Dennis wrote: > A few argued against taking away the oil companies profit > margin because they use that money to further invest in > infrastructure that can deliver gas cheaper in the future.
While I believe they're using some of their profits to invest in new technology, always remember they're a business... and the reason they're in business is to make money. It's a safe bet that ExxonMobil doesn't want to deliver cheaper gas to us lowly consumers because they're just a bunch of nice guys-- the only reason they want cheaper gas is so they can (1) undercut the competition, and (2) increase their profit margins. I suspect a lot of that profit went into some handsome Christmas bonuses for the execs. They're not about to hand that money back to us as a big "thanks for paying three bucks a gallon!" That being said, I strongly disagree with the notion that the government should be able to set "windfall limits" on the profits of private corporations. If companies are able to make a nice profit-- because the market supports the pricing of their product-- good for them. That's capitalism. As a small business owner, I would hope that if I make record profits this quarter, I won't have to worry about some government "inspector" coming around and talking about taxing or capping my profits. Luckily that whole discussion went away when gas prices dropped a bit. $0.02, Jeff
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