My name is Catherine Morgan, I'm a writer, nurse, mother, and founder of "The Political Voices of Women". This is a blog dedicated to inform and educate the voting public through articles, ideas, and links. It's also a way of giving myself a voice, rather than just sitting back and watching politics and my opinion go by.
--- I am now also at the Care2 Election Blog.
This just doesn’t seem right to me. There is something seriously wrong when oil and gas corporations continue making record profits, in a time when most Americans are struggling to pay the bills, the dollar is falling, and gas prices are going through the roof.
Exxon Mobil delivered its strongest performance ever last year, earning a record $40.6 billion in net income because of surging oil prices, the company said Friday.
The figure, a 3 percent increase from the previous year, exceeded the company’s own record for profits at an American corporation, set in 2006, and is nearly twice what it earned in 2003. — read full article at The New York Times
If it was up to me (and I know it’s not), I would require these companies to begin to use a large portion of their profits, on finding and producing alternative fuels. It doesn’t even have to be a law, just take away tax incentives and raise taxes on companies that refuse to comply. I know, it’s a free market…bla, bla, bla. I still think there is no reason for giving tax incentives to companies that clearly do not need them.
This story was brought to my attention today, it really sheds a lot of light on the “real” reason we are in Iraq…It’s not about oil, or weapons of mass destruction, or terrorism, or even freedom…It’s about good-old-fashioned American greed (but on a larger scale than we have ever seen before).
So, where have your tax dollars gone? And, how many American lives have been lost so a few select American men can become more wealthy than any of us will ever comprehend? Read this article, and it will be very clear to you.
Here are details that will shed some light on the “real” cost of the war in Iraq. This way, when the time comes (and it will) that we are driving our sons and daughters to register for the draft, it will be clear exactly why our government needs us to do it. Although, this pathetic display of American capitalism will surely be in Iran by then as well.
In a report released Saturday, London-based Privacy International assigned Google its lowest possible grade. The category is reserved for companies with “comprehensive consumer surveillance and entrenched hostility to privacy.”
None of the 22 other surveyed companies — a group that included Yahoo Inc., Microsoft Corp. and AOL — sunk to that level, according to Privacy International.
PRESIDENT: Thank you all. Thanks for coming. (Applause.) Please be seated, unless, of course, you don’t have a chair. (Laughter.) I’m glad you’re here. And I’m glad I’m here with you, and I thank you. (Applause.) Thanks for coming, thanks for supporting the Republican Party. Here’s our mission: Our mission is to keep the White House in 2008, and retake the Senate and the House. (Applause.) And you’re helping, and you’re helping a lot, and I really appreciate it.
I appreciate my friend, Senator Mel Martinez for being the General Chairman of the Republican National Committee. You know, I believe — I believe that he is the first RNC Chairman to speak English as a second language. (Laughter.) Some people think I’m the first President who can make the same claim. (Laughter.)
The president put a positive spin on the night, saying donors would help return Washington to domination by the GOP, both in the White House and on Capitol Hill.
The Republican National Committee’s spring fundraising gala hosted by the president raised $17 million last year, $15 million in 2005 and $14 million in 2003. When Bush was seeking re-election to the White House in 2004, the dinner brought in a record $38.5 million.
The president put a positive spin on the night, saying donors would help return Washington to domination by the GOP, both in the White House and on Capitol Hill.
Gasoline prices have topped $3 a gallon at service stations across the country because several oil refineries are off-line due to maintenance or accidents, reducing gasoline production and making fuel supplies tight.
“It’s outrageous …Isn’t it interesting every year about this time, a refinery goes down for repairs,” said Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada.
“Is that coincidental? Or is it part of a plan that these multinational, huge companies who are making obscene profits in the tens of billions of dollars — is this part of their game to keep the profits going?” Reid said. — see full article
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The new Link TV original program “Outside the Box: Beyond Big Oil” challenges the way traditional media has framed the debate about oil and explores some alternative fuel sources.
HOW CONSUMERS (YOU) CAN FORCE THE GAS/OIL INDUSTRY TO LOWER PRICES.
STOP BUYING YOUR GAS FROM ANY STATION THAT IS AN EXXON OR A MOBILE.
The best way consumers can help bring the price of gas down…..would be to boycott it. But, it is impossible to do that, none of us can stop buying gas. So, what we can do? Well, I glad you asked…..The next time our cars are on empty, and we are going to have to spend a fortune to fill-up the tank anyway….just go to any station that is NOT an EXXON or MOBILE.
This isn’t a new idea…..it has been circulating around via email…..and that is where the idea for this post came from. Just think of the impact we can make on the industry. Because, this isn’t just an “oil prices are high” problem…..this is a “monopoly” problem……Exxon and Mobile where the two largest companies…..and now they are one company ExxonMobile. So back in the old days when gas stations tried to keep their gas lower in order to compete for your money…..they now don’t have to be bothered with that little detail. How many of you have an Exxon on one side of the street and a Mobile on the other? They don’t have to compete for your money….because they are both the same company…..they don’t care whether you go to Exxon or Mobile, either way you line their pockets.
So…..TWO STEPS to facilitate lowering gas prices:
1. STOP buying gas from any Exxon or Mobile station.
2. START telling everyone you know to STOP buying gas from any Exxon or Mobile station.
An interesting side note: While gathering research for this post I came across an interesting article from The Huffington Post that was written a few weeks ago by Robert F Kennedy, Jr. — it’s very interesting, you should check it out.
