Re: I Paid $4.42 for Gas! I'm mad as hell and not gonna take it anymore!
Actually, the price of gas is to a large degree, controlled by government.
Ever hear of OPEC? Those governments get together and basically set the price for crude (at least they set the amount they are going to pump, and since they are pumping less than capacity, that drives up the oil prices).
THEN, with specific regard to the US govt... they are taking 4 million barrels of crude every day and putting it in the strategic oil reserves (which are more than 6 times as large today as they were at the end of the Clinton era). That creates an even larger shortage, which drives up the prices, again. If you'll remember back when Bill Clinton was president, he used to release oil from the strategic oil reserves to bring down gas prices when they were creeping up.
In addition to that, they set the tax rate on that gas. Which in most states runs about $0.32 per $1 in the US, which is steep to begin with, it adds up even faster when the base price is higher. Of course, your government happy as pie at the gas prices because they get so much more revenue to spend, without seeming like jerks for raising taxes.
Of course, all of this only adds up to about 50% of the problem. Another 40% or so lies in the fact that China's economy is booming, causing a massive increase in gas consumption.
