Greed and capitalism - natural resources should be shared by all and products produced by state owned utilities: here is just one example of the result of high gasoline prices:

'ChevronTexaco's fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled to $1.74 billion ($1. 63 per share) from $904 million (85 cents) in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue was up 13 percent to $30.47 billion from $27.06 billion in the year- ago period.

For all of 2003, ChevronTexaco made a profit of $7.43 billion ($6.96) compared with $1.13 billion ($1.07) in 2002. Revenue rose to $121.76 billion in 2003, up from $98.91 billion in the previous year.

ChevronTexaco's fortunes in the fourth quarter were bolstered by relatively high oil prices. A barrel of oil sold for an average of $26 in the United States, up $2.60 per barrel from the same quarter a year earlier.

In fact, oil traded between $25 per barrel and $32 per barrel nearly all year long. The market's strength defied analysts' predictions that prices would drop after the war in Iraq.

Another big source of ChevronTexaco's profit was gasoline. The company underscored that the margins on the West Coast were particularly strong in the fourth quarter of 2003 because of lower inventory levels for the entire industry.'

wouldn't $1 billion dollars have been enough profit? and that doesn't take into account the gazillions of dollars (over)paid to executives 'running' the business. A reasonable salary to managers and a real living wage to the rest of the employees would still cost less than the current set-up.