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Ron Jackson's Perspective
The Sunday Journal -
Think
Kankakee, Illinois
April 30, 2006
Dependency on gas,
not the oil
companies, problem at the pump |
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Forget about terrorism, the Iraq War and gay marriage. The costs of
regular, super and premium gas are currently the three biggest
concerns for the American public. With the summer travel season quickly
approaching, everybody seems to be more concerned about the price of
a gallon of gas. Why not?
The Memorial Day summer travel season kickoff is just around the corner, and gas is very
soon to average $3-plus per gallon.
Only this time, those in the know can't justify the rapid and
steep increases with a natural disaster. Hurricane Katrina took all
the blame last year when we last paid over $3 for a gallon of
regular grade gas. Not so this time. There is no one entity to
blame. The big oil companies report that demand is greater than
supply. When that happens, prices must increase. When prices
increase while demand doesn't decrease, somebody makes a large
profit. That is called Americanism.
Instead of decreasing our personal demand and dependency on
gas, we call on our politicians. Our elected officials can do
nothing more than listen to our complaints and make obligatory
speeches. Politicians from the local level to the president of the
United States have no control over gas prices. That hasn't stopped
some lawmakers from trying.
Senator Carl Levin, D-Michigan,
is calling for another federal tax on oil companies
that make "extreme obscene profits." I am no friend of oil
companies, and I certainly feel the pain when I fill up my vehicle,
but to punish an American company for excelling at capitalism is
un-American. If this idea becomes a law, what is next? Will we
target McDonald's for profiting from our inability to stop consuming
Big Macs? Should Wal-Mart be concerned for all the profit it makes
on its foreign goods?
Even Senator Arlen Spector, R-Pennsylvania, who usually appears
to be one of the more levelheaded politicians, has jumped on the
punish-the-profiteers bandwagon. The senator, implying collusion,
accused the oil companies of joining together, reducing supplies and
driving up prices. Other federal officials are calling for an
investigation into price-fixing.
President Bush, while admitting it will make little, if any,
difference at all, has temporarily relaxed environmental rules for
gasoline, hoping to make it easier for refiners to meet demand. The
president put a stop on the summer purchase of crude oil for the government's emergency reserve.
Who allowed the oil company mega-mergers? Who gave the oil
companies billions of dollars in tax incentives? Congress did.
What did our government expect those mergers and their welfare
benefits to produce, not-for-profit gas stations?
Just what is excessive profit? How much profit should an
American company be allowed to make? When professional athletes
makes millions of dollars for part-time play, is that excessive?
Should New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez, who makes $25 million per
year, be hit with a new tax for extreme, obscene profit?
Putting an extra penalty tax on a profitable business goes
against everything taught in business schools.
Punishing success is not conducive to a thriving capitalist society.
I am not angry with oil companies that make huge profits or oil
executives who reap great financial rewards. I am angry with myself
who has been addicted to driving since age 16. I am one of the millions of Americans who can't curb an
insatiable appetite for gasoline. At times I think driving is a
constitutional right.
Contacting any elected official to help reduce gas prices is
out of the question for fear of what I might suggest. However, while pumping gas the past couple of weeks, I have
entertained some Bush-type thoughts: Our Iraq invasion hasn't produced cheaper gas.
We don't have a great relationship with Venezuela, and they do have the fifth-largest oil reserves in
the world. Venezuela is geographically closer than the Middle East and
would put up a lesser military resistance. We could own that
country in less than a week. Gas for $.99 a gallon would sure feel
good about now.
If Congress really wanted to do something about the
outrageous gas prices, they could outlaw summer vacations. They
could impose a 200-mile limit on summer driving. If you are pulled
over by a cop and your position is greater than 200 miles from the
address on your vehicle registration, you could be penalized for
"extreme, obscene driving."
This sounds ridiculous, but so does
penalizing those who master the art of capitalism, no matter how
much it conflicts with our habits.
What I would like to know is how many politicians have heard
from their Amish constituents? |
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