Do you think the government in controlling gas prices.?

Question

I remember years ago prices were pretty steady. It was not affected by storms as they claim it is now. I don't believe it is now,I think some is truely lining their pockets big time.

Doesen't our vice president and president have a hand in the oil barrel?

Answer 1

Definitely not government. But government and the lazy media allow the big companies to get away with the lies, distortions and gouging

Answer 2

No we are controlling it. Demand is way up. Look at the cars on the road, gas hogs. Look at the way people drive, the least efficient way. Look at the supply side of the equation, we do everything we can to keep it lower than it might be.

It's easier to blame someone else, but the American consumer (and China) is responsible for the price, due to a basic law of economics - Price Theory (price is a function of supply and demand, when supply is fixed and demand goes up, so do prices).

Government does have some effect on the price, the taxes that we pay at the pump, which are actully way more than the profits made by the oil companies.

Drive down prices, drive less!

PS To TXGUY - government price controls are the last thing we want (remember the gas lines in the 70s? Price controls did that). If you keep the price artificially low, demand will not be in balance with the supply so you will create an artificial shortage (think back to all commodities in the Soviet Union). Not a good idea at all, I would rather pay $5/gallon than sit in 8 hour gas lines (and only on the day you are allowed to buy it).

Answer 3

Our leaders are not Americans. Consider every thing that the President and Congress have done for America. NONE of it has been good for Americans at all.

Yes, our leaders are a bunch of fat cat Zionist pigs that are taking the American taxpayer for a ride. Americans have been brainwashed over the years to never mistrust their government. They don't realize that adherence to this belief has made it possible for a dictatorship to be put in place. It is just a matter of time before Americans learn this the hard way. The high gas prices and a government body that goes against the majority and continues a needless war is all the proof most thinking Americans need.

Answer 4

Oil companies have reported record profits in the billions in the last couple of years despite the "shortages". No one wants to pay high gas prices or pay the inflation across the board that it causes. So what can be done? In some states, other energy sources such as electricity and natural gas are regulated, but there is a fundamental philosophical question that needs to be addressed. How much economic regulation are we willing to afford the government? Should the government be allowed to set prices? I believe that is anti-capitalist and flirting with communism. What the government can do is offer periodic tax breaks on gas when the price reaches certain plateaus or some another standard related to gas usage to put more money back into the pocket of the American consumer without interferring in free market capitalism or waging war on the gas station owners that make very little per gallon of gas. I agree with you wholeheartedly that the profit that is being made is unreasonable and outrageous and something should be done, but what to do a is very delicate issue in light of the constitution.

Answer 5

I don't think it is the government, though the government certainly hasn't done much of anything about it.

Personally I do not think there is a shortage, if there was they wouldn't be making billions of dollars.

They just continue to raise the price because they know most Americans will still pay it, because the only alternative is to walk or ride a bike everywhere you need to go and that's not always practical, especially if you need a lot of groceries and live a couple miles away from the closest store.

The really bad part is the price of everything else goes up as well.

Answer 6

SUGAR, I've added you to my contacts....soooo, anytime you want......contact!.....As for the G-men controlling the price of gas......Maybe YES/NO....the point is that we( us little people) can't do a damned thing about it.....soooo, what the hell......give the a** h*l*s their $$$$$ ......at least we can still drive our SUV's and heat our homes.... that's more than other countries can do......all things are relevent......but , to what, we some times don't know, nor should we......if this country has such a F**K**-UP governmental system, why then are almost all the peoples of the world trying to come here and relying on us to help them out of their messes up situations.....most of the world's countries are always nipping at the heels of AMERICA for some sort of bone or some sort of bail-out of something they can't get or find or their own governments won't give them.....No , this country isn't perfect.....But there is no-place better that I'd rather be than right here in the good old U.S.of A........It's okay to asks questions about these sort of things (IN THIS COUNTRY) but in some countries the prople never get anwers to any of their questions, except when they are standing as targets on a firing line.......No matter what this government does, I'm happy that we have it......right or wrong , I feel it's still the best....and I'm proud to be living in this country......I'll alwaysbe proud....

Answer 7

I think that they are controling prices only because they aren't controling prices. All of these people in the administration make money when oil and gas companies make money. So by placing no controls (and hiding behind the "it's a free market" argument) on what these companies can charge for their product then they are making sure that prices and profits just keep going up and up. I wonder how much will be enough.

Answer 8

No, they are not "controlling" gas prices, but they DO make MORE MONEY (in what they collect in gas taxes) then the oil companies do! For every gallon sold, the oil companies make 9-11 cents, while the government (state, local and federal gas taxes) collect on average 50 CENTS PER GALLON! They also contribute to the rise in gas prices by requiring ALL these different formulas of gasoline for different parts of the country. If we just had one formulation of gasoline (and just in the way of evidence, I just drove all the way across the country, and my giant Suburban seems to run just as well on gas I buy in North Carolina as it did on gas I bought in California), gas would CERTAINLY cost less! Since the democrats claim to care SO MUCH about the little guy, why don't they at least LOWER THE GAS TAX A LITTLE BIT for a while?????

Just wondering...

Answer 9

I do not believe the governement controls the prices, but they have a heavy hand in the money. A good percentage of the price you pay for each gallon is a federal tax.

Answer 10

Market forces, and ONLY market forces determine gas prices. I suggest you take a class in economics before you absurdly pontificate a theory on something so complex.

It's so easy to demonize oil companies or government, most people just fall right in line and think like all the other sheep out there do. It makes them feel better to place blame on someone else.

The truth is that energy markets are subject to jitters these days, combined with high summer demand, an uncertain middle east situation, and the looming potential for a vigorous hurricane season that pummeled the gulf oil region from Katrina, prices are going to stay high through the summer.

Answer 11

The government is complicit in that they allow industry to engage in practices designed to drive prices up. This is done for the sake of having a free market, which in theory is supposed to be an unalloyed good.

To reference a somewhat more infamous and extreme example: "Death Star" "Get Shorty" "Ricochet"

Free markets as they appear in theory are not always terribly similar to "free markets" as they occur in real life. Especially when enormous corporations with extensive influence in government are involved.

The consumer is also to blame however. Americans are frankly addicted to gasoline. Lower prices would likely only serve to increase demand until the price was raised again.

Not that being addicted to gasoline is in itself such a morally terrible thing.

But when your nation is gambling its economic health and its security, as well occupying and generally shooting up various foreign locales, at enormous public cost, in order to enable this gluttony?

Yeah, there's a problem there. Develop alternatives. Wake the f*ck up.