You HAVE to be kidding

> Anyway you slice it if petroleum prices go up everything else follows.

And if wages go up everything else follows
and if taxes go up, and if rent goes up....

> And the people hurt the most are the ones who have the least.

> It isn't a political stance on my part. I base my statements upon the real
> lives of people who work for and with my wife.

> $300 bring home every two weeks.

> Less fuel at $40 per fill-up once per week - remainder of $220.

> From this amount must come rent, electric, phone (if can be afforded),
> food, etc.

> I am sorry Bill but I have a really hard time defending a business entity
> that triples its annual profits (not pulled from thin air - see website
> http://www.oilandgasnewsworldwide.com/News.asp?Article=19015 for more) and
> does so at the cost of causing hardships upon people who cannot afford the
> basic necessities of life much less a few luxuries.

> To quote the above website:
> "Sky-high oil prices and record production helped British oil and gas
> explorer Dana Petroleum more than triple annual profit, it said as its
> shares vaulted to an all-time high."

> Surely you cannot defend this type of profiteering, Bill? Or should we
> simply take the stance that it is a great business move in a capitalist
> society and that is the way things are.

> Incredible...
> Jim Wilson

What is really incredible, Jim, is that even though this "isn't a political stance" on your part you have selected and cited exactly the same article that Edward Kennedy cited during recent hearings.

It was also linked on a popular liberal forum, until some dastardly Republican poster had the audasity to point out that the Dana Petroleum noted in the article has never sold a gallon of gas in the United States, that they are a relatively small oil exploration company, that their total 2005 output was under 20,000 barrels and as a matter of fact their stock price was under $8 at the beginning of 2005 because their profit was so low. In short, they are a young company which finally turned a profit.

The fact is just as I stated above, US oil company profits average 5.8% over the last 5 years. All industries in the US average 5.5% over the same period. That means oil company profits are not out of line compared to total industry.

If you want to find someone or something to blame for hardships of the so called working poor then look to the real causes such as the entitlement mentality created by social programs begining with Franklin Roosevelt.