Published: May 22, 2008 04:12 pm         

YESTER YEARS: Big Oil-Pizza-Milk and me

Wall Street reported the following profits for oil companies recently. Exxon/Mobil reported profits of $10.9 billion, the second largest profit by any company. But, you must look at the #1 largest profits and who claims that? Guess! It is ALSO Exxon/Mobile in 2007 with earnings at $11.7 billion. BP also reported that they made $9.08 billion and Shell reported only $7.6 billion in the first quarter.

Let's calculate the cost of milk! At around $5.30 per gallon, a 50-gallon drum of milk would cost $265. Of course cars and trucks don't run on milk, but I do. The only necessary food that has gone south is pizza at $5 each. They were formally in the $11 range. Now I see signs stating buy one get one free on certain days. My question is, why can big oil not follow pizza pricing? The only thing government has failed to regulate is oxygen and I am sure they are looking at this commodity. It could fund another war or make larger payments to China for our debts.

To bring prices down we must fill our tanks with oil companies that have the lowest price and quit feeding the giant oil hogs. It now costs large trucks $1,000 to fill their tanks. They bring about 90 percent of our food, clothing, medicines, and other items. Who will pay for this increase in hauling products? I'll give you a penny if you can guess; I can't afford a nickel to each winner. The lax vision of our current country has done nothing to make prices affordable. Remember in World War II we had a price control department? OPA! Since a great number don't vote, we need this office now, or elect leaders with fortitude to stop this gouging.

Super Bowl tickets, golf trips, gourmet dinners, and closed end studies by the major pharmaceutical companies cause increase in our medicines prices. The Congress is looking at the giveaways they place in some doctors' hands to promote their products on TV. Greed is driving this country into being a fourth world economy or worse. One candidate for the presidency wants to tax oil companies on their profits; this will cause many lobbyists to lose control of our government.

Our people should rise up and demand these profit makers be investigated and if found guilty, then fill our prisons with them. In the 1930s my dad owned two service stations and gasoline was 10-11 cents a gallon. All of a sudden it became 15 cents a gallon, and he almost lost his business. People stopped driving to the store and rode the bus. Maybe we need a public transportation system. In Europe people ride a train to and from work. Why not invest in rail lines? Our population is elderly and many can't drive a car or fill the gas tanks. The use of local rail service would open a new world for these souls. They could buy a pizza, drink a Coke, and stop the oil gouging. These are my opinions and not those of others. My point is to make us think about what these industries are doing to us!