How many people think Americans are being held hostage by the oil companies&refineries?

Question

I went to fuel up again this morning and saw that gasoline prices increased yet again and I am so sick of our government not going after the oil companies and the refineries. What are your views?

Answer 1

It is not the powerful corporations like Standard Oil that are holding the citizens hostage, the power of the corp does not help, it is the tax code changes made during Ronald Reagan's Administration.
The Progressive tax system that worked so will to distribute income fairly to the American people has been gutted by the Republican Administrations.
If you look and and read the numbers, America now is suffering two diametrical opposite results of the tax code changes under RR. We did not have all this multi, multi, maga rich billionaires before Reagan was President nor did we have thousands of homeless veterans wandering the cities streets. (One-third of all the homeless are Veterans, and many of those homeless are combat veterans)
We need to change the tax code back to a progressive system of taxation, the more we earn the higher the percentage one pays. (And, don't worry, the rich have the best lawyers in the Country, they will not go broke nor will they become homeless) but we can start rebuilding the middle class again.
In other words, by reinstating the progressive tax code, it will give the tens of millions of citizens a much better shot at a successful life.

Answer 2

Held hostage is a bit strong, but I do think we are suffering from what I like to call price fixing by Fiat. The principle behind that is simple, oil companies are not working together to fix prices, they don't have too. All it takes is station x on corner y to raise the price, and then all other stations on corner y follow suit.

Do not count on any help from the government on this issue. The simple fact is that oil companies contribute big dollars to both political parties, and no one bites the hand that feeds them.

As for supply and demand arguments. I am a capitalist to the core, but capacity and growth are only 1.2 percent below this point last year, yet price is roughly 60 cents higher per gallon across the board. The numbers just don't add up. We are all being conditioned to pay higher cost for gas. Gas in my neighborhood jumped 11 cents a gallon yesterday, and is almost as high as it was at the height of the hurricane refinery shutdowns. There is no understandable reason for this.

Iconoclast I might agree with your position about it being their product were it not for all the subsidies oil companies receive directly from the taxpayer tit.

Answer 3

There are many reasons for the price of oil being high. Very little, if any of it has to do with the oil companies "price gouging".
I used to work in the oil industry in the Gulf of Mexico. I don't have exact figures, but something like a quarter of the oil we make gasoline out of and the refineries that make it are located in the Gulf region. Hurricane Katrina took out about 20% of that. Much of it is still off line. It takes time to put all of that steel back together. Not to mention all of the support facillities including the shipyards that repair and build rigs and platforms were also wiped out.
Now add to that the fact that China is trying to soak up every drop of oil the planet can produce for thier remarkable economic and millitary expantion.
Ok, That alone is enough to make the price of oil go sky high. Now take into account that environmentalists in this country won't let us drill where most of our oil is or build new refineries.
If we could have drilled ten years ago in parts of the Gulf of Mexico that are off limits, off the coast of California where it is off limits, in Alaska where it is off limits, we would have enough oil available now to lower the price of fuel significantly.
I could list probably another 50 reasons why the price of oil is high, but the more I write the less likely it is that anyone will read it, so I'll stop.
Just do a little research and you can find all this out for your self.

Answer 4

Exactly what do you want them to do? Force them to lower their prices, I guess? Exactly what percentage profit is too much? And, should they not go after every company with a profit margin higher than whatever number you deem to be appropriate?

Before you say yes, you should know that many other companies make considerably more off of every dollar than oil companies. For example, pharmaceutical companies make about 10 times the profit of the oil companies, and they have your LIFE in their hands. Why don't you chase them first?

This is America, and capitalism is what drives our country. Gas prices are high because the government puts outrageous taxes one the gasoline, and the bunny huggers won't allow us to build more refineries and drill for more oil, so the demand is higher than the supply. That's why prices go up.

Answer 5

Yep, they're holding us hostages here in Canada too. Here's a few ideas to stick it to them: don't leave your engine idling regardless of how hot it is outside, go inside whereever you're waiting and use THEIR a/c; don't drive around looking for the closest parking spot, just park somewhere and walk the rest of the way; get a better fuel economy vehicle...an SUV or a Hummer does NOT help you with fuel economy. Just a few ideas to save some gas and money in your pockets.

Answer 6

It's just so outrageous! A handful of people at the top level say "Make it So" and we all have to eat it! And all this buisness about a shortage? I was around back in the 70's when they cried wolf , and i remember the way they made us monkeys dance back then , and there was no shortage then - and i believe there is no shortage now! I mean, how much freakin money do these fat cats need?! enough is enough i say , but what can we do?!

Answer 7

if they want to charge a billion dollars a gallon for THEIR product that is their prerogative, it is theirs... produce your own. just as if you demanded 1 billion dollars an hour as a wage they could refuse to hire you. they are not your slaves and are already regulated to the brink of destruction, you did not spend your time and effort bring up goo from hundreds of meters below the surface of the earth and turn it into a valuable product, and if you did by right do others get to pick what you can trade it for. without the mind capable of producing this product in the first place it would not exist, so to say that you should curtail the right of this kind of producer is not only immoral, but who would then want to spend their lives to research the next fuel, what do they get to charge?

Answer 8

I believe that 80% of the people in America think that we are being held hostage.

Answer 9

That's silly. It's not the government, it is economics. The basic law of supply and demand.

You need a remedial economics class.

Answer 10

they can only sell what you want to buy if everyone who works just sat down 1 day it would get the attention and make the point
but as long as you mumble but you buy it they will continue