HELL NO, WE WON'T "GET USED TO" BEING USED...

...to finance our own demise through "inexplicable" oil company/OPEC price gouging. But that's not even what I wanted to write about...

Yesterday, the Huffington Post had a headline saying "Get Used To It" regarding this story, which says:

"WASHINGTON — Motorists can expect gasoline prices around $4 gallon through next year, the Energy Department said Wednesday, with oil prices staying well above $100 a barrel."

That one sentence begs the question: How does the Energy Dept. know that--that gas will stay around $4/gallon? Are they clairvoyant? Have they been to the future and back?

Oh sure, they say it's only a "projection" that these things will come to pass. They'll say that OK, they really don't know such things for sure but are able to make predictions based on current trends, computer models, etc. Yeah, maybe. But let's not forget this little tidbit:

The 24/7 Wall Street blog, which is affiliated with both Dow Jones' MarketWatch and The Wall Street Journal, carried an article over the weekend that entertained the possibility of oil tipping the $200 mark, citing experts in the industry who expect the $95 a barrel level to be surpassed by the end of the year if the recent stock market turmoil continues.

The ultra-secretive Bilderberg Group, a consortium of power brokers from banking, business, politics, academia and oil, met in Munich Germany in May 2005 when crude oil prices were around the $40 a barrel mark.

During the conference, Henry Kissinger told his fellow attendees that the elite had resolved to ensure that oil prices would double over the course of the next 12-24 months, which is exactly what has happened.

During their 2006 meeting in Ottawa Canada, Bilderberg agreed to push for $105 a barrel before the end of 2008. This information was gleaned from sources inside Bilderberg who have proven reliable in the past.

This shit is rigged, yo, plain and simple. Check my cartoon about it at Eggs Is Tense...

OPEC HEAD: OIL PRICES HAVE "NOTHING TO DO WITH SUPPLY AND DEMAND..."

...rather, the price of oil is the product of a "common understanding," says one Abdalla Salem el-Badri, the secretary-general of OPEC. Here's the quote from the AP story, so it's clear I'm not paraphrasing or spinning:

"'Oil prices, there is a common understanding that has nothing to do with supply and demand,' el-Badri said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Rome."

This little tidbit comes to us in a story about the national average gas price hitting $3.50!

It's interesting that the head of OPEC tells us that the price of oil has nothing to do with supply and demand, yet this AP article attempts to justify the new record oil price of $117.83 with the following factoids:

-"Militancy and lawlessness has [sic] grown in recent years in Nigeria's south,
and attacks on oil infrastructure have become common."

-"Nigeria is a major supplier to the United States. Attacks there in the past two years have cut nearly a quarter of the African country's oil output."

-"Crude oil also rose Monday after the 150,000-ton tanker Takayama was attacked off the coast of Yemen as it headed for Saudi Arabia."

-"In Mexico, oil production slipped 7.8 percent in the first quarter to 2.91 million barrels a day as output at the country's traditional oil fields wanes, state oil company
Petroleos Mexicanos said."

-"In Scotland, workers at Ineos PLC's 196,000-barrel-a-day Grangemouth refinery and petrochemical plant have threatened to strike for 48 hours from April 27 over changes to an employee pension plan."

Hmmm...all of those sound like reasonable excuses for the price of oil to go up. However, the head of OPEC, of which Nigeria (which, as you'll recall is a "major supplier" to the U.S.) is a member, just told us that supply and demand have nothing to do with the price of oil.

What Is This "Common Understanding?"

If you're like me, you probably wonder what "common understanding" the head of OPEC is talking about. Also if you're like me, you really already know what the understanding is but search for just the right way to accurately express it. Well, search no more, for here it is, from the Boston Herald:

"[Peter] Beutel [a Cameron Hanover analyst] estimated that the 25-cent gas
increase over the past two weeks takes about $100 million out of American
consumers’ pockets each day, funneling money away from other purchases."

There it is, the "common understanding" among OPEC members that truly determines the price of oil--$1,400,000,000 dollars transferred to the already obscenely wealthy. That's $1.4 BILLION sucked out of our pockets in just 2 weeks! And that's only an "estimate!" It could be even higher! Who doesn't "understand" that? If you could make an extra $1.4 billion in 2 weeks without the hassles of providing better products, better services, or any of that jazz, wouldn't you do that? Of course you would! Now you "understand!"

OPEC Is A Cartel...

...and by their very definition, cartels are formed to regulate prices:

"car·tel Audio Help /kɑrˈtɛl/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kahr-tel] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation
–noun 1. an international syndicate, combine, or trust formed esp. to regulate prices and output in some field of business."

Or better yet, from the same link:

"car·tel Audio Help (kär-těl') Pronunciation Key
n.
A combination of independent business organizations formed to regulate production, pricing, and marketing of goods by the members."

Just one more--they get more damningly accurate as you scroll down the page:

"cartel [noun]
a consortium of independent organizations formed to limit competition by controlling the production and distribution of a product or service; "they set up the trust in the hope of gaining a monopoly" [syn: trust]"

Great cartel article here. Gotta go night-night--I think the point is abundantly clear, i.e., that we're being raped economically and it's on purpose, it's by design and the people who we elect to supposedly look after our interests are just letting it all happen.

