Reply #4: Big Oil’s performance shows we’re all hostages (editorial)

[ozymandius]

They feign outrage in front of their outraged constituents, but America’s senators appear to be about the only folks who believe this summer’s gas price spike wasn’t mostly a get-rich quick scheme for the oil industry.

Dragged before Congress this month just as gas prices were starting to tumble under $2 a gallon, the nation’s top oilmen claimed that there’s no connection between falling prices — down from more than $3 a gallon — and their embarrassing record profits and huge bonuses.

Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain, or his wallet, they told the senators; gas prices are falling now because “The Market” says so. Plus, Big Oil’s profits are in line with any other American industry, a logic that frays if you recognize it is entirely unlike any other American industry.

Predictably, the senators bought that petroleum prattle. That’s not surprising for a body that has handed over huge tax breaks to an industry that demonstrably doesn’t need it.

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