THANK YOU Senator Whitehouse. You bring so much hope back to the situation where I feel so much like a victim with no way out. With Mr. Reich, you are a hero! I send you all my support for this measure.
Fortunately even many democrats are realizing just how dishonest and incompetent people like Whitehouse and Sanders are. If Biden's dementia and Harris' psychoses don't hospitalize them before January, there may be a Republican in the White House before 2025.
@@angeliquenova7440 that's a little harder to get rid of because the founders really liked the lobbyists. Madison wrote about them in thr federalist paper. He saw them as powerful special interest groups and thought that their influence could be countered by other factions or groups. They've definitely changed, as have most things. They were talked about often, and the Supreme Partisan Court isn't about to end something like that. Which is the real problem. Even if 70% of the.boomers...went away...tomorrow. there's still no healing the damage they caused to the US since the high Court is now a party over policy joke. They're such a problem, ultra conservative Robert's keeps siding with the democrats. Robert's was the one who interpreted the house's over 95% and senate 100% yea to reaffirm the voting rights.act they extended it for 25 years in 2006. In 2013 it said congress didn't find a reason for it to be continued. Interpretation is what the court is why the court exists. Roe and wade are the walking dead. That's problem #1. Problem 2 is what jerrymandering before 2030. No climate change anything is most likely outcome before AT LEAST 2030. #3 is Americans are extremely stupid. Half are basically braindead. Gonna give the party white nationalism the house and probably the senate this year. Shits going to get much worse before we the light. The nutbags might start to call the rapidly accelerating natural disasters as actually signs that the rapture is imminent...
This will disincentivize them from price gouging and seeking excess profits because then they would have to turn them over to the citizens and we know there's nothing they hate more than giving poor people money.
Eric Carabetta, It's hard to make the greedy spare the needy. If they can't find an existing loophole, the GOP will create new ones. But every step in the right direction is a good one.
They would rather pay millions to politicians to have their way than to reduce the price of a gallon of gas 10 cents for those of us who really need that 10 cents.
Now if only American voters had the wisdom to vote for legislators that work in the best interests of the general public, we might have a prayer of getting something like this passed.
@@kenwelch198 We are talking about voters here, not politicans... so no, not too many voters in big oils pockets, too many voters are morons getting their 'information' from Fox"news" or voting Republican because they get their racism validated there, for the cheap, cheap cost of allowing corrupt politicans to transfer most of their money into some oligarchs pockets
All they have to say is that you're a socialist/communist and the anti left propaganda machine of the DNC and RNC will grind you into dust. At the end of the day, democrats and Republicans are 100% capitalist (right-wing) parties. And like 70% of all the capital is entirely in the hands of 1% of people that effectively are the economic dictators that control the country.
US voters are as stupid as a bag of rocks, which is why we're in this situation and why the only possible outcome now is human extinction. Humans are just too dumb to survive and at this point I think our extinction is well deserved. We've earned it.
The first and most important question is? Who owns the natural resources of our country? We the people or we the corporations? In Texas it is the corporations. Disgusting but karma is coming.
Native American sovreign nations were historically stewards in partnersip with federal agncies (USDA, EPA) were supposed to be consulted in resource use. Private companies usurped this by creating laws that allow them to take whatever they want. Laws are no longer to protect citizens, families and communities in partnerships. Many tribes work collaboratively with states and agencies but private industry fights them in court. Corporate kleptocracy and organized criminality is the problem eroding and decimating everything we share. Force is not power. Imperialism is not leadership. Both erode civilizations. Until US politics respects mental health and stops the insanity this is a no win situation driving us all over the cluff. Look how the pandemic was mishandled.
If only the GQP could make being homeless illegal. Then they would really be able to threaten labor....form a union, ask for more money, complain about rising prices, YOURE FIRED! Do not pass pass go. DO NOT COLLECT MONEY. Be illegally homeless. Enjoy complaining about the slave wages in prison. $0.25/hr is what you'd rather make than minimum wage? Fucking peasants. Know your roll. Serve your masters. Work work work. The winner of the birth lottery needs another super yacht or 3. Get back to fucking work!!
@@Q_from_Star_Trek The best way to make them aware is for the democrats to actually start helping the working class in meaningful ways. The GOP may only focus on helping the wealthy, but the democrats became a party which only focused on the upper middle class. This makes it much easier for charlatans to win over the working and middle classes.
Stock buybacks are done as they are the most tax efficient way to distribute profits to shareholders. The record buybacks we are seeing now financed by debt in a near zero interest rate environment will fizzle themselves out without regulation.
not a chance in hell. congress knows where their bread is buttered---it's trite but true, we have the best congress that money can buy. and the oil companies are buying all they can!
Robert, you are so intelligent and, even more importantly, you are a great educator. You have helped me gain confidence in my ability to understand and make a difference in the economic situations that affect my life. Thank you. 😘
In one 24 hour period this week I watched one gas station change their price 4 times. Yesterday it changed twice in 2 hours. It went from 3.54 to 3.29 to 3.49 back to 3.34. I know the gas in their below ground tanks weren't filled in that period of time. There was no reason for the changes.
The gas stations around here raised there prices and made alot of extra cash and then don't refill the higher octane gas until prices drop making them some extra cash because of the economy of a covide19 roller coaster in a world recession n the price gouging started over price gas to 3 yrs later Donald flooding World markets of oil n gas it's all quite crazy how covide19 has put the world economy in a roller coaster ripple affects recession over n over making it harder on future's of beating climate change disaster recovery there's no way in predictable future's accuracy no way possible we need to vaccinate world body's for future's predictable results moving forward or our shipping dwell times are unpredictable like it has been sence our shipping costs has escalate to send America in a world recession over combating covide19 world widely unpredictability let's all watch China in there attempting to control covide19 variants lock down of 22 million people in there making nothing for world Economy in the ripple affects of no predictable future's of covide19
Imagine being a Republican, complaining about gas prices and blaming Biden, while simultaneously voting against this bill that would actually help people.
And let’s not forget which party the C-suite of these OilCos overwhelmingly vote for (And also regularly ask their regular employees to vote for, via their internal PAC ‘gentle push’ email circulars..)
Well no, nobody actually knows if this would work. Someone can disagree with this bill, and still want to lower prices. Believe it or not, the fact that it is hard to pass a bill, is a good thing. Government doing less is better, when they cause 99% of our problems
Stocks as part of salary should be banned. An "Unearned Income" should be a permanent tax. The executives should not earn more than 10 times the amount of the poorest employee.
