whether under oath or not.

OIL GOUGING

Many Americans are so hell-bent on hating "big <insert part II of bromide here>" that if a CEO told the public that the earth was round, people would call the leader a liar so as not to dilute their perceived moral high ground.

Hope they don't go all Hank Reardon on us.

hank reardon?

Oooo, I love a good dog and pony show. Let us know when they bring out the ponies...

... and of course, when it's Rafael Palmiero's turn to testify...

(I'm picturing the decision to have this show hearing must've been like Mel Brooks' role as Governor LePetimane in Blazing Saddles: "Gentlemen! We've got to save our phony-baloney jobs! ... hey, I didn't hear a 'Harrumph' from that guy." "Give the governor a 'Harrumph!'")

YOU Want The True!, You Want The Truth!...You Can't Handle The Truth....

watched a bit of this last night...and these execs had the nerve to claim that the profits were in line with most corporate busninesses...other than Haliburton, who else makes this kind of profit?

62% over last quarter. oh come on!! these guys made billions, where other corps only make millions! liars and theives make me crazy!!!!!

The oil imports were 156 Billion dollars a MONTH times 12 = 1.9 TRILLION dollars a year. They made 66 billion divided by 1872 billion = 3.5% - in other words, what you would get from a bank CD.

777 x 365 = 283,605,000,000 gallons per year. 66 billion divided by 283 billion = 23 cents a gallon.

In reply to:

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In March 2004, the total trade deficit was about $46 billion for the month, and oil imports were about 11 million barrels per day x $40 per barrel x 30 days per month = $13.2 billion, or about a quarter of the total trade deficit for the month. If March served as an average for the year, the total value of oil imports for 2004 would be about $156 billion &#8212; but this number depends on volume of imports (which is unlikely to decrease) and price of oil (which is likely to fluctuate)

...
US OIL DEMAND, 2004: Over 20 million barrels per day, up from January 2002, when demand was about 18.5 million barrels per day, = 777 million gallons.
http://www.gravmag.com/oil.html<br />

There is no lie about this, it is public record. What is shocking is the sheer size of the use of petroleum products. (and how fast it will be used up.) Selling more of anything means bigger dollars. Shut them down and prevent a profit at all and see what happens.

they why are they being investigated? someone thinks something is up. maybe improper recording or something. not all is as it seems.

They are being investigated because it makes good politics. Whenever something happens that a politician doesn't understand, they have to investigate it. They get the answer and throw it away until the next TV spot.

The answer always is: Start bolstering farm fuels, not necessarily corn (there is now a corn glut), which is the lowest in alchohol and oil content. Increase usage of safe redesigned nuclear. Actually become independent of Muslim oil, so they have no reason to gripe. Let the other countries who want their oil fight everybody else for it.
http://www.iags.org/strategy.htm

i agree about the oil. so many other things we could be trying out.

I agree with your comment about having to investigate something...how do you think they earn their outrageous salaries? (Congresspeople)

A point to ponder...if we somehow, miraculously, came up with a potion for feuling vehicles that did NOT include Middle Eastern oil imports, do you think they would freak them out and start a war of their own out of desperation?

(Of course, one might have to factor, China and India's demand out of the equation...or let's make it dicier, we give them the technology or whatever (exporting fuel to them) to also stop them from buying from the Arab states.)

What scenario do you see evolving?