That's illegal in Louisiana and in many other states. In Louisiana, gasoline can't be sold below cost. This is why you see all the gas stations selling gas for basically the same price. The law was changed in 2005 by removing the 6% markup requirement. Its purpose is to prevent the oil companies from undercutting the independent gas stations and driving them out of business. Article discussing subject ... Unfair Sales Act
That's is exactly the problem. We can no more stop buying oil than we can stop buying water or food. It's NOT a free market. Fraud is what I'm talking about. The oil companies engineer these refining shortages. If not for government regulation we would have ONE oil company in this country, which would probably have been renamed Rockefellerica. And you have not addressed my points about collusion between oil companies and oil cartels to fix prices. You have not addressed my point about the oil companies not playing in a true free market. Anyway, I was not advocating increased oil production. I was advocating increased refining capacity. The current surge in prices is not because of oil shortage or of crude prices (which have dropped). According to the oil companies, it is because of inadequate refining capacity. Why haven't they built any new refineries in 30 years? Why haven't you addressed the issue, since I mentioned it several times already. Obviously, the two issues are not mutually exclusive. But they are real issues and compromises must be made in a real world, regardless of what would be ideal. 1. Yes, oil is essential to a modern economy and to individuals working in that economy. Shortages must be addressed and corporate greed must be kept in check for the good of the nation. 2. Yes, oil ruins the environment. This is obvious to everybody. All reasonable measures must be taken to stop the pollution of streams and aquifers and to slow global warming. Alternative energy sources must be developed to replace oil in the next 100 years. Meanwhile oil is a vital energy source and too important for governments not to be involved. The multinational oil companies do not always have US interests at heart, if ever. The oil cartels certainly do not. Wars have been fought over oil. More wars will be fought over oil. Big wars. Economic warfare is real and will be increasingly felt. Oil production, planning, and pricing is a vital national interest and is too important to be left solely to the avaricious oil companies.
I didn't say "selling it below cost." I said why can't one company increase capacity in order to make cheaper gas, so they can sell it cheaper than their competitors. Not below costs. Its just that these different companies have different costs depending on whether they are producing from their own fields or buy in crude from Nigeria, how good their refineries are, and how efficient their distribution system is. Yet they all price their gas the same.
When we've allowed corporate america too much freedom, they have abused it. Read about the Rockafellers and Vanderbilts. Antitrust legislation was invented to protect the country from monopolists who used tactics so unfair they were deemed not in the best interest of the nation because they stamped out competition entirely. When successful regional competitors arose, they would sell below cost in that region until the smaller company went broke (while raising prices in all the other regions just a bit, so they didn't go broke). IBM in the 1970's was convicted and lived under a consent decree until the mid 1990's, and they were guilty of product bundling. We should not trust corp. america, as they have proven themselves many times to be skunks. Do I trust the govt.? Not in military matters, where they have a monopoly and have abused it. They have been bribed in justice matters. But on justice, they have also produced some great successes, and they are all we have to curb industrial abuse, just who else would you trust?
if you do not trust them, do not buy their products. do not use their services. i cant choose not to use the government. when the government does something, i cant opt out. only the government can put you in jail for not paying them. only the government has coercive force. corporate america cant force you to do anything, so if you have a problem with them, just quit dealing with them. again, if oil is too expensive, dont buy it. problem solved. if food is too expensive because oil is transporting it and that is too expensive (it definitely isnt), then buy in-season local foods. it is better for you anyway. as it stands now most of us are eating things like australian beef and guatamalan tomatoes. you do not have to, but we can because oil is actually relatively cheap.
once again, why not increase domestic production, increase windfarm technology, increase nuclear power capability in an effort to decrease dependence on foreign oil. that little 'ol anwar ain't looking too shabby now, it it?
There are no alternatives, obviously. We know you don't like the government. Give it a rest. You keep repeating this like a mantra and nobody is buying it. Nobody. You got anything else to offer? Something practical, perhaps. So much for being practical. We can just grow gasoline in our gardens! We can just live off the land with chicken coops in Queens and some goats in your spare bedroom. We can live in communes, Starshine. Peace and Love.
Your argument may be appealing in it's draconian nature but is laughably impractical. The very core of your statement says that we as consumers must either accept what a business wants to sell and at the price they choose or simply not purchase it. This is not Wisconsin cheese with hundreds of(or even one) other viable choices. Gas is a commodity that is knowingly being manipulated by the big oil companies. If you worked in the energy capitol of the world(Houston) you would know this. Having most of my friends in the industry, many of them don't admit to outright fraud, but they all sneer at their ability to manipulate the price of gas. Again, these are not eggs, or milk, or toilet paper from a particular store. There is no other place to go and the American public continues to get gouged every year. The price has recently shot up long before the annual "summer crunch", and with out further escalation in the war or threats to overseas refineries. Amazingly, (Pavlov would be so proud) we all exclaim when the price goes down a few cents, and forget the fact that it's climb far outreaches any reduction. We are now desensitized to any raise whatsoever and expect outrageous spikes in our prices. Don't be naive enough to think this is an accidental outcome. The movie industry is the only one that gambles millions without knowing the outcome. If the spikes coincided with a static profit level, I doubt anyone would be crying about the oil companies. However, record profits(a gross understatement), on an item that is not a choice for the majority, as a result of pure speculation, or in some cases, nothing at all, are unreasonable. Free markets deserve to be less hampered but there must be regulation in order to keep the people from getting screwed. If your only defense is that execs make more $ and spend more on the economy and therefor keep it going, then people like the Vanderbilts, Carnegies, and J.P Morgans would have never been slapped down. Don't even get me started on what was considered until recently the greatest company on the planet, Enron. The solutions to this will not be easy and no doubt take a lot of concessions on all sides, including the public. If it were really as simple a solution as you suggest, we could all bring the prices down within a week. That being said, eventually there will be more regulation regarding oil companies, despite the size of their PACs, and every one of my friends know it. They all liken themselves to crocs sitting in a river waiting for the first wilde beasts to jump in. They know we have to, and they know they are gorging themselves upon us at the moment, but don't expect it to last.
It's interesting, in southwest Tx., the family that used to own the King Ranch is sueing their neighbor for leasing the land for use as a windfarm. They claim the wind turbines are noise pollutants, eyesores, and they kill lots of birds, i.e. bad for the environment. The only thing I see with enough power to help solve the worldwide problem is nuclear. It creates waste, but its easily captured. It will be toxic for several thousand years, maybe we can develop a solution for that.
Safely and cleanly harnessing the power of the atom will be our only solution if we are to survive. And notice, I didn't say "if the Earth is to survive". The Earth will be here long after we have been selected out. The only question is, will Notre Dame win a bowl game before that happens?
