Oil Companies Looking for Pity

The oil companies have created a new ad campaign to battle the push for cleaner domestic fuels. The campaign is quite slick. An attractive woman dressed in business attire walks onto the set and tells us that 2/3 of America’s oil and natural gas come from North America. Did you catch that? She says, “oil AND NATURAL GAS.” That’s how she can use the 2/3 figure – because it includes natural gas. If she were speaking only of oil, she would have to say 1/3. If you go to the website that she mentions - energytomorrow.com - you can read the sob story of how new “energy taxes… could produce devastating effects on our economy.” Never mind the horrible effect that the ridiculous profits being reaped by the oil companies and the OPEC nations has had on our economy already. It’s time for the oil companies to pay up. It’s past time for us to stop listening to the lies from BIG OIL and break our addiction on foreign and domestic oil.

McCain Blames Obama For High Fuel Prices

Can Things Get Anymore Bizarre?

In McCain's latest attack ad on Senator Obama, he blames Mr. Obama for the high fuel prices that we are now experiencing. This is so ridiculous that it makes McCain look like an idiot. Let's look at some facts.

• When George W. Bush took office on January 20, 2001, the national average for the price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.46.
• Republicans were in charge of both houses of Congress until the beginning of 2007. At that point, prices had risen to $2.17 per gallon.
• Today the national average for the price of a gallon of gasoline is $3.90.
• President Bush did not lift his father's restrictions to off-shore drilling until just a couple of weeks ago.
• When Former President Clinton took office, the national average for the price of a gallon of gasoline was $1.06. When he left office 8 years later, that average price had risen to $1.46 - almost a 38% increase or less than 5% per year.
• The increase in the price of gasoline from the time President Bush took office until today is 167% or almost 21% per year.
• When President Bush took office, Senator Obama was in the Illinois State Senate.
• Even if Congress had allowed off-shore drilling on the same day that President Bush allowed it and if oil companies had begun drilling off-shore on that very day, the oil from that drilling would not come to market until after the next president left office.
• Even if oil companies were allowed to begin off-shore drilling, there is NO GUARANTEE that those oil companies would sell that oil to the United States. It would go to the highest bidder, most likely, China.

So, how is it that Mr. McCain thinks that Mr. Obama is responsible for high gasoline prices? Is Mr. McCain delusional? Does he think that the American public is so stupid in general that we cannot figure out that his latest ad is another lie? I have seen a quote that John McCain's IQ is 138. From what I have heard from him thus far, I am not inclined to believe that it is nearly that high.

Why "It's All Good" for the Oil Companies

A friend of mine (who has very different political views than my own) and I had a rather profound and lengthy discussion recently about the price of oil, it's relation to the economy, and why neither good nor bad economic news seems to slow its ascent. For example, my friend was rather baffled why higher unemployment and a weaker dollar would cause the USO (Oil Exchange Traded Fund) to climb even higher. After all, he reasoned, wouldn't that mean that people would be buying less and that despite the declining purchasing power, companies would have a difficult lowering prices until the price of oil (needed to produce and transport goods) came down? Hmmm.... it would seem so, would it not? However, despite the facts that my friend stated, there are other facts still pushing oil higher. Although higher unemployment would seemingly push oil prices lower, 5.5% unemployment is not enough to frighten oil companies into believing that consumption will slow dramatically. In addition, China's economy continues to boom spurring an increasing demand for more oil causing even more hardship on the average American by pushing gasoline and heating oil prices ever higher while their wages are able to purchase less than they did last year or last month. These hardships do not matter to the oil companies. Consumption has not dropped enough to make a difference to their bottom line, and they have not found the breaking point at which the consumer will rebel. Therefore, their profits continue to grow. So, until things get "bad enough" to cause the U.S. consumer to stop purchasing, oil companies will continue to push prices higher, soaking the consumer for every penny possible.

And, if the U.S. economy were to turn around and begin booming... well, it's like I said in the title. It's all good for the oil companies.