Outrageous Gouging At The Pump... And Who Is Profiting?
Leaders Question Gasoline Prices: Hastert, Frist to Ask Bush for Probe
First of all, asking anyone in the Bush family--current president or past; current governor of Florida or potential candidate--to investigate, probe or even make an inquiry into the improprieties of price gouging from the oil companies is like asking the bank robber to investigate his own crime. The Bush family wealth is directly tied to oil companies and the cronies that are part of the oil game. It is the oil industry that gave the Bush family their clout.
Secondly, the congress has failed us citizens in doing anything real about the price gouging that has been the continuous modus operandi of the oil companies since the first major gas shortages in the 1970s. Investigation after investigation, probe after probe, hearing after hearing--all involving some version of a congressional committee or investigation--have failed to produce one scintilla of effort to curb the greed that is the oil barrons. Proof of that greed is the recent retirement package offered to the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, Lee Raymond, amounting to a minimum of $400 Million.
More proof of the greed is that Exxon-Mobil alone posted $36 BILLION in profits, coming out of our pockets at the gas pumps, oil tanks, LPG tanks, diesel truck tanks and airplanes. The drive to incrrease profits is costing us more for every plastic produced, every package made, and for every service or good purchased. Even the cost of being in Iraq and Afghanistan is increasing due to the greed of these oil companies.
We often get mad at the oil producing nations for setting crude oil prices as high as they do. But that is not the driving force behind the price at the pump. Contrary to what the oil industry tells us, the price of the oil we are purchasing today was set at least 6 months, if not longer, before the price jumped today. The claims that the refineries are not producing adequate amounts to meet the need is a complete and utter falsehood. Where I live is a large BP refinery (used to be AMOCO) that is only producing about 60% of its capacity. BP cut jobs when it took over the AMOCO plant and still produced most of its refined product in Canada, because it is cheaper to do with Canadian labor and the very friendly import arrangements made when NAFTA went into effect. Many oil companies are using state-run oil refineries in Mexico for the same reasons. The bottom line is that the deals being made are predominently hidden from public view and they serve to benefit the oil mongers. No North American oil refineries are producing finished products at full capacity... and that is by design.
Some time ago there was a petition sent around asking us to strike back by targeting the larger oil companies and boycotting their products and retail outlets. However, that strategy is inherently flawed because the oil companies ultimately sell their refined products to any gasoline distribution outlets that bring their product to market. While the profits are usually higher when these companies can directly control that distribution to branded outlets, the truth is that the only difference between CITGO gas and SUNOCO gas are the additives added just before the final distribution is made. Before adding these "proprietary additives" the refineries produce a generic form of gasoline at one of five octane levels, only three of which are used at gasoline retail outlets. So, if we were to boycott Exxon-Mobil, Sunoco, Shell-Texaco, Citgo, BP or any other major oil company, these folks would just stop adding the final additives and sell the gasoline to distributors that we are not boycotting. The pinch would not be felt by the oil companies per se, but by the independent owners and corporations that depend upon adjunct sales of snacks, sodas, cigarrettes and other "convenience items" sold at these outlets. We would in fact be hurting the little guy and not impacting the big oil companies in a significant manner.
However, there are four steps we can take that will impact the oil companies.
The first step is what I term a "revolving boycott." This action takes some local organizing and some detailed effort, but it is worth it in the end. Instead of boycotting a major oil company's brand and outlets, we boycott those stations posting the highest prices. When the price at a given station drops in response to the boycott, we reconfigure the boycott to "revolve" to the station posting the highest price. We continue this process until the prices are back to a reasonable level... and we remain vigilant when the prices start to creep back up.
The second step is that we organize and form local petitions that send DAILY messages, letters and press releases that call for a retraction of all existing tax breaks and incentives to any and all oil-related industries at both the state and federal levels. We insist that our representatives take aim at these oil companies and the related industries (plastics for example) and retract all subsidies--actual or in-kind--that they receive. We keep the pressure on for the next five years and insist that all oil companies be investigated by the SEC, IRS, FTC and DOE.
The third step is that we insist that our congress critters produce legislation that pushes forward energy-saving and fuel alternatives. We insist on government underwritten research on the technology and processes for producing alternatives to oil and oil-related products, and we insist upon the government getting a significant royalty from any industry that uses that technology, except when it is used by a municipal, county, state or federal government/agency, or a not-for-profit charity doing public service (i.e. energy cooperatives, municipal energy plants, fuel cooperatives, etc.). In furtherance of these efforts, we set up state and federal legislation that allows not-for-profit cooperatives to compete for the lowest oil, gas and other fuel resources and distribute via tax-free not-for-profit outlets.
The fourth step is that we take a serious look at our congress critters and insist that they pass sweeping reforms in terms of ethics, lobbying, campaign finance and the rules under which each house can propose legislation, attach amendments, bring bills to the floor and conduct our business. After all, what they do in congress is OUR BUSINESS and we should have better and tighter controls over how our money is spent, how our presence as a "super-power" and how our reputation as a nation is maintained.
First of all, asking anyone in the Bush family--current president or past; current governor of Florida or potential candidate--to investigate, probe or even make an inquiry into the improprieties of price gouging from the oil companies is like asking the bank robber to investigate his own crime. The Bush family wealth is directly tied to oil companies and the cronies that are part of the oil game. It is the oil industry that gave the Bush family their clout.
