Well, I can really imagine why the majority of people in the Midwest voted "Republican" -  also due to being pissed off by high fuel prices in the range of $3.50 a gallon.

It can get worse, indeed. Esp. in Europe, you can get the worst examples of rip-off at the pumps.

In Germany, the gas-stations virtually are affiliates to the German "IRS" because 63 pc of the final price are taxes, unbelievable, huh?

But in Europe, you could put all party-colors in one big sack and club them with a baseball bat, and you always hit the right one.

OK, the fuel prices have decreased a bit, unusually?!

The today's average price in Kiel, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany is:

€1.589 per liter = $2.053 per liter = $7.766 per US-gallon  (Super E10)

- with 63 pc taxes on German fuel at the pumps, you pay directly $4.893 pg to the treasury. Almost $5 !

With 32 pc of product price and 5 pc of extra costs & profits, you get a net price of $2.873.

If the parameters for product prices and extra costs, profit included, applied for you guys in the US as well the tax difference would be $3.500 - $2.873 = $0.627.

Thus, the German treasury's greed-factor is 4.893 divided by 0.627 =  7.8.

Bloody lucky you - guys!