Thursday, May 8, 2008

To Whom This Concerns...

You know who you are Mister Gas Company Executive. You make billions of dollars in profits every quarter, and yet you still feel the need to jack up your gas prices in order to milk the rest of us poor working stiffs for our last dollars. What used to cost $30 a week, now costs $70. $4.00 a goddamned gallon? You must be a sadist.

Your solution to the issue is not to bring gas prices back down to a normal level. Oh, no. You are much too greedy for that. You have tasted the riches of four dollar a gallon gasoline, and now you can't escape it. It's like smoking crack.

And don't hand me the bullshit line about the gas stations raising the prices. I have been connected to that industry, and I know the station owners get a flat rate per gallon, no matter how much YOU get.

Oh, and I'm just curious, how much do YOU pay per gallon for your JET A? Or do you get it for free as part of your yearly bonus?

Capitalism... ain't it great? The rich get richer, and my gas tank gets emptier.

4 comments:

TheBronze said...

Smitty, it isn't about the oil companies and their profits. Their profits are very low compared to many other industries. The problem is supply/demand and the people that actually have the oil.

We're in this problem because of the demands for oil by other country's and the fact that the US doesn't produce enough of our own oil and the fact that we haven't built a new refinery in 32 years.

The gas stations/gas companies aren't price gouging us, as every investigation has found that to be untrue.

The solution is for the US to quit being dependent on foreign oil (by drilling in areas that Enviro-wacko's and DemocRats won't let us drill in) and to build new refineries.

If you'd like a list of other blogs with info on this, let me know.

Officer "Smith" said...

Sorry Bronze, but if Exxon Mobil is boasting record quarterly profits to the tune of nearly FORTY BILLION DOLLARS... yes, that's BILLION with a B... every single quarter, I cannot believe for one second that is because of our dependence on foreign oil.

Yes, we certainly do need to become more self sufficient, I don't argue with that for a second, but the oil company executives could stand to reduce their profits by several BILLION dollars so we can afford to fuel our vehicles.

There is a sufficient supply for our demand. There is no other excuse for these exorbitant gas prices than simple greed.

Anyone who believes the gas companies are not gouging us is fooling themselves.

I am in the wrong business.

TheBronze said...

They're profits were $40 Billion? I don't know where you're getting that number from. I found that they made about $11 billion for the first quarter of 2008.

But guess what, that's about a 10% profit margin. Less than many other industries

They make a shit-load of profits because the oil industry is literally gigantic!

You're taking a pretty narrow view about how things actually work. Have you asked yourself how much oil companies pay in taxes? How much of their profits do they reinvest into oil-exploration?

Lets look at 2007, just for instance:

Exxon Oil
Profits - $40.6 billion
Taxes - $30 billion
Net - $10.6 billion (minus oil development/exploration and refining costs)

2006 wasn't much different: $39.5 billion vs. $28 billion

Suddenly they're profits aren't all that out of line are they? Especially when compared with other industries.

I used to parrot Bill O'Reilly ("the oil companies are gouging us") but then I actually did some research and wised up.

Here's some links to help you out:
http://www.townhall.com/columnists/RobertMurphy/2008/03/08/on_those_oil_profits
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,912416,00.html
http://mises.org/story/2940
http://seekingalpha.com/article/63131-exxon-s-2007-tax-bill-30-billion

Yeah gas prices suck, but only because we've had it so good for so long (cheap oil/gas). Have you checked on what the gas prices have been in Europe for a long time? Way more than what we've paid here, historically.

I'm not a fan of oil companies, but they aren't the big bogeyman that some would have you believe.

Put the blame where it really belongs:
http://gatewaypundit.blogspot.com/2008/05/this-will-be-1-issue-in-2008-election.html

TheBronze said...

From a man I have a lot of respect for:

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/05/too_complex.html