I tried explaining this to a friend (trumper) but he insisted that it was all a tax and high prices are Biden’s fault. You just can’t talk to these people🤪🙄
Yes continue to wallow ion ignorance and take Reich seriously. Anyone with even a grasp of economics, let alone actual economists (Reich is neither), can tell you that inflation is a purely monetary phenomenon and that his claimed price gouging and record profitability claims are bald faced lies. The economically illiterate actually believe that inflation isn't a tax and that Biden isn't the chief architect of it. You just can't talk to the aggressively ignorant.
Similarly, American pharmaceutical and technology companies should have to contribute excess profits to support academic science. They have no problem benefiting from government-funded science, but they never give back to it. To the contrary, they twist government funding policies to preferentially fund industry-partnered work, so the taxpayers are even more directly funding their R&D. It’s disgusting.
How to we hold politicians accountable for when they enact policies that go against the people's will though? That's been the larger problem here, politicians listen to money from corporate lobbyists more than the public.
One way is to get rid of lobbyists and special interest groups. No more monetary payments of any kind to any elected official. If you get caught engaging in lobbying, either giving money or taking money, you lose EVERYTHING, money, cars, houses, everything. A good deterrent will make them think long and hard about it.
Although I agree with the premise of Senator Whitehouse's proposal, which may work and help millions of Americans, I feel like it's just a stop-gap solution. My reservations are as follows: ① The conversation wasn't clear to me as to how exactly Americans would receive these dividends. Perhaps if I knew more about the Alaskan oil dividend, then I may be able to answer this myself. And ② Assuming ① is sorted out, which Americans would receive this and will its distribution and amount be determined by income? Finally, ③ Doing this will enable Americans to get into their cars and drive (or take the subway if they live in cities) to the supermarket to get what they need, using crumbling infrastructure and tip-toeing around the homeless sprawled about, things that only taxpayer dollars can fix. I think it's better to alleviate the tax burden on low and middle income Americans and increase tax liability on extremely wealthy individuals and corporations, a conversation that's not likely to go anywhere with today's politics, which makes me very sad, but it's what we should continue pressing hard for. Thank you, Secretary Reich (a friendly jest:p) for your activism and for enabling conversations like this.
The Alaska Permanent Fund collects money from oil companies (25% of oil revenue) and invests it. It pays out dividends to all Alaska residents (who have resided in the state for one full calendar year) in the form of prepaid debit cards (there may be other ways to get the money I'm not aware of). The 2021 dividend was $1114. The dividend in Senator's Whitehouse's proposal would likely either be a tax rebate or a check / debit card. It is estimated that the average qualified single filer would receive $240 per year when a barrel of oil is at $120. The rebate would phase out for high income earners.
I would point out that as he left his presidency president Dwight D Eisenhower clearly warned us not to allow the military / industrial complex to become involved with government. Yes and Citizens United has made buying our government possible. Our moral elasticity has taken our civility away and honesty has become lost in the wilderness of deception.
We are supposed to have that. Christian churches should have their tax exempt status revoked until they get out of politics...As it stands they're just a Super PAC that likes to sit around in a giant "spiritual" circle jerk telling themselves what great, holy, people they are while they spread their hate as far and as wide as they can
Thank you Senator Whitehouse as well as Robert. Every single one of us needs to realize we must employ more than one strategy the move the needle from oligarchs in the major industries of healthcare, banking Transportation and housing to citizens. For people feeling trapped and having to rely on gasoline and fueling Wars and death we have choices from public transportation to encouraging biking. Myself on under $12 an hour employment I bought a used electric car and was shocked to find out that the savings help me buy my first home after 5 years. I helped a friend this past summer buy a $16,000 used electric car that had a 230 mile range. My hope is Murdoch Putin and the non representative Republicans have nightmares when people realize they're not slaves and they have options even when oppressed and brutalized. Write your representative and senators support Senator whitehouse's Bill. Each personal action I take that doesn't require fossil fuels or increases citizens rights makes me feel like I've at least taken away a bit of their power.
We no longer have a free and fair market, when it comes to consumer necessity's there should be a cap on proffit's, and if the corporate elite don't like it then tell them to get into a business, that is not vital to the consumer.
Wish there were more Senators and Representatives like Sen. Whitehouse and Katie Porter.... thank you. Vote Blue in 22 and 2024--- our democracy depends on it! 🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸
I appreciate your time and effort in producing as much as you do. I understand that the majority of what you promote really call for tougher antitrust, windfall profits tax, higher tax on the wealthy, corporate stock buyback ban, campaign finance reform and stronger unions. I have to say though that I'm limited in the knowledge of how I specifically can help to enact change. I would love to see more videos that highlight actionable steps for the public, and perhaps perpetual links to those videos in the description section of new videos.
As an Alaskan I have to tell you... its more complicated than that and at this moment in time it is a VERY contentious subject in our state government. The oil companies pay the state for leases to specific oil drilling and extraction sites. These are paid to the state in the form of taxable revenues. The state then takes these monies and uses a private corporation, who's members are state appointed, to invest those tax revenues into the stock market. Primarily investing in the same oil companies who's taxes we have just gathered. This increases the funds themselves and gives the state almost ALL of its operational budget. However recently there have been attacks on the dividend in several ways. First you should understand that the dividend is enshrined in our state's constitution, and that its formula for public distribution is also there. There have been attacks by democrats in our state to devest the dividend to essentially do away with it and instead invest the money in public programs that poorer Alaskan's would have to apply for. Another attack has come in the form of lobbying. Oil companies have had permanent chairs within the halls of our government, and have used their influence to keep taxable revenues low. Thus making the dividend lower as well. The most successful attack came from our former gov. Bill Walker. Walker wanted to create a natural gas pipeline from the north slope of Alaska to Canada, and to Valdez, some nearly 900 miles away. Many companies had already told both Walker and his administration that to do so was impossible, but in his effort he closed down several gov. offices, and directed that the dividend be shrunk, even though oil companies, and the fund itself was making record profits. Our dividend isn't just free money. EVERYTHING we have here is more expensive, and in some communities they pay near $12 for a gallon of milk. We actually need that money and the constant attacks that are on the fund are finally meeting with a measured resistance. There is even a group of republicans AND democrats that want to revise and update the state's constitution the enshrine BY LAW the formula of the dividend, and create a more secure form of payment for the next generation of Alaskans.
