AP IMPACT: Big Oil profits steered to investors

There is one main problem with that concept! Those same oil companies are lobby congress for billions of dollars of your tax dollars for research and development and the Republican held congress at the time gave it to them. Tax dollars that could have went to renewable energy sources, to bridges and roads, healthcare, education and etc.. It could have went anywhere but to companies, who made billions in profits! This isn't capitalism, it is extortion! Most companies reinvest their profits to upgrade and update their equipment and facilities! The oil companies haven't done this with the refinerys. They got Bush to give them your taxes to do it as the give their stockholders the money you pay them at the pump! That isn't right and just for clearification I am not an liberal!

Aside from the fact that it's America's favorite whippin' boys reaping these so called "windfall profits", what is it exactly that differentiates "big oil" from any other "American" corporate entity that's been head long in the rush over the past twenty or so years to globalize our economy, i.e. sell the American economy and, subsequently it's working class, down the river in the hopeful pursuit of unrealistic and unsustainable returns?

First of all, as a small business owner, following the laws as I do, I would resent the heck out of anyone telling me that I couldn't make as much money as the free market allows. The opposite of windfall profits is catastrophic losses. Who's going to come to the rescue of these same oil companies if they lose money because a foreign government nationalizes their infrastructure and takes away their investments LIKE VENEZUELA JUST DID to one big oil company's holdings? Who's going to pay for the rebuilding of pipelines damaged in a huge earthquake or volcanic event? Better yet, who's going to come to their rescue if the nation's banks really do fail and we go into a huge depression? Is Charles Schumer going to go to bat for the oil companies if they suffer a catastrophic loss? I don't think so. Where do all of you think these companies get the money they need to reinvest? Last time I checked, the reason to be in business was to make money. Stop acting like socialists and think more like capitalists. These big corporations have stockholders that they have to answer to and laws that they have to abide by. Congress has no business usurping the profits of any corporation. What the heck is this country coming to? Are we a democratic capitalist free market society or are we socialists heading towards communism? I like my freedom. I can choose to spend money on gasoline and drive my car wherever I need to go, or I can stay home and save money and gas. It's my choice. I like that about this country. I paid $1.37 a gallon for gasoline in 1980 when I lived in Germany. I paid 37.5 cents a gallon for gas when I was in high school when the minimum wage was only about $1.75 an hour. Now we have a minimum wage of around $7 an hour and gas is about $4 a gallon. Not much difference if you look at the buying power of the wages. In fact, gasoline hasn't kept up with the cost of most everything else. We're just a bunch of spoiled consumers who have been "advertised" into believing that the oil companies are the worst organizations on the face of the planet. I would say that the drug companies and their ownership insurance corporations are a bigger threat to all of us. How many commercials do you see on television telling you to pop a pill to heal this pain, cure this problem, decrease your size in the waist, increase your size elsewhere, etc? The television and the pharmaceutical companies are the biggest windfall profits organizations of all and they are also the biggest drug pushers, only they are pushing their wares legally! Why isn't anyone hollering about that?

Leave the freakin' oil companies alone and if you don't like how they make money and how they manage that money, go into business for yourself and compete with them. Build a better mousetrap! Figure out a better way to get from one place to another without using their products. Stop complaining! For God's sake, stop bellyaching! And don't pay any attention to what these crooked politicians are saying about how rich corporations should be spending their money. Good grief. Congress has no business criticizing any organization about how their money is spent. Congress is the most corrupt organization out there.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Cathy

A big pat on the back for Bob Jack.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this.... I plan on buying one of the new SUVs next January when the prices really drop. I could care less about how much the gasoline costs. I just factor it in to my budget and if I need to, I'll throw the wicked television along with the costly programming out in the yard and read more books instead. Maybe I'll apply for a job with an oil company.

Here is a way to decrease the profits of BIG OIL....and bring down the price of a barrel of oil.

STOP MAKING USELESS CRAP OUT OF PLASTIC.

All plastics are made from petroleum. Just walk through Toys Are Us, or Spencer's, and witness how much useless crap there is...that is made from plastic....not to mention the millions of plastic water bottles, Coke and Pepsi bottles used every day, and half the parts on your automobile.

Millions of barrels of oil a day to produce all that crap.

It's time to tighten controls on companies who manufacture goods out of plastic. The American people need to stop buying so many goods made from plastic, and boycott companies who don't cut back on their use of plastics.

the more we part the closer we get to nowhere

the more we part the closer we get to nowhere

And one more thing.... I only buy American made cars.... General Motors, Chryslers and Fords. When I lived in Germany, I drove a BMW and a VW. (When in Rome...) Our country is on the ropes financially because people have not been supporting American businesses, especially the big three automakers. How many of you have considered the real cost to the American families who work in the auto manufacturing industry and all the associated support businesses, repair parts, etc, when you buy a foreign manufactured car? People are paying hundreds of dollars a month for cars that are not being built by American workers. Those Americans are losing their jobs and their homes and our economy is hurt by that. When you spend a dollar, you are voting with your pocketbook. When I told my daughter that, she stopped buying trash music CDs that glorified abusing women and shooting police officers and otherwise inciting listeners to violent behavior, music that insults the ear with pornographic and filthy language. Your money means something. Spend it on goods and services manufactured by people and companies you want to support and encourage to stay in business and on items that are well made and give you a good value for your money. Don't be stupid, be wise consumers and support the country we live in. America First!

To a bank account oversea.

they complain that oil exploration is to expensive and that they would not see the revenue from getting more oil.so use the money for alternative methods.buy huge tracts of land and explore biofuels.they still make money and we have other fuels.some of those billions could be used to help the economy and still make them money.

I spent 18 years drilling oil wells offshore Califirnia and I know for a fact and I've been trying to tell people for years that the US has plenty of oil everything you are being told by the media and politicians, except Ron Paul, are lies.

THE BEST ADVICE I CAN GIVE TO THOSE WITH EARS is to google the name LINDSEY WILLIAMS and patiently watch his videos, take notes. He repeats himself a lot but bear through it, because it is the truth and everyone needs to know about it.

Approximatly 2 months ago Lindsey's life was threatened as well as his family's. He was ordered to delete much of the information in his books and videos but as of yesterday it was all still there from google and youtube. Very important to the people of the U.S. is his latest interview with Alex Jones, OIL IS GOING TO DROP TO $50 DOLLARS PER BARREL VERY SOON. This sounds great but it definatly is not. This will render the U.S. Dollar virtually worthless and cause the worst economic downfall in our history. Millions of people will starve to death as we diminish to a third world country. It will take many years to recover. Be prepared, we could change these things if enough people new the truth and were ready to put their lives on the line by taking action immediatly, but there's not.