General Discussion

Oil execs defend huge profits before Senate

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24757944/

The sooner we get rid of oil the better.

Originally posted by Enigma

The sooner we get rid of oil the better.

Well, stop using it to run our lives anyways.

After I got through reading this I noticed my hand was trembling.  I then noticed my heart was beating rapidly.  I had no choice but to deduce that I was PISSED THE FUCK OFF!  (Forgive the language) The smugness that comes across in this article just makes me sick to my stomach.  I won't knock their hustle, but man does it rub me the wrong way when it comes off as no more as a comedic game to them (the oilmen).

Thank god I went with a Honda or I just don't know how I'd stomach the commute in Atlanta.  Honestly, I don't much mind the high cost of gas.  The economy fluxuates as does the flow of foreign affairs.  It's when American based companies, especially those with a monopoly over the product which they distribute, take advantage of a bad situation (declining economy) to make record profits each and "every," quarter that it just starts to bother a person even as apathetic as myself.

But after the emotions cool and all things are considered - this is what America is built on.  Get what ya can, when ya can and the rest be damned I suppose.

Originally posted by Enigma

The sooner we get rid of oil the better.

The government has the right to regulate transportation, it was one of the first precedents created in the constitution.  The government began by building canals and railways, then went on to roads.  If so much of this war is about oil, and oil is a definite means of transportation, why is this country not profiting off of this war?  As socialist as this sounds, I believe the government has the full right to regulate oil prices.  I do not, however, believe the government does a good job regulating anything moneywise, though.  If you cannot trust the government, and you cannot trust the corporations, who can you trust?  The fact that so many senators and representatives have so much stock in oil means we will never get any bill to help the people passed, they will continually put holds on anything that might make it possible.  Damn corruption.  The judicial and executive branches both have laws stating that they must abstain from any court cases and bill making if a "conflict of interest" is present, it's a damn shame that congress never will have such a bill.  The damn bill itself would have to be considered a "conflict of interest."

It is these "capitalists" that piss me off.  Carnegie  and  Rockefeller must be rolling over in their graves at the thought of that proposition.  Capitalism strives off of social responsibility and giving back to the consumer base.  When customers no longer have a choice, they are no longer customers.  

Could always try and force them to make better mass transit, that will be a true test of thier character.  They have sound reason for the prices.  Supply and Demand.  They even say they invest the profits.  However, if you ask them to spend the money building up the mass transit infrastructure, thier response will tell people if thier hearts are greedy.

how are oil executives guilty? can someone explain it to me please. i really thought india and china were now world players and are consuming lotsa oil. with no new rifineries built i see a bottleneck. a fight over the current supply. something is driving up these prices per barrel.

i still think its a hidden entity slowing the worlds growth. a planned puppeteering of our surroundings.  the timing of the global climate change is suspicious to lend credence to my 'pelican brief'.  but hopefully, at the same time it is spurning ingenuity from our species.

Originally posted by Xexima

 

Originally posted by Enigma

The sooner we get rid of oil the better.

The sooner we get rid of oil the sooner there is a monopoly over the new fuel source or new type of alternative fuel car. 

If you can use an infinite source of energy the prices will be no where near as bad as they are now.  You cannot monopolize the sun and if they further develop the technology to have solar powered vehicles, you cannot regulate sunlight.

What ever happened to the tax breaks hybrid car owners used to receive?  I'll blame Dubya for that one...

Whaddya talking about? I just got a tax break with my hybrid just this past tax year.  They still have it.

The government has the right to regulate transportation, it was one of the first precedents created in the constitution.  The government began by building canals and railways, then went on to roads.  If so much of this war is about oil, and oil is a definite means of transportation, why is this country not profiting off of this war?  As socialist as this sounds, I believe the government has the full right to regulate oil prices.  I do not, however, believe the government does a good job regulating anything moneywise, though.  If you cannot trust the government, and you cannot trust the corporations, who can you trust?  The fact that so many senators and representatives have so much stock in oil means we will never get any bill to help the people passed, they will continually put holds on anything that might make it possible.  Damn corruption.  The judicial and executive branches both have laws stating that they must abstain from any court cases and bill making if a "conflict of interest" is present, it's a damn shame that congress never will have such a bill.  The damn bill itself would have to be considered a "conflict of interest."

It is these "capitalists" that piss me off.  Carnegie  and  Rockefeller must be rolling over in their graves at the thought of that proposition.  Capitalism strives off of social responsibility and giving back to the consumer base.  When customers no longer have a choice, they are no longer customers.  

 

Originally posted by unconformed

how are oil executives guilty? can someone explain it to me please. i really thought india and china were now world players and are consuming lotsa oil. with no new rifineries built i see a bottleneck. a fight over the current supply. something is driving up these prices per barrel.

i still think its a hidden entity slowing the worlds growth. a planned puppeteering of our surroundings.  the timing of the global climate change is suspicious to lend credence to my 'pelican brief'.  but hopefully, at the same time it is spurning ingenuity from our species.

I saw an interesting bit on The History Channel, about the 2002 explosion at a British Petroleum refinery in Texas that supplied enough gasoline to temporarily raise our prices nationwide. I think that was around 1%-2% of our daily gasoline usage. It seems for all those profits British Petroleum was operating the refinery by disregarding the safety equipment, and, instead of upgrading to burn off excess fumes, just let them overflow into the yard. Seems someone parked a truck in the yard and left the engine running.....

Yea, poor oil companies, they have no responsibility to upgrade or build new refineries. That causes a shortage, complete with long gasoline lines. Just this week I had to wait a whole 10 seconds to pull up to the pump. Too bad I cannot fill up my tank at $4 a gallon, and must settle for buying the rationed amount on even/odd days. Some shortage.

Of course, that is all Clinton's fault. Damn liberals made it impossible to build new refineries during the 1990s when the Republicans controlled the Congress, and since 2000 when Bush entered the White House. Poor Republicans couldn't do anything to reduce the amount of regulation on the oil companies, right? Of course, they reduced the EPA, CDC, OSHA, and Consumer Products Safety Commission, just to name a few regulatory agencies, while increasing homeland security.

So, under supply and demand, who sets the prices? The poor oil companies are being told what to charge by whom? Since 2000, the price of bringing crude out of the ground has gone up astronomically, I'm sure. And those poor oil companies just don't have the money to build new refineries, or upgrade their old ones.

My liberal heart bleeds for them......