Big Pharma price gouging is particularly heinous because it's costing lives. Being a sacrifice to corporate profits is a fate no one deserves. And yet here we are.
Yeah, I'd be proud of a member of an all-white yachting club known for taking "dark money" by the fistful while condemning others. At least he's funded by lawyers, dark money groups and real estate other than fossil fuels, otherwise he'd probably have nothing to say about this.
he's cool, but still not a supporter of medicare for all...i think he could be a bit more progressive without hurting his chances to be re-elected, am I right?
@@Q_from_Star_Trek Yes, he could be more progressive, but for years he's been very vocal about climate change, dark money, and the right wing plot to take over America by infiltrating the courts. He doesn't have to be perfect for me to appreciate what good he does do.
Finally I thought I was the only one that thought this a possibility quarterly dividends from oil extraction and the prophets shared by US consumers This is a possibility that can come to fruition if the people get behind it it makes too much sense either share the profits or build a renewable infrastructure
@2:36 "... they're not giving it to their workers, they're not investing in new production, they're not moving from fossil fuels into renewable energy sources ..." So will the windfall profits tax be used for those purposes? @3:43 "... and when it's two hundred billion dollars, you know, you could do a lot of investment in renewables, you could do a lot of investment in clean carbon capture technology. There are so many better thing to be done right now in the energy sector ..." Right. And all of that can be done with a windfall profits tax. There's a fundamental market failure, so use government policy and taxation to break the logjam and make sustainable energy market-competitive. @4:14 "So what you're saying is, essentially, why not put a windfall profits tax on these companies and return this excess money? If they're not going to put it into renewables, return the excess money to consumers!" What?? You think consumers are going to invest the money in renewables? Consumers will just consume, and giving them more money to feed their consumption will just push demand for fossil energy higher, leading to more windfall profits, which will generate more tax revenue, which will put more money in the hands of consumers, which will push demand even higher ... ARGHHH!! We've GOT to get off the fossil fuel treadmill. If you want to subsidize consumption, then subsidize consumption of renewable energy. Create some real competition in the energy market! You don't do that by dumping bales of money out of high-flying airplanes.
This is what our generation needs to do. Make it so people don’t profit at the Earth’s expense. These people that have the control right now, they don’t care, they’re going to die before they see the repercussions of their actions. Why do the super rich destroy our planet for their personal gain when they have everything they could ever need?
Raise money to bribe republicans to vote for it.... that's about it. What American citizens WANT has ZERO correlation with which laws actually get PASSED
Since we cannot take away their subsidies or pass any laws realistically to actually have some sort of fairness, we should focus more on teaching the general public how to convert their trash into biogas to field her home and their car... Or tap into the sewer gas coming out of the sewer vent on top of their house.
@@bobdinitto 🤣... Sorry I'm not trying to laugh at you... But let me share something of a funny observation... Every house in America connected to a sewer system has a vent pipe bleeding methane gas into the air.. Most homes in America have another line coming in from the city bringing in the same methane gas... We are crazy... And also if you remember the story of the 3 little pigs, we build our houses out of sticks and then cover them with tar paper shingles .. which is in essence, like living in an inside of a giant match... Which means we are all stupid too... All of society is set up for you to fail and bleed the marrow from your bones in the process... Apologies if I don't have happier thoughts about these such things.. ... I do have solutions if you are interested...
Every penny they make in profit comes from us. So it really is OUR money! But maybe higher prices at the pump will 'fuel' greater interest/ investment into alternative energy.
Finally. The legislzture has been late with any measures to stop the gouging. Oil companies aren't the only gougers. My grocery store has Fzge Zero Greek yoghurt forc10/$1.00 for 5 oz. cups. Then the next couple of weeks the price goes up to $1.56 each! That's gouging. And then back to 10/$1.00.
I automatically see a problem with this proposal. I see the governments taxing people for the 'dividends' received. Meanwhile, they still have to pay high prices at the pump.
This is the most important interview globally today. Thanks for revealing the obvious and a good proposal to reengineer the clean healthy transition! Wind fall taxes. Get rid of subsidies and put them into green renewable energy Thanks
Thank you Robert Reich. I hope we can keep the fossil-fuel money out of green energy. And I hope we can extend public control over green energy: municipally owned and controlled renewable energy, democratically controlled.
Ironically, gasoline prices are one of the only things that do go up and down on a regular basis, unlike groceries which go up and stay up for no apparent reason except the need for the need to maintain decent profit margins.
I was ranting about how it is like the corporations are on strike. Quietly cutting services while raising prices in order to make share holders keep investing. There has to be a better word ithan profiteering or privateering or powermongering. As a matter fact there is. The word is F. Ing. And we are all. F. Ed Keep up the good work Robert Reich and remember FM if they can’t take a joke
"Taxes usually take the revenues and fund the government." No. That's not how reality works. The sooner people understand how money works...the debt IS the amount of currency in existence...the sooner we can decide how it should be appropriated to fund what our society wants.
I think the founders had some unpleasant experience with corporations (see East India Trading). They very firmly put corporations under the thumb of the government to keep them in check. Corporations right to exist was granted increasing ease over time by the courts.
We should do everything we can to not incentivize fossil fuels. If more people are getting paid, fewer people will be willing to do the absolutely imperative work of dismantling this industry in order to save the human race from climate catastrophe. If regular Americans are getting a cut, then regular Americans will not support green energy initiatives.
Who want to bet that after neglecting renewables and stealing all the money, the oil companies will at some point say that they need government subsidies to ramp up converting to renewables?
If you don't like high prices, buy less... it's all about supply and demand... you buy a gas guzzler that uses more gas, you buy more stuff made of plastic , demand increases and price goes up. When everyone stayed home because of covid, demand went down, price went down.
Last time I checked Oil Was a world wide commodity. Futures traded across the globe. Prices set by the global market! No different than corn, orange juice, gold or bacon etc.. Trying to cover for administrations poor decisions on US drilling permits, red tape, pipe line closures etc… Doesn’t mean that oil companies are price gouging! Not in the US anyway. There should be more rigs digging right now than ever before! Highest rig count ever in the USA was 4530 back in 1981. Rig count today 693. IF the oil companies were price gouging they would be DRILLING like a house on fire. That is the free market in this country. OPEC, Russia and South America are getting with it as we speak and they are profiting handsomely!
