Why should'nt the government regulate gasoline prices?

It would be hard for the government to regulate gasoline prices,

Without being able to regulate oil prices.

The government could set the profit margin for refining oil into gasoline.

But that profit margin, is already very low.

What you are pointing to is the direction President Nixon took in the early-1970s, before the Arab oil embargo. This drastic step may be back in play, but with an understanding that this oil embargo has never ceased....this is a marketplace where those who produce the product control the price by manipulating the amount which reaches the market.

Government regulation of prices of gasoline, natural gas, electricity, etc. are a fantasy. The price is what it is even if we don't like paying that much. Regulation of prices is basically an extension of credit as full price plus interest will have to be paid at some point. Once it's time to pay full price everyone has a conniption and forgets all the time they were paying "interest only". Kind of sounds like another problem we're dealing with now.

Natural gas, electricity, and water don't require REFINERIES WHICH CAN NO LONGER BE BUILT. Oil companies are limited in their capacity of production for these reasons, and a price ceiling would cause a massive gasoline shortage.

The government takes home way more money (from oil) than the oil companies do ladies and gentlemen. In fact, I propose a federal tax ceiling for the United States government.

When there were regulations there was no problem on the gas prices at the pump, screw the deregulations that the repukes did under GWbushit and the total control of the repukes.

Because they really can't. The prices are set mostly by supply and demand. An ever growing number of Chinese are getting cars, and this is putting huge pressure on supplies that, due to the fact that there just ain't as much oil in the ground as there used to be, aren't growing fast enough to meet the demand.

If anyone really wanted the price of gas to drop all they would have to do is take it off the futures market. Force people to take delivery of the barrels of crude oil they buy.

One of the freedoms you enjoy is the freedom of free competition, enforced in big corporations by anti-monopoly laws. So are you really ready to give up yet another freedom?

The cost of gas would probably increase even more in that case. Look at prices in despot and communist countries and tell me what you think.

They should, the record profits and huge bonus's prove they are just price gouging the American public.

You will guarantee a shortage.