LTTE...We suffer for Big Oil's greed

[Joanne98]

Dear Big Oil, While I believe that capitalism is a positive thing and that one should be able to enjoy the fruits (read: profits) of one's labors, I do not believe that these rewards should come at such a grave cost to the majority of the population. It is no secret that you profit greatly from these price hikes you say you cannot control. Decent, hardworking people suffer for your greed, and yet the prices keep rising.

There is only one word for people who would carry on the way you do while your fellow countrymen lose their jobs and struggle and sometimes fail to put food on their families' tables as a direct result of your actions. That word is "evil."

With your expensive suits, corporate jets and billion-dollar retirement packages, you are no better than a thug who beats up an old woman for her Social Security check. You are hurting me, my children and all the people I love. Your behavior is unforgivable.

Never have I wished so fervently for the downfall of any entity. Never have I desired the suffering of another human being or beings as I desire yours. I can only hope that we find a way to render you powerless. And, God forgive me, your failure to control us any longer and your subsequent misery are my fondest dream - right after the one where my children grow up happy.

KATE SMITH

Gilford

http://www.cmonitor.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080426/OPINION/804260311/1029/OPINION03

:applause:

[Fovea]

1. The operative principal of any pusher

is all the market will bear.

[L. Coyote]

2. Time to revive the co-op movement to organize as consumers.

There are some very powerful economic forces at work with BIG OIL, and there are some powerful consumer groups too, like the Farmers Union (CENEX).

How do we overcome being atomized consumers? Co-ops! Support your local co-ops first! Support retailers owned collectively by workers next.

[The2ndWheel]

3. "I can only hope that we find a way to render you powerless."

Ah, hope.

Big Oil, like Big Ag, is simply an extension of us.

The sad part is that most of us wouldn't be here without cheap energy, and so all we can do is "hope" that we can find a way to render the organizations(corporate or state) that control us powerless.

[Hehrbehr]

8. I can only hope that we find a way to render you powerless."

We have high gas prices because the people elect a bunch of
enviromental wackos such as Al Gore. That push this global
warming hoax and try to dictate how we live our lives. We
havn't built any new refineries since the seventies. The
congress has basically outlawed domestic oil exploration and
drilling, forcing us to be dependant on foreign oil sources
and paying exorbitant prices. These foreign sources then come
back to the USA with all their billions in petro dollars and
are buying up all of our assets. Makes a lot of sense eh?
Elect more idiotic democrats and republicans. Obama is a wimp
& a sleazey socialist from Chicago. Hillary is a liar. and
McCain should be in jail for his involvement with the Keating
Five scandal back in the eighties. Some choices the powers at
be have given us. I wouldn't vote for any of them. We need to
elect leaders that have a clue about freedom. 

[musette_sf]

10. enjoy your stay

though you seem lost.... i think you made a left at Lew Rockwell by mistake.

[BulletproofLandshark]

11. See ya

[alfredo]

12. The oil companies called a moratorium on new refineries to jack up prices.

If it wasn't for Socialism, you wouldn't have the highway system, free grade school and secondary education, public airwaves, safe drinking water, free parks for your families, and labor laws that keep you and your family safe and together.

If the republican controlled congress and the airlines had listened to Al Gore's 1999 recommendations on airline safety, the hijackers would not have gotten access to the cockpits on 9-11. If we had listened to the environmentalist Al Gore we wouldn't have to be fighting for oil. We would also be the leader in new energy efficient technology, not playing catch up.

[alarimer]

13. Bullshit

Gas prices are high because of unrestrained greedy capitalist pigs, like your cronies George W. and Cheney.

[Rex]

15. Ah but Al Gore was NOT elected now was he? No, your idol George

was and look how badly he has fucked up the planet since. And it was a Repuke Congress (hate to burst your bubble, kitten) that decided to let all those fucking 'foreign oil sources' into the country. Did you sleep through the Reagan, Poppy years or just in massive denial?

Try to read a book about contemporary events or at least educate yourself on reality a little bit, k?

[Bjorn Against]

17. Actually Al Gore was elected NOT Bush...

I think that was the only point the previous poster got correct.

[Rex]

20. Unfortunately Bush was elected, otherwise Al Gore would be president.

He won the votes, to bad that wasn't enough. :(

[Bjorn Against]

21. I would advise you to read up on the voter purges and election shenanigans

Gore won more votes than Bush, that is an undeniable fact. Bush was installed, he was not elected.

[Rex]

22. Yeah I said the same thing too, but they put George in office anyway.

So there ya go.

[Ishoutandscream2]

18. Oh, dear God

CU and Freerepublic is waiting for you. You can go over and brag on how you got to have your say here. Now you can go away.

[scarletwoman]

4. Wow. She sounds pissed. rec'd

:applause:

[Joanne98]

5. She IS pissed. Good for her.

:hi:

[slipslidingaway]

6. K&R :) n/t

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. According to posters on another thread about high pump prices, the increase is due to the weak

dollar and big oil is making the same killing it always has. :shrug:

[orangerevolution]

9. Do you mean profits before or after Big Oil pays

their expenses?

[Terry in Austin]

14. Addicts in denial

No, please -- anything but "supply is shrinking!"

You see the denials so automatically repeated these days, it'd save a lot of time if we just called 'em by number:

1. It's the greedy oil companies
2. It's the evil BushCo
3. It's the greedy speculators
4. It's the weak dollar
5. It's the OPEC monopoly

No -- the stash is simply dwindling. That's the fundamental, structural, persistent reality. Let's deal with it.

[Joanne98]

16. kick

[Subdivisions]

19. I'm no fan of Big Oil, but...

if this ever comes to pass:

"Never have I wished so fervently for the downfall of any entity."

...who will then dispatch land and sea drilling rigs and platforms, and all the materiel, trained personel, and all associated equipment across the planet? Who will finance and conduct exploration? Who will there be to reinvest their earnings in new equipment and who will fund technology research?

Also, I was not aware that Big Oil was the entity that sets crude oil contract prices.

-snip-

In today's complex global markets, the price of crude oil is set by movements on the three major international petroleum exchanges, all of which have their own Web sites featuring information about oil prices. They are the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX, http://www.nymex.com), the International Petroleum Exchange in London (IPE, http://www.ipe.uk.com) and the Singapore International Monetary Exchange (SIMEX, http://www.simex.com.sg).

-snip-

http://www.opec.org/library/FAQs/aboutOPEC/q20.htm">OPEC.org

More:

http://www.capp.ca/default.asp?V_DOC_ID=1150">Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers

http://www.gasandoil.com/goc/features/fex54345.htm">GasandOil.com

http://www.counterpunch.org/nader11062007.html">Ralph Nader: Who Determines the Price of Oil?

"“Oil companies do not set the price of crude oil,” he told the panel. “It is bought and sold in international markets, and the price paid for a barrel of crude oil reflects the market conditions of that day.” Red Cavaney, president of the American Petroleum Institute

But who really knows what the truth is? Maybe Big Oil is feeding the commodity markets a minimum price from which to begin trading. Seems like no matter what issue, event, or controversy-du-jour we happen to be discussing on any given day, we can never really know what is real and what is contrived. We can never really know where the truth lies (pun intended). So, J6P's only recourse is to react by lashing out and blaming somebody they can readily identify, which is this case is the name on the gas pumps.