If the topic were government abuse, I’d be right there with you. Every response you make trying to drag this off topic is failing. Each time I point that out to you and you ignore it to try again, what do you think that causes you to look like?
$0.46 cents a gallon time ten to twenty gallons times 20 million people, yep that’s a fair amount of change.
This artificial floor for pricing, is what they will use as the starting point when the cost of crude goes back up to $100 a barrel. And then we’ll be paying $8.00 a gallon.
At that point you’ll be back to say that’s only fair, and of course it’s all the government’s fault.
No, actually not all of it is.
I address government on gas tax issues.
I also address oil firms that screw the public.
I thought the topic was your assertion of unfair gas prices and screwing the public (well, at least as the public exists in California). I wasn’t sure from your original post who you where blaming but you have made it clear that you blame the companies. I disagree with that and blame the government. Seems to be on topic.
In a market that is not restricted by government regulation companies compete on price. In one that is heavily regulated with little competition like refining and distributing in California, companies do not compete on price. That situation is the fault of the government or do you expect profit making companies to act like charities and charge what you can afford?
Why is gasoline so cheap in Ohio and many other states? Did the refiners and distributors get some sort of fairness religion and decide to give us a break? Or do these other states have more refiners and distributors because their state isn’t regulating them out of existence which means they must compete on price to keep market share?
So what is the fair markup? Tell us all what is fair for these companies to make. I am sure the companies would not mind signing on for a guaranteed fair profit.