Companies have us over an oil barrel

It is all too common that all large companies carry insurance to cover losses when disaster strikes, just like the homeowner does. So when things do happen, it is the insurance company who must step in and settle up to cover the damage.

Why, then, after oil companies are getting record profits - and even worse, President Bush giving them huge tax breaks - is the working class having to foot the bills with daily escalating prices at the pump? We get e-mails all the time suggesting a boycott at the pumps, but the working class must still get to work each and every day, and we cannot do this without gas. Oil companies know this, and have us over a barrel.

There is not only something wrong with this picture, but it also has an odor to it - which unfortunately seems to get worse each day. This perspective needs serious changing.

Jon Willcox, Harlem