Yippee — Oil tops $138

Come up with some new material, oh but I forgot, if we cut the budget trim our government and curtail spending -- we won't have any highways to drive on and bridges will collapse......

 

I disagree totally.

Sports fans are like alcoholics. They'll keep doling out the cash for seats, primarily because so many of those seats are corporately owned anyway and they're passed off as a tax writeoff or business expense, which in turn raises expenses of the company, which in turn is charged to the customer in terms of higher prices....and the cycle goes on. As for the average Joe fans, they forgave every labor dispute and couldn't kick the habit. They'll just charge it and keep a comin'.

 

Yes, clearly, the state and federal tax amounting to a combined average of 47 cents a gallon is the main problem with the $4-plus per gallon price of US gasoline. Why are the rest of us even arguing about supply and demand, or the pressures of new economies, or speculation, or the cost of exploration, extraction and refining? Blame the government!

Can government be more efficient? Of course it can.

But do you pay far less in taxes at the pump than you would in any other developed Western economy? Of course you do.

 

Never said it was the main problem -- said the government makes about 3 1/2 times as much on the price of gas then the "big oil" machine lib's like you are always whining about and making out to be the devil in all this.

And the government could do something about the price of gas -- by taking less.

I mean, if you saved 47 cents a gallon - thats a pretty big savings isn't it?

 

"Libs"?

"Whining"?

Quote some of my posts back to me if you would, please, and show where I've ever advocated anywhere on any thread that we increase taxes on anything.

We get it. You hate taxes of any kind on anything. You're a Libertarian - or at least a disillusioned moderate-income Republican with a persecution complex.

But by all means, let's try it your way. Eliminate state and federal gas taxes, and then privatize highway operations and maintenance. Let me know what your break-even point is on gas savings versus the fact that your route to work will become a toll road.

As I stipulated, all government enterprises can be made more efficient. Wouldn't it be a lovely thing if we could harness your bitterness sufficiently to do so?

 

I wonder how the people in California felt in 2000 while their electricity was being manipulated to ridiculous price levels. They must have said "NAAAWWWW, there's no way electric companies would do that to us! It must be that evil Gray Davis!"

The truth came out after Enron collapsed.

It is VERY possible to game the system. Lay & Fastow & Co. made that abundantly clear. Just go watch "The Smartest Guys In The Room."

And Ragu, I feel you overstate the oversight of the oil industry. Lots of people ARE being screwed and lots of people ARE screaming. It's just the consumers. And the independent jobbers. Everyone else in the supply chain is skimming off billions along the way.

 

Are the Smartest Guys in the Room the mysterious Illuminati, which is Italian for "We don't give a f@@@ about common people"

 

Damn, now that was a smackdown. Note to self, don't make JG mad at me.

I think the oil system can be rigged. I think anything can be rigged especially when you stand to make billions of dollars off of it.

 

What I still don't get is why the price of gas jumps in direct relation to the price on the oil market.

The oil market is a <i>futures</i> market. If my understanding of the process is right, the prices being set today don't come into play for six months.

With the price of oil rising the past two or so years now, I understand a gradual rise in prices. But the "market jumps $11, so gas jumps $0.10 a gallon the next day" phenomenon seems like manipulation.

 

Because the gallon of gas you as Mr. Independent Service Station Owner buys wholesale next week must be funded with the profits (already miniscule) from the gallon of gas you are selling today. That's assuming you are making any profit. Because while your markup on a gallon of gas pretty much is pegged to the wholesale price. Let's say, strictly for example, you make 5 cents on every gallon. The bad news is that your credit card processor isn't adjusting its fee structure with the price of gas. It is taking a certain percentage on each transaction. And at a certain point, that more expensive fill-up for your customer creates more in credit card fees than you just made with your markup.

 

The other thing I was wondering about was the whole loss leader idea. At least I think that's what it is called, but it is when the price is set at break-even or loss to get more people to the store.
At grocery stores, it was on things like bread and cokes and I always thought that was true of gas stations, where the price of gas was low on purpose and where the stores made money was on inside sales of smokes and snacks.
But with gas being so high, I hear stories of people skipping the inside trip and I wonder if prices going up is an adjustment on that. The stores have to make money to stay open.