EXXONMOBIL BREAKS RECORD--AND BACKS OF AMERICAN PEOPLE!!

So ExxonMobil has now broken its previous record, which was the all-time high for any company in history in quarterly profits:

By any measure, Exxon Mobil’s performance last year was a blowout.

The company reported Friday that it beat its own record for the highest profits ever recorded by any company, with net income rising 3 percent to $40.6 billion, thanks to surging oil prices. The company’s sales, more than $404 billion, exceeded the gross domestic product of 120 countries.

Exxon Mobil earned more than $1,287 of profit for every second of 2007.

The company also had its most profitable quarter ever. It said net income rose 14 percent, to $11.7 billion, or $2.13 a share, in the last three months of the year. The company handily beat analysts’ expectations of $1.95 a share, after missing targets in the last two quarters.

Like most oil companies, Exxon benefited from a near doubling of oil prices, as well as higher demand for gasoline last year. Crude oil prices rose from a low of around $50 a barrel in early 2007 to almost $100 by the end of the year — the biggest jump in oil prices in any one year.

It's simple, really. They made more because they charged us more for something we have to have. They didn't make the gas any better, they didn't serve us any better or anything. They just charged us more.

Why are we upset about this? I'll tell you why...

At the Hattiesburg American forum, a poster asked "Why are we upset that the big oil company makes record profits?" Here's my reply:

"Why are we upset that the big oil company makes record profits?"

1. We're upset because they charged us more for the same exact product and the same exact service.

2. We're upset because gas is something we must have.

3. We're upset because higher gas prices mean higher prices for everything. ("Diesel price rise has ripple effect on goods," LA Times)

4 We're upset because the value of the dollar keeps dropping while prices keep rising.

5. We're upset because of record credit card debt, negative savings, and declining wages. (An earlier post about all that can be found here)

6. We're upset because of record debts and unnecessary wars that threaten to collapse our economy.

7. We're upset because we're about to borrow from ourselves (or the Chinese) to "help" ourselves buy some more over-priced gas or goods made in China, which only fuels (no pun intended) #6 (and #5).

8. We're upset because we know the world is nowhere near to running out of oil--the supply is being suppressed while demand only increases, jacking up the price.

9. We're upset because the president makes out with oil-rich dictators who won't cut us a break on oil prices, so we agree to sell a dictatorial regime that maintains a state of war with Israel a bunch of weapons because we love democracy so much (which only fattens the bottom line of defense contractors who then have that much more money to lobby with, allowing the whole sick cycle to continue ad infinitum).

10. We're upset because we have very few alternatives to get us out of this mess--even if we buy hybrids, we still have to pay inflated prices for all the goods that are trucked to market because of high gas/oil prices.

11. We're upset because the "free market" has allowed many industries, including the oil industry, to consolidate in fewer and fewer hands (now only 6 "supermajor" oil companies), whiich reduces competition and the incentive to fix any of the problems mentioned above.

12. We're upset that none of the American oil companies, including ExxonMobil, would help out with discounted home heating oil for Americans. Luckily, Venezuela's Citgo stepped up to the plate to help out.

If I left anything out--and I'm sure I did--please add your reason we're upset to the list.

FIRST TIME I'VE EVER PAID OVER $3 FOR REGULAR GAS
















This was on New Year's Day, just outside Gulfport, MS...and whaddya know, oil hit $100/barrel today!


Very interesting info from Americans Against Escalation In Iraq:

WHAT THE WHITE HOUSE CLAIMED THEN VS. WHAT THE FACTS ARE OF OIL AND IRAQ TODAY

Wolfowitz: “[Iraq] will finance itself relatively soon” with oil
revenues

“The oil revenues of that country could bring between $50 and $100
billion over the course of the next two or three years. Now, there are a lot of
claims on that money, but… We are dealing with a country that can really finance
its own reconstruction and relatively soon.” [Institute for Policy Studies, Paul
Wolfowitz, 3/27/03]

US Spending $10 billion a month in Iraq, But in 2003 Gov Officials
Insisted Iraq Will Not Require Sustained Aid

“The White House projected yesterday that postwar Iraq will not require
long-term U.S. aid, in part because of oil reserves that the Bush administration
contends will offset many of the costs of reconstruction. "The United States is
committed to helping Iraq recover from the conflict, but Iraq will not require
sustained aid," said a report from President Bush's Office of Management and
Budget.”” [WP, 3/29/2003]

Colin Powell “Iraq will not require the sorts of foreign assistance
that Afghanistan will”

Secretary of State Colin L. Powell made a similar point Wednesday on
Capitol Hill. "Iraq will not require the sorts of foreign assistance Afghanistan
will continue to require for some time to come," Powell said, explaining that
Iraq's talent and resources will be "put to productive uses, instead of buying
and manning weapons and palaces for Saddam Hussein." [WP, 3/29/2003]

Let's remember our lesson: (War + Iraq)Republican President=Record Gas Prices!

Oh, and apparently, it turns out that the more troops we send in to this quagmire, the more we lose as it now turns out that 2007 was the deadliest year for American troops.