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The
American people and the American economy are under siege by the Oil Industry. Exploding
fuel prices are making it very difficult for working class citizens, residents
of rural
Oil
companies are passing on higher wholesale prices and making excessive profits
to the American consumer. Quarter after financial quarter, these companies are
setting record profits. Billions of dollars in profits come from the growing
misery of middle class and working poor Americans.
The
nature of the Oil Industry calls for a serious reorganization to make it serve
the national interest instead of the private financial interests of a few huge
investors and top executives. The global economy pushed on Americans by huge
corporations has made the current organization of our energy sector destructive
to the rest of the American economy. A few international oil companies and
government-run oil sectors in the producing nations are effectively working
against
An
effective market system requires that consumers are able to bid down prices.
The very nature of energy in the global economy makes this impossible when all
suppliers are acting collectively to bid up prices and curb alternatives. The sheer
political power of Big Oil in the Bush Administration and the Republican Party
has made the consumer powerless in setting policy. The Oil Industry is
essentially running our federal government via the Bush Republicans.
American
consumers are potentially powerful enough to drive down global oil prices if
they acted collectively. The only mechanism that would be able to represent all
American consumers collectively would be the federal government. It is time to
consider a national discussion about either nationalizing or heavily regulating
the actions of Big Oil.
The
oil companies should be given an opportunity to start driving down oil prices
with the strong support of our federal government rather than be nationalized.
Our federal government could outlaw the import of excessively priced oil. We
could ban all imports or trade with nations whose government-run oil sectors
are charging excessive prices. We could ban imports from other oil consuming
nations who fail to support our oil pricing policies. The longer we wait to
take action, the weaker our bargaining position becomes!
Punishing
politicians who fail to fight price-gouging by Big Oil should control how every
American votes in 2006 and 2008. If the Bush Administration and Big Oil had let
the current oil price increases happen before the 2004 election, the
Republicans would have lost all 50 states! As voters come to realize that
voting Republican means high fuel prices, the Republican Party will have great
difficulty winning honest elections.
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Written by Stephen Crockett
co-host, Democratic Talk Radio
http://www.DemocraticTalkRadio.com
Mail: 7A
Email: midsouthcm@aol.com