RUSH: John in Buffalo, New York, welcome to the EIB Network, sir. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Great to be with you. Hey, those conditions you were just talking about, I thought I usually just got those from talking to the Democrats and liberals.
RUSH: What, the mercury vapors?
CALLER: Yeah.
RUSH: Yeah, sort of similar.
CALLER: They are very similar. Hey, Rush, I just wanted to comment on what you were talking about earlier. I used to own a branded gas station up here in western New York by Buffalo. And, you’re absolutely right, the amount of money you make on gasoline today is infinitesimal, it’s just tiny, and you have to make all your money on the groceries, and even then that’s a challenge ’cause you gotta deal with theft and shrinkage and spoilage. It’s a very tough business to be in these days and I wasn’t surprised at all when I heard Mobil say the other day they are getting rid of 800 of their company-owned stations.
RUSH: Well, isn’t it also true — like what’s the average capacity, your gas station, when you owned it, how many gallons could you put in your underground tanks to service your pumps?
CALLER: You could put up to anywheres from say maybe 8,000 gallons up to about 20,000 gallons in your storage tanks in the ground, but most people don’t want to build a gas station unless they know it’s going to run a minimum of about 80,000 gallons a month, and that’s a minimum. Most people want to try to do about 150,000 gallons a month if they can.
RUSH: Okay, now, in this climate, without any interruptions, what’s the normal rate that the tanker would show up and fill your tanks? Once a week?
CALLER: I’ve been out of it for a few years, Rush, but I would say when the tanker shows up and what you’re selling it at the pump there’s probably not more than maybe about a six cents gallon profit for the local guy.
RUSH: Right. And when he shows up you gotta be able to pay him.
CALLER: A lot of people are paying cash now, COD.
RUSH: Right. You have to make a profit on the previous tank that you purchased —
CALLER: Exactly.
RUSH: — in order to pay for the next one. And you’ve gotta have a next one or you don’t have any business inside.
CALLER: Exactly. And a couple of other points, too, if I could just add, Rush. Up here in the Buffalo area, we have Indian reservations nearby, and the Indians now are selling their gas for only about two to five cents less than what the normal branded stations are selling for but yet the Indians don’t pay anywhere near the amount of taxes that a regular branded stations does.
RUSH: That’s like cigarettes.
CALLER: It’s all profit that goes in their pockets that the rest of the guys are stuck paying.
RUSH: And, see, that’s what it takes, and that’s why you guys can’t raise your prices enough in competition —
CALLER: No, we can’t.
RUSH: — in order to make a significant profit. I know a lot of people are going to be surprised to hear this, John. They’re seeing gasoline prices way up here; they’re seeing oil company profits reported to be way sky-high; they’re listening to these two presidential candidates talk about obscene windfall profits, and today they’re hearing that the profit for people that sell gasoline is nothing, and that Exxon wants to get out of that because the profits there are minuscule. I’m sure it’s confusing to a lot of people. I’m sure a lot of people don’t believe this, ’cause it doesn’t make sense to them, but I’m glad you called and verified and validated what I said.
David in Maywood, New Jersey, Open Line Friday, you’re next. Hello, sir.
CALLER: Hello, Rush. Thank you for taking my call.
RUSH: Yes, sir.
CALLER: I am an average American, and I am grateful for ExxonMobil, and I consider this my Father’s Day gift, so thank you. I’ve been out of work for the past three months. I’ve watched a lot more media than I ever thought I would. And whenever the question is asked, ‘What do we do about rising oil prices,’ they have long-term solutions which are drill, of course. But they seem to come up short with the short-term answer, but I think it’s the same answer, because when the world sees that the United States is determined to become the world’s leader in energy, the price is gonna fall. And so I just think, it’s the same answer, just drill.
RUSH: Every project has a first step.
CALLER: Hm-hm.
RUSH: And you’re not going to get started until the first step is taken. But you are very shrewd out there, David, very shrewd, because the argument that the environmentalist left and their willing accomplices, the leftists in the Democrat Party, are all saying, ‘Well, this is just ridiculous. Drilling is not the answer.’ And they’ve got this pet phrase that’s designed to discourage the whole notion of drilling. ‘We can’t drill our way out of this,’ is their phrase, we can’t drill our way out of this. Let me ask you people something. We are citizens of what? The United States of America. Now, since when are we gonna allow ourselves to be led by a bunch of people who say we can’t, when it comes to something that we’ve already done and that we have excelled at? When did we decide we want to be led by a bunch of people that say that we are in a constant state of decline and that we deserve to be in a constant state of decline? When did we decide that we’re going to be led by a bunch of people that say ‘we can’t’? In your personal life, do you hang around with people who say, ‘You can’t do that. We can’t do that.’ That’s not inspiring. Why in the name of hell would people vote for people who would tell you, we can’t do that? We can’t drill our way out of this. Yes, the hell we can. It’s that simple. And, yes, the hell we should. It’s that simple. Drill here. Drill now. Pay less. We’re the United States of America. We can do it.