

On average, only 30 cents of every gallon of gas flows to the oil companies, yet politicians, and their allies in the press, accuse oil executives of gouging consumers. One politician in Sacramento wanted to assess a windfall profits tax on these oil companies this week, claiming that oil companies were ripping off consumers. This same politician did not once mention that government makes double the amount that oil companies make off the same gallon of gas on sales and gas taxes alone. The press dutifully reported his scapegoat tactics, never once investigating him for his consumer rip off.

Don't be fooled by the rhetoric. The real price gouger in the oil industry is government.

Locked Post

Advanced Search

Watch this post

Do not email me updates for this post Email me updates for this post

Successfully updated karma reason!

Mea culpa! Why did it take anyone so long to write this?

Because it is so obvious to conservatives, and so blinding to liberals!

Successfully updated karma reason!

And note the source: some obscure, unimportant state assemblyman from California.

Successfully updated karma reason!

kingbee

Join Date 04/2004

+42

On average, only 30 cents of every gallon of gas flows to the oil companies

were they only making 19 cents a gallon when gas sold for $1.99 per? or has that 30 cent thing been a constant even tho gas prices have increased by nearly 1/3 makin the oil biz even less profitable.

i gotta applaud their dedication to their profession. hell i'm not sure i could get by lettin people fill up canteens from the ouside water tap if i was only collecting 30 cents a gallon. i have no doubt whatsoever i would keep workin my ass off for such a pittance for over 100 years.

that goes double if--like them stalwart souls at exxon mobil--after the government literally chopped me up into pieces, i managed to piece myself back together and had to constantly come up with new ways to prevent them from hackin me up again.

just outa curiousity, how many times does 30 cents go into 36 billion anyway?

Successfully updated karma reason!

On average, only 30 cents of every gallon of gas flows to the oil companies

were they only making 19 cents a gallon when gas sold for $1.99 per? or has that 30 cent thing been a constant even tho gas prices have increased by nearly 1/3 makin the oil biz even less profitable.

i gotta applaud their dedication to their profession. hell i'm not sure i could get by lettin people fill up canteens from the ouside water tap if i was only collecting 30 cents a gallon. i have no doubt whatsoever i would keep workin my ass off for such a pittance for over 100 years.

that goes double if--like them stalwart souls at exxon mobil--after the government literally chopped me up into pieces, i managed to piece myself back together and had to constantly come up with new ways to prevent them from hackin me up again.

just outa curiousity, how many times does 30 cents go into 36 billion anyway?

Before you start running them down, you should do a little figuring. The US alone consumes 400 "Million" gallons of gas per day.

Link

Successfully updated karma reason!

kingbee

Join Date 04/2004

+42

The US alone consumes 400 "Million" gallons of gas per day.

400 million more reasons to be even more amazed they remain willing to work so hard to make so much money for everyone else and so little for themselves. that 36 billion i asked about represents 2005 net profit for only one of the oil companies: exxon mobil. 2005 exxon mobil revenue was like $370.680 billion.

Successfully updated karma reason!

let us not forget the oil companies have to pay for the oil, pay to get it out of the ground, pay to have it transported, pay for the additives, and then pay taxes.

the government on the other hand makes more money than the oil companies do and DO NOT PAY A DIME for the product in any way shape or form.

Great scam, If I could only impose my own tax on beef growers and do nothing to earn it.

Successfully updated karma reason!

The US alone consumes 400 "Million" gallons of gas per day.

400 million more reasons to be even more amazed they remain willing to work so hard to make so much money for everyone else and so little for themselves. that 36 billion i asked about represents 2005 net profit for only one of the oil companies: exxon mobil. 2005 exxon mobil revenue was like $370.680 billion.

You also seem to forget that it costs them to refine it from crude oil to gasoline. That takes energy of some sort and "that" is neither free nor cheap. Quit being so facetious.

Successfully updated karma reason!

You also seem to forget that it costs them to refine it from crude oil to gasoline. That takes energy of some sort and "that" is neither free nor cheap. Quit being so facetious.

Liberals: Profits = evil.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Liberals: Profits = evil

How about...

Liberals: Profits = redistributable.

Successfully updated karma reason!

kingbee

Join Date 04/2004

+42

You also seem to forget that it costs them to refine it from crude oil to gasoline. That takes energy of some sort and "that" is neither free nor cheap

my point exactly: all that work and they're only making 30 cents per gallon??? i wonder if they realize just how badly we're gougin them.

Liberals: Profits = evil.

not in the least. as previously noted, for only 30 cents i wouldnt let people self-fill canteens from my outdoor tap.

Liberals: Profits = redistributable

exxon mobil: (oil producer+transporter+refiner+marketer+distributor)+ (redistributable costs & revenues)=n (where n represents an infinite number of creative bookkeeping schemes)

Successfully updated karma reason!

You also seem to forget that it costs them to refine it from crude oil to gasoline. That takes energy of some sort and "that" is neither free nor cheap

my point exactly: all that work and they're only making 30 cents per gallon??? i wonder if they realize just how badly we're gougin them.

Liberals: Profits = evil.

not in the least. as previously noted, for only 30 cents i wouldnt let people self-fill canteens from my outdoor tap.

Liberals: Profits = redistributable

exxon mobil: (oil producer+transporter+refiner+marketer+distributor)+ (redistributable costs & revenues)=n (where n represents an infinite number of creative bookkeeping schemes)

You are starting to sound as bad as the goof-ball, col gene.

Successfully updated karma reason!

Mea culpa

Yes... It's a rare politician who sees government and politicians for the thugs, criminals and thieves that they (all) are.

Successfully updated karma reason!

You also seem to forget that it costs them to refine it from crude oil to gasoline. That takes energy of some sort and "that" is neither free nor cheap

my point exactly: all that work and they're only making 30 cents per gallon??? i wonder if they realize just how badly we're gougin them.

Don't forget the exploration: oil industry's version of R & D. Their overhead makes other businesses weep.

Successfully updated karma reason!

not in the least. as previously noted, for only 30 cents i wouldnt let people self-fill canteens from my outdoor tap.

Why will you deny others that same right? And for the record, you are paying for that water, so if you want to be a skin flint, charge them.

Successfully updated karma reason!

While I'm thinking about it, get your facts straight. The oil companies do not make 30 cents on a gal. They make 9 cents. Now on that $3 a gal gas.....take off the state AND federal taxes. That is 60-70 cents per gallon. Then take off the "transportation" tax, etc...etc.

Successfully updated karma reason!