Good Morning TDR!
As pointed out by other TDR members in this thread, some folks refuse to listen to reason. The price of gasoline has more than tripled in a couple of years because the price of oil has more than tripled in a couple of years. Hint for those of you who believe glow plugs are a good idea: oil is used to make gasoline.
A proposal was made last night while I was sleeping on my mattress stuffed with obscene profits generated from risk free oil, refined at no cost into 200 octane gasoline that was delivered to my house by 72 virgins from Allah's personal harem that I then sold to poor people at over 100% profit, who don't have jobs, which is why they are poor and don't have any money, which is why they can't afford to buy expensive gas guzzling SUV's, which is why they don't need a lot of gasoline, which means they can still spend their money on crack, which allows the drug dealers to make obscene profit margins (very low refining & distribution costs) which allows them to buy gas guzzling SUV,s to support the U. S. economy, plasma screen TV's from the Japanese and toys from the Chinese which will prevent the coming world wide depression. The previous if/then scenario makes about as much sense as the big oil conspiracy put together by the Vice President of the United States even though Cheney doesn't work for Haliburton anymore, which isn't even an oil company even though the liberal press continues to say it is stealing Iraq's oil for President Bush's oil buddies even though he was a failure in the oil business and doesn't have any oil buddies because he made his money by selling the Texas Rangers baseball franchise which he got for free and then lied about how much obscene profits he made selling unregulated (bird flu infected chicken) hot dogs to the poor people who then died which is where "Bush lied, people died" came from. The end.
But I digress. The absolutely insane proposal is that I should risk losing my money to drill an oil well, in anticipation that the price of oil & gas will be higher in the future and when my calculated risk pays off, I should just give the profit back. This proposal violates the primary economic principle of business; buy low, sell high.
With a stroke of the socialist pen, the proposal single handedly eviscerates the capitalist fundamentals our country was founded on which made the United States economy the envy of the world.
Exxon is reporting record profits for the stock holders who risked their money because they believed a certain, well paid CEO, knew what he was doing. That is, the CEO of Exxon, risked losing shareholder investment capital to drill oil & gas wells, in anticipation the price would be higher in the future, and they were right; that is exactly what happened.
To be specific, the United States (Exxon) imports 60% of the oil & gas it consumes on a daily basis; that is, it pays the free market price, of today's price of $73 a barrel for oil to refine into gasoline which it must sell for approximately $3 a gallon to make a profit. Fact: Exxon makes about $0. 05 profit per gallon of gasoline.
The world population increases every day, so the amount of gas sold increases every day, and consequently, Exxons' revenues increase every day. However, while the gross revenues increase, the profit margin remains the same; $0. 05 per gallon of gasoline on the $73 a barrel oil it buys from me. I am an "independent" producer of oil, (I don't make the gasoline you buy, so none of this is my fault and even if it was, I work hard, pay my taxes and sleep well at night, so, if you continue to blame Bush and I for the actions of the obviously democratic environmentalist wacko canidates you voted into office that refuse to authorize me to drill for oil in the U. S. , while refusing to do the very simple math (no fractions), too bad); that is, I risk losing my money to drill wells to produce oil to sell to Exxon. I take a risk and make a profit on the free market price of oil, which is not set by Exxon who is paying me $73 a barrel for my oil, but by you, the consumer, who is, every day increasing demand and creating a supply shortage, which in turn drives the price of oil to where it is today.
The Exxon shareholders have made the decision to pay their employee, the CEO of their company, an "obscene" amount of money because he is better at what he does, producing oil and selling gasoline, than anybody else on the planet. The CEO of Exxon is providing record "obscene" profits for his employer, the Exxon shareholders, because the oil wells he drilled years ago, with their money when the price per barrel was lower, are still producing (CEO good at job = profit) because you, the consumer, has almost quadrupled the price of oil in 3 years because of your need for "obscene" amounts of gasoline.
So, when Exxon risks losing shareholder money to drill producing oil wells, 40% of the oil it needs to make gasoline does not cost anywhere near $73 a barrel because they own it and the shareholders make a whole lot more than $0. 05 profit on a gallon of gas. OMG!... ... ... ..... Exxon reports record company profits!
What an excellent business plan, but with room for improvement!
Exxon is the largest gross revenue company on the planet; but may not be the most profitable. What? "Exxon caught red handed raping the public!!!!!!! What? Not the most profitable? Oops! Other companies, with less revenue (and relevance for that matter) may be more profitable? Exxon is, quite possibly, making a reasonable amount of profit, but the socialist/liberal press has placed undue emphasis on the gross revenues, not the profit margin?
Disclaimer: If I am incorrect about the numbers, and Exxon is the most profitable company on the planet; good for the shareholders, I guess the CEO compensation plan was worth the "obscene" amount of money. Especially for the often noted poor people because, as noted in this thread, apparently the CEO is going to give the money away. Sheeesh. Too much money? What money? Uhoh. Now the $400 million is a tax deduction. Just wait, I can hear it now: Selfish Exxon CEO doesn't care about the poor people; gave the money away for tax deductions. For those of you who don't like it; it is really a darn shame the CEO of the company you work for probably does not generate $400 million dollars in sales, much less a paycheck that large for just one of the employees.
Price gouging story never reported: Is the profit margin on bottled tap water more than the profit margin on a gallon of gasoline?. A hint for those of you with aluminum heads (pun intended):The cost of the water and "refining" the water is less than the plastic bottle it comes in. Cheers!
Those who believe that corporate money is the root of all evil, probably don't have any money, because they probably don't understand the real purpose of the corporation is to make money, not save the world, which is why they probably don't have any money.
Yes, I know, the day traders, are speculating (risking their money) on the price of oil in the spot (free) market and adding $5 to $10 a barrel to the price of oil. The profit is there because of the risk. If you think, these guys (companies), are getting something for nothing and "gouging" the public, put your money at risk and let me know how it works out. If you lose your money, welcome to the real world. If you make money, give it back; Socialism Rocks! (or is on the rocks, I forget, because no one remembers losers, except losers).
I work hard for my money; I will give it to who I want to, when I want to. I will not give it to you; you did not earn it. However, this weekend, I will give my money to the limousine company at $100 an hour, because they will earn it by helping me be socially responsible when I drink 20 year old single malt scotch to excess while listening to Sara Evans sing, at $200+ a seat, because she will earn it and because she is better at what she does than anybody else on the planet.
You, the consumer, say that I am making too much profit, and I should give the money back when I risk my money to provide the product for which you, by default, refuse to risk losing your money by drilling oil wells. Get lost.
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