Well said.
Zolt�n
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Felder" <felder@KNOLOGY.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 4:42 PM
Subject: Re: Diesel Fuel vs. Gasoline

> Come on, now. Your 40% of small companies leaves sixty percent
> comprising only a handful of international corporations who spend
> millions, even billions to influence american (and other) politics. The
> fact that they lobby with money year after year after year means that
> it's working. They would quit doing it and try something else if they
> didn't get their way through spending money and other influences. And
> what other goal do you think they have in mind other than their bottom
> lines, every quarter and every year?
>
> There may be a number of small companies who are helpless to make
> policy, but I assure you they are benefiting from the business
> environment created by those who are not helpless. Maybe if you were a
> small company you didn't get to sit down with Dick Cheney in 2001 and
> concoct our current energy policy behind closed doors, but the big guys
> did.
>
> The american voters are misinformed on the energy issue and virtually
> every other issue as well. They vote the way big money tells them to
> vote.
>
> Being misinformed is far worse than being uninformed, because you have
> so much to learn just to get to the level of stupid.
>
> Jim
>
>
>
> On Apr 27, 2005, at 5:12 PM, Aaron Pearson wrote:
>
>> i can think of several dozen privately held oil and gas companies off
>> the top of my head that many people have probably never heard of.  some
>> have fewer than a dozen employees.  independent oil comapnies produce
>> 40% of the oil that americans consume.  i'm sure many of them would
>> love
>> to be clever enough to conspire to fix prices, but the only reason they
>> are making money is because of the open market.
>>
>> the boogeyman (boogeypeople?) are american voters, who are unable to
>> vote for something that will cost money in the short term.  i'm not
>> against regulation at all, it's the only way we'll ever be able to move
>> to alternative fuel- oil is still way too cheap.
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: Gnarlodious [mailto:gnarlodious@EARTHLINK.NET]
>> Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 3:50 PM
>> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>> Subject: Re: Diesel Fuel vs. Gasoline
>>
>>
>> Entity Aaron Pearson spoke thus:
>>
>>> of course profit drives the oil industry, it drives every industry in
>>> a capitalist economy.  there's no reason a company should charge any
>>> less for its product than the maximum consumers are willing to spend.
>>
>> But what we are seeing now is the result of unrestrained consolidation,
>> which at one time would have been prohibited under the Sherman
>> Antitrust
>> Act.
>>
>> Add this monopoly to the intentional sabotage of alternative fuel
>> programs and it looks like we didn't learn the lesson of 1973. Those
>> who
>> are too young to remember can read or listen to Jimmy Carter's speech:
>> http://americanrhetoric.com/speeches/jimmycartercrisisofconfidence.htm
>>
>> Of course, Ronald Reagan's (elected on Big Oil cash I might add) first
>> official act as President was to remove the solar panels Jimmy Carter
>> had put on top of the White House.
>>
>> I have heard those Libertarian (AKA Corporatist) talk radio wingnuts
>> blame this on government overregulation, but it just ignores history.
>> Their statements simply underscore their ultimate agenda of eliminating
>> Government in all forms and handing our economy over to Corporations.
>>
>> The bottom line IMHO? It's virtually impossible to pricefix when the
>> raw
>> material is coming from corn and soybean farmers, windmill and solar
>> farms and cottage industry refiners.
>>
>> -- Gnarlie
>>
>