Why doesn't the president put a "cap" on gas prices?

We live in a free country with a free market economy. Prices are not controlled by the government. Any meddling by government could lead to shortages, long lines at the pumps, and rationing. High prices are much better than no gas.

You can see by the other answers that our days as a free nation are limited. Way to many people are willing to sell our liberty for socialism and government control. I'm glad I am old.

In the 70's then President Jimmy Carter put a cap on rapidly rising gas prices. OPEC had cut production and raised the price of crude thereby cutting the supply. The oil companies were reporting record profits and the government was getting record tax payments from them. Everyone moaned and groaned. So Carter and the democratically controlled congress put a cap on prices, installed a windfall profits tax on the oil companies and generally made themselves a nuisance. The result, prices continued to rise, shortages developed, rationing was then instituted (you could only by gas on either even or odd numbered days depending on your license plate),OPEC again cut production and gas stations routinely ran out of gas and the price continued to rise. All of this is to tell you that the President cannot control the market. If at the time of the last oil crisis the president and congress had made an oil policy that included drilling and making sure our refineies were modern and able to produce the gas we need we would be okey now but they did not. Instead the democrat majority listened to one small group and not only did nothing about energy but blocked the very things that would help us now, drilling, modern refineries and nuclear energy. You want something done don't vote for the people now serving in congress. Look and study the new people running, if you like their ideas, help their campaigns and get them elected. We are not going to get policy change from the same old faces. The easy fix will no longer work.

As a UK citizen we are facing the same problem here, but it is also the price of electric and gas. Basically energy supply companies are privately owned, they are owned by shareholders. These shareholders expect to recieve a certain amount of profits and if they don't then they may decide to sell their shares, which will cause a de-valuation of share price and so begins the downwards spiral.

The truth is that these shareholders, most of which are probably very wealthy, are gaining even more wealth off the backs of the poorer working people like you and me. They don't care if we struggle to live at a bisic level as long as they don't have to. Now many of these companies and shareholders have very close relationships with politicians, the very same people that really should intervene and do something about this disgraceful profiteering.

Am I trying to say that politicians are corrupt? I'll let you form you're own opinion on that one. But I totally agree, the government of any nation is duty bound to protect it's citizens in this kind of situation and should act!

human beings in simple terms won't be in a position to respond to the question being asked, can they? besides right here is my take: i don't unavoidably have self assurance Bush is inflicting it, yet he's under no circumstances helping. as a results of fact of his singular concentration on Iraq and Saddam especially, he has ignored each and every thing else. on the initiating of his adminstration, he pushed aside the controversy of any conservation of gas utilization. Now whilst the placement consists of undergo, he's all approximately conservation. Invading Iraq is the main mistake concerning to distant places affairs an US president can ever made. Now Iraq is a hopeless mess. The hostilities between Shi'tes and Sunnis are never greater severe. midsection East is on the brink of all out community conflict at the same time as Bush remains refusing all out diplomatic efforts ( with concerning to Iran, wager what, US wanted to assist Iran to construct nuclear vegetation a pair many years back, even if it did not pan out due of loss of political will, the ironies in simple terms never ends). Bush won't be inflicting oil expenses to run severe, yet all of what he does seem to make the project worse. The gasoline fee will proceed to flow severe until this is severe sufficient for human beings to alter their utilising behavior. like it grew to become into pronounced, this is all approximately grant and demand. XR

The President does not have the power to simply put a cap on prices for any industry. It would take a Congressional Act, which would have to call for the the restriction of free trade in the industry.

There is no magic wand waving solution to the problem.

He cant cap the the prices becuz the prices are always dropping and increasong and the goverment neeeds money to so the prices for gas must rise for them to get money...i dont agree with it but i think people should buy/build solar cars one man already made a car that can run purely off water and has gas in it as a back up whne the water is finish and only produces water as the exhaust..id give you the website thtat i saw it on but dont have it hope i helped.

Do you remember the super secret meetings that Dick Cheney had with the oil companies? He probaly told them that raising the prices would be OK in the last years of the Bush-Cheney criminal enterprise! This whole thing was planned from the beginning! The oil companies are gouging us for all the money they can, while the public is kept in the dark!

As Janice pointed out, it's been tried by Carter (and as I recall, by Nixon as well) and didn't work.

Look at it this way: if the local gas station pays $4 a gallon for gas and can only sell it for $3.80, how much gas do you think they'll sell? That's right. It's as useful a solution as your wanting to pay your boss to let you work.

He doesn't pay for his so why should he care? The government is getting filthy rich on our pain so trust me, they'll keep telling us there's nothing they can do.

You know how we have Smokeout day where no one's supposed to smoke? We should organize a day where NO ONE drives. It probably wouldn't accomplish much with the government but it could save us some money.

Keep in mind on all holiday weekends gas prices go up as well.

It seems that the "speculators" on Wall Street are the real problem with gasoline prices rising. I don't understand it all but this is what I've heard on news reports.