But we can hold them hostage too if we act in unison
Oil execs defend huge profits before Senate...‘Laws of supply and demand are at work,’ Shell chairman tells Congress
BP America Chairman Robert Malone, Shell Oil President John Hofmeister, Chevron Vice Chairman Peter Robertson; ConocoPhillips Executive Vice President John Lowe, and ExxonMobile Senior Vice President J. Stephen Simon were in Capitol Hill Wednesday testifying before a Senate hearing on oil prices.
Last week the big wheels, the top executives from the major oil companies were testifying before Congress trying to explain why the American driver is being screwed without Vaseline while they continue to rake in unprecedented profits for their corporations and obscene salaries for themselves.
At one point one of them even suggested that they could take their business elsewhere if America dared to tax them or take away their subsidies. I would like to see that happen…as a matter of fact; I think that the President should call them out on their bluff. How can the President do this? Very simple: He could ask the American people to boycott (voluntarily) Exxon for 3 months; then do the same with Shell. At the end of the six months we would have them crying “uncle”; and will agree to pay their fair share of taxes and turn away undeserved subsidies.
Of course this is not going to happen because not only will the Teahadist-Republicans will scream and have tantrums, but also because their myopic base loves to drive their gas guzzling Hummers and give away half of their meager paychecks to big oil…besides the fact that if the President asks the American people to do it; then they must oppose it.
Just for the record; your blogger has been carrying out his own personal boycott against Exxon, Shell and Mobil as well as WalMart for years. I also refuse to buy at Target because of their contributions to homophobic politicians. I know it may sound futile to you but the beach is composed of billions of grains of sand.
I don't know if anybody else has noticed a pattern: just before summer for the past few years the oil companies manage to raise the price of gas about a dollar each with some excuse like turmoil in the Middle East, an oil spill or presently it is the oil futures speculators; then at the end of summer they lower it .75cents and the American driver thinks the prices came down when they will now be paying .25cents more...it has been happening consistently.
