Taxes are not the cause of high gas prices. Leon Brauning’s letter of June 3, “Taxes put gas prices through the roof,” claims that taxes are to blame, but his own statistics prove him wrong. Quoting a San Francisco Chronicle item, he states that for a $4.05-per-gallon price the costs are (I’ve added the percentages): Crude oil — $2.83 (70 percent); distribution — $0.11 (3 percent); refinery and profit — $0.44 (11 percent); total — $3.38 (84 percent); state and local taxes — $0.49 (12 percent); federal taxes — $0.18 (4 percent); total taxes — $0.67 (16 percent). Moreover, what “profit” is included with the refinery costs? Certainly not the oil companies, who are taking in record profits. The cost of crude oil is driving the cost at the pump due to speculators working the commodities market, and not supply and demand. The recent spike in crude prices was apparently triggered by the problems in Libya, but it only provides 3 to 4 percent of the world’s oil. Profiteering at the expense of the public is another form of “taxation.” Rather than focusing on government taxes, Mr. Brauning should consider the real sources of our pain at the pump. Even some in Congress recognize that more regulations are needed on commodity speculators. John Pearson / Napa

Source