05-21-07 by dugan
OilWatchdog reader "Dirty Mac" wonders how we could seriously hope the California Legislature will act to get gasoline prices under control:
Ha!! Fabian Nunez is doing the standard ploy in California when the people get hit with higher gas prices. "Those evil oil companies are profiteering!! Let’s hold hearings and have an investigation!!" I’ve been hearing this for most of my life, and I’m 51. It’s just a delaying tactic; nothing gets decided until after prices drop at the end of the summer, and then the report says, "we found no evidence of collusion or price fixing." The ugly truth is, lawmakers profit from high gas prices because of the sales tax on fuel. For every 13 cent increase in price, the State gets another penny per gallon. Sacramento politicians are grubbing for all the money they can get their hands on, so doing anything to rein in rising fuel prices is at odds with their basic motivation. Here’s a link to an article from last year about this problem.
Yeah, Mac is on track with this one. We’ve reported on this tax issue before, though it’s only part of the problem, sandwiched between the powerful oil lobby and its lavish political spending . The temptation to ignore high gasoline prices is even stronger in Sacramento this year, with the state’s income falling short of its budget. But–with OilWatchdog and its readers knowing the temptation and keeping the pressure on, I refuse to give up hope until the last oil lobbyist leaves the last fund-raiser in Sacramento with a smile on his face.