Your darn right. Congress should emmediately authorise drilling in ANWR, Caifornia, Florida, and Colorado. They should also suspend all environmental regulations concerning the building of refineries.

Anyone who drives a car and votes for a Democrat or RINO environmental wacko, deserves high gas prices.

Don't buy it if you don't want to pay the price.

"Don't buy it if you don't want to pay the price"

I guess we could say the same thing about elctricity to heat our homes or prescription drugs. Gasoline has become a necessity in our society not a luxury we can choose to do without.

States charge these fuel taxes to finance road repair and maintenance. There is a good deal of wasteful spending but it is the system that has been in place for many years. We can't just stop the tax. It is a somewhat fair tax as well since it approximates miles driven and wear on the road by the taxpayers.

Other federal and state regulations do more damage in terms of disrupting the market than the tax does.

I say this as a trucking company owner who pays huge amounts in fuel and road taxes every month.

I seriously doubt the 7 to 9 cents profit for the oil companies as stated in Michael Demmons article. If that were true, then Exxon/Mobil alone, (10 Billion profit in the last quarter) would have to have sold 800 million gallons of gasoline during that time and the combined 5 majors would have to have sold over 26 billion gallons of gasoline. Thats pretty good considering we were told there was a shortage.

While it is true that the various states gouge every gasoline consumer with their tax, the oil companies are equilly guilty of gouging the public. Right after Katrina, many foreign refinerys poured gasoline into the US, so the so called shortfall and artificial shortage did not exist and the price of oil went to 70 dollars without justification.

The truth is, that US oil companies did not buy available foriegn oil for 70.00 per barrel prefering to use their own oil produced in the Gulf at a much cheaper cost and limited availability due to storm damage.

The oil companies just "Cashed in" on the Katrina and Rita Disasters at the expense of every person in the USA.

In theory, prices balance supply and demand and are a mechanism to allocate limited resources. For gasoline (a non-renewable resource), I would favor a slightly different allocation scheme. I would propose that the federal gov't place a $2.00 per gallon tax on petroleum products, and then rebate approx. $500 per adult and $200 per child per year. A higher tax would encourage conservation, and only people who used more than their "fair share" would end up paying the tax.

Rectify the situation? Look when bush/cheney were running in 2000, they said they had a plan. In this instance, they were telling the truth. The plan is working. Massive profits for oil companies was the plan. Enjoy your next trip to the pump, Republicans.

Remember, also, that these are only what the government adds in taxation directly and is forfced to declare as such.

Remember there's a lot more taxation going on BEHIND this price... taxes directly on oil companies, which make it to the pump as a cost of doing business... and is not reflected as a tax at the pump. But you and I still pay it.

Now you opened your big mouth, let's see you proof of your charge that Bush/Cheney had a plan to make the oil companies richer.

Jeez, can't you say anything positive. Just try it for a change. You say you are a conservative Republican, but you are more like a radical extremist liberal democrat

Any quit with your outright lies.

outrageous level of price gouging on gasoline.

Congress should take immediate action to rectify this situation.

Forget it commie. Let the market work.