Hypocrisy, Thy Name Is Congress
Hypocritical? Of course, hilariously so. I've read two articles in the paper this week which illustrated the U.S. Congress' reaction to the current high gas prices.First, there's the so-called NOPEC bill. OPEC, you see, is responsible for sitting back on the production of crude, reducing supply, in the face of increased demand, the upcoming summer travel season. This has caused prices to soar. The congressional solution to this price-gouging is going to make these cartel nations sueable in U.S. courts. That'll sure put 'em in their place. Right.
Then-- get this one-- they want to pass a law breaking up the big oil companies. Really, because these boys don't have the refining capacity to meet the demands of the season, and have even had some refineries down for maintenance in the spring of all seasons. It's true, there's such a bill introduced. At least according to our own Houston Chronicle there is.
I've heard a lot of complaints about supposed price-gouging by the big oil companies. Well, the two biggest Exxon-Mobil and Chevron had profit margins of 10.74% and 8.77% respectively over the past twelve months. That's not a whole lot. I trade stocks now and then and have a good record picking companies whose stock value grows significantly. A minimum for me among other criteria in selecting a stock is a profit margin of ten percent or more. What do you suppose the government's profit margin (i.e. taxes) is in dealing with these companies?
Let's see, though, what congress has itself been doing in regard to high gas prices. Well, for one thing, they've severely reduced supply here by preventing drilling off our Atlantic and Pacific coasts, off Florida's Gulf coast, and in large areas of Alaska. Then, they (and other state and local governments) have kept every proposed new refinery from being built anywhere in the country for over thirty years. How are those things for reducing supply?
And they've mandated different additives and mixtures to our gasoline including their latest fad Ethanol. Ethanol is interesting in that it produces considerable fewer BTUs than gasoline, thus significantly reducing everyone's miles per gallon. On top of this, the nature of Ethanol is such that it can't be transported via pipeline. No, it has to be trucked everywhere. Think of all the extra gasoline or diesel all those trucks are burning. At least they're getting better mileage than the Ethanol they're hauling can produce.
One last thought on Ethanol. Congress has put such a large tariff on sugar-based foreign Ethanol that they've increased the demand for corn to the point that the prices of food products containing it have greatly increased. It goes without saying that the price of gas is increased similarly. Tell me, are the inmates running the asylum or what?
Arrogant dullards trying to be do-gooders. That's what our Congress seems to be made up of. It's hard to think of a greater example of hypocrisy.
One last thing. There's always somebody claiming that the government needs to help reduce demand by increasing federal taxes by $1.00 to $1.50 per gallon. They claim in justification that at least that money will go to the government to be used for good causes, like more freebies for illegal aliens no doubt, than into the pockets of some Arabian sheik. I take seriously my freedom to come and go. Each gallon of gasoline that I buy brings me considerable joy. I can deal with the oil barons. At least they produce something I value: oil. If some stupid son of a bitch from this area (Texas, for me) actually tries to stiff me by adding such a tax, I will work very hard to see that he or she is defeated the next time running for anything.
posted by Burt @ 4:29 PM
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