Recently, I wrote how some states were benefitting from higher gasoline prices because they had both a base tax and a variable (sales) tax per gallon sold.
There has been a lot of news about Nancy Pelosi wanting to take action against oil companies for gouging consumers now that gasoline is $3.49 per gallon in California. Well, it turns out that Pelosi's California and Granholm's Michigan are both gouging consumers pretty well.
Let's look at gasoline prices in Michigan over the past 6 months:
... and California which really has no higher prices, but a similar increase...
Source
Given the increase of more than a dollar per gallon in the past 6 months, I'd have to say that the states of Michigan and California were doing quite well in the revenue department...
and that it was the consumers who were "going broke." The State of Michigan just saw a 7-cents per gallon increase in tax revenues in about 3 months... an annualized rate increase of almost 30 cents. Wow, I'd like to be in that business.
There is absolutely no doubt that the oil companies are enjoying record profits as prices are being "pumped" up. There is absolutely no doubt that the politicians who are shouting the loudest about "gouging" and the "budget crisis" are the ones benefitting the most...
they get the tax revenue and the bullypulpit. The rest of us have to listen to their nonsense and pay for it, too.
By the way, just so you know that the increases are not cost related ... here is the price of gasoline in Michigan related to the price of crude oil.
Michigan energy consumption notes.
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