Soaring gas prices hit us almost everywhere

Bernard Mesco, Las Vegas

Monday, April 7, 2008 | 2:03 a.m.

The real culprits causing the high cost of gasoline are the speculators for oil on the commodities market.

I don’t know if the government can do anything about controlling the price, but in the past the government would release oil from the reserves, thereby causing the price to drop.

I don’t think this administration is going to do that because of the war and I don’t think it would do it because of its association with the oil industry.

The way the oil companies show profit gains, when the price of oil increases, is just standard business practice. A business applies a fixed percentage to its total cost of producing its product so that as the cost goes up, so does the profit.

We realize that the price of gasoline is very important to our cost of living. Not only is it the direct cost of running our autos, but it also affects the cost of everything we buy, especially food products because everything has to be transported.

Take a look at the commodities market in the business section and you’ll see other important products are being speculated on — corn, wheat, cattle and natural gas — that are critical to our way of life. Something has to be done to keep the costs of these commodities under control so that the cost of living is fair.