The people who made the biggest profits of all were OPEC -- too bad we can't tax them eh? Little FYI - the last time they tried the old "windfall profits tax" was during the Carter Administration and all they managed to do with it was drop US oil production 6% while upping imported oil 16%. Here's an idea - let the US Oil producers put more supply on the market and drop the price of crude back to the $50 level, while the US government collects a nice percentage of every barrel extracted from federal land and refills the SPR at the same time.
I don't know about this proposal. I think I read, and I agree, that taxing fossil fuel companies and then divvying it up amongst Americans doesn't help move us to renewables, and instead distracts from the problem. I think the focus needs to be first and foremost on moving to renewables. (To say nothing about all the little plastic debit cards distributed for the sake of this proposal...)
I'm not sure what you read, but the goal of taxing fossil fuels is to convert the indirect costs of fossil fuels (pollution, climate change, wars) into direct costs so energy sources with less indirect costs are more attractive to buyers. Fossil fuels are only cheap because we offload most of the cost onto future generations. Make the cost of gasoline $8/gallon, and electric cars become much more attractive. Double the cost of natural gas, and electric heaters become the default option. Use all the extra tax earnings to provide tax rebates, and you lessen the burden on families and industries as they transition to a less fossil fuel dependent society.
@@kyleolson9636 true, since gasoline topped $3.00 a gallon, I’ve seen more new EVs on the streets every day. Of course, for every one of those, it looks like there are two new large pickups sold. People ain’t very smart.
@@MsNickie1001 US light truck sales have dropped when US gas prices rose significantly. Sales dropped nearly 10% from 2004 to 2007, when the economy was booming (in a bubble) but gasoline rose from $1.60/gallon to $3/gallon.
@@kyleolson9636 Distributing profits to the public who have no investment in the company will do nothing to limit price increases. The increased money available will be spent on gas and disincentivise rationing and limiting gas usage. Windfall taxes also disincentivise companies from investing in projects that would be profitable at a higher price, reducing the overall supply of oil and resources. Combining these two would massively increase the cost of oil and fuels
My fear is that it will just become a vicious cycle of Oil raising prices by double digits and the consumer always getting a single digit refund. Same as inflation vs wage increases. No catch up.
THANK YOU Senator Whitehouse. You bring so much hope back to the situation where I feel so much like a victim with no way out. With Mr. Reich, you are a hero! I send you all my support for this measure.
Agreed!
The Republicans will all vote against this idea
They are not going to go against their benefactors
@@chazkendall9567 not to mention Joe manchin
Fortunately even many democrats are realizing just how dishonest and incompetent people like Whitehouse and Sanders are. If Biden's dementia and Harris' psychoses don't hospitalize them before January, there may be a Republican in the White House before 2025.
Profit for their own shares🙈🙈🙈
We should do this "profit tax" for all billion-dollar companies. Not just big oil. Big Pharma, Big insurance and more.
Wow, an actual Public Servant who actually is looking out for American citizens! Senator Whitehouse you are indeed a unicorn!
Katie Porter is awesome too, shaming CEOs with a whiteboard and a few markers...
It's sad that representatives like this make up 1 to 2% of our leaders.
We also must hold the lobbyist. Why do we not or better yet we don't need the lobbyists why do we have them what a waste of millions
@@angeliquenova7440 that's a little harder to get rid of because the founders really liked the lobbyists. Madison wrote about them in thr federalist paper. He saw them as powerful special interest groups and thought that their influence could be countered by other factions or groups. They've definitely changed, as have most things. They were talked about often, and the Supreme Partisan Court isn't about to end something like that. Which is the real problem. Even if 70% of the.boomers...went away...tomorrow. there's still no healing the damage they caused to the US since the high Court is now a party over policy joke. They're such a problem, ultra conservative Robert's keeps siding with the democrats. Robert's was the one who interpreted the house's over 95% and senate 100% yea to reaffirm the voting rights.act they extended it for 25 years in 2006. In 2013 it said congress didn't find a reason for it to be continued. Interpretation is what the court is why the court exists. Roe and wade are the walking dead. That's problem #1. Problem 2 is what jerrymandering before 2030. No climate change anything is most likely outcome before AT LEAST 2030. #3 is Americans are extremely stupid. Half are basically braindead. Gonna give the party white nationalism the house and probably the senate this year. Shits going to get much worse before we the light. The nutbags might start to call the rapidly accelerating natural disasters as actually signs that the rapture is imminent...
@@Tripskull A little dark, but unfortunately, historically accurate!
This will disincentivize them from price gouging and seeking excess profits because then they would have to turn them over to the citizens and we know there's nothing they hate more than giving poor people money.
Eric Carabetta, It's hard to make the greedy spare the needy. If they can't find an existing loophole, the GOP will create new ones. But every step in the right direction is a good one.
haha they are demons ...
They would rather pay millions to politicians to have their way than to reduce the price of a gallon of gas 10 cents for those of us who really need that 10 cents.
That's not price gouging
@@johnd6389 it is. Price gouging only occur when 2-3 oil company, controls and monopolizes prices.
Glad to have Senator Whitehouse! We need many more like him.
@DemocracyvsTheocracy Why not make the clown president than you can have a Whitehouse in the White House.
Now if only American voters had the wisdom to vote for legislators that work in the best interests of the general public, we might have a prayer of getting something like this passed.
Too many are in big oils pocket. It'll never happen.
@@kenwelch198
We are talking about voters here, not politicans... so no, not too many voters in big oils pockets, too many voters are morons getting their 'information' from Fox"news" or voting Republican because they get their racism validated there, for the cheap, cheap cost of allowing corrupt politicans to transfer most of their money into some oligarchs pockets
Run for something. Stand up and be the change you want to happen... Apathy gets you more of the status quo.
All they have to say is that you're a socialist/communist and the anti left propaganda machine of the DNC and RNC will grind you into dust. At the end of the day, democrats and Republicans are 100% capitalist (right-wing) parties. And like 70% of all the capital is entirely in the hands of 1% of people that effectively are the economic dictators that control the country.
US voters are as stupid as a bag of rocks, which is why we're in this situation and why the only possible outcome now is human extinction. Humans are just too dumb to survive and at this point I think our extinction is well deserved. We've earned it.
The first and most important question is? Who owns the natural resources of our country? We the people or we the corporations? In Texas it is the corporations. Disgusting but karma is coming.
Karma true, but watch how all the greedy senators and corporations who own all that oil all come out and stop it...
