Posted by
H-J-S on Wednesday, May 14, 2008 9:41:31 PM
Perhaps it is just me, but I do not understand why the oil execs don't take Congress to task when they perform these sham hearings.
They sit there and politely reply to the inane ranting of these demagogue legislators as if they were having tea with a friend. Why can’t they be more combative? The legislators can ask any question they want. The respondent should be able to choose the way they respond. I know, I know, They are probably afraid of being charged with Contempt of Congress. But as long as you provide the answer to the question why is it that you should be constrained in the way you answer it? I would love to see an opening statement something along these lines:
“Senators you have called us in here today to determine why oil prices are so high. You want to know if there is price gouging going on. There is, but it is not being done by the oil companies; it is being done by the government. Yes that is right, when you take the total cost of a gallon of gas, we the oil companies get to keep only 9 and ½ percent of the total costs, while government at all levels extracts __% of the value of the gallon of gas from the consumers pocket. We are not the robber barons, you are! Over the years the inflation adjusted value of a gallon of gasoline has risen only x%. At the same time the taxes on that gallon of gas have risen y%. Given the increased demand for fuel world wide it is a wonder that fuel does not cost even more than it does.
Tell me Senators, can you say the same about the cost of Education? Why is it Senator that the cost of education has risen more than 4% per year over the f our decades? Have they delivered the increased quantity and quality of education that we should expect for those prices? If not, then why are you not hauling the heads of colleges and universities before you to berate them for the ungodly increases in the cost of education? Why are you not berating the heads of the teachers unions for their poor performance? Why aren’t they being accused of price gouging? Could it be that you have an agenda that doesn’t allow for the scenario to be exposed?”
If they tried to stop me I would challenged them and tell them that “I wasn’t aware that I gave up my first amendment rights when walking into this chamber. Is that what you are trying to do? Can you not take a little criticism on your own ground? Are you trying to steer my answers into a form that is convenient for you or do you want the whole and unvarnished truth?”
Then I would lay out the details that prove my point. I would show what percentage of the costs are accounted for by exploration and development, what costs are caused by refining, and government regulation of refining, the creation of boutique fuels for State by State demands, I would show what percentage of the costs get allocated to transportation, and the cost of insurance, and any other costs that are incurred. I would point out to them where government could help to lower the cost by changing regulations. I would point out to them all the areas in this country that they have put off limits to exploration and give them estimates of how much oil and natural gas they are preventing the oil companies from obtaining. I would show the demand curves for fuel both domestically and internationally. I would delineate each an every time the oil companies applied for and were denied the right to build a new refinery and point out to them the effects of such actions on the costs of fuel.
I would risk going to jail and hammer each individual Senator that put me there as a violator of my civil rights.