Gas Prices - My 2 Cents - Stop Whining!!

[kevenj]

Originally Posted by OoTLink

If everyone's broke you'll be broke too! Who wants to be broke? Just be careful. Heheh.

I didn't say I wanted this to happen; just that it is going to!

[kevenj]

Originally Posted by bac n black

There is a Railroad commercial on TV that boosts 450 miles on 1 gallon of gas, its just another excuse for everyone in every industry to raise prices and our GOVERNMENT allows them to get away with it. The very freedoms that made this country great are going to put us all in the poor house. By the way I served in the military for 20 years, I am Red, White and Blue as anyone who loves this country, but something must be done and not just with the gas prices.

Ok once again.... the freedoms that made this country great are not the cause of our current problems or high gas prices. How could they be, since very few of those freedoms still exist?

Oil is expensive because the value of the dollar has been destroyed. The dollar is a fiat currency (not backed by anything tangible such as silver or gold) and all fiat currencies eventually collapse. There is nothing to stop the federal reserve from printing unlimited dollars to fund our ridiculous foreign policy and social programs that we cannot afford. Since the dollar is not tied to silver or gold, the Fed doesn't have any constraint on how many dollars it can print. What happens to anything if you flood the market with it? it's value decreases. That's what is happening to the dollar, and the Federal Reserve (which is not Federal at all; it's a privately owned bank) is to blame, not private enterprise or what's left of our freedoms.

Obviously that is not the ONLY factor in higher oil prices (general turmoil in the middle east and increased demand from China factor in too) but it is intersting that since 2001 the price of a barrel of oil has risen 319% in dollars but only 92% in Euros.

Oh and ExxonMobil's record profits? Yes they made a lot of money; but that is because they sold a lot of gasoline. Their profit margin was only 9%, which means if they made no profit at all gas would only be about 9% cheaper; almost every other business I know of (certainly the company I work for) operates on a much higher profit margin than 9%.

[PureEnjoyment]

Originally Posted by kevenj

Ok once again.... the freedoms that made this country great are not the cause of our current problems or high gas prices. How could they be, since very few of those freedoms still exist?

Oil is expensive because the value of the dollar has been destroyed. The dollar is a fiat currency (not backed by anything tangible such as silver or gold) and all fiat currencies eventually collapse. There is nothing to stop the federal reserve from printing unlimited dollars to fund our ridiculous foreign policy and social programs that we cannot afford. Since the dollar is not tied to silver or gold, the Fed doesn't have any constraint on how many dollars it can print. What happens to anything if you flood the market with it? it's value decreases. That's what is happening to the dollar, and the Federal Reserve (which is not Federal at all; it's a privately owned bank) is to blame, not private enterprise or what's left of our freedoms.

Obviously that is not the ONLY factor in higher oil prices (general turmoil in the middle east and increased demand from China factor in too) but it is intersting that since 2001 the price of a barrel of oil has risen 319% in dollars but only 92% in Euros.

Oh and ExxonMobil's record profits? Yes they made a lot of money; but that is because they sold a lot of gasoline. Their profit margin was only 9%, which means if they made no profit at all gas would only be about 9% cheaper; almost every other business I know of (certainly the company I work for) operates on a much higher profit margin than 9%.

Great point Kevin.....

-Joe

[fadertoo]

Just to add or clarify a detail... For simplicity, if we assume they all make about the same, then if all oil companies - not just Exxon-Mobil - all of them - made no profit at all, gas would still only be about 9% cheaper. Regular would still average around $3.30 a gallon in the US today. The average C owner would save around $5 a week. Except of course they'd all go out of business in a month and we'd instantly be back in the 19th century instead of the 21st. Much worse, really, since we don't have the 19th century infrastructure in place to be able to cope.

It's so easy to read $40 billion profit and say "They're robbing me!" but it's just not true. It's certainly not true that they're the source of high prices. That's what rankles me so much about the "windfall profits tax" proposal and even proposed requirements to force "the oil companies" to use a specified portion of their "excess profits" on renewable energy research. It's all just smoke and mirrors to tap into the voters' anger at the cost of gasoline to help win votes. And those profits help some of us too, either via direct stock ownership or the investments of our retirement or pension funds.

