Say Anything Blog

This is some of the most disgusting behavior I’ve seen in Washington:

On a day oil prices leaped to unheard-of highs, senators lined up Big Oil’s biggest executives and pummeled them with complaints that they’re pretending to be “hapless victims” while raking in record profits.

“Where is the corporate conscience?” Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked the top executives of the five largest U.S. oil companies.

“People we represent are hurting, the companies you represent are profiting,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told the executives. He said there’s a “disconnect” between legitimate supply issues and the oil and gasoline prices motorists are seeing.

“‘Current up cycle,’ that’s a nice term when people can’t afford to go to work” because gasoline is costing so much, replied Leahy with sarcasm.

This time the exchanges got personal.

Simon was asked what his total compensation was at Exxon, a company that made $40.6 billion last year. Simon replied it was $12.5 million.

Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., noting that Exxon’s profits had nearly quadrupled from $11.5 billion in 2002, said he had heard nothing from the oilmen that would explain “why profits have gone up so high when the consumer is suffering so much.”

You have “just a litany of complaints that you’re all just hapless victims of a system,” Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., told the executives. “Yet you rack up record profits ... quarter after quarter after quarter.”

One senator after another cited the pain that high energy prices are causing farmers, small businesses and people trying to find a way to afford a vacation trip this summer.

“Is there anybody here that has any concerns about what you’re doing to this country with the prices that you’re charging and the profits that you’re taking?” Durbin asked.

What a bunch of jerks.  We have a shortage of petroleum and the price has gone up.  If there’s one group in the country that’s responsible for that shortage it would be these same senators.  Who’s done everything they can do to block development of ANWR, the nations largest reserve of oil?  Who just voted not to develop oil shale in Colorado?  Who voted not to allow oil from the sands in Canada to be used by the military?  Who’s blocking new oil refineries? Who’s blocking development of off shore oil finds?

When are the American people going to wake up?  Gasoline is at $3.80 today.  The American people need to tell these Democrats that their diversion isn’t working, we know who’s fault it is. 

Energy development should be an huge issue in the coming election.  Unfortunately the Republican nominee is a fellow traveler with these Democrats. 

You know one of the things that the left always hectors us about is manufacturing jobs being sent overseas.  Well how much stuff CAN we make when we have an oil and electricity shortage.  Manufacturing needs energy.  A business won’t invest money when they don’t know how high these lefties are going to push their costs up. 

There’s so many reasons why we need a pro-growth energy policy.  Now one of them, the price of gas, is squeezing everyone.  Let’s get after these goofballs in Washington and tell them to quit screwing things up. 

For our North Dakota readers, Byron Dorgan and Kent Conrad are as bad as it gets on energy development (outside the state that is.)  The high price of gasoline is as much their fault as anyone else’s.  Let them know to back off, we can’t afford their goofy ideals.