Radio personality Don Imus, right, waves goodbye to Rev. Al Sharpton, left, after they appeared face-to-face on Rev. Sharpton’s radio show, in New York Monday April 9, 2007. Imus issued another apology for referring to the Rutgers women’s basketball team as ‘nappy-headed hos’ on his morning show last week. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
As the dust settles following the controversy, it is time to confront the fact that Don Imus’ remarks go far beyond one bigoted commentator. They are further proof that we must change the media system itself if we’re going to reduce hate on the public airwaves, improve journalism and media content in general.
………less than 10% of TV and radio stations are owned by people of color or women. But instead of addressing this national disgrace, Bush’s Federal Communications Commission is actually trying to let the largest companies buy up even more stations.
According to one industry study, only 2.5% of radio stations have a person of color in the role of general manager, and only 4.4% have a racial or ethnic minority in the role of news director. The percentage of women in these jobs isn’t much higher. No wonder shock jocks like Imus have been able to keep their jobs for so long. – READ FULL ARTICLE AT THE HUFFINGTON POST
WHAT PRICE DOES GAS HAVE TO BE TO GET YOU TO STOP DRIVING? — by Catherine Morgan
I keep hearing about how consumers are not that concerned about the price of gas, as indicated by no visible drop in sales. This has got to be the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. I mean really, 90% of the driving I do in a week, is not something I can just decide I won’t do. Even if gas is $5.00 a gallon, can any of us just stop driving? Maybe if you live in the city, and you can walk or take public transportation to many places.
“I don’t think about gas prices at all,” said Michael Machat, 48, a lawyer in West Los Angeles, where gasoline prices are among the highest in the country. As he filled up his BMW with super unleaded at $3.39 this week, he added, “I guess maybe if it was $10 a gallon, I’d think about it.” — READ FULL ARTICLE
If I need something from my shed, I can walk to it, but other than that I need to drive. The higher gas prices get, the less groceries I will be able to buy for my family, the less prescriptions I will be able to refill, and the more in debt I will become. But, I will have no choice but to continue to buy very much the same amount of gas as I am currently buying.
That may come as a relief to the gas and oil companies, and of course their shareholders, but it is a devastating reality to me and many other people. As a single mother, on a fixed income, and already struggling to pay the bills, I find the lack of concern about the price of gas by our government appalling. It is just another example of the declining middle class, and rich getting richer, while the poor become poorer. I’ve resolved the fact that I am poor, and I don’t really mind it, I don’t have any desire to have any more money than what I need to live…..But, I do think we all should have the right to be able to feed and cloth our children.
This country is spending millions on elections, and billions on war….but nobody can figure out how to keep gas prices low enough so a single mother can still afford to feed her kids. Something is really wrong with that.
How many people would still buy gas if the price was $5.00 a gallon? What about $6.00? $7.00? $8.00? Do we really have a choice?
If the price of milk went up to $10.00 a gallon, we would still have a choice to buy or not buy, there are still many other ways to get our calcium and quench our thirst. When the price of houses goes up or mortgage rates are too high, we can choose to stay where we are instead of moving. If the price of clothing went through the roof, the people that couldn’t afford new clothes could just continue to wear what they have, or go to second hand shops, or swap with friends and family. There are many options for people that don’t have a lot of money to manage when inflation hits. The one thing that can not be altered, is how much gas a person needs in a week or month.
So, all the talk in the media about consumer reaction to gas prices…..is only relevant to people that aren’t living pay check to pay check. The people who are being hurt by these increases in gas prices are the people that are not reflected in the consumer statistics. The people who are being hurt, are the people who are invisible, and don’t really matter, because they aren’t buying new cars, and boats. But, who really cares about those people anyway? Not you.
U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales speaks during a discussion on Project Safe Childhood Tuesday, March 27, 2007 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (AP Photo/Kiichiro Sato)
What is with this story? Is the press making more of it than there is? Or is it bigger than anyone even imagines? Here are to videos, and an article……What do you think is going on?
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An Interview With Gonzales
Tim Russert on Gonzales Story
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At first I thought this whole Gonzales thing was a “witch hunt” with no real substance, maybe even a diversion of some kind. But, it seems like there is even more to this story than anyone even knows yet. How big is this story going to turn out to be?
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WASHINGTON (CNN) — A Justice Department official will refuse to answer questions during a Senate committee hearing on the firing of eight U.S. attorneys, citing her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself, her lawyer said Monday.
In a letter sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Monica Goodling’s lawyer said she would not testify because senators have already decided that wrongdoing occurred.
“The public record is clear that certain members of the Senate Judiciary Committee have already reached conclusions about the matter under investigation and the veracity of the testimony provided by the Justice Department to date,” John Dowd, Goodling’s lawyer, said in a letter to the committee’s chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont.
The letter said Goodling learned that a senior Justice Department official blamed her and other Justice Department officials for any misleading statements he had made to one of the Democratic senators who has pushed for answers about the firings, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York. — READ FULL ARTICLE AND SEE VIDEOS
Businesses in Colombia often pay right-wing paramilitary militias, which were formed in the 1980s to help protect private property from Marxist rebels at war with the state since the 1960s.
Both groups, labeled terrorists by Washington, are locked in a war over lucrative cocaine-producing land in which they extort businesses and kill peasants accused of cooperating with the other side. — Read Full MSNBC Article
Will today’s testimony actually amount to more than just talk with no action?
Wesley Wannemacher of Lima, Ohio, testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, March 7, 2007 before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Perman
