Re: Finally had enough with gas prices, and my butt is sore...
Maybe you should step back from your emotions and look at some facts for a little bit. The profits based on sales revenue for oil companies have changed little over the years. Check out this chart:
They are pretty much middle of the road as far as american businesses are concerned.
What people should really be concerned about is gasoline tax. The gasoline tax windfall for the government has gone up way more than oil company profits.
When you go to Starbucks and plop down $4 for a cup of coffee, why are'nt you complaining that Congress should be doing something about the excess profits? Isn't Starbucks monopolizing the coffee business?
How about your copy of Windows Vista that you just paid $150 for? You going to go to Congress and stop that too?
Where does it end?
Bruce i know your a very intelligent person and generous with helping people in regard's to your post in electronic's, it helped me quite a bit.
My bone here is not with you, but with the current business model that the oil company's are using and big government is allowing (both demo's and repub's)
That graph posted is so misleading it is almost pathic, and in one bold statement it is easily debunked " Oil giant
Exxon posts
record annual profit $39.5 billion for 2006 was biggest annual profit for a U.S company" Now if your in business how long do you thing they took to pencil whip that earning's statement....

it must have been very intense. I know this they hired consultant's to spin or rationalize there huge profit's ( Now that's a first)
Now do oil company's need to go behind closed door's, No tax law's are written and creative accountant's along with good money manager's can manipulate the money flow in any manner they choose with no regard's to anything aside from ultimate profit......and true that is there job, but left unchecked the animal will eat itself if it is allowed to.
Umm, now maybe they have there own Opec, it's called the Wall street and if there ROI (return on investment) is not what some analsyt like's somone's head roll's
Now foreign country's you bet they need closed door's, your never going to get one country to agree to take a hit while another gain's, now add 5-6 competing, why that could be
construed as insanity.......hence Opec
In the end the profit's they are taking is effecting the entire country, auto,farming airlines,trucking, plastic's the list is endless and we have no choice on comsumption (but i do with MS and there under every type of litagation around the world) All these ind must raise price's to compensate for the exaggerated pricing,and that lead's to inflation and the fed raise's rate's and the home market goe's to hell and we pay the burden and have no choice but to continue consuming
And there not a uncontrolled monoply??
Just a opinoin your milage may vary..