Native American sovreign nations were historically stewards in partnersip with federal agncies (USDA, EPA) were supposed to be consulted in resource use. Private companies usurped this by creating laws that allow them to take whatever they want. Laws are no longer to protect citizens, families and communities in partnerships. Many tribes work collaboratively with states and agencies but private industry fights them in court. Corporate kleptocracy and organized criminality is the problem eroding and decimating everything we share. Force is not power. Imperialism is not leadership. Both erode civilizations. Until US politics respects mental health and stops the insanity this is a no win situation driving us all over the cluff. Look how the pandemic was mishandled.
Keeping the working class desperate is the GOP's core policy.
We do know, but how do we make their base aware of that?
@@Q_from_Star_Trek Their base sees what they want to see and believe. It's like a cult.
Desperate people are forced to work more to survive than in their own best interests.
If only the GQP could make being homeless illegal. Then they would really be able to threaten labor....form a union, ask for more money, complain about rising prices, YOURE FIRED! Do not pass pass go. DO NOT COLLECT MONEY. Be illegally homeless. Enjoy complaining about the slave wages in prison. $0.25/hr is what you'd rather make than minimum wage? Fucking peasants. Know your roll. Serve your masters. Work work work. The winner of the birth lottery needs another super yacht or 3. Get back to fucking work!!
@@Q_from_Star_Trek The best way to make them aware is for the democrats to actually start helping the working class in meaningful ways. The GOP may only focus on helping the wealthy, but the democrats became a party which only focused on the upper middle class. This makes it much easier for charlatans to win over the working and middle classes.
Stock Buybacks need to be illegal as it is merely a way of artificially inflating the value of their company and markets.
Sadly we can't pass a ban on stock buybacks because the oligarchy owns Congress.
It also gives the CEO and other executives a way to pad their salaries.
There used to be a prohibition on stock buybacks in the US, but that changed under the Reagan Administration.
Stock buybacks are done as they are the most tax efficient way to distribute profits to shareholders.
The record buybacks we are seeing now financed by debt in a near zero interest rate environment will fizzle themselves out without regulation.
Yup, just like insider trading.
this just proves that good people still exist. Thank you Robert and I have always liked Senator Whitehouse. Greed on the oil CEO's part may kill us.
Thank you Professor Reich and many thanks to Congressman Whitehouse as well.
Yet Reichs state of California pays about $2 more per gallon on average compared to other states. What a con job.
Ah, the good old days. I remember the windfall profits tax back in the '70's.
Thank you, Mr. Reich and thank you, Sen. Whitehouse!! Excellent conversation!
not a chance in hell. congress knows where their bread is buttered---it's trite but true, we have the best congress that money can buy. and the oil companies are buying all they can!
Like big pharma, big oil owns people on both sides.
Robert, you are so intelligent and, even more importantly, you are a great educator. You have helped me gain confidence in my ability to understand and make a difference in the economic situations that affect my life. Thank you. 😘
In one 24 hour period this week I watched one gas station change their price 4 times. Yesterday it changed twice in 2 hours. It went from 3.54 to 3.29 to 3.49 back to 3.34. I know the gas in their below ground tanks weren't filled in that period of time. There was no reason for the changes.
The gas stations around here raised there prices and made alot of extra cash and then don't refill the higher octane gas until prices drop making them some extra cash because of the economy of a covide19 roller coaster in a world recession n the price gouging started over price gas to 3 yrs later Donald flooding World markets of oil n gas it's all quite crazy how covide19 has put the world economy in a roller coaster ripple affects recession over n over making it harder on future's of beating climate change disaster recovery there's no way in predictable future's accuracy no way possible we need to vaccinate world body's for future's predictable results moving forward or our shipping dwell times are unpredictable like it has been sence our shipping costs has escalate to send America in a world recession over combating covide19 world widely unpredictability let's all watch China in there attempting to control covide19 variants lock down of 22 million people in there making nothing for world Economy in the ripple affects of no predictable future's of covide19
Geez.. I wish I could get those prices! Gas is averaging $4.47/gallon here! Northern Utah.. And we have oil refineries right here!
Oil companies are corrupt and are not controlled by the president.
Imagine being a Republican, complaining about gas prices and blaming Biden, while simultaneously voting against this bill that would actually help people.
And let’s not forget which party the C-suite of these OilCos overwhelmingly vote for (And also regularly ask their regular employees to vote for, via their internal PAC ‘gentle push’ email circulars..)
Imagine believing this pure insanity that's being fed you.
Woke degenerate Americant government and it’s people are good for nothing
Well no, nobody actually knows if this would work. Someone can disagree with this bill, and still want to lower prices. Believe it or not, the fact that it is hard to pass a bill, is a good thing. Government doing less is better, when they cause 99% of our problems
@@idaretofall8888 Didn't work last time they tried it, but the definition of insanity doesn't seem to apply to government.
"Let's get this bill passed..." AMEN!
Thank you both...the answer is YES YES YES !
Stocks as part of salary should be banned. An "Unearned Income" should be a permanent tax. The executives should not earn more than 10 times the amount of the poorest employee.
Sheldon Whitehouse for President 2024… he’s the electable progressive we need right now. Run with Katie Porter as VP.
I'm all for it, he is my senator. I really don't think he wants that job, not in to show biz.
Reverse that. Katie Porter for president!
We would have President Whitehouse in the White House. Get it?
I tried explaining this to a friend (trumper) but he insisted that it was all a tax and high prices are Biden’s fault. You just can’t talk to these people🤪🙄
Forget it. Don’t waste your breath. We’re your Allies. They never will be.
Yes continue to wallow ion ignorance and take Reich seriously. Anyone with even a grasp of economics, let alone actual economists (Reich is neither), can tell you that inflation is a purely monetary phenomenon and that his claimed price gouging and record profitability claims are bald faced lies.
The economically illiterate actually believe that inflation isn't a tax and that Biden isn't the chief architect of it. You just can't talk to the aggressively ignorant.
@@FletchforFreedom and you are the ignorant, here’s your sign🤡🤡🤡🤡
@@FletchforFreedom and you are aggressively ignorant, thank you for confirming that for us. Here’s your sign🤡🤡🤡🤡
“Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.” --Mark Twian
How are bonuses from stock buybacks not embezzlement?
Similarly, American pharmaceutical and technology companies should have to contribute excess profits to support academic science. They have no problem benefiting from government-funded science, but they never give back to it. To the contrary, they twist government funding policies to preferentially fund industry-partnered work, so the taxpayers are even more directly funding their R&D. It’s disgusting.
