I want to know what the common person thinks of why the gas prices are going so high so fast.?

speculators

very simple. 70% of the price of gas lies in crude oil costs, and this is so high because the oil changes hands dozens of times through the hands of speculators making money on the trading of the oil. Refining, and sale of the gasoline aren't much at all compared to this. In some instances the service stations make 3 cents, IF they make a profit at all. Many stations use gas as a means of bringing in customers to buy the two dollar soft drink. Until someone reigns in the speculators, the problem will only get worse. What would help is developing our own oil domestically until alternatives are viable, and affordable. But with the enviornmental lobby the way it is, the oil in Montana, the Dakotas, and ANWAR will sit there, and the oil in the gulf will be taken by other countries.

Right now there is a singular cause to the gas crisis: Traders that don't belong in commodities.

Loose regulations allow deep-pocket funds to invest in commodities to protect against inflation and weak dollar. These firms don't take direct delivery of oil.

Big Oil always has a part to play, but there has not been proper monitoring of commodities trading and now it is out of control.

When the dollar begins its rebound, if it rebounds, then the stock market will grow while commodity trading will fall.

We need to get the speculators, million dollar funds and investment firms out of commodities.

I think it is because nations that were not very industrialized, like China and Inida, are becoming more so, so the demand for gas and crude oil has gone up significantly because of that. Higher demand means higher prices.

I think it's because of Bush. His stupidity caused the economy to go down.

1) because the government helped outsource so many jobs with WTO/NAFTA/GATT/H-1b visas, which creates greater demand for motor fuels in India and china

2) because the government created a needless war, paid for with debt, which devalues the dollar

3) because the federal reserve flooded the economy with cash for a housing bubble, which also devalued the dollar

4) because bush and mccain are threatening a war with iran, which risks oil supply routes

5) all of the above encourages runaway speculation

as you can see, our 'leadership' really screwed us, in a big way ('leadership' as in both parties)

I'd answer that, but I'm not a "common person."

Sheesh.