Eric, you and Bino make good points...it is about supply and demand and how much the consumer is willing to pay or even afford to pay.
I remember back in the 1970's when OPEC decide to cut back on supply and raise the ptice of oil. They shot thereselves in the foot because as they raised the price the US and world economies could not adjust fast enough and we had a major recession. When a recession hits many people are out of work and the majority that are still working can not afford to buy much gas because inflation is eating away at their profits... OPEC shot thereselves in the foot because this caused an oil glut and the price came down to almost nothing...
OPEC is very mindful of the economy now and they want to keep the prices up as high as the gobal economies can handle...that is good business for them...
But I do agree that we need to fix what is broke here in the USA.
If we could outlaw lobbying it would solve alot of our problems.
If all government politicians retired on a small retirement salary and it was supplemented with Social Security our Social Security System would probably get fixed...
info below was copied from an email I received...
Wages
Salary of retired US Presidents ............. $450,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of House/Senate members .......... $174,000 FOR LIFE
Salary of Speaker of the House .............$223,500 FOR LIFE
Salary of Majority/Minority Leaders ..... $193,400 FOR LIFE
Average salary of a soldier DEPLOYED IN AFGHANISTAN - $38,000
Average income for seniors on SOCIAL SECURITY - $12,000