I never realized just how despicable we humans are. Stupid thoughtless greed is going to be our demise.
How to we hold politicians accountable for when they enact policies that go against the people's will though? That's been the larger problem here, politicians listen to money from corporate lobbyists more than the public.
One way is to get rid of lobbyists and special interest groups. No more monetary payments of any kind to any elected official. If you get caught engaging in lobbying, either giving money or taking money, you lose EVERYTHING, money, cars, houses, everything. A good deterrent will make them think long and hard about it.
Although I agree with the premise of Senator Whitehouse's proposal, which may work and help millions of Americans, I feel like it's just a stop-gap solution. My reservations are as follows: ① The conversation wasn't clear to me as to how exactly Americans would receive these dividends. Perhaps if I knew more about the Alaskan oil dividend, then I may be able to answer this myself. And ② Assuming ① is sorted out, which Americans would receive this and will its distribution and amount be determined by income? Finally, ③ Doing this will enable Americans to get into their cars and drive (or take the subway if they live in cities) to the supermarket to get what they need, using crumbling infrastructure and tip-toeing around the homeless sprawled about, things that only taxpayer dollars can fix. I think it's better to alleviate the tax burden on low and middle income Americans and increase tax liability on extremely wealthy individuals and corporations, a conversation that's not likely to go anywhere with today's politics, which makes me very sad, but it's what we should continue pressing hard for. Thank you, Secretary Reich (a friendly jest:p) for your activism and for enabling conversations like this.
The Alaska Permanent Fund collects money from oil companies (25% of oil revenue) and invests it. It pays out dividends to all Alaska residents (who have resided in the state for one full calendar year) in the form of prepaid debit cards (there may be other ways to get the money I'm not aware of). The 2021 dividend was $1114.
The dividend in Senator's Whitehouse's proposal would likely either be a tax rebate or a check / debit card. It is estimated that the average qualified single filer would receive $240 per year when a barrel of oil is at $120. The rebate would phase out for high income earners.
We already have the "Separation of Church and State", but we also need the "Separation of business and State".
We really don't have separation of church and state when churches are endorsing political candidates without losing their tax-exempt status.
I would point out that as he left his presidency president Dwight D Eisenhower clearly warned us not to allow the military / industrial complex to become involved with government. Yes and Citizens United has made buying our government possible. Our moral elasticity has taken our civility away and honesty has become lost in the wilderness of deception.
We are supposed to have that. Christian churches should have their tax exempt status revoked until they get out of politics...As it stands they're just a Super PAC that likes to sit around in a giant "spiritual" circle jerk telling themselves what great, holy, people they are while they spread their hate as far and as wide as they can
That should be included on the platform for any and all political parties!!!!!
Remove and Improve
Thank you for sharing Robert! We the people need to know the truth!..
And this excess is what they could not hide in off shore accounts! They are beyond disgusting.
Thank you Senator Whitehouse as well as Robert. Every single one of us needs to realize we must employ more than one strategy the move the needle from oligarchs in the major industries of healthcare, banking Transportation and housing to citizens. For people feeling trapped and having to rely on gasoline and fueling Wars and death we have choices from public transportation to encouraging biking. Myself on under $12 an hour employment I bought a used electric car and was shocked to find out that the savings help me buy my first home after 5 years. I helped a friend this past summer buy a $16,000 used electric car that had a 230 mile range. My hope is Murdoch Putin and the non representative Republicans have nightmares when people realize they're not slaves and they have options even when oppressed and brutalized. Write your representative and senators support Senator whitehouse's Bill. Each personal action I take that doesn't require fossil fuels or increases citizens rights makes me feel like I've at least taken away a bit of their power.
We no longer have a free and fair market, when it comes to consumer necessity's there should be a cap on proffit's, and if the corporate elite don't like it then tell them to get into a business, that is not vital to the consumer.
The policies like these that Nixon put in place caused shortages and huge inflation in the 70s.
Wish there were more Senators and Representatives like Sen. Whitehouse and Katie Porter.... thank you. Vote Blue in 22 and 2024--- our democracy depends on it! 🇺🇸💙🇺🇸💙🇺🇸
LOVE Senator Whitehouse!
Love is a strong but appropriate word!
Future presidential candidate I hope, though it would be odd when they say President Whitehouse is at the Whitehouse
@@frankd.506 😅
@@frankd.506 Maybe it's a good omen!! 👍🏼 We could only hope!!
Thanks so much for spelling out the real problem so clearly! 👍
Fossil fuel companies know their days are numbered. So, they are squeezing out as much money as they can before the end.
In fact, capitalism demands it.
I appreciate your time and effort in producing as much as you do. I understand that the majority of what you promote really call for tougher antitrust, windfall profits tax, higher tax on the wealthy, corporate stock buyback ban, campaign finance reform and stronger unions. I have to say though that I'm limited in the knowledge of how I specifically can help to enact change. I would love to see more videos that highlight actionable steps for the public, and perhaps perpetual links to those videos in the description section of new videos.
They don’t have any motivation to drill and refine more Oil, because if they did, they’d earn less from lower prices. Insane.
As an Alaskan I have to tell you... its more complicated than that and at this moment in time it is a VERY contentious subject in our state government. The oil companies pay the state for leases to specific oil drilling and extraction sites. These are paid to the state in the form of taxable revenues. The state then takes these monies and uses a private corporation, who's members are state appointed, to invest those tax revenues into the stock market. Primarily investing in the same oil companies who's taxes we have just gathered. This increases the funds themselves and gives the state almost ALL of its operational budget. However recently there have been attacks on the dividend in several ways.
First you should understand that the dividend is enshrined in our state's constitution, and that its formula for public distribution is also there. There have been attacks by democrats in our state to devest the dividend to essentially do away with it and instead invest the money in public programs that poorer Alaskan's would have to apply for. Another attack has come in the form of lobbying. Oil companies have had permanent chairs within the halls of our government, and have used their influence to keep taxable revenues low. Thus making the dividend lower as well. The most successful attack came from our former gov. Bill Walker. Walker wanted to create a natural gas pipeline from the north slope of Alaska to Canada, and to Valdez, some nearly 900 miles away. Many companies had already told both Walker and his administration that to do so was impossible, but in his effort he closed down several gov. offices, and directed that the dividend be shrunk, even though oil companies, and the fund itself was making record profits.
