Norm Mineta: Crack spread has gone in 10 days from $2-3/barrel to $30/$40!

Why is the government allowing this unconscionable price gouging to happen. It is refineries, some are owned by the big oil companies, who are making a killing since Hurricane Katrina?

The "crack" spread is the difference between what a refinery pays for a barrel of oil and the profit the refiner makes on the gasoline produced from that barrel of oil.

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0509/09/sitroom.03.html

MINETA: Well, I met with the board of directors of the Air Transport Association yesterday, and they explained to me that they were paying roughly $70 a barrel oil. And on top of that, they now are paying a $25 per barrel -- what they call crack spread. The crack spread maybe 10 days ago was $2 or $3 a barrel, and now it's up to $25, $30 a barrel.

So they're asking for relief, in the sense that if they could charge a fuel surcharge, and not have the 7.5 percent ticket tax apply against that fuel surcharge. And that's something, again, that we're considering. Excuse me.

VELSHI: What was likely to happen to that, Mr. Secretary? Is that something that you're likely to able to accommodate?

MINETA: Well, that's something we'd have to discuss with the NEC and others at the White House.

...Big Oil believe they will somehow get richer, while Big Oil insiders are dumping their stocks at huge capital gains profits because they know that in six months the whole Punzi oil stock/price scam will collapse and they'll buy back what they've sold for ten cents on the dollar.

....just need a good tshirt to go w/ it.
Heck, I can use the exercise & it's not so cold yet.