Was that comment necessary? Everybody on the planet knows there will be a heavier demand since it is the first major family holiday when people get time off from work since Christmas. But why all the lame-a$$ excuses for sending the price up 50%. (Iran, pipeline troubles, broken down refineries,etc just to name a few.) Why don't they just come out and say, "OK consumer, we got you bent over with the laundry down. Get ready cause we got what you gotta have and if you want to go see your Mom you're gonna pay through the nose." As for price fixing...you know they do. Anybody with any sense could see this coming when Reagan de-regulated the industry during his reign. Gas was selling for about $.60 a gallon, Reagan said de-regulate and let the price float to find its fair market price. Within a week it floated to over a $1 a gallon, almost a 100% increase. Funny that the companies weren't losing dough before, just weren't making the killing they are now on a necessary commodity. As for the 9.7% margin, that's so much horse manure. Anybody can manipulate their books to show what ever they want them to show, if crooked government agencies are conducting the audits.
You say its just the capitalist way and that's your opinion, which you are entitled to. I say its rape of the consumer and the economy, my opinion which I'm entitled to.
These birds are sharp. About three years ago there was a serious consumer boycott to protest gasoline prices getting organized and these guys fabricated a shortage based on some lame excuse claiming there would be no gas at the pumps, gas lines, and spread it all over the media. Prices began skyrocketing, and people, (except me), panicked and rushed out to fill their tanks instead of boycotting. By the way, the shortage never materialized and the oil boys made a killing off a consumer protest. This ain't fiction, this was history.
