Do you know what an insult is wreckhog? An insult is the government taking .50 for every gallon of gas sold. On top of that they slap a tax on gross profits of a company like Exxon. So you can add another .11 cents per gal. of government take to that .50.
The .08 companies make for every dollar spent is an industry average. It may fluctuate to 9.5 on the high end. This averages to around .22 cents per gal. you pay the greedy oil companies, compared to governments take that is three times that much. Did you ever complain about governments greedy paws in the mix? If there is such a strain on America's workers because of gas prices, why doesn't government reduce their take. No they never will, because its easier for them to just complain about the greedy oil company profits. They know people are to ignorant of facts to know the difference. Hence people are pissed at the oil companies, instead of our do nothing wrong government. Just look at who started the oil company bashing. Remember when the oil companies had to go before a government board and explain their profits. It was all just smoke and mirrors, so we the people would view the oil companies as villains. They had to blame someone for the high gas prices, and from what I see it worked.
You know wreckhog, one of the great things about living in America's capitalistic system is that if there is a need for something, someone is going to produce it, because of the chance to make a profit. If it were not for oil companies extracting oil, refining it and marketing it, you would be riding a bicycle, horse, donkey or walking. If you don't like the price of gas don't buy it. Or better yet if you think oil companies are striking it rich you can buy a drilling rig, comply with the thousands of EPA rules and regulations and have at it.