Not to be argumentative and perhaps I should have linked to this article on CNN: Link_oil.reut/index.htm, but Senators from both parties felt that there was enough of an issue here to convene hearings.
I quoted Bill Frist's comments earlier. Frist further said "I have asked them to call as witnesses executives from the major oil companies and representatives of the state attorneys general, who have the initial responsibility of keeping the behavior of local energy providers on the straight and narrow."
There is at least enough reason for the hearings to be called. |
Larry -
Surely you haven't forgotten this is an election year. And let's just say again what these people are: p-o-l-i-t-i-c-i-a-n-s. With the squealing-pig media playing this as all evil & shit, what in the world would you expect? At this time in the election cycle, Pandering is Job One.
I have no trouble with their rate of return or margins - as Ben Stein says, Exxon is not some mafia-like cadre of fatcats smoking contraband Cuban cigars in the back seats of their chaufeur-driven Bentleys. Exxon is in truth mostly a bunch of pension funds whose thousands of beneficiaries can now feel a bit better about the prospects of a quality retirement. And Exxon-Mobil represents the disposition of about 3% of the world's oil production. Everyone needs to get real.
