Skeeter's Exxon Post - Interesting

It was definitely an interesting thread..........

Big companies ripping off consumers.....gouging the customer....they have a right to make a profit.....so on and so forth.

What it comes down to is that they do post their earnings. Let's use our sport(vice?) as an example. Ranger boats...how much does it really cost to make a fiberglass boat? Is Forrest Woods gouging the consumer? How much profit does he make? We don't know because those numbers are not posted.

It comes down to supply and demand...Ranger makes a great boat and people are willing to pay whatever the price is at. Is the price fair...it is to the people buy the boats! The price is also fair to Forrest because he isn't going to sell a boat for under cost.

Someone may cry that Ranger boats are more expensive because of the designs are better or the quality is better.....hmmmm, my guess is that the marketing plays a bigger role regarding those issues than anything.

Let's just say that there is a shortage of fiberglass in the world, do you think that Ranger Boat prices would rise in accordance? Perhaps "alternate" forms of transportation would be looked at - like aluminum boats. If people started to buy aluminum boats en masse, how much do you want to bet that the coast of a Ranger boat would go down dramatically?

To all Ranger owners...this is only an example....it is not a bashing of Ranger boats!!!

[rebs]

a ranger boat is your choice if you buy one or not

as for gasoline and heating oil etc. we are a captive audience, we need it, it is not an option such as a new boat. We need to get to work and we need to heat our homes
your post is like comparing apples to oranges
no matter how you look at it we were gouged and are still being gouged and now the government wants a piece of the action so they are looking at more taxes on profits, instead of looking at the gouging and getting prices more in line.

rebs

[troutaholic]

Rebs,

To a degree, I agree with you.....but it is the mindset that we need it that helps to drive the prices up. That is why I talked about "alternative boats" as an analogy.

I drive a F150....if I felt that I was being gouged, I should change to a more economic form of transportation. Heating my house....go with a bio-mass unit...i/e: a corn stove.

My orginal intent was to show that gouging "may" occur at any level or industry.


Just Rip Lips and Keep a Tight Line

We have been told for years gas would be $3.00 a gallon, why live with it, we have too. I was also told by a manager for Holiday gas in the Twin city area every time Holiday wants to remodel a station they up their price 5-10 cents for a month or so and that is how they pay for it. Just saw a new one being built.
Most small business owners are the ones right now who have to up their prices to stay in business and who pays for it, Joe the consumer. We all are consumers. Your employer no matter who he is ups his price to meet the rising cost, they all get passed down. unfortunately we all pay more to get to work.

[bigfish1965]

There's a big difference between a boat and a commodity like oil/gasoline.
If Ranger said that the boat price would double because of the hurricanes, Ranger would go out of business. THats because there are options aplenty.
Currently there are no reasonable and readily available options to fossil fuels for cars. Now if hydrogen cars were everywhere and conversion kits were easily obtainable, everyone would have said good-bye to oil and gasoline. However, if these options were avilable the price of gasoline would not have changed. Supply is not the only factor in the pricing.
The benefits to alternative energy cars being mass produced is that not only do they take the burden off the oil supply, they also take the stranglehold away from the oil suppliers.

If you want to keep on with this gas rip=off just keep going to voters booth and keep voting for that tired old political incumbant hack you been voting for the last billion years.

Vote the Incumbants OUT of office if you want change, if you want the same old garbage you been getting the last billion years vote for tire old man incumbant. Good examples of hack/PLD incumbants are ANY U.S Senator or U.S. Congressman that has servedmore than 8 years.

Examples:


Ted Kennedy
Diane Fienstein
Barbara Boxer
Robert Byrd
Bill Frist
Trent Lott
Carl Levin
Nancy Pelosi
Dale Kildee
Any politician from Indiana with the last name of Bayh
Harry Reid
Robert Byrd
Ted Stevens
John McCleland
Daniel Inouye
Joe Biden
Arlen "Magic Bullet" Spector

ANOTHER major consideration is to vote OUT ANY politician that happens to be an attorney.

Moan and groan about the GReat GAs Rip-OFF all you want , but if you keep voting for the same tired Washington Hacks/leaches/puppets you get EXACTLY what you deserve.

Don't forget to STOP voting for members of the
two royal families! ( Clinton / Bush )
:popcorn:

I DONT BAD MOUTH COMPANIES ALL THE TIME, AND DO NOT DISAGREE WITH OIL COMPANIES ALL THE TIME, BUT AFTER THE HURICANE THEY DID GOUGE PEOPLE. THE PROBLEM IS WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT. CALLING FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT WILL ONLY CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS. HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING RUN BY THE GOVERNMENT TURN OUT GOOD FOR US. IM OLD ENOUGH TO REMEMBER THE LAST TIME GOVERNMENT TRIED WAGE/PRICE CONTROLS. WE DO NEED TO DO SOMETHING, BUT DONT JUST LOOK FOR THE GOVERNMENT TO DO IT. I HAVE NO ANSWER, BUT RELYING ON THE GOVERNMENT, EITHER PARTY, IS NOT GOING TO GET IT.

[rebs]

just a thought
if the people of Irag want us there and want freedom, why are they not offering us cheap oil,for all we are doing for them, the cost of doing for them and our troops are dying for them ? Come on something is wrong with this picture.
Because that would take some control out of the oil companies and that is not what they want to see..............
as others have stated we were gouged and continue to be gouged
I think it is a good idea to get the incumbants out and fresh blood in, the problem with that is they become just as bad after a short time also, money from this group and that group, political campaign contributions etc.. and the next thing you know they are in some groups pocket as well. There is alot of corruption involved. Alot of our elected officials are not serving in our best interests, but in their own interests and the interests of their largest contributors.

rebs