Dave,

Refinery output has not only kept pace but has excided it many,many
times AND had to cut back. Cut back usually due to lack of charge or
Tankage at capacity.

http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ThomPage

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Dave,

Refinery output has not only kept pace but has excided it many,many
times AND had to cut back. Cut back usually due to lack of charge or
Tankage at capacity.

If that's true, Thom, why is Big Oil whining about their inability to keep
up with demand? Inadequate supply, along with high crude prices, is the
primary reason they are giving for high prices at the gas pump.

My take on high pump prices is simply that Big Oil knows it has very
friendly allies in the White House and in Congress--allies who won't take
substantive action against runaway, windfall profits resulting from high
gasoline prices. Realize of course that having a Democrat president and
Congress would make little difference--both parties take huge amounts of
money from Big Oil for campaign finance. Until the public outcry is loud
enough that our government can't/won't ignore us, the high prices and
windfall profits will continue, IMO.

Max

"Maxprop" wrote in message
k.net...

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Dave,

Refinery output has not only kept pace but has excided it many,many
times AND had to cut back. Cut back usually due to lack of charge or
Tankage at capacity.

If that's true, Thom, why is Big Oil whining about their inability to keep
up with demand? Inadequate supply, along with high crude prices, is the
primary reason they are giving for high prices at the gas pump.

My take on high pump prices is simply that Big Oil knows it has very
friendly allies in the White House and in Congress--allies who won't take
substantive action against runaway, windfall profits resulting from high
gasoline prices. Realize of course that having a Democrat president and
Congress would make little difference--both parties take huge amounts of
money from Big Oil for campaign finance. Until the public outcry is loud
enough that our government can't/won't ignore us, the high prices and
windfall profits will continue, IMO.

Max



What distinguishes a windfall profit from just profit?

There's much bigger profits made from the internet than oil.

Why is profit bad?

Indeed! Profit is good for America. All thoses retired folks getting
nice dividends on investments, will trickle down and enflame the malls
with activity.

Google made more profit per dollar spent than Mobil Exxon.

Capt. Suzy
35s5
NY

Max,

Have you looked at the UN_GODLY earnings of the Oil Companies. They're
breaking all time records! The whinning is part of the cover-up for
people like you that buy into it!

http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ThomPage

On Wed, 3 May 2006 14:12:00 -0700, (Thom Stewart)
wrote:

Max,

Have you looked at the UN_GODLY earnings of the Oil Companies. They're
breaking all time records! The whinning is part of the cover-up for
people like you that buy into it!

http://community.webtv.net/tassail/ThomPage


Thom, I got run out of the Oil Patch, lost my job, all my neighbors
lost their jobs, most gave away money at the closings to dump their
houses, bankruptcies galore when oil fell like a rock in the eighties.
The rest of the country was in a huge boom feeding on cheap oil. Oil
companies wouldn't sink a hole because they couldn't recoup costs.
Operating wells were shut in all over the country.

I certainly didn't hear anything but gloating from the non oil people
back then.

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

Frank

"Bob Crantz" wrote in message
...

"Maxprop" wrote in message
k.net...

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Dave,

Refinery output has not only kept pace but has excided it many,many
times AND had to cut back. Cut back usually due to lack of charge or
Tankage at capacity.

If that's true, Thom, why is Big Oil whining about their inability to
keep up with demand? Inadequate supply, along with high crude prices, is
the primary reason they are giving for high prices at the gas pump.

My take on high pump prices is simply that Big Oil knows it has very
friendly allies in the White House and in Congress--allies who won't take
substantive action against runaway, windfall profits resulting from high
gasoline prices. Realize of course that having a Democrat president and
Congress would make little difference--both parties take huge amounts of
money from Big Oil for campaign finance. Until the public outcry is loud
enough that our government can't/won't ignore us, the high prices and
windfall profits will continue, IMO.

Max



What distinguishes a windfall profit from just profit?

Profits earned while taking advantage of price hikes as a consequence of
events, such as natural disasters (e.g.--Katrina).

There's much bigger profits made from the internet than oil.

And what has that got to do with this discussion?


Why is profit bad?

Profit is fine, provided it is not exorbitant on commodities that people
require for earning their livings and living their lives. Say, for example,
that for some arcane reason food producers found themselves in a
monopolistic situation, like Big Oil, in which they could charge $11.50 for
a loaf of bread and $13.00 for a gallon of milk. Or shoe
manufacturers/importers found themselves in a similar situation and were
able to fetch $150 for the cheapest pair of shoes on the market. Of course
these things do not happen, thanks to competition, supply and demand. There
essentially is no competition in petroleum production-distribution these
days. It is highly monopolistic, and they can charge whatever they wish.
And they are doing so, using any available reason to "justify" their price
gouging. Current oil company profits are waaaay beyond their usual and
customary percentage of gross receipts.

Max

"SUZY" wrote in message
oups.com...
Indeed! Profit is good for America. All thoses retired folks getting
nice dividends on investments, will trickle down and enflame the malls
with activity.

Google made more profit per dollar spent than Mobil Exxon.

The difference, Joe, is that people don't require Google for the daily
administration of their lives. They DO require petroleum products.

Max

"Thom Stewart" wrote in message
...
Max,

Have you looked at the UN_GODLY earnings of the Oil Companies. They're
breaking all time records! The whinning is part of the cover-up for
people like you that buy into it!

People like ME "that buy into it?" Have you been reading my posts, Thom?

Max

"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