Gas Prices...let's get educated.

I really think that with all of the talk about gas prices in America right now we should all begin to look at what makes up all that money we are paying at the pump each time we put gas into our tanks. I have said this several times on my radio program. I do not like gas prices where they are anymore than the next person in line to fill up their tank. I drive an SUV and it is not uncommon to put $45, $55, or even $65 in gas in my tank just to go home for the weekend. I too am outraged when at 10AM I pass the gas station and gas prices are whatever, and then later that day the price jumps 15 cents. It doesn’t seem fair, and it may not be, but I think before America goes and starts placing blame we should all try to understand what is actually making up this high price of fuel. I have received close to 100 e-mails in the past two weeks, from listeners of my radio show, discussing high fuel prices. These are either the people who want to complain to anybody who will listen, or those who want to become educated on what the actual problem is. I have done some research and have been enlightened on a lot of what is working to create the blow to my wallet when I pull up to the BP or Exxon station for a fill up. First of all it’s important to realize that we all pay an exorbitant amount of taxes on every gallon of gasoline we purchase. Here in the great state of Ohio we pay 26 cents, to the state, for every gallon of gas and that does not include the 18.4 cpg we pay to the federal government (in my home state of PA, we pay 31 cpg to the state). The media seems to forget about these taxes and instead blames “big oil” for their profits. The press complained when the largest U.S. oil company, Exxon Mobil Corp, announced profits of $36 billion last year. However according to the Tax Foundation, the biggest price gouger was the U.S. government, cashing in $54 billion in oil and gas taxes. Let’s also keep in mind that the US government did nothing to earn that money. One of the guests on my radio show informed me that if the “big oil” companies were to completely decide to give gas away without making any kind of profit the price of gas would go down by 9 cpg. Would 9 cpg make anyone happen at this point? Not me. I think that we should all use this example of gas prices to become a little more informed and recognize that our dependence on a foreign energy source is not good for the economy, or my wallet. So what do we do? We have oil here in America but many economists won’t let us touch it, because there are fears that we may damage the environment around the oil. Gas prices are only going to go up as supply isn’t meeting demand, and demand for gasoline is increasing…fast…not only in America but all over the world. So we have options work hard and buy gas, or convert our need for oil to a need for something that we have a lot more of like corn…which makes ethanol, that can serve the same purpose. All of this and I haven’t even touched the fact that Iran, the country that is trying to make nuclear weapons, produces 2 million barrels of oil a day, the second most out of any OPEC country. Do we let them make their nuclear weapons or do we go through the UN and impose sanctions on them and they pull their 2 million barrels a day out of the market? My opinion? Buy a farm and start planting corn…it may be worth a lot in the next couple of years.