reminded me of yesterday's Non Sequitur:
Similarly, we prevent monopolies from forming, since a company without competition can jack prices through the roof - and it's not like we can just decide to stop using stuff like gas, as it's how EVERYTHING gets shipped. So, today, we see that the oil companies are soaking us for ridiculous profits. In an era when the base product, the barrel of oil, is costing much more than ever, they are ADDING on to that with extra costs to get them more profit than any company of any kind has ever made in the history of the world. While the country is hurting economically, they are pouring salt in the wounds out of pure greed.
reminded me of yesterday's Non Sequitur:
just a thought
When they are making 4 billion a year in profit (Profit being that above and beyond operating cost and investment cost) I do not think that is only 10% more than they actuality invested. If folks would be good people and do the right thing this would not need to be talked about, but I do believe they are trying to make as much as they can as fast as they can. They have not built a new refinery since 76. Where is all their investments going?
But they don't spend that every year and also the profits they make is ABOVE and BEYOND that they spend on infrastructure like that. It is what they make AFTER expenses are paid and workers are paid and all that stuff you say they need to pay. Profit comes after that. It is total revenue minus operating costs and infrastructure costs. So 4,000,000,000 above all that is a little high don't you think for something so vital to the economy and life in general.
You can tell who a person is by the people he/she surrounds himself with.
Standard excuse Alien. It really is sad. Instead of actually making an argument you tell me I don't know. and I need to do some more research. I just know that profits are above and beyond operational cost. So I will complain when this is something required for everything ATM and then it makes the price of everything go up. We pay less for gas here because our taxes are less on the gas than other countries. Many other factors there. I just know that when a company makes record profits at the cost of other people so desperately in need of the stuff at the moment it's sad.
I dunno what statement I do not like more. "Quit complaining" or "Because i said so". Without complianing many thing in thsi world would not have changed. Civil rights comes to mind right off the top, but many other thigns work along the same lines.
I would gladly love to stop giving the oil Sheiks and Oil company CEOs my money and choose an alternative method of transportation. Nothing is a viable option yet. Riding a bike would take me too long to get to work and school, and so far there is no Hydrogen stations for me to buy a Honda fuel cell vehicle yet.
So the oil companies really have everyone by the cahoneys and here you are defending their actions. Are you some eleitest or something? I mean really. I am a college student who had to go part time with work so I can achieve my goals of becoming a nurse. Now I have to worry about how I am going to pay for food that is going up. I have to worry about how I am going to get to work and school, and I am going to have to worry about all kinds of goods I need to buy.
I had to buy a nut, one single nut, for my motorcycle. that nut cost me 6.24. There was a sticker on it that said 4 something and when I asked about it he said that was an older nut and the prices have went up. I paid for it before i got the nut and he sited fuel prices going up for the increase. So Give me a break. Win fall profits on something this necessary for daily living is just wrong and bad for the country.
The thing is I do not believe they are only making a 10% profit as you claim they are making. That 5 bucks a fill up is not going to break me, but the additions to the food and other goods I need to buy might. You may have enough money to eat healthy and fill up your car, but not everyone is so lucky. I am paying my bills and cutting where I need to. But not everyone is able to do that because of skyrocketing energy prices due to the greed of these companies.
May i ask. Are you one of those folks driving a hummer at 6 miles per gallon with enough money to not have this affect them like it does the lowly student like myself. The thing is when oil and gas go up then it makes everything go up. I am not just complaining about just companies like Exxon and other oil companies. My frustration is also focused on OPEC and those that use fuel inefficiently. Not everyone NEEDS to drive a 8 MPG truck or a Hummer or other things. I agree to having a nice car, so don't get me wrong, but why drive an Expedition when your the only one riding in it? If the need is there by all means, but I see too many single persons driving a HUGE SUV.
The oil companies are not the only thing to blame. I blame OPEC, Frivolous use of fuel and the lack of companies to develop the alternative fuels that have been around for a while, because the motor companies bought them up to sit on them. There are many factors to this problem and I still do not condone the types of profits the oil companies are making because I seriously think it is more than 10% as being claimed.
So alien, here's the problem - making gas now is the same as it was when gas was $1/gallon. So at that point, the gas companies made $.10 a gallon. So the raw product, the price of crude, has gone up in price four-fold. So now the gas folk make $.40/gallon, doing exactly the same service as when they made $.10/gallon. (And remember, this is PROFIT, after exorbitant salaries and bonuses.) Further, this is just at retail. The oil companies make bank refining oil as well. So the point is that a very few companies control a supply of vital energy to America - a national security issue if there ever was one. They have a responsibility to society to take their role seriously, and not gouge just "because they can."
Nobody is saying they can't make money. And all I'm suggesting is a windfall profits tax - nothing that will cripple them, and a tax that only applies to crazy, over-the-top profits. Believe me, they can take it. As it is, they're just laughing their way to the bank.
Max
I think the biggest profits in the history of corporations is probably a time to take notice, thank you.
Nobody is suggesting they can't make money, nor capping profits. That's not the intent or effect of a windfall profits tax.
By the way, the reason that they don't spend much of this huge profit on research or alternative energy is that doing so will interrupt their gravy train. As soon as something takes the pressure off the demand for oil, the price will plummet. And they have no intention of having that happen. In fact, they will move to block any such research through lobbying, buying of patents, etc. For better or worse, we elected oil men to run the government. That suddenly oil people are making unprecedented profits should come as no surprise. The struggle for control of oil in the middle east is NOT to ensure a low-cost supply - it's to make sure that prices and profits can be maximized. That's how business works, and why it needs to be regulated.
Capslock
Thank you PK that is another factor. OPEC keeps the production low to keep prices high. Well maybe it is not low, but they do not increase output or they are at max production already. Either case the market is creating some of the "shortage" for profit seeking. Before the supply "dries up". So again there are many different factors, but I still hold oil companies partialy to blame.