Why is there no subsidy for GAS in AMERICA?

Question

Gas is cheaper in Mexico because of a government subsidy intended to keep inflationary forces in check. So why won't the America's government do this????

Answer 1

Try paying the prices for gas the rest of the world has to pay before complaining.  Australia and NZ pay over $8 a gallon, the UK and most of Europe pays over $12 a gallon. The Federal government grants heavy subsidies to the petroleum industry to keep your prices down.

The real bad guys here are the oil companies such as Shell, Caltex, BP etc who are unwilling to forgo the 100's of billions of dollars they make in profit each and every month.  With their bank balances they could easily afford to give gas away for the next 5 years before they would go broke.

EDIT:  Minimum wage in the UK is GBP 5.52 per hour and the price of a gallon of gas is just over 5 per gallon which equates to being 98% of someone's hourly wage before tax.

Federal Minimum wage in the US is $7.25 per hour, and the price of a gallon is approx $4 making the price of a gallon of gas equate to 55% of someone's hourly wage before tax.

Answer 2

There -is- a subsidy for gas.  In fact there are all kind of subsidies.  But they aren't for -us-, they are for the oil companies.  They get to drill for oil on govt. land, they get depletion allowances, they get all kinds of special tax breaks for investment, etc.  And God forbid we should tax their excess profits!  The oil execs say "Well, yeah, we're making lots of money now, but we won't always be making this kind of profit.  Only while the Republicans or the Democrats are in power."

Answer 3

I have a feeling it's not a subsidy, it's reflecting the real value of the gas.  But I agree that whatever they're doing, we should be doing too!

http://www.commondreams.org/news2005/090...

"Supply significantly exceeds demand year-round. This results in very poor refinery margins and very poor refinery financial results. Significant events need to occur to assist in reducing supplies and/or increasing the demand for gasoline."

--Texaco

Increasing demand = making cars bigger

Reducing supply = drill and hoard gas (and pretend we have a shortage, "peak oil")

Answer 4

I too travel extensively to other countries.  What you are comparing in terms of gas prices (higher elsewhere) is not realist when you consider some of those countries ALSO have socialized health care!  How are seniors especially - as well as the rest of us - to afford the rising gas & food prices and still afford medical care.  Most could not afford to fill their prescriptions even before rising prices!

Answer 5

Since this Administration has got us deeper into debt than ever before, the only way they could give a subsidy (or the tax break that McBush was touting) would be to borrow more money, thus increasing the National Debt and driving down the value of the dollar - which would increase the price of oil even more.

Gas is also cheaper in Mexico because the national wage is so much lower than the US.

Answer 6

The US government is trillions of dollars in debt, and already brings in hundreds of billions less each year than it spends, and you want it to spend MORE money to subsidize gas?

What next, should they subsidize food?  Housing? Any of thousands of other costs the average American has to deal with?  Why just gas?

But you need to understand : THE GOVERNMENT HAS NO MONEY.  Anything the government spends comes from YOUR pockets, or (more and more each year)from the pockets of future generations.

Answer 7

first; the Mexican government owns the oil!

second; they're populist!

third; this Country import oil, and belongs to private (selfish)company's