And now this proposal to eliminate the 18¢ per gallon US Federal excise tax on gasoline for the three "Summer driving months." Eighteen cents per gallon? ...for three months? That'll save us what? ...like $3 a week for three months? Whoop-dee-doo! We'd all be better off if they forced us to give up a couple of burgers a month. How stupid do they think we are? Pretty $@&% stupid, apparently. Puh-leeze! As John Stossel might say, "Gimme a break!"

[Manny 08]

Originally Posted by kevenj

Exactly! We must have been posting at the same time (read my reply above yours).

If the Auto Parts store I work at tried to operate on a 9% margin, we'd be out of business in 2 weeks and i would not have a job. But it is easy to blame Exxon for everything.

Oil companies make money, they treat Gas like the stock market.

Kenneth P. Cohen, Exxon Mobil's vice president for public affairs, said the earnings reflected the company's "long-term, disciplined approach" and investments made a decade ago when oil prices were low

Exxon Mobil's Profit in 2007 Tops $40 Billion - washingtonpost.com


Revenue for the quarter rose 30 percent, to $116.64 billion. Exxon's profit for the year came to $4.6 million an hour.

Chevron's quarterly revenue grew 29 percent, to $61.41 billion.

Profits of the five biggest international oil companies have tripled since 2002.

[300CAWDDUB]

My solution to all of this, Drill off the west coast and in alaska. If we could reduce or eliminate our dependancy on foreign oil and not be afraid to make a chipmunk or two relocate in the process, then we would be all set.

And yes, i didnt buy my 300c for gas milage... i bought it to enjoy.

[MeatGrinder]

Exxon makes an average return of 9% year after year. The "Big Oil" companies also make between a 8-9% return, year after year.

As a comparison:

Microsoft 2007 sales of 51.1 billion, net profit of 14 billion = 27% return

Coca Cola 2007 sales of 28.8 billion, net profit of 6 billion = 21% return

So stop blaming Exxon, and start getting mad at Coke.

BTW, Exxon paid $29,800,000,000.00 in income taxes last year. That's
29.8 billion. But what the heck. Let's squeeze 'em for more. That will
make everybody feel better.

[LordBaine]

Originally Posted by 300CAWDDUB

My solution to all of this, Drill off the west coast and in alaska. If we could reduce or eliminate our dependancy on foreign oil and not be afraid to make a chipmunk or two relocate in the process, then we would be all set.

And yes, i didnt buy my 300c for gas milage... i bought it to enjoy.

that or american oil companies can stop selling more gas out of the country then they are selling in the country. if they drill in other places they can sell even more out the country.

[LordBaine]

Originally Posted by MeatGrinder

Exxon makes an average return of 9% year after year. The "Big Oil" companies also make between a 8-9% return, year after year.

As a comparison:

Microsoft 2007 sales of 51.1 billion, net profit of 14 billion = 27% return

Coca Cola 2007 sales of 28.8 billion, net profit of 6 billion = 21% return

So stop blaming Exxon, and start getting mad at Coke.

BTW, Exxon paid $29,800,000,000.00 in income taxes last year. That's
29.8 billion. But what the heck. Let's squeeze 'em for more. That will
make everybody feel better.

Microsoft profits dont come from raising there prices, it from selling more products. and the same with coca cola. i was paying $5 for 2 cases of coke 5yrs ago and last week paid the same thing.

if Exxon CPA's are as smart as me they got most of that money back. I paid over #7k in taxes and got back over $7k. and that was the legal way. yes squeeze them for more...they squeeze me for more...so why not. my wife runs her own daycare and she make more then she made last year. but she did not raise her prices...she just increased the amount of kids at her daycare. and you do not want to know how much she pays in taxes. but i guess i can understand you point if Exxon dont get any money after paying there taxes. but then again if thats the case then they are not smart with the money.

[MeatGrinder]

So how much money should Exxon make? Nothing? 1%? Should gas
be free to everybody? How about let the government run the whole thing.