Oil is cause of downturn

Butler (,PA) Eagle - Letter to Editor ^ | 2/19/08 | Ronald Goebel

[smokinleroy]

Oil is cause of downturn

Exxon-Mobil earned $81 billion in profits in the last two years. Are we surprised? Supply and demand — that's what they say. So Exxon-Mobil could reduce the price of a gallon of gasoline to $1.50 and the company still could earn $40 billion in profits in two years. Am I wrong on my math?

I predicted a recession two years ago when the price of gasoline hit the ceiling. It does not take a rocket scientist to figure out that if we suck all the extra dollars from our citizens and force them to put it in their gasoline tanks and heating oil tanks, they will have no money left to buy clothing, gifts, entertain, go out to dinner, or buy the things that Congress and President George W. Bush say we now need to buy to come out of the dive into which this country's economy is heading.

So, the country is going to go into more deficit spending to send everyone a check for $500 or more. If the oil companies lowered the price of gasoline to $1.50, we would have an extra $100 a month to spend. Of course, if you earn $100,000 or more a year, or have stock in Exxon, you don't care about that.

We have a milk marketing board in Pennsylvania that regulates the price of milk. Why not establish a gasoline marketing board? What we don't need is an excess-profits tax. We don't need to give more money to an already glutted Congress that spends money like the old proverbial drunken sailor. Shame on all of our elected officials from top to bottom for allowing this rip-off to continue. Price-fixing by the oil companies is running rampant.

Ronald Goebel
Cranberry Township

[HenpeckedCon]

These a-holes all think there is a man in a penthouse somewhere bringing home 80 billion dollars in profit. They think he lights his cigars with 100 dollar bills. Hey idiots, you know who gets the profits? Stock holders, 401K owners, in other words, us!!

[gogeo]

Exxon-Mobil earned $81 billion in profits in the last two years. Are we surprised? Supply and demand — that's what they say. So Exxon-Mobil could reduce the price of a gallon of gasoline to $1.50 and the company still could earn $40 billion in profits in two years. Am I wrong on my math?

Well, yes.

[ksen]

Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually . . .

Corporations don't pay taxes, they pass that cost along to the consumers.

[gogeo]

We could also ask to have some of those taxes on gasoline dropped to reasonable levels. In Washington State, we are paying a total of 41.4 cents a gallon (total state and federal)...

I think that's state tax alone...the numbers are old. This is a chart offered as part of an investigation by McKenna's office:

http://www.atg.wa.gov/uploadedFiles/Another/Safeguarding_Consumers/Antitrust/Unfair_Trade_Practices/Gas_Prices/Illustration%2011.pdf

18 cents federal, 36 cents state...and I think we've had an increase since then.

[RightWhale]

The last time the USA was a net oil exporting country was about 1970. It’s been downhill since, and $20 trillion of debt public and private it’s still downhill.

[gogeo]

I understand that the Republican party used to be the party of the rich but that had all changed....maybe it hasn't...maybe we have a lot of Republicans that don't give a hoot that the Mom and Dads out there are paying so much out of pocket for gas and heating fuel....

That's what the RATS and their media enablers used to say...I want the Repub party to be the party of, among other things, economic literacy.

[jonrick46]

We have had a gas tax increase in Washington State. It is hard to keep track of isn’t it?

[plain talk]

It’s very relevant. Orange juice is not a necessity, it can be replaced with an alternate - water, apple juice, cola, whatnot.

Irrelevant. The discussion was on profits and what it costs produce a gallon of gasoline vs gallon of orange juice.