Letter to the editor:

Big Oil witch hunt all for political gain

Bill Cramer, Las Vegas

Thu, May 15, 2008 (2:03 a.m.)

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Why must people in the media always jump on the bandwagon of politicians, like trained chimpanzees, every time they find some “whipping boy” to blame for the country’s ills?

Now it’s “Big” Oil again.

Come on, folks, oil executives have been called up in one congressional hearing after another. Members of Congress keep trying, but they can’t find anything illegal, improper or even immoral in the business conduct of the oil companies.

For years, they’ve had the best accountants and the best investigators trying to dig up something, anything, they can use to nail the heads of oil executives to their office walls. For some that’s their Holy Grail!

Don’t you know Congress knows exactly what Exxon’s earnings, profits and dividends are per share? If any price gouging existed, indictments would have been handed down already.

But their huffing and puffing makes them look good to the people who keep them in office, and that’s the real purpose of all those hearings

Discussion: 3 comments so far…

By JohnF

5/15/08 at 5:22 p.m.

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No, the oil companies may not be doing anything illegal, but that's the shame of our system. When the Vice President can invite the CEOs of the largest oil companies in to formulate our national energy policy and then refuse to tell the public what was discussed at these meetings we have a serious problem. A very serious problem.

It's not just the oil companies that are doing this. It's the insurance industry, the AMA, big pharma, and on and on. The amount of money they spend buying public policy is insane. And, boy, do they get what they pay for.
By Scott

5/16/08 at 7:47 a.m.

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I agree with Bill. The oil companies are in business to make money by supplying us a product.
Their profit margin is fairly typical of any industry, around 6 percent.
Just because we use so much of the product, their annual profit is billions.
What do people expect them to do?
Even if they droppped their price to reflect a zero profit, a gallon of gas would only go down 10 cents or so.
The high cost of gas is a direct result of the high cost of oil on world markets.
By nobody

5/16/08 at 4:11 p.m.

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Its not the oil companies, its the bankers. www.zeitgeistmovie.com