Originally Posted by nightrunner

e-*******-xactly

and anywhere else there is oil

**** the damn environmentalists

just how i feel

Originally Posted by vanillagorilla

So can I ask why the local, state and federal governments tax it? To me it seems like they're shitting in thier own nest. Who are they taxing? Us or the oil companies? Where does the 50-80 cents a gallon go? Certainly not alternative fuel research or to feed the hungry.

Originally Posted by quicksilverado

Federal funds to a local district have nothing to do with the price of a gallon of gas. A high average income for a district also has absolutely nothing to do with gas.
I guess with fewer refineries than we had 30 years ago, a larger domestic demand along with the exploding demand in China and India have no influence on the price. Not to mention the tree hudggers that go ballistic when the mere mention of drilling in the Anwar area comes up. Floridians going ape $hit if anyone considers drilling off their coastline. All the chaos in the Middle East probably has no effect either. OPEC cutting back on production to keep the price per barrel elevated does'nt come into play. Wall Street traders that panic when a fly lands on a donkey's a$$ surely has no affect.
The oil industry's profit margins are right in line with other major industry margins. If not on the slightly on the low side. The oil industry is making tremendous profits, but that is because the demand for their product is thru the roof.
I will agree that the government turning millions off barrels around and shipping it back over seas is increasing the cost off gas. The effect of the government to demand so many different blends of gas also contributes to the cost. The 50-80 cents per gallon of taxes imposed by the Local, State , and Federal Governments don't help either.
Even with all these things going against us. We still enjoy some off the lowest prices in the world.

Originally Posted by Eye-P

Seems you entirely missed the point here.

You claimed that this was a free market economy.

The US is anything BUT a free market economy, regardless of what Kudlow and Cramer tell you.

I then showed you how our "free market economy" coddled both the oil industry, and your very congressional district, even though they clearly dont need the help.

Like what was said elsewhere in this thread, fuel taxes help pay for our road system, and actually fall quite short, which explains the state of our roads!

Originally Posted by quicksilverado

Your example had no point to back up what you are trying to say. I gave several examples of what influences the market and therefore the price of fuel. The government does give the oil industry huge tax breaks, but I challenge you to find any major industry that does not enjoy that same privilege. If the industry is large enough they have plenty of lobbiest in D.C. to influence the tax laws for their particular niche in the market. A Congressional district is not a business , and therefore has nothing to do with this conversation. Contrary to what most believe, fuel taxes go into the general fund like most other taxes and are used for everything under the sun except for there intended use.