HOW IS THIS A$$HOLE STILL BREATHING??

[BanginJimmy]

I'm not saying that making more money than the next guy should be illegal, I am saying that screwing the average citizen in order to turn a profit is not a good way to do business and there needs to be actual legal repercussions for these kinds of actions, not bull**** sentences that leave you at Club Fed for a couple of years.

who has committed what crime that they should be locked up for it?

Supply has not gone up steadily since 2000. OPEC Dropped production ALOT in 2000 and not until 2004 did we surpass the original supply mark. (Edit: I can't figure out how to link these damn pages, the main link is at the bottom of the page, link 1). Now for some basic economics. As you have seen if you clicked the link, production has actually surpassed the point it was at in 2000 yet gas prices are about 3 times higher. This would make perfect since if demand in the U.S. had risen dramatically between 2000 and 2006 (I can only find data up to 2006). Here's the problem. It didn't. In fact between 2005-2006 there was actually a drop in consumption of oil in the U.S. Do you see a problem with gas being $3.XX a gallon now? I do, even saying that $1 is taxes and the gas station takes 3 cents that leaves the oil company bringing in $2.XX a gallon which I'm sure easily covers their costs with a lot of room to spare. I understand that China and India have increased consumption drastically in recent years/months but I guarantee you that it does not warrant a 109%(2) increase in global oil prices between January of 2007 and now.

talk to the futures traders about that. The simple fact is that the futures traders on wall st. have just as much power over the cost of a gallon of gas as OPEC does. That huge increase in oil consumption by China and India is no small amount either.

"Both of Asia's rising powers desperately need energy. China today imports roughly half its oil. Consumption rose by 15% last year and is forecast to jump by an additional 9% this year. By 2025, China will burn through 14.2 million barrels a day, double this year's level, the U.S. Energy Dept. predicts. India's oil imports are expected to rise to some 5 million barrels a day by 2020, from around 1.4 million barrels at present."

full article:
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/...16.htm?chan=gb

The way I see it is that money has corrupted the market place. The people in control of the oil companies, oil producing countries, and oil markets are using their positions to make tremendous amounts of money at the expense of the consumer. It was bound to happen eventually and it will keep going until people finally get so pissed off they tell anyone that mentions oil to go to hell. The guys on top of oil control a limited natural resource that is required by all major global economies at this point in time. It's a situation that provides for an almost endless profit margin to those that place money above morals and ethics. In short, its like diamonds, a couple people realized the money they could make by cornering the market and convincing people that this precious resource is in short supply, we all let it happen and there really isn't much that can be done about it now.

this is from a washington post article from Oct 28. 2005

"Mobil's gross margin of 9.8 cents of profit for every dollar of revenue pales in comparison to Citigroup Inc.'s 15.7 cents in 2004. By percentage of total revenue, banking is consistently the most profitable industry in America, followed closely by the drug industry.

Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro and other cigarettes, made 22 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004, and pharmaceutical company Merck made 25.3 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004."

Also stated was the Exxon was #127 in profit margin among fortune 500 corporations worldwide. I guess this is proof positive that they are gouging the consumers to death.

full article:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...102702399.html

RedGT- So a lower profit margin justifies some of the most outrageous rate hikes in history? Think back to what happened after hurricane Katrina. Before the damn storm even hit the oil companies started shutting down oil rigs and refineries that were anywhere near the Gulf of Mexico. That is all fine and dandy, I wouldn't want my people out there either, but it was a crime to report gas shortages and raise prices as high as they did. Exxon/Mobil made just under $11 billion in profit for that quarter. Basically they made one of the largest profits in history while telling all of us there was a "shortage". By your logic this means that they outright lied to everyone, caused a frenzy in the media to boost sales and walked away filthy rich. That, sir, is the definition of price gouging and irresponsible business practices. Lets not forget that the only reason prices didn't go higher than they did during that time was because many states set a price cap per gallon which not only kept costs down for consumers but also lowered their profit margin. As for Hillary, she would leave us worse off than Bush has so I won't argue with you about her being a dumb ass. And yes, this is a free market economy, but taking a laissez-faire attitude towards corporate criminals that are pulling down our economy is not part of a healthy free market economy.

again, oil companies set their profit margin only. The rest of the price of gas is raw materials, transportation, taxes(both corporate and excise), future R&D and exploration, and human resources.

that means that when you spend $4.00 for a gallon of gas Exxon is going to make $0.392, but on that $4.00 pack of smokes, the manufacturer is making $0.88. I wonder why no one is crying to congress about the cost of a pack of smokes.