Secondly, the congress has failed us citizens in doing anything real about the price gouging that has been the continuous modus operandi of the oil companies since the first major gas shortages in the 1970s. Investigation after investigation, probe after probe, hearing after hearing--all involving some version of a congressional committee or investigation--have failed to produce one scintilla of effort to curb the greed that is the oil barrons. Proof of that greed is the recent retirement package offered to the CEO of Exxon-Mobil, Lee Raymond, amounting to a minimum of $400 Million.
More proof of the greed is that Exxon-Mobil alone posted $36 BILLION in profits, coming out of our pockets at the gas pumps, oil tanks, LPG tanks, diesel truck tanks and airplanes. The drive to incrrease profits is costing us more for every plastic produced, every package made, and for every service or good purchased. Even the cost of being in Iraq and Afghanistan is increasing due to the greed of these oil companies.
We often get mad at the oil producing nations for setting crude oil prices as high as they do. But that is not the driving force behind the price at the pump. Contrary to what the oil industry tells us, the price of the oil we are purchasing today was set at least 6 months, if not longer, before the price jumped today. The claims that the refineries are not producing adequate amounts to meet the need is a complete and utter falsehood. Where I live is a large BP refinery (used to be AMOCO) that is only producing about 60% of its capacity. BP cut jobs when it took over the AMOCO plant and still produced most of its refined product in Canada, because it is cheaper to do with Canadian labor and the very friendly import arrangements made when NAFTA went into effect. Many oil companies are using state-run oil refineries in Mexico for the same reasons. The bottom line is that the deals being made are predominently hidden from public view and they serve to benefit the oil mongers. No North American oil refineries are producing finished products at full capacity... and that is by design.
Some time ago there was a petition sent around asking us to strike back by targeting the larger oil companies and boycotting their products and retail outlets. However, that strategy is inherently flawed because the oil companies ultimately sell their refined products to any gasoline distribution outlets that bring their product to market. While the profits are usually higher when these companies can directly control that distribution to branded outlets, the truth is that the only difference between CITGO gas and SUNOCO gas are the additives added just before the final distribution is made. Before adding these "proprietary additives" the refineries produce a generic form of gasoline at one of five octane levels, only three of which are used at gasoline retail outlets. So, if we were to boycott Exxon-Mobil, Sunoco, Shell-Texaco, Citgo, BP or any other major oil company, these folks would just stop adding the final additives and sell the gasoline to distributors that we are not boycotting. The pinch would not be felt by the oil companies per se, but by the independent owners and corporations that depend upon adjunct sales of snacks, sodas, cigarrettes and other "convenience items" sold at these outlets. We would in fact be hurting the little guy and not impacting the big oil companies in a significant manner.
However, there are four steps we can take that will impact the oil companies.
The first step is what I term a "revolving boycott." This action takes some local organizing and some detailed effort, but it is worth it in the end. Instead of boycotting a major oil company's brand and outlets, we boycott those stations posting the highest prices. When the price at a given station drops in response to the boycott, we reconfigure the boycott to "revolve" to the station posting the highest price. We continue this process until the prices are back to a reasonable level... and we remain vigilant when the prices start to creep back up.
The second step is that we organize and form local petitions that send DAILY messages, letters and press releases that call for a retraction of all existing tax breaks and incentives to any and all oil-related industries at both the state and federal levels. We insist that our representatives take aim at these oil companies and the related industries (plastics for example) and retract all subsidies--actual or in-kind--that they receive. We keep the pressure on for the next five years and insist that all oil companies be investigated by the SEC, IRS, FTC and DOE.
The third step is that we insist that our congress critters produce legislation that pushes forward energy-saving and fuel alternatives. We insist on government underwritten research on the technology and processes for producing alternatives to oil and oil-related products, and we insist upon the government getting a significant royalty from any industry that uses that technology, except when it is used by a municipal, county, state or federal government/agency, or a not-for-profit charity doing public service (i.e. energy cooperatives, municipal energy plants, fuel cooperatives, etc.). In furtherance of these efforts, we set up state and federal legislation that allows not-for-profit cooperatives to compete for the lowest oil, gas and other fuel resources and distribute via tax-free not-for-profit outlets.
The fourth step is that we take a serious look at our congress critters and insist that they pass sweeping reforms in terms of ethics, lobbying, campaign finance and the rules under which each house can propose legislation, attach amendments, bring bills to the floor and conduct our business. After all, what they do in congress is OUR BUSINESS and we should have better and tighter controls over how our money is spent, how our presence as a "super-power" and how our reputation as a nation is maintained.
Congressional leaders yesterday planned to ask President Bush to order investigations into possible price gouging by oil companies as crude oil prices hit new highs on world markets and average gasoline prices in the nation's capital blew through the $3-a-gallon mark.
House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) are preparing to send a letter to the president Monday asking him to direct the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to investigate alleged price gouging and instruct the Environmental Protection Agency to issue waivers that might make it easier for oil refiners to produce adequate gasoline supplies, Hastert spokesman Ron Bonjean said.
Hastert and Frist's letter comes amid charges by some consumer groups and Democrats that oil companies have manipulated refineries and oil inventories to drive up prices. Hastert also took aim at the rich pay package for Exxon Mobil Corp.'s retired chief executive, which he called "unconscionable."
Yesterday, oil prices climbed to a new record, unadjusted for inflation, with benchmark crude rising $1.48 to settle at $75.17 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Average gasoline prices in the District reached $3.02 a gallon, up 3 cents from the day before.
posted by Jim Downey at 2:47 AM
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