On Thu, 04 May 2006 04:43:09 GMT, "Maxprop"
wrote:


"Dave" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 03 May 2006 18:09:31 -0500, Frank Boettcher

said:

So what exactly is an UN_GODLY profit. I know what a hellacious loss
is. I lived through that.

Frank, in the lexicon of the left an Ungodly profit is any profit that
goes
to anything other than the speaker's favorite cause. Businesses aren't
supposed to earn profits they're supposed to do good deeds.

Since I'm not left-leaning, I guess my personal lexicon doesn't include
terms such as UN_GODLY profits, but it does include *price-gouging.* Profit
is hardly a dirty word, but when dealing with commodities that are literally
necessities for life and living, profits that substantially exceed the usual
and customary percentage of gross receipts can logically be thought to
result from price-gouging. Katrina was given as the substantive reason for
raising prices last year. Ostensibly the hurricane stemmed the flow of
crude from offshore rigs, it shut down a refinery or two temporarily, and it
made distribution complicated, at least in the southern tier of states. The
oil companies responded by raising prices to help control supply, which was
a prudent action. But those prices never fell back to pre-Katrina levels
following the relative normalization of the issues mentioned above. Rather
they continued to rise. Other reasons, some arcane and inexplicable, were
given by Big Oil for the continued increase in prices, but most people tend
to disbelieve them. My personal belief is that Big Oil has continued to
raise pump prices mostly because they can do so with impunity, thanks to
friendly faces in the government. I also believe the Bush Administration is
supporting Big Oil in this move in order to help gain acceptance for
drilling in ANWR.

For whatever reason, and despite a public outcry of "foul play" and
exorbitant profits, they continue to gouge the public's collective pocket
book in order to maximize the bottom line. Under the current governmental
situation, I honestly believe that Big Oil could raise the price of gasoline
to over $5 per gallon with equal impunity, if not public acceptance.

If we all didn't require gasoline as an intrinsic part of our lives, we'd
quit buying it and prices would fall as demand would be outstripped by
supply. But we don't have a choice. We must have fuels. And when the
producers of fuels are earning profits far beyond the normal percentage of
their gross receipts, the process is flawed.

Max


Products from oil were as much a necessity in the eighties as they are
today. I didn't hear anyone raising the issue of what might happen in
the future if something wasn't done to stop the tremendous
consolidation that was taking place and the mass panic exodus of
talent from the Industry.

Health and wellness is a much more important commodity. In the
Forties the average doctor made about twice what the average worker
made and was considered well paid. Today the average doctor makes
approximately five times and much and many specialists make 15-20
times. In an industry that controls supply side by the number of
available seats in Medical schools which is way out of proportion to
the talent available. And that has been going on most of my life. As
a pre-65 forced retiree I spend five times as much for health care as
gasoline. And I'm healthy. And I don't hear very much about that.
But let gasoline go up and the cry begins. Mostly from people driving
urban assault vehicles and throwing their plastic (oil) disposable
junk out the window. And lining up at WalMart to get that cheap
chinese stuff, which is the primary reason for the world market in
energy going through the roof.

I just wish I was still in the industry so that I could "benefit" from
the "price gouging" I certainly did my time with pay freezes and cuts
and layoffs, stock depreciation and dividend suspension, in the hard
times.

You either believe in free enterprise or you don't.

Frank