Tuesday, April 01, 2008

Now here's a good use of Congress' time...NOT!

WASHINGTON (AP) - Don't blame us, oil industry chiefs told a skeptical Congress. Top executives of the country's five biggest oil companies said Tuesday they know record fuel prices are hurting people, but they argued it's not their fault and their huge profits are in line with other industries.

Appearing before a House committee, the executives were pressed to explain why they should continue to get billions of dollars in tax breaks when they made $123 billion last year and motorists are paying record gasoline prices at the pump.

"On April Fool's Day, the biggest joke of all is being played on American families by Big Oil," Rep. Edward Markey, D-Mass., said, aiming his remarks at the five executives sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in a congressional hearing room.

"Our earnings, although high in absolute terms, need to be viewed in the context of the scale and cyclical, long-term nature of our industry as well as the huge investment requirements," said J.S. Simon, senior vice president of Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM), which made a record $40 billion last year.


Sigh...instead of actually considering the real issues, we have Congress wasting our tax dollars as they question the CEO's of "big oil" companies...AGAIN! If I was one of these CEO's...I would have blatantly stated:

"gas prices have increased due to ridiculously high taxes, both at the state and federal levels imposed by YOU, the GOVERNMENT...

gas prices have increased due to extensive state and federal EPA regulations demanded by YOU, the GOVERNMENT...

gas prices have increased due to the outrageous evironmentalist prohibitions imposed by YOU, the GOVERNMENT...

instead of allowing refineries to be built, instead of allowing us to drill off shore in California and in ANWR, instead of either standardizing nationwide or reducing emmission standards to allow our existing refineries to produce ONE grade of gasoline...YOU, the GOVERNMENT...have continued to tie our hands behind our back, demanding MORE from us, increasing OUR costs of producing and then WHINNING when we dare to attempt to make ANY sort of profit!

Yea, PROFIT...that thing that KEEPS US IN BUSINESS! And to top it all off...you heavily TAX that profit!!"

And you dare to wonder why gas prices have increased??? We are actually forced to import gasoline today, not just oil! Again, this is due to the various EPA standards imposed by each state, causing each refinery to produce several grades of gasoline, causing longer production time and reducing efficiency of the refineries!

And to add to it all...gasoline and oil are highly demanded, being utilized more worldwide than ever...anyone ever hear of supply and demand??

How many times will Congress bring in the executives of "big oil" companies to answer these same questions...when will they simply LISTEN and then allow what needs to be done to be done...deregulation, build more refineries and allow drilling offshore and in ANWR?!

Again, this whole fiasco put on by Congress is simply to demonstrate to the people why we "need" government to "solve" our problems...only thing is we all KNOW government NEVER solves our problems...they just continue to perpetuate them so "they" (those in office) can continue to be "needed"...and remain in "power!"

In the meantime, we have plenty of vacant court seats waiting to be filled...but of course, if the Democratic led Congress actually did their job and allowed an up and down vote on the nominees President Bush has put forward...it would mean the likely appointment of Conservative justices who will uphold the law, rather than the Dem's activist justices who obstruct it to impose their agenda. So by holding phoney hearings such as those above, the Dems are able to not only waste our tax dollars, but also, waste time, while they "hold out" in the hopes of a "new" administration...one they believe will be led by "their side!"

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

yep right on!!!

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