Yes, I believe I did. LOL The same can be said for any other corporation in any other industry. The CEO's and executives make bank. From a dollars in the bank standpoint, the oil executives are fat and happy. Of course there is greed in the formula! If the "American Way" was a religion, greed would be somewhere in its 10-Commandments. You think the big oil executives are the only greedy ones? Let me tell you what...the greed card is played in this country from the top of the food chain to the bottom. Whether it's a CEO who has 2 jets, a helicopter, a $50 Million mansion, and baby seals swimming in his 6 acre swimming pool....to an upper-middle-class Joe who has to have a much bigger house than he really needs, $50K truck, $30K bass boat, steak dinners out whenever he feels the need, and complains constantly about the greedy oil executives and their lavish lifestyles that make it so hard for him to fill up his truck and boat. (A truck and boat that cost so much because of the greed of the auto maker, car dealership, boat manufacturer, boat dealer, whomever, trying to give their families those same things.) It's all relative, and a great big circle. There are a lot of folks living with a whole lot more than they really need to get by. We're all guilty somewhere. I won't lie - I have a big expensive truck that I don't have to have to get by. I could just as easily operate on a 20 year old 2WD regular cab Ranger. Most Americans are greedy, plain and simple....and we've had the economy/lines of credit over the years to feed that greed. We could all live simple and frugal, keep only what we need to sustain, and give our excess wealth to the hungry and downtrodden around the globe...but we don't do that. We live "The Good Life" by acquiring as much material possessions as we can afford based on maximizing our income level over our lives in the pursuit of what makes us happy. It is what it is! I, for one, am pretty happy that we live in a country where we can do that....even if it's totally screwed up from a priorities, common sense, or environmentally responsible standpoint.Originally Posted by kydonky
As for the taxation issue...yes, we pay a higher tax at the pump than just your normal "sales tax" like on other goods we buy. Lets not forget that the oil companies are also taxed on their profits too, just like any other. They have some tax breaks, just like other corporations, but they are paying their share of taxes too.
I think when you get into the debate that oil companies should be paying higher taxes than other companies because they effect so many other things in the economy, you're going down a slippery slope. Auto makers effect so many other things too, so what about them? What about corn growers, and dairy farms, and cattle ranches that have an effect on the prices of food that everyone must have? What about timber companies that effect all of the lumber prices that folks must have to build homes? What about, what about, what about....could go on and on. Are we going to regulate them all? Business making profit and being competitive with other businesses is kinda the fundamental pillar of free enterprise. I'm just not a fan of encroaching upon that.
We'd have to all go buy a Prius to force oil companies to lower prices. But then, the demand for the Prius would be so high that Toyota would raise the prices on those suckers through the roof. Then, as soon as the oil companies dropped prices due to much much lower demand, we'd all go trade our Prius back to trucks and suvs because we could afford the gas again...and the circle jerk would continue.
Whomever has the supply that the consumer demands, gets rich. Bottom line!
I wish gas prices were lower. I think we are paying a crazy price. But I really don't know what to do about it that would change anything, aside from finding alternative fuels....but supply and demand would eventually put those alternative fuels in the same price boat, wouldn't it?
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