[Beetle01]

Market prices are set by real and expected shortages and surpluses. Speculators are speculating that prices will continue to climb in the future and I agree with them. The expectations of speculators are a symptom of high gasoline prices, not the cause.

70 percent of the cost of a gallon of gasoline is the cost of the crude oil from which it is refined and American companies have no ability to fix that price independently of the global market. I have seen what changes in government policies can do to affect the price of gasoline. The threat of or the presence of real competition in the market always places pressure on producers to drop their price.

Do you realize that this country could be producing gasoline from coal profitably even if crude oil dropped to $50/barrel? Our federal government could make coal-based gasoline a competitor to crude oil and force prices downward but our genius president has declared war on fossil fuels. Instead, Obama is lining the pockets of wealthy bundlers like the ones who took $500 million in taxpayer money to start now defunct Solyndra.

American politicians want you to buy their demonization of large oil companies but the truth is and always has been that the most profitable of those companies post typical profit margins of 10 percent or less. They are huge companies that employ thousands of Americans, so 10 percent of their sales adds up to a lot of money but 10 percent is one-third or less than the profit earned by successful companies in other sectors of the economy.

Google, Microsoft, Apple and other tech companies make a far greater return on their investments but you will never hear Obama demonize them for their success. GE paid no federal income taxes last year and the result was having their CEO named as a top Obama economic adviser.

Stop believing the propaganda oozing from the slime of Washington, DC. Big oil companies pay roughly three times more in taxes than they reap in profits. They have an image problem because they do not support government policies that have targeted them for extinction.

Wrong, in 2009 Exxon paid zero federal income taxes. When they report taxes they do it in a way so that it seems they are paying all this money, however, they include payroll taxes, state taxes, property taxes, and a load of other nonsense in their "press releases". In 2010 they paid 18% in federal income tax, that is less than me and I work full time and go to school full time.

Look I am all for some of the drilling, and other options America can take to be free of the Middle Easts oil. However, I am not foolish enough to think that alone is what is driving up prices. How can prices be so high and oil companies being making triple and quadruple previous record profits, but in your eyes its all the govts fault. Plenty of blame to go around, dont try and defend these sleezy, greedy, scumbag corps who rape our country.

More than anything, to drive prices down we need to go in and break these companies up. They DO have a monopoly. Look at the number of US companies who actually refine gas. About 90% or more of the gas refined in this country is from less than a handful of companies. It used to be almost 100.