Originally posted by RabbitChaser
Regardless, these prices that Congress is 'grandstanding' about... saying to 'the people', "look... see... we're trying to do something" -- thing is, they can't. The problem lies with the de-valuation of the dollar. It is nothing the oil companies can control... and nothing the Congress can control; since giving all power to the privite entity of The Federal Reserve, so many years ago.
There's a lot more to this than the devaluation of the dollar. Although, I think that is a small contributor. Congress actually could lower gas prices by simply cutting the taxes a little. Exxon Mobil was taxed in the area of 75% on their profits last year. This equates to the federal government making over 40 cents per gallon on income tax and federal gas tax. They're making 5 times as much as the oil companies per gallon sold so it's in their best interest to keep the prices up.
It's a scary thought that the oil industry could be "socialized". Government is never as efficient as private industry. My guess is we would have gas rationing and the price would be just as high.
