What’s wrong with the gas price?

What’s wrong with the gas price?

In reading the requirements to file an incident report on companies gouging gas prices I find that in the state of Indiana, these requirements seem to be inadequate. They are also so obvious as to be almost ludicrous. You must have direct evidence of price fixing? Come on. How many times is that going to happen? I walk into the station and see the owners of two different stations standing there talking about how much they can increase their prices. I then watch as they sign an agreement to set their prices at a fixed amount. I then walk over to one of the owners and ask to have a copy of the agreement. Gotcha!

Sounds plausible doesn’t it? And then there’s a rule about deceptive advertising. Advertise one price and charging another. Now that is the sign of a really stupid owner. His defense…’I forgot to change the sign.’ Duh!

The other reason to file a complaint is if the owner raises prices after the governor declares a state of emergency. The law prohibits any price increase that “grossly exceeds” the price at which the gasoline was available before the emergency was declared. What is “grossly?” Merriam-Webster Online dictionary defines it as “glaringly noticeable usually because of inexcusable badness or objectionableness.” That is fine but why does it have to be in a declared state of emergency? Why wouldn’t it be just as objectionable if there were no declared emergency?

I have seen the gas prices in my town twenty cents higher than places just 12 to 15 miles away. To me that “grossly exceeds” my threshold of objectionableness. I suppose I can understand a locally owned station charging whatever it wants but with a regional or national chain station you would think that the prices would be somewhat consistent within a 15 mile radius. They get their gasoline from the same place and go from station to station dumping the same gas.

My town has a population of about 4900 and Casey’s, a regional convenience store that sells many products including gasoline, has built two stations here. We already have 5 other convenience stores/stations here plus regular gas stations. That would tell me the profit in my little town is pretty good. It would tell me that there is little competition even though we have a number of stations. The prices are usually all about the same here. They are within a couple of cents even though the prices in other towns might be several cents less. That would tell me they keep close tabs on each other and allow the main high price station to set the pace.

In all fairness I have seen the time when our prices are less than the other surrounding towns. But it is much more common to see it with our prices higher.

Another thing that Casey’s does is to charge a higher price for regular gas than it does for premium gas. What is that? I have never seen that at any place other than Casey’s. I have written to Casey’s about our pocket of high prices and about the higher charge for regular gas but have never heard back from them.

With all of the massive profits of the petroleum industry it just irritates me to see these fluctuating gas prices. I think we should have a fixed price of $5 per gallon at the pump with the station passing on $2.50 of that price to the government as a tax to be used to develop alternative fuels and modes of transportation. The government should regulate the price of gas to the station owner. If they want to charge more they must petition for a higher price. The price of $5 would assure that there is more fuel available because many people would travel less. We should also reinstate the 55 MPH speed limit and require that all vehicles maintain the maximum tire pressure in their tires. There should be a gas mileage calculator in each car and anyone getting over 25 MPG would get a tax break. Between 20 and 25 MPG would get nothing and under 20 MPG would have a surtax. The mileage calculator would be a sealed box accessible only by a device located at a filling station and downloaded directly to your ‘gas account’ at the IRS or some other bureaucracy. There should be no ‘jack rabbit’ starts. There could be a gyroscope like device to record the number of overly accelerated starts. Too many and you are penalized. Under the minimum and you are rewarded. You will only be allowed a certain number of miles per year. Once your car reaches the maximum miles it shuts down unless pre-approved for more or you have purchased someone else’s miles. Drive under a certain number of miles and be rewarded. Riding a bicycle over 500 miles a year will get you a reward. To make the investors happy, all of these items are for sale so you can sell excess miles if you don’t drive them. Or you can sell ‘jack rabbit’ starts. Or miles per gallon, etc.

What's in your Food?

I would like to know what country my food comes from. It seems that our food supply is increasingly being brought in from other countries. I don’t know how other countries inspect their food products but I have grown accustomed to our system until recently. It seems that we as a country have done pretty well but as expected with the Bush administration the number of inspectors for our food products has dwindled and our safety has suffered.

However even with the reduction of our own quality of food I would still like to know what country my food comes from. I can then make my own determination as to whether or not I would like to consume that food. With all of the republican rhetoric about more choices gives the consumer a better deal, I would like this to be one of my choices.

I know it is a pain to have to label the food with the country of origin but I don’t think it is an overwhelming obstacle.