Money for nothing and your chicks for free……
That’s what you get if you have any kind of vested interest in the oil and gas industry these days…… Anyone from the oil company CEO to the neighborhood convenience store owner are making immediate excessive profits off Katrina and the oil industry in general….. These are called “Windfall profits” because the original production costs for these products were very low at the time they were produced compared to what they are selling for now…..
In Oklahoma the gas prices jumped into the three dollar range overnight….. That’s a .75 cent increase in less than two days! …… This is in addition to the all-too-regular .05 to .10 increases supposedly due to the Mid-East conflict…..
I thought “Windfall Profits” were made illegal during the last gas crunch on the late “70’s” early “80’s”..
Maybe I’m wrong – Anyone one out there have an opinion?……
September 8th, 2005 at 4:26 pm
The laws are different state by state. It’s been suggested that there should be a federal law. There oughta be a law.
September 9th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
Yeah, you’re right, there oughta be a law, but, it needs to be one that makes sense…… Oklahoma passed one that basically prohibits gas retailers from creating gas wars…. All retailers are required to stay within a certain profit percentage over wholesale, so all stations stay within a few cents of each other…..
Hell, I can remember when I was a teenager bitchin’ about having to pay .30 cents a gallon for gasoline, and gas wars where you could buy gas for as low as .17 cents a gallon!!…… That’s cheaper than what the state tax per gallon alone is now….. Prices were great back then, but I’m not too sure if I would like to backtrack and live those times over again…. Wages weren’t that great and there was as much, if not more, turmoil in the world as there is now…..
September 10th, 2005 at 1:36 am
Yes you are right, There ought to be a law.
How about profit caps.? I know that goes against the principals of capitialism but,is it right that the rich keep getting richer off of the backs of the working man (and woman).
Bill O’Riley made a statement on his show on tuesday of this past week. Why Can’t the oil companies and the CEO’s knock 20% off of their profit margin, Ordinarally I do not agree with him but I find myself saying yes to this statement.
It’s getting to the point that you have to be in the minority of the people that make 6-7 figures per yr. to afford to fill up.
Also It’s not just the gas that is outrageous, A quart of oil has went up 20% in the last week, Remember that 9.95 oil change, Bye Bye.
September 10th, 2005 at 1:29 pm
I don’t mind the gas prices being high. I think they should be high. There is a negative externality, as an economist would say, wherein gas prices to not account for the incredible social and environmental damage that is indirectly caused by the excess use of fossil fuel: higher healthcare costs resulting from pollution, wars overseas from supply shortages, etc. The market does not even come close to taking these things into account.
That said, high gas prices are terribly regressive and so rather than having the damn oil companies making the profits I would like to see high gas prices going toward investments in public transportation and alternative fuel sources. That way people would have other options. Sadly, that isn’t what is happening now.
Quite the opposite actually. Those of us living in the So-Cal smog are about to be treated to a temporary relaxation of emissions standards that the California legislature is ramming through to lower gas prices and protect their precious elected offices. As I look at the haze descending on LA, it is hard to think that is a good idea.
September 11th, 2005 at 10:38 am
Quiste right drs. What is the true cost of a gallon of gas anyway????
September 12th, 2005 at 3:52 pm
Hey, how about some spell/check Rambler. Between my typooos and poor spelling it’s a wonder anyone can understand me. Just an idea.
September 14th, 2005 at 6:22 pm
A spell checker is coming soon. I need to upgrade the blog to the latest version of WordPress first. I’ll probably do that in a few weeks.
September 15th, 2005 at 4:15 pm
SThanks from us challengeded.
September 23rd, 2005 at 11:36 am
Anon, is that “challengeded by the gallonened” since Rita is here?…. You need a playbook just to keep up with which hurricane is where and whether they filed a flight plan or not…..
And, Rita is not lovely, but she is a “meter-maid”, gas meter that is…….