Gas Prices Plummet Despite Gas Tax

Has anyone noticed the drop in prices at the gas pump over the last month?

I'm sure you have because the drop has been considerable.

According to statistics at the Daily Fuel Gauge Report site the national average price for regular unleaded has dropped 16% in the past month from $2.938 to $2.467.

The average price for regular unleaded in Washington state is down 25 cents from a month ago. In the past couple of weeks alone we've seen gas prices dropping by 20 cents. Certainly the pressures on prices from the devastating hurricanes along the Gulf Coast have receded and production and distribution has ramped up.

However, this also underscores how the gas tax increase of 3 cents last July is so overshadowed by the vagaries of market forces and price gouging at the pump:

ExxonMobil Corp. reported nearly $10 billion in profit for the third quarter ending Sept. 30, a 75 percent increase from the same quarter last year. BP’s profits rose 34 percent, ConocoPhillips jumped 89 percent, Royal Dutch Shell increased 68 percent and Chevron saw a relatively modest 12 percent increase in profits.

I-912 proponents will tell you that gas prices are too high. Well tell that to the executives at these oil companies. When they raise prices by 50 cents, that money doesn't go into funding safer roads and reducing traffic congestion, it goes to lining their pockets and paying for lobbyists in D.C.