THE REPUBLICANS IN THE U. S. CONGRESS FILABUSTERED TO THE DEATH THE DEMOCRATIC ATTEMPT TO RESCIND TAX BENEFITS GIVEN TO THE OIL COMPANIES
THE BUSH TAX BENEFITS TO OUR OIL COMPANIES WERE DESIGNED TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO EXPLORE FOR MORE OIL AND BUILD URGENTLY NEEDED REFINERIES
THE HAVE DONE NEITHER! HOWEVER, THEY DID MAKE A $40+ BILLION PROFIT, IN ADDITION TO THE TAX BENEFITS!
THE DEMOCRATS WERE ATTEMPTING TO RESCIND THE TAX BENEFITS AS WELL AS A WINDFALL PROFIT TAX THAT WOULD BE PASSED ON TO THOSE UNABLE TO AFFORD PRESENT $4.00+ PER GALLON GAS PRICES.
THE REPUBLICAN CONGRESS BLOCKED THE MEASURE PREVENTING THE DEMOCRATS FROM OBTAINING THE 60 VOTES REQUIRED TO BRING THE BILL BEFORE THE CONGRESS.
“Oil giant makes corporate history by booking $11.7 billion in quarterly profit; earns $1,300 a second in 2007.”
At a time when every American and every individual in the world who buys gasoline for their car or any other purpose, the price has skyrocketed to over $4.00 per gallon here, and to over $10.00 a gallon in Turkey. The price in all of the other countries vary from $.42 a gallon in Iran, $.19 in Turkmenistan, $.22 in Qatar, $.38 in Nigeria, $.45 in Saudi Arabia, $10.14 in Turkey, $10.37 in Norway, $5.15 in India, $.19 in Venezuela and $2.80 in China.
The energy experts insist with the echo of a broken record that the problem is supply and demand. I am in no way an authority in the subject of fuel and energy, but I will bet anyone in the world a “fill-up” regardless the size of your gas tank that “supply and demand” have absolutely nothing to do with this. The speculators have invaded the energy market and betting their entire fortunes on what today will be a precious fuel and, hopefully, soon, very soon, will be an antiquated by-product of oil.
The world of entrepreneurs stood by knowing full well that India and China were crawling into the 21st century. The world’s best minds knew that these formerly economically-primitive countries were modernizing and that as they did they would require more and more by-products of oil.
We are told by those who are supposed to be “in-the-know” when the subject of energy is on the table that we have plenty of oil, we simply are not building enough refineries. Companies that make $40 billion per year are fearful of investing in the construction of refineries necessary to turn oil into gasoline.
Although pro-oil Bush and friends gave $14.7 billion of our money to the oil companies to invest in exploration and refineries above and beyond their own astronomical profits and they did not do it.
If the government would have been on the ball, it too would have been willing to allow them to borrow the money rather than give it to them as a gift and tag it for use only for exploration for oil and refineries for gas production.
We have not constructed a new refinery since 1979. The bosses of the oil companies knew we were short of refinery capacity and did nothing to solve the problems except to take home some of the largest salaries and bonus packages of any executives in the world of business.
A Republican friend of mine said, “Joe, they deserve those salaries because they are making those companies and their shareholders very rich people.
“Do not be a fool,” I responded, “They could have been sitting on the beach all day long and the company would still have earned the billions they are earning today.”
But when an executive makes that much money I want to see the miracles he performed to earn it. And not one oil executive performed a single miracle that added to the value of their companies and to the portfolios of their shareholders.
What infuriates me is that not one person in Washington is calling for hearings or investigations by the FBI into the cause of the extraordinary profits of the oil companies. Where is the leader of the free world? Has Bush said anything? Has he asked any questions? Has his Secretary of Energy, Samuel W. Bodman, or the FBI, inspected the industry? Has he sought any answers to the questions that the voters of this country are asking themselves as more and more of their precious discretionary income is tossed into the gasoline pumps?
This is precisely what you get when you elect two oil men into the most powerful positions in the world. They have successfully made all of those who supported their candidacy for president and vice-president, millionaires, and in some cases, many times over.
There are people in this country who can not afford to buy the gas required to go to work. It was these people the Democrats were attempting to assist to in placing a windfall profit tax on the Oil Companies making embarrassingly enormous profits and to rescind the tax benefits Bush used to pay off the oil and energy industries contribution to his campaign.
This is a sad day in the history of American Congressional History. It is time for the Senate to abolish that rule requiring 60% of the Senate to agree to bring a piece of legislation for debate and consideration.
Because of that 60% rule, the Republicans have been successful in blocking every major piece of legislation, first on the war in Iraq, and now with the oil crisis.
I hope that the voters in November will remember which party stood for the people and which one sided with Bush and the Oil giants.
5:44:23 PM 
|