Our dividend isn't just free money. EVERYTHING we have here is more expensive, and in some communities they pay near $12 for a gallon of milk. We actually need that money and the constant attacks that are on the fund are finally meeting with a measured resistance. There is even a group of republicans AND democrats that want to revise and update the state's constitution the enshrine BY LAW the formula of the dividend, and create a more secure form of payment for the next generation of Alaskans.
Yes! Next: Food, Medicine, and LUMBER!
Big Pharma price gouging is particularly heinous because it's costing lives. Being a sacrifice to corporate profits is a fate no one deserves. And yet here we are.
Proud to have Sheldon Whitehouse as my senator.
I live in Montana and I've written snail mail to Sen. Whitehouse thanking him for the work that he does.
Yeah, I'd be proud of a member of an all-white yachting club known for taking "dark money" by the fistful while condemning others. At least he's funded by lawyers, dark money groups and real estate other than fossil fuels, otherwise he'd probably have nothing to say about this.
woah, what a name! like he was born to be a senator. I wished my country Malaysia does this too
he's cool, but still not a supporter of medicare for all...i think he could be a bit more progressive without hurting his chances to be re-elected, am I right?
@@Q_from_Star_Trek Yes, he could be more progressive, but for years he's been very vocal about climate change, dark money, and the right wing plot to take over America by infiltrating the courts. He doesn't have to be perfect for me to appreciate what good he does do.
Finally I thought I was the only one that thought this a possibility quarterly dividends from oil extraction and the prophets shared by US consumers
This is a possibility that can come to fruition if the people get behind it it makes too much sense either share the profits or build a renewable infrastructure
TOO LITTLE TOO LATE! The oil barons have ups by the balls, and it's been that way forever!
"its such an obvious idea" ... then why the f*** isnt anyone going after tech companies that make more money than oil companies?!
Andrew Yang ran on a platform of a UBI based on a VAT imposed upon big tech. Still a great idea.
Abolishing the billionaire and millionaire classes would go a long way with that.
Andrew Yang! Freedom Divided
Hopefully this new "tax" initiative isn't just a clever way to promote the use of fossil fuels & delay the shift to clean renewables.
God , Robert you're a breath of fresh air!
indeed...though the troll-spammers will surely say something stupid to say otherwise.
@2:36 "... they're not giving it to their workers, they're not investing in new production, they're not moving from fossil fuels into renewable energy sources ..."
So will the windfall profits tax be used for those purposes?
@3:43 "... and when it's two hundred billion dollars, you know, you could do a lot of investment in renewables, you could do a lot of investment in clean carbon capture technology. There are so many better thing to be done right now in the energy sector ..."
Right. And all of that can be done with a windfall profits tax. There's a fundamental market failure, so use government policy and taxation to break the logjam and make sustainable energy market-competitive.
@4:14 "So what you're saying is, essentially, why not put a windfall profits tax on these companies and return this excess money? If they're not going to put it into renewables, return the excess money to consumers!"
What?? You think consumers are going to invest the money in renewables? Consumers will just consume, and giving them more money to feed their consumption will just push demand for fossil energy higher, leading to more windfall profits, which will generate more tax revenue, which will put more money in the hands of consumers, which will push demand even higher ...
ARGHHH!!
We've GOT to get off the fossil fuel treadmill. If you want to subsidize consumption, then subsidize consumption of renewable energy. Create some real competition in the energy market! You don't do that by dumping bales of money out of high-flying airplanes.
Why aren't we talking about stopping subsidies to fossil fuel companies? That money could be spent on developing renewable sources of energy.
This is what our generation needs to do. Make it so people don’t profit at the Earth’s expense. These people that have the control right now, they don’t care, they’re going to die before they see the repercussions of their actions.
Why do the super rich destroy our planet for their personal gain when they have everything they could ever need?
this is a start
Wow. So brilliant. I'd love to know how I can support the passage of this bill. Thank you and be well.
Write to your Senators and Congressional Representatives and tell them to support it! :)
Resist bot might have something!
Raise money to bribe republicans to vote for it.... that's about it. What American citizens WANT has ZERO correlation with which laws actually get PASSED
Gosh, I sure do love this timeline; it's just so fun to be a part of it!! 🙃
It's easier to blame Biden and raise prices more.
Since we cannot take away their subsidies or pass any laws realistically to actually have some sort of fairness, we should focus more on teaching the general public how to convert their trash into biogas to field her home and their car...
Or tap into the sewer gas coming out of the sewer vent on top of their house.
There is currently ongoing research studying how we can get energy from sewage.
@@bobdinitto 🤣...
Sorry I'm not trying to laugh at you...
But let me share something of a funny observation...
Every house in America connected to a sewer system has a vent pipe bleeding methane gas into the air.. Most homes in America have another line coming in from the city bringing in the same methane gas...
We are crazy...
And also if you remember the story of the 3 little pigs, we build our houses out of sticks and then cover them with tar paper shingles .. which is in essence, like living in an inside of a giant match...
Which means we are all stupid too...
All of society is set up for you to fail and bleed the marrow from your bones in the process...
Apologies if I don't have happier thoughts about these such things..
...
I do have solutions if you are interested...
I love Whitehouse he is a true patriot and so smart. Thank you Senator
Would regulations on oil futures trading help too?
Great idea 💡 and if the oil companies don’t comply - NATIONALIZE THEM. The same for the drug companies!
Every penny they make in profit comes from us. So it really is OUR money!
But maybe higher prices at the pump will 'fuel' greater interest/ investment into alternative energy.
Great idea. Great job as alway's. Keep the truth alive for humanity and the planet and to wake up humanity. ❤ ❤
Let's keep in mind that the oil/gas we're paying crazy high prices for now was bought not long ago when it was below a dollar a gallon.
Finally. The legislzture has been late with any measures to stop the gouging. Oil companies aren't the only gougers. My grocery store has Fzge Zero Greek yoghurt forc10/$1.00 for 5 oz. cups. Then the next couple of weeks the price goes up to $1.56 each! That's gouging. And then back to 10/$1.00.
What if they just raise the salaries of all upper management to absorb all the profits, still gouge, still gain unacceptable wealth?
I automatically see a problem with this proposal. I see the governments taxing people for the 'dividends' received. Meanwhile, they still have to pay high prices at the pump.
We should try this with other companies (ie food).
This was so good. Thank you both!
