State by State Gas Prices=How are gas prices in your area?

[rainstorm]

Why shouldn't a CEO get a huge raise when he increases profits dramatically? That is his job, after all.

exactly. and all this emotinal knee jerk hate is disturbing. does anyone on here stop to think what a sucessul company like exxon does for the economy?


come on , take a guess how much tax exxon paid last year

[george_r_1961]

Why shouldn't a CEO get a huge raise when he increases profits dramatically? That is his job, after all.

When our forefathers came out with the idea of free enterprise I do not think they intended for one single industry to cause economic turmoil so some fat cat can get a huge bonus while other businesses and individuals suffer. We arent talking about cigarettes or alcohol here we are talking about gasoline, not something we can just decide to do without.

[george_r_1961]

Why shouldn't a CEO get a huge raise when he increases profits dramatically? That is his job, after all.

exactly. and all this emotinal knee jerk hate is disturbing. does anyone on here stop to think what a sucessul company like exxon does for the economy?


come on , take a guess how much tax exxon paid last year

What difference does it make how much tax they pay when the jobless rate goes up?

[rainstorm]

so know one on here has any idea how much tax they paid? you arent making sense george. i dare say our forefathers ran businesses, many of them with a profit margin higher than 10%.

oh, and taxes are used to do what?

pay firefighters, police, military, fund education. it is absolutely dumbfounding to me that no one can even guess how much exxon contributes

[rainstorm]

Why shouldn't a CEO get a huge raise when he increases profits dramatically? That is his job, after all.

When our forefathers came out with the idea of free enterprise I do not think they intended for one single industry to cause economic turmoil so some fat cat can get a huge bonus while other businesses and individuals suffer. We arent talking about cigarettes or alcohol here we are talking about gasoline, not something we can just decide to do without.

so, how do you propose gas can be sold less expensively?

price controls? only if you never want to be able to find a gallon of gas to buy.
let the govt run the oil companies? i hope no one would seriously consider that option


cn anyone tell me how much tax exxon paid into the economy last year?

[rainstorm]

there is no need for trouble. im just trying to explain the great good exxon does. and when we talk tax, lets ot forget the millions of jobs exxon creates. the millions of pensioners funded by exxon. the millions of stock holders who have seen their net worth rise because of exxon.

and then, they pay tax to us all. how much tax did exxon pay last year? its a valid question. i just want anyone to come up with a plan as to how they would sell gas less expensively than the oil companies do. i just dont think anyone can

[coriolis]

The CEO of Exxon? How about entertainers and professional athletes. They make more money and do less for the good of the country.

[rainstorm]

The CEO of Exxon? How about entertainers and professional athletes. They make more money and do less for the good of the country.

thanks coriolis. i dont think anyone can conceive the good exxon does. i cant just sit back and see all these emotional arguments being bandied about.


i will tell what tax exxon paid last year before i go to sleep

[rainstorm]

let me ask the question like this. lets say exxon decided tomorrow to just shut down completely. no gas for sale, fire all its employees, pay no taxes. since everyone seems to think exxon is so bad i would assume they would welcome exxon to shut down. would we as a nation be better off tomorrow if they did that?

[Janice]

Exxon is not the only company selling oil.....

[rainstorm]

Exxon is not the only company selling oil.....

indeed you are correct. but exxon contributes more to the economy and country than any other company, oil or not.

someone must have a plan as to how gas can be sold for lees than oil companies sell it for. seriously, there is none.


ok, here is the answer to the tax question. my guess is some were thinking exxon pays no tax.

income taxes: $23.3 billion
excise taxes: $30.7 billion
all other taxes and duties: $44.5 billion
thats just last year
98.5 billion bucks

and again, that doesnt even include the jobs it creates, the stock people own, the pensions it funds.

but just as far as the tax goes, when your child goes to a govt school, thank exxon. when you see a police officer, firefighter, school, old person living on social security, thank exxon. when you see a publicly funded hospital, thank exxon. public broadcasting? thank exxon. road construction? thank exxon. i could go on and on.

and remember, this doesnt include the additional huge amount of taxes generated by the wealth exxon creates. just 1 example. a person sells exxon stock they own. capital gains tax goes to the govt. and the govt gets a hefty amount of the billions exxon pays out in dividends. and again, i could go on and on

as we can see, exxon is a great contributor to society

again thats NINETY EIGHT BILLION DOLLARS paid out last year alone. thats a staggering amount and i doubt anyone would have said even 1 billion dollars. and that doesnt include all the tax generated by the wealth exxon creates in the economy

[brunota2003]

i dont care how much exxon or other companies pay out in taxes, ok? I care about the well being of MY family...and with gas prices at $2.95, yes that is correct, we tend to have less food because all of the freaking money is being spent on gas...while these "CEO's" are probably bathing in their money...we were just fine with $1.99...I can see prices up to the levels they are now if a hurricane just tore up the gulf and our rigs...but there is not one need for them to be as high as they are right now...

