must be hard to live off of billions a qtr in profit.

 

Capitalism... you've got to love it. Companies that clear in the BILLIONS of dollars each quarter should know that with todays marker and inflation the way it is, that they should LOWER the price of Diesel. When Diesel goes up so does everything we consumers buy!!!
If they are b!%#hing about refining capacity they should take $600-700 Million and build a new effing refinery.

 

Gasoline in Venezuela today, March 11, 2008 is $.12 a gallon in US dollars. That should tell you how badly our government has mismanaged the US oil.

Now, I'm all for capitalism and keeping our government out of businesses, but at some point someone needs to have the guts to stand up and say "Something is not right here".

First thing that needs to be done is to remove crude oil from the futures trading market. That is simply a price-fixing tool used to control oil prices. Like a self-fulfilling prophecy. We say oil will go up, the market panics and guess what? Oil prices go up.

Second thing is to regulate (I can't believe I'm actually using that word) the oil industry. Like any other utility, the oil companies should have to apply to each state's Public Service Commission with justification for a rate increase. That system currently keeps our electricity and natural gas consumer prices growing at a realistic rate. Since gasoline/diesel has become a required utility for all businesses and citizens, it should be treated and regulated as a utility.

Next, the fuel taxes need to be lowered. Our gas tax is way too high. Transportation companies should be exempt from fuel taxes since they are fully deductible against corporate income anyway. Taxes that are paid on fuel for transportation are added into the cost of the goods and the consumer ends up paying that tax, not the transportation company. Basically we are paying taxes multiple times on every item we buy.

Then again, I also think that the income based tax system is fundamentally flawed and unconstitutional. a consumption-based tax system is much more fair to people at all income levels. No more IRA's, no more tax forms, just buy stuff and the tax is collected. If you want to save for retirement, take as much money that you want into savings or an investment and spend it when you want.

Sorry to go off on a tangent. We now return you to our regularly scheduled fuel price rants...

Doug

 

What ever happen to the $2.50 a gallon cap I thought they were going to do?

 

It's Bush! I can't wait for him to get the hell out of office. US dollar is real weak right now, cause of him. $3.99-$4.10 a gallon for diesel right now.

 

Just think the other month we were all doing pretty good..And not it is a like a bad train wreck...

 

The price of fuel is subsidized by the government of Hugo Chavez. There is no market pricing of oil in the country since they (the government) owns the refineries and drill companies. It is estimated that the subsidy costs the Venezuela government over 9-10 billion dollars a year to keep oil prices that low. Yes Virginia, I said 9+ Billion dollars a year to aritifically lower the price of oil in the country.

The money that goes towards the subsidy is not used for any social, environmental, or health programs for the country. Counter that with where a lot of our oil taxes go to in this country.

You will also like this: Venezuela seized the operating assets of Exxon and several other operating oil companies in the country and handed them over to state run PDVSA (Petroleos de Venezuela). PDVSA has in turn stopped selling crude oil to Exxon.

I ain't crazy about the cost of crude oil in the United States, but I'd rather live here than Venezuela comparing the two. You may not, but there is a lot more going on here than just US domestic oil companies making a lot of money-which they are.

 

I'd much rather have the government seize the assets of Exxon than seize the houses of average Americans who just didn't want to sell their houses to a private developer. Yes, I'm still bitter about the Supreme court's blatant eminent domain abuse.

Subsidies aren't bad when they provide a stimulus to the economy. Unlike the $9.4 Billion given to the big corporations for corn subsidies last year to make the health-destructive high-fructose corn syrup and the environmentally unfriendly gasahol...

I'm not saying that I want anything to do with Venezuela, I would not want to ever live there. However they are a good example of how to provide oil for their people. We have these huge oil reserves all over the US and Alaska. Instead of pumping it out and using that money to fund government programs and fuel subsidies, our government would rather sell drilling permits for pennies to companies that are openly screwing the consumers.

If the US drilled and sold its own oil, a lot of our struggling domestic programs would be solved and our economy would be strong.

I don't want to get into an argument, so feel free to rebut this, but for the sake of everyone, I will not post any more on this topic. I feel I have made my case to support my opinion.

Doug

 

Nope no argument here. Just wanted to point out why there was such a disparate difference between the two price points.

 

Let me ask all of you this..What should we do as a Nation to get this problem back under control..

 

count me in. My truck went to storage again...I use Jeep nowadays.

 

I have not ran my diesel since Thanksgiving day

 

Unfortunately, there's nothing that can be done. If anyone thinks that Bush is the problem and not just a puppet mouthpiece for the true controllers, then wait til next year and see if things are done any differently... a two party system both bought and paid for by the same corporate lobby interests, is not democracy, no matter what they tell you.

The pricing of diesel above gasoline and the push for agro-fuel will only have one certain ourcome. Food prices will go through the roof as well as all other goods and services. If you think the people implementing these measures don't realize this simple fact, and are doing this deliberately to you and me to reduce the middle class, then you can book an appointment with your proctologist to locate your head at a later date.

 

Well Bush is the Problem....Those corporate lobby interests are Bush's friends....LOL...

 

12 billion spent per month in Iraq could build a few refineries with just a months spending. then take the remaining 12 billion a month and subsidize fuel prices nationwide....heck of a lot better than the quagmire we've put ourselves in.