@ 2.43 a Gallon
>>> Crude Oil price =
55%
We can’t affect this a whole lot… OPEC calls the shots.
>>> Refining =
22%
Last time the US built a refinery 1976
In fact… we now have less than 149 refineries actively producing Gasoline. That’s about half as many as we had in 1981
Why? It costs too much to build a refinery in the US. So foreign companies refine it and we pay them a premium for the service.
>>> Distribution and Marketing (The Evil Big Oil companies) =
4%
>>> Taxes (The savior government) =
19%
The Federal Government can immediately affect the price of gas by lowering the tax the Federal Government collects from Gasoline sales. The Federal Government could affect the price of Gasoline in the future by allowing more refineries to be built. Not much we can really do about the price of Crude Oil… other than trying to stabilize regions that have the resource (The effectivness of this is very debatable).
Instead, the Federal Government has attacked the smallest portion of the pie… Thank goodness for the government. Perhaps they will hold themselves accountable and fine themselves for gouging with this new series of legislation...
http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/gdu/gasdiesel.asp
"Liberals believe government should take people's earnings to give to poor people. Conservatives disagree. They think government should confiscate people's earnings and give them to farmers and insolvent banks. The compelling issue to both conservatives and liberals is not whether it is legitimate for government to confiscate one's property to give to another, the debate is over the disposition of the pillage."
-Dr. Walter Williams