[rainstorm]

i dont care how much exxon or other companies pay out in taxes, ok? I care about the well being of MY family...and with gas prices at $2.95, yes that is correct, we tend to have less food because all of the freaking money is being spent on gas...while these "CEO's" are probably bathing in their money...we were just fine with $1.99...I can see prices up to the levels they are now if a hurricane just tore up the gulf and our rigs...but there is not one need for them to be as high as they are right now...

we will just have to disagree then. it seems rather obvious to me. today, the price of a barrell of oil is 75 bucks. i see things differently. why is gas not more expensive?
".we were just fine with $1.99...I can see prices up to the levels they are now if a hurricane just tore up the gulf and our rigs"

you just said that, and do you realize the cost of a barrell of oil now is 75 bucks, which is about 20 dollars more expensive than it was after katrina?
i would think you would be agreeing with me that gas should be even higher than it is.
lets place the blame where it really belongs
we have 3 trillion or more barrells of oil locked up in shale inside the united states, but we cant touch it, or wont is more to the point
we will not allow any new drilling inside the united states
we will not approve legislation removing legal obstacles to expanding nuclear power
we havent built a new refinery in 30 years. and remeber, 30 years ago there was 1 formula for gas. now the epa mandates at least 55 different formulas. can you imagine the strain that puts on a system that hasnt added any capacity in 30 years?
global demand for oil has skyrocketed
increased tension in the middle east
if you ask me, the oil companies should hold hearings and demand to know why congress gets paid so much to do so little.

and to make my point again about what you said about the oil rigs. remeber, the price for a barrell of oil is 20 dollars more expensive than it was after katrina. many many more things contributes to the price of a barrell of oil than what happens in our own back yards

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

I agree with rainstorm, with out big business we would be a third world stink hole. In that is a fact. Its sad that Iran is starting crap and China is sucking it up. But thats the way it is.

[Janice]

I agree with you. Brunota 100%. Exxon is making extreme profits at the expense of the working class people. Our gas prices are going up every single day. It is getting to the point where the working class are going to have to cut corners just to put gas in their cars and at the same time, these oil company continue to gain profits. You have Bill Gates who contributes more to humanity than anyone and funny to see computers are getting cheaper all the time. These companies are in control and the working class and poor are suffering at their expense.

[CajunMama]

I guess it doesn't matter when the price of oil is low there is a recession in the oil producing states. I remember back in the early 80's when men here in Louisiana couldn't find a job anywhere in the oilfield. We're talking men who had been with companies 20, 30 and more years. They couldn't feed their family. They lost their homes. I remember my dad being so worried about if his company was going to fail or not. My fil was laid off. I'm sure no one was complaining about the price of gas then.

Brunota, Katrina ripped up the gulf rigs big time. There are many rigs still under repair and many that were totally lost and more that won't be repaired. I'm going to try and find out from one of my customers who I think knows the numbers. If gas money is hurting your budget pull out your bicycle and start pedaling. Good for your health too!

As far as the ceo of exxon, he probably deserves his bonus. I wouldn't want to be in his shoes. He has had to work himself up the corporate ladder. He has the education. He has to answer to the stockholders when the stock price is down.

[Matt-hurricanewatcher]

Also I agree we should build more nuclear plants to power our citys. In drill our oil...It just makes no since at all...

[brunota2003]

to your whole $75 a barrel thing, there are countries that are paying $100 a barrel and their prices are cheaper than ours...then again, they arent as after profit as we are...
also, barrel prices were lowering, and actual gas prices here went up instead of down like you would think they would...IMO that is a sign they are after profit...

[rainstorm]

I agree with you 100%. Exxon is making extreme profits at the expense of the working class people. Our gas prices are going up every single day. It is getting to the point where the working class are going to have to cut corners just to put gas in their cars and at the same time, these oil company continue to gain profits. You have Bill Gates who contributes more to humanity than anyone and funny to see computers are getting cheaper all the time. These companies are in control and the working class and poor are suffering at their expense.

not a single fact in what you said. how are we suffering because of oil companies? do you know what bill gates profit margin is? would it surprise you to know exxon contributes more to charity than micro-soft does?

and explain this. how do oil companies control the price of a barrell of oil?
the answer is they dont, and cant. and 1 other thing. oil is a commodity, computers arent. there is a difference. this may come as a shock, but computers can be produced. oil cant.
one other thing. lets say the govt came in and told micro-soft that it was stopping any additional increase in the number of computers gates could produce. in other words, while demand for computers is going up, the govt tells gates he cant increase prodcution of computers? well guess what? the price of cmputers would skyrocket. thats exactly what the govt is telling oil companies. while demand for oil is increasing, they arent allowed to increase domestic production

as i said, lets put the blame where it belongs, and its not the oil companies. so far all i am hearing is emotional argumants

[Janice]

We are just here stating our concerns and how we feel. Everyone feels different on this issue.