Terry....do you grocery shop regularly? There are always price choices in foods.....choices in different store chains, etc. where deals are being offered all the time on most items. Gas stations on the other hand are generally in line give or take a few pennies on the gallon. Hey....if for some reason milk is a back breaker for the family budget then cut down on milk consumption. You can do that and still drive to work but you can't drive to work without gas.
Price manipulation is already illegal in the US. If there are players in the game acting in an illegal manner, they should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. But the populist warfare and campaign sound bites against the evil doers on "Wall Street" is not helpful to ANY part of our economic recovery. "Wall Street" cannot control the supply of oil any more than you can.... Do you not find the notion of a group of Washington bureaucrats defining an "acceptable" level of profits absolutely terrifying? Do you not understand that they too have their own biases and self-interests and why is it that you believe that their political self-interests are somehow more noble than economic self-interest of market participants taken collectively? Can you name for me just one example of when a centrally-planned government has ever been successful at improving the lives of its citizens? Just one....
BT...if domestic oil and gas producers decided that their margins cannot fall below 20% and the resultant profits were 100 trillion annually but the consumer was paying $10.00 per gallon at the pump would that be okay with you? If the industry decided that's where they had to be to survive then that's OK? WTF would the rest of us have to say about it if they did make that decision? In your opinion I guess nothing because government should never interfere no matter what and the consumer should always be on the short end of the busness stick.
I guess we could all move to Europe where socialist govts monitor and regulate price of gas ...oh and it's as high as 12$/gal right now.
Given that you've now pulled another card off the deck, I assume that we have ended the it's the fault of "Wall Street" campaigning by soundbite rather than fact nonsense? Sigh.....now to the domestic oil and gas producers.....let's again establish the facts.....1) our domestic oil producers are so small in the world oil game they can't even be classified as minnows.....2) our domestic oil producers account for only a small fraction of world oil supply.....3) our domestic oil producers have no bearing on the world-wide demand for oil. Oil is the largest, most widely traded commodity in the world...it's equilibrium price over time is a function of factors influencing supply and demand. Given that our domestic oil producers cannot influence 1) factors regarding supply, 2) factors regarding demand, how in the hell can you possibly believe they can influence the price? :shock: Describe for me a plausible scenario, wherein we would be better off without an industry dedicated to the exploration, recovery and refinement of crude oil? Just one.....
Who makes up the consumer base of domestic oil and gas companies? Japan? China? or Americans at the pump perhaps?
Amen TOK, it would be instructive for our friend to compare gas prices around the world.....you referenced Europe, in Japan it's $7/gal in Norway it's over $10. Is it possible for Bush and/or "Wall Street" to be at fault here as well.....? :roll:
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American demand is actually down slightly. The problems are many: China is now a major consumer and is demanding almost as much oil as we do and that drives the price up. Jurisdictions are hiding taxes in the pump prices. We are actually selling our own oil to foreign countries at the same time our prices are escalating. The mid east is so unsettled that prices are at the whim of tin pot religious zealots. And of course this administration frowns on the discovery and harvesting of energy at home.
Maybe gas prices are not the biggest reason to develope our own resources. Maybe energy independence is a worthwhile goal of it's own. Not to mention jobs, jobs, jobs. And a little economic stimulus.
MCG, What I'm saying is that we have no comprehensive strategy as it relates to energy.and it is now a national security issue of the highest order.