The cost of gas

Yes, gasoline prices suck right now. They probably will for a while. Hell, Fox News just announced that in Atlanta one BP station is charging almost $6 per gallon. Sorry folks, it's supply and demand. Too much demand, not enough supply. It's why we should be drililng up in the Gulf of Mexico and ANWR right now and ease legislation on refineries, but I digress. That's not really the topic of this post. I blogged about this a while back, but with the current situation I thought it was worth reposting.

First off, you could be paying up to $0.535 less in some cases just by eliminating the taxes. (These numbers are from 2002, I'm sure that many are higher now. If anyone has a link to the current rates please send email them to me.) What with an $0.184/gallon federal tax and then throw in the state tax, that's a pretty penny there.

Then consider this, how much is that bottle of water you're drinking right now? Even a gallon bottle of water (the most economical choice) can cost you anywhere from $0.59 up to $2.00, for something that falls out of the sky for crying out loud!!!!!!!

What about that milk you're drinking? I don't know about you, but last time I went to the grocery store I paid almost $4.00/gallon for my milk. That's four bucks per gallon!!! With a family of five youi can imagine how quickly it adds up. Is there a cow shortage somewhere that I don't know about?

Yes, I know it's small consolation when you go to the pump and spend $50 bucks to fillup your tank, but it does help put it into perspective a bit, no?

Edited to add:

I forgot to mention that some states have a minimum price that retailers may charge.

Here is a breakdown of the cost of actually producing the coveted petro.