Thank you sir may I have another, "Congress has big questions for Big Oil"

WASHINGTON - Big Oil is once again being called on the carpet.

What, again? Yeah, it worked real well last time to throttle the producers.

How about instead, they actually ask: who is "big oil?"

The problem is that oil resources the world over are controlled by state entities. Specifically, those of hostile states. Mostly because our government sat idly by while said entities stole that oil wealth at gunpoint from private companies.

And our solution? Regulate and restrict domestic production out of existence and then go on witch hunts against what little private oil companies still exist. And then blame the resultant high prices on the companies, calling for further regulations and further witch hunts.

Prescribing poison to cure a case of poisoning, to paraphrase Ayn Rand's observation. I almost feel guilty of cliche for saying that again, but then I remind myself that it's not me who keeps perpetrating the same insanity over and over. I'm just the one who is pointing it out. So yeah, it's necessarily going to sound a little repetitive. If that annoys anyone who supports this idea of "big oil" being responsible, then I would kindly suggest that you stop it.

-Inspector

Another election year, eh?

If they want to know why the prices are so high, why not look at how much government is collecting off of oil?

It's not an insignificant amount. Yet I never hear a whole lot of complaining on that particular point. Certainly, nothing on the order of the chorus of squeals about "the companies."

Let's see, 400,000,000 gallons of gas per day * .184 Federal tax per gallon = $73,600,000 in taxes per day. $73.6 million * 365 = $26.8 billion per year. Add that to the $27 billion Exxon/Mobil paid in 2006 and they aren't doing so bad considering they have no risk involved.

BTW, just a thought, Exxon/Mobil paid in more than the bottom 50% of income earners in the country. Just one company.....

Well, you see, to the man on the street, that money is being taken from "the companies," and not from them.

Idiots.

That's too true. I saw on another forum that, for the most part, we pay the same amount for gas as Canada and the UK (about 60¢ per liter, give or take a couple cents). The only reason their gas is more expensive than ours is the taxes they place on them. Anyway, a poster on that forum made the comment, "I don't care how much the government charges. All I see is the price on the pump and these companies making obscene profits!" (Not a direct quote, but you get the idea.)

It must be nice to collect more money than the company producing the product, and get none of the blame for the high price.

Yes, exactly.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.