http://www.wisconsingasprices.com/tax_info.aspx

The problem for me isn’t so much the price of gas as the fact that it has risen so sharply, so quickly. Then every quarter the oil companies report record profits. Exxon in the past year or so has had the two largest quarterly profits in HISTORY. That’s of any company in any industry ever.

To say the oil industry is not culpable in this is incredibly naive. Especially considering the fact that the cost per barrel of oil a year ago was significantly higher than it is now yet we’re paying more at the pump. Check out this article.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/05/16/news/economy/oil_bythebarrel/index.htm

This shows that the disparity is even worse than the comparison I used in the podcast.

Also, for those in other countries saying their gas is more expensive… This is true. Has been for decades as far as I know. The difference is that the US is by far the largest consumer of it in the world. Generally when you consume a lot of something your price is much lower than for others because you are buying in bulk so to speak.

It’s the same reason why McDonald’s can buy ketchup a hell of a lot cheaper than any of us can just to use one example.

I sympathize with you, but that’s the reality of the situation. The core issue is still that our state, local, and federal governments choose to be very selective in what they’ll legislate against and what they won’t. Hence the comparison we chose of the smoking ban phenomenon (that affects a limited number of people) that is ripping through this country vs. the SUV phenomenon (that affects everybody in the US as well as the rest of the world) that runs amok largely unchecked. The difference of course is that smoking has been demonized for the past few decades, whereas (which have technically been around since the 40′s) SUVs have been glamourized by the companies who sell them, in music videos, and by professional athletes. So really who would want to propose any legislation against these darlings of the US.

That might require a politician with some integrity and there are very few of those left in this country anymore.

its not the fault of gas companies its the taxes your government puts on your gas. so when you try to compare prices please deduct your excessive taxes.

Regardless, if they [the bars] can live without smoking, maybe people can live without SUV’s…

The door swings both ways!

We have a public health system here in Australia, so I can only imagine that soon it be illegal to smoke at all, as it costs the government 6 times more than what it get from cigarette tax.
A few local councils have already banned smoking in parks and on beaches, and other open aired areas. Sporting venues and events have been smoke free for years. You aren’t allowed to smoke in a car with a child under 5 in the car either.

Seems like it a worldwide trend.

Great work guys

My favorite was the end