In order to gain media coverage, senators and congressmen again called in the oil men.
On one side of the table are men leading large oil companies who, for decades, have spent their time and efforts finding, drilling for, transporting, refining and merchandising oil and oil products.
Opposite them in the plush, cushy, upholstered chairs are the politicians who have spent decades passing laws and formulating regulations that put oil fields off limits, and make transporting, refining and marketing oil difficult, expensive and/or impossible.
The oil men are powerful forces in the oil business, but their companies own or control less than 6 percent of the world's oil. They are powerless to overturn the force of the law of supply and demand.
Politicians are powerful people, but individually or in sum total they are powerless to overturn the the force of the law of supply and demand.
If there is one barrel of oil unneeded by the market, the owner will lower his price until someone will purchase it and place it in inventory; if there is one barrel too few, the person in need will increase his offering price until some owner will decide to sell and do without.
If politicians such as Charles Schumer, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama and Jay Rockefeller continue to thwart rather than help the development of oil supplies from the interior and off the coast of the United States, prices will continue to rise, the value of our dollar will continue to fall and our economy will fail.
We do need a change in Washington. We need to replace those politicians who are more interested in winning their next election than in the well-being of our country.
Chess Howard, Augusta
Comments
Thankfully, the push to increase taxes on oil failed (thank you, Republicans). Only Congress believes that businesses pay taxes. EVERY business passes on taxes to the consumer as the price of goods or services. Raising taxes only helps Congress - becuase they dole it out to their cronies and those they hope will vote for them. Good article.
implement the fair tax today! then decide if you want to pay taxes or not.
This letter is way too well thought out and easy to understand. I foresee many people disagreeing with some obscure point not mentioned here. (that's how Dems respond to reality)
That's ok, Bush can't shut up either. As both parties continue to be on the obvious liberal sides of the fence, they can't see the problem that is actually a concern for the people as they both continue to do their stupid political thing and nothing about the problems that face a more dismal economy. Owell.
I don't understand how anyone can believe that imposing an extra tax on the oil companies is going to translate into lower fuel prices for the consumer. If they were honest, they could say they just wanted a bigger piece of the profits for the government. It will do nothing positive for us.
We can start by firing all incumbents.. What has any of ours done to help Georgia Taxpayers.
Press your representatives to support the fair tax!
We need to press our "congressmen" to cut spending & eliminate waste. Have you looked at Saxby's farm bill??He backs the fair tax.
The whole thing is, we do not just need to look at new oil supplies. That is what congressional republicans seem to really want. They do not want to look at alternative sources of fuel. They do not realize they are puppets for their few top leaders who have ties to the Saudis/big oil companies.
imdstuf..Congress has been led by Democrats for almost 2 years with the express promis to voters that they would lover gasoline prices. Instead they have gone up 2 bucks. The Democrats refused any Bush energy plan in 2000 because oil experts were invited to the meetings and we have suffered. Tell the Opec nations , "thank you very much, but we will now drill for our own oil" and you will see them take notice.
Imdstuff, oil is needed NOW if we are to survive as a world power. Alternative fuels are being developed but will not be here TODAY (or the next decade). Ethanol from food products has caused the price of food to go up and a food shortage world-wide. Ethanol is NOT efficient in mileage, either. Have you cjecked out the hybrid car prices? Do you have any idea what an adverse impact that battery operated cars will cost in initial buiding materials and in disposing of them? I doubt you have given any of this a thought.
people keep saying that the enviromentalists won't allow the oil crooks to build new refineries.well? why not build the refineries in other countries where you get the oil and transport the gas here instead of the oil to be refined?you out there jack?
Dani, first off, its not all about OPEC. Oil companies are publicly traded so it has to do with the stock market. Democrats do not have control of congress really. They do not have enough majority to overcome stonewalling from republicans. Do I think they can stop oil companies from getting larger and larger profits? No. Do I think they can stop speculators from driving oil prices up? Then again though these are the things causing the rich to get richer and the poor to get poorer. I am all for free market economy, I just want some people to understand that it is not always happiness and sunshine. We are feeling the drawbacks of a free market system. Sometimes things shake out with a low side, a high side and little in between. Over time they will balance back out, but for now, we have to deal with this recession.
I agree that Congress adds to the cost of gasoline. They did not (Both Parties) plan to reinforce our energy infrastructure. Drilling on our side of the earth seems like a good idea, but it is lacking in short term impact and long term savings. We haven't built any new refinieries in decades. With out them we can't refine the oil we would find. If we started drilling today, even without government interference, the oil wouldn't be available to the consumer for 10 years. It also won't be any cheaper. Why sell something for $2 if the customer is already accoustomed to $5. I personally think we should be investing in alternative fuel sources. Now my idea won't make things any cheaper. If we have a flood of electric cars, we will see a drastic increase in electricity cost. Hydrogen seems like a good idea, but someone still has make the volitile gas available. In my mind taxing Oil Companies is a waste of time, like many of you. The money will not be spent properly when those spending it stand to make more money by doing nothing. The Oil Companies can run all the energy friendly ads they wish, but the truth is when you have the market cornered, you don't let it out.
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