I am concerned for the gasoline producers

[SoCalDem]

Apparently they have had some sort of problem in their industry. There are still a fair amount of companies producing our gasoline, and some sort of "mental fog" seems to have descended over the lot of them..

Could it be that prolonged exposure to too many petro-dollars causes alzheimers?

After all this time in the business, they seem to be unable to cope with "problems" that routinely occur in their industry.

They seem to forget that we have seasons, and that year after year, it gets hot in most places in the US... and darn' it.. it seems to even be at the same time every year !

They keep forgetting to build or upgrade their facilities

They seem unable to find employees to run the facilities..and apparently cannot hire qualified people, when they DO hire them

Perhaps, since fuel is such an important part of our daily business lives the government should take a look at nationalizing that industry and running it as a non profit/co-op for the "good of the nation"..

There is a silver lining though, and luck must be on their side, since with all these PROBLEMS at all these refineries, there still are no shortages, no lines, no rationing.

They seem to be able to eke out just enough $3.50 gasoline to keep our tanks filled..

They just cannot seem to recall why they closed all those other refineries that would have taken some of the pressure off their production..

Like I said, I am very concerned about them.

What next?

What if they all of a sudden start forgetting those bank account numbers??

[proud2BlibKansan]

1. I know! Let's send them flowers!!

Like dead roses.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. Current scientific research

points out to Alzheimers being caused (possibly) by heavy metals... and these poor exects are exposed to them (plus petrodollars)

You are right, perhaps a full Hazardous materails exposure research, with proper medical tests, is in order

:-)

[KT2000]

3. Nationalize!

They are leading this country to ruin.
They are not satisfied with wringing the last dime out of us for gas, but they use their financial resources to strangle competition and alternatives.

Good post - exposure to petro-dollars :rofl:

[huskerlaw]

4. Well, we could hurt them more...

by refusing to buy gas for ONE DAY!!!

:eyes:

[Selatius]

9. That will hurt local gas station owners more than it would hurt wholesalers like Exxon-Mobil

People have been talking about gas boycotts for decades now, and people keep forgetting that the only people hurt most by these boycotts are retailers instead of oil/gas wholesalers and refiners of crude.

[huskerlaw]

19. I was being sarcastic

I think the one-day boycotts are entirely worthless. I guess I needed to add :sarcasm: to the :eyes:

[nadinbrzezinski]

13. You want to be MORE effective

get a hybrid, Get the congress to raise CAFE standards to EUROPE's numbers (35MPG), take public transportation... in other words REDUCE your consumption

Will be good for the wallet and the planet, and effective.

One day boycotts will NOT, I repeat, WILL NOT affect their bottom line

And as Selatius said, will affect the small time indies, the few that remaain

[huskerlaw]

18. Oh, I know...

I was being entirely sarcastic. Hence the :eyes:

[kcass1954]

5. Let's give them all bonuses - After all, they're doing a heckuvajob!!! n/t

[SoCalDem]

6. Sure..why not.? They probably forgot about the 3 bonuses they already got this year

and they probably cannot remember where they put all that other money:)

[unkachuck]

7. you can't....

....over emphasize those 'summer blends' or the 'New-England fuel oil stocks' and please don't forget Katrina....

....I worry too; where's OUR Chavez?

[SoCalDem]

8. Aaaa, the glory that is "summer blends".. I can hear the melody now

http://music.barnesandnoble.com/search/mediaplayer.asp?ean=011661325227&disc=1&track=2

[Selatius]

10. If you want to do like Venezuela, then the US gov't buys a 51 percent stake in US oil companies

This way, these companies can be directed to do what is best for the people of the country, instead of simply for their own best interests.

[undergroundpanther]

11. They pulled record profits

but can't seem to get enough refineries going or even reapair them .Maybe the CEO wages and golden parachutes need to be made smaller, to cover basic business operation costs..? Yes?

[Horse with no Name]

12. You just don't "get" capitalism...do you?

I mean seriously? You are operating under the assumption that they pay their expenses and THEN take their profits when EVERYONE knows that with unchecked capitalism you take your profit FIRST and then adjust the price of gas accordingly to pay your expenses.
Geesh.
Get with the program eh?:sarcasm:

[nadinbrzezinski]

14. It is NOT even Captialism

lets call it the right term, shall we?

Monopolistic, Corporate Fascism

[formercia]

15. The Standard Oil Cartel reborn under an assumed name. n/t

[undergroundpanther]

21. Oh I get it alright

That's why I hate it.and That's why I hate the whole underlying premise to"conservatism" itself. The right wing is an albatross to the protean soul.Conservatism is the mentally warping sociological political cage that makes us believe we must be beholden to the fucking self declared elites and do as they say,They are nothing but ,psychopaths who think they can do no wrong so they encourage people to atomize,fight each other instead of lopping off the assholes at the top , they get children to wipe out healthy boundaries on their behaviors by saying there is no morality whole preaching all day about things that do not matter,so the elites morality consists of do what you want if you can get away with it,and use people, lie abuse and become a king of the terrified obedient and brown nosed... And yes there is no morality unless YOU make one for yourself if others agree you have set a standard, but by no means is a standard a permanent thing because circumstances change you must learn to be flexible but not wrong...My morality hates abuse abusers of power violators of consent , control freaks and bullies. I'd frankly love to see every psychopath piece of shit bully wiped off the face of this Earth. 1 in 4 people are psychopathic and I don't care if they all wound up dead one day ,because it's these bad personalities that cause the majority of the human caused suffering faced in this world.And so capitalism and all it's hierarchy,domination games and greed it offends my moral core but to a psychopath it is paradise..

[GeorgeGist]

16. We should all do our part to help them ...

and stop buying so much gasoline.

[A wise Man]

17. My point of view

This the United States of America. We drive more at distances because of our situations. Our jobs aren't as close to our homes as those in Germany, Holland, France or other countries. Our Grocery stores and churches aren't close by either. Grant you we need to do something about the gas crisis, but the crisis wasn't created by us, it was and is being created by the oil corporations.

Greed has driven these companies and they would have you believe that its your fault that it has happened. Remember the secret energy meetings Cheney had with these people. This plan was created by them with the help of the media and the rethug congress and senate plus any of them with stock in these companies, and that goes fro the Dems also. We are being systematically robbed by these thugs while the media tells you not to drive fourty miles to church or work. You've read some of the post and the responses, some of them are just plain defeatist or protective of their personal stock options. Foreign countries drive less and gas is much higher because there are less automobiles there, not like the US. Why do you think a CEO can get a 400mil retirement package and the profit margins are so rediculously high. They've made enough profit to build two refineries at least.

[hunter]

20. If you couldn't get enough oil to supply your refineries...

But your goal was to increase profits and stock prices...

I think you'd rather say there were all sorts of "unexpected" problems rather than the raw, horrifying facts.

It could be outright fraud, like the Enron rape of California was, where we suddenly had electricity "shortages" for entirely fraudulent reasons, or it could be something much worse... that even with production running as hard as they can push it, there is still not enough, and the wretched reality is that the long dreaded "Peak Oil" is here.

Either way, nobody running the oil companies is going to tell us what's up unless we have leaders who are willing to take them on.

Instead we have cowards in both business and government who are looting a burning house before the police and fire department arrive.