Sam, I do agree.

It isn't that we are willing to pay it, it is because we really have no choice but to pay it. Either way, it is a win for them. Here is the kicker of it all though. We are powerless to them, because we need their product. If the government or people lash out at the oil companies, they can lower production or raise prices even more. A return to the gas shortage of the 70's.
It all comes down to the way the system defeats itself. They raise the prices, we pay it, we lash out, they cut the supply, and again the price goes up. Government taxes them extra, and they pass the extra costs back down to us. We pay more.

Bottom line is that we need them more than they need us. They are more than willing to exploit that fact. They have us all over a barrel (no pun intended). That is an oil Barrel by the way (there's the snappy pun).