Don't you feel the big oil companies could sacrifice some profit so that working people can go to work?
Answers:
Of course. However our feeling don't influence them.
So far there is no indication that most people are bothered by the gas prices. Annoyed, yes, but bothered enough to change their habits, no. Otherwise, sales of gas guzzler SUVs would have dried up. And, they haven't. I still see parents parked by the bus stop with their cars running for 10-15 minutes while they wait for the bus, both in the morning and in the evening. One can't argue that people bought their gas guzzlers not knowing that energy prices were going to go so high. We've hear for years that gas prices would go up, and we know this is a non-renewable resource which will evenually be used up. Yet, people avoid mass transit and car-pooling. So, were I running the oil company, I'd say that I was delivering what the consumer wanted and was entitled to make a profit doing so.
This is a very slippery slope once we start down this path. The major oil companies are owned by widows and orphans, pension plans, 401ks, oil company workers, etc.
Our government has no right at all to confiscate private property and redistribute it.
Where does it say wages should be balanced out to meet the higher price of gas?
Maybe we should take half of Bill Gates billions and use it to pay people for the high gas prices. We are not a socialist country. We are a Capitalistic country.
Capitalism has proven to be the best economic system to produce a wealthy society. Communism has failed.
It is more complex than just the oil companies and the consumers.
The big oilcompanies have to win the nation's market globally to ensure balance of trade and income to the nation.
Since oil and gas and most mineral products are major sources of income to the country, but also the big competitors on the international arena, big profits in one period, may mean big losses in another. The market cannot be controlled from one country. Therefore, a big profit is a buffer for when the tideturns and big losses are in view.
As for the match between your salary and your use of gas, see whether your boss has incentives/reimbursements for using your private car. Most business mileages are tax deductible, whether paid by user or employer. If you are self-employed, you will have to ask your clients to foot part of the bill by a transportation charge.
Inaddition, try to limit personal use by car. Public transportation nowadays is so good, you can go anywhere with MTA, Metrolink, greyhound etcetera. It is cheaper, in a way safer andless stressful. (You have a driver!).
If you were a shareholder (as millions of Americans are) in these 'big oil companies', would you be willing to take a lower return on your stock investment ?
That should answer exactly why they are not sacrificing any profit.
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