My senator has no concept of economics. I feel that I have no representation
Good Lord,
We love you guys
This is the most important interview globally today. Thanks for revealing the obvious and a good proposal to reengineer the clean healthy transition! Wind fall taxes. Get rid of subsidies and put them into green renewable energy Thanks
Thank you Robert Reich. I hope we can keep the fossil-fuel money out of green energy. And I hope we can extend public control over green energy: municipally owned and controlled renewable energy, democratically controlled.
I appreciate Sen. Whitehouse's fight against fossil fuels and related Kochs, ALEC, Federalist Society and their court-packing
Ironically, gasoline prices are one of the only things that do go up and down on a regular basis, unlike groceries which go up and stay up for no apparent reason except the need for the need to maintain decent profit margins.
This is a very important issue. Thank you for featuring it.
I was ranting about how it is like the corporations are on strike. Quietly cutting services while raising prices in order to make share holders keep investing. There has to be a better word ithan profiteering or privateering or powermongering. As a matter fact there is. The word is F. Ing. And we are all. F. Ed
Keep up the good work Robert Reich and remember FM if they can’t take a joke
"Taxes usually take the revenues and fund the government." No. That's not how reality works. The sooner people understand how money works...the debt IS the amount of currency in existence...the sooner we can decide how it should be appropriated to fund what our society wants.
Two of my favorite people. We need to listen to these two and back them.
I think the founders had some unpleasant experience with corporations (see East India Trading). They very firmly put corporations under the thumb of the government to keep them in check. Corporations right to exist was granted increasing ease over time by the courts.
Senator Whitehouse and Robert Riech are terrific. I often point out the fossil fuel industry influence in politics and media...
Incredible interview & conversation, appreciated, cheers.
You never fail R.R , thank you 😊 🙏 ❤️
Yet Reichs state of California pays about $2 more per gallon on average compared to other states. What a con job.
We should do everything we can to not incentivize fossil fuels. If more people are getting paid, fewer people will be willing to do the absolutely imperative work of dismantling this industry in order to save the human race from climate catastrophe. If regular Americans are getting a cut, then regular Americans will not support green energy initiatives.
I'll name them. Manchin and Sinema.
Whom I wish would die horrible deaths, smug people!!
I love Sen Whitehouse!
2 great guys!
Truth in every statement. Both are truly trying to help all of us. ❤
Who want to bet that after neglecting renewables and stealing all the money, the oil companies will at some point say that they need government subsidies to ramp up converting to renewables?
Raising taxes NEVER lowers prices. Now whatever you are taxing costs consumers more.
If you don't like high prices, buy less... it's all about supply and demand... you buy a gas guzzler that uses more gas, you buy more stuff made of plastic , demand increases and price goes up. When everyone stayed home because of covid, demand went down, price went down.
Bought 2 EVs. No more gouging at the pump.
Last time I checked Oil Was a world wide commodity. Futures traded across the globe. Prices set by the global market! No different than corn, orange juice, gold or bacon etc..
Trying to cover for administrations poor decisions on US drilling permits, red tape, pipe line closures etc… Doesn’t mean that oil companies are price gouging! Not in the US anyway. There should be more rigs digging right now than ever before!
Highest rig count ever in the USA was 4530 back in 1981.
Rig count today 693.
IF the oil companies were price gouging they would be DRILLING like a house on fire. That is the free market in this country. OPEC, Russia and South America are getting with it as we speak and they are profiting handsomely!
How much money would be lost to administering a windfall clawback? A law preventing price gouging would seem to be a better option.
This is what Bernie Sanders has been saying for years and he is absolutely correct about this 💯%
Gas prices here in California are STILL close to $6/gal. NO REASON FOR IT!!!
It's a Cartel?
That makes every business agreement that crosses the monopoly laws is a cartel.
Thank you Robert. Thank you Sen. Whitehouse
The closest Costco in our area is $1.00 cheaper than the local Chevron and Shell stations.
You should've introduce new tax slab for billinors as Elite tax.
The people who made the biggest profits of all were OPEC -- too bad we can't tax them eh? Little FYI - the last time they tried the old "windfall profits tax" was during the Carter Administration and all they managed to do with it was drop US oil production 6% while upping imported oil 16%. Here's an idea - let the US Oil producers put more supply on the market and drop the price of crude back to the $50 level, while the US government collects a nice percentage of every barrel extracted from federal land and refills the SPR at the same time.
Every conglomerate should be subject to 10-20% public ownership. Enough to have board exposure and dividend.
The dividend in Alaska works great and is fair to all, because resources belong to all.
I remember during jimmy carter windfall profit it seemed to target theroyalty owners instead of the oil companies
This is the best thing I’ve seen all year. Yes!!!
I don't know about this proposal. I think I read, and I agree, that taxing fossil fuel companies and then divvying it up amongst Americans doesn't help move us to renewables, and instead distracts from the problem. I think the focus needs to be first and foremost on moving to renewables.
(To say nothing about all the little plastic debit cards distributed for the sake of this proposal...)
I'm not sure what you read, but the goal of taxing fossil fuels is to convert the indirect costs of fossil fuels (pollution, climate change, wars) into direct costs so energy sources with less indirect costs are more attractive to buyers. Fossil fuels are only cheap because we offload most of the cost onto future generations.
Make the cost of gasoline $8/gallon, and electric cars become much more attractive. Double the cost of natural gas, and electric heaters become the default option. Use all the extra tax earnings to provide tax rebates, and you lessen the burden on families and industries as they transition to a less fossil fuel dependent society.
@@kyleolson9636 true, since gasoline topped $3.00 a gallon, I’ve seen more new EVs on the streets every day. Of course, for every one of those, it looks like there are two new large pickups sold.
People ain’t very smart.
@@MsNickie1001 US light truck sales have dropped when US gas prices rose significantly. Sales dropped nearly 10% from 2004 to 2007, when the economy was booming (in a bubble) but gasoline rose from $1.60/gallon to $3/gallon.
@@kyleolson9636
Distributing profits to the public who have no investment in the company will do nothing to limit price increases.
The increased money available will be spent on gas and disincentivise rationing and limiting gas usage.
Windfall taxes also disincentivise companies from investing in projects that would be profitable at a higher price, reducing the overall supply of oil and resources.
Combining these two would massively increase the cost of oil and fuels
As best as I can find, oil companies had a 2022 profit margin of 8.1%. Hardly “gouging”
My fear is that it will just become a vicious cycle of Oil raising prices by double digits and the consumer always getting a single digit refund. Same as inflation vs wage increases. No catch up.