Analysis: To hear Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Ted Kennedy, John Kerry, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats tell it, the big oil companies are the biggest enemies to American society since Hitler decided to bomb Great Britain.
Almost on a daily basis someone in the majority Party can be heard denouncing, demonizing, and denigrating the oil companies, mainly due to high gas prices but also due to the notion that big oil is the supposed biggest contributor to ‘global warming,’ despite the fact that this year the globe has had the biggest and deepest snow cover in a number of years and the planet has enjoyed the coolest year since 2001.
Hillary Clinton has stated repeatedly that she wants to ‘take that money’ from the oil companies (that is, rob their profits) for the purpose of starting a government fund to push alternative energy sources. Barack Obama wants blacks and whites to come together to topple the business-industrial complex. Rep. John Dingell (D-Michigan) wants to slap a 50-cents-per-gallon tax increase on gasoline because, well, he wants people to stop driving.
How do I know this for a fact? Because I know for a fact that a full 40% of Americans are heavily invested in big oil. And the real figure is much higher than that.
If you have mutual funds, stock market funds, or if you have a pension fund, a 401-K, an IRA, or even a bank account, you are invested in the big oil companies because these companies have had the greatest return on investments.
The more money a person has invested in the various financial markets, the more money they have tied up in the big oil companies. And pension funds routinely put that money in stocks that have the biggest return.
Thus, when Hillary Clinton speaks of socking it to the oil companies, she is speaking out of both sides of her mouth. Surely she would not want to give up the profits from her investments, yet she does not want average Americans to know this. She wants to tap in on the misplaced anger many Americans have toward the oil companies.
It is actually big government that is responsible for most of the increases at the pump…at the rate of 7 times the amount the oil companies get in profits.
And, let’s face it, Barack Obama is as rich as all get-out. Where do the rich put their money? They invest it in stocks, bonds, mutual funds, etc. Thus, in all likelihood Obama is making a good profit on his investments, part of which are in the oil companies if his broker has any sense at all.
In addition, at present big oil companies are the single biggest source for developing alternative forms of energy that are eco-friendly and that greatly reduce or eliminate our dependence on foreign oil.
These companies do not want to go out of business. They owe it to their millions of stockholders–people just like you and me–to look forward to the future when using oil for energy may not be feasible or prudent.
The oil companies at present are investing billions in developing these alternative sources of energy. It only makes sense. They already have the infrastructure in place to do so, and they have thousands of outlets by the roadside to make these alternative sources readily available.
In this way the oil companies not only protect themselves from going out of business, but they protect our pension plans, stock investments, mutual funds, etc.
Thus, the next time you hear the majority Party lambaste the big oil companies, remember they are engaging in rank demagoguery.
About the Author:
D. Martyn Lloyed-Morgan is an educator and freelance writer presently living in South Carolina. He began work in politics with ‘Young Americans for Freedom’ in the early 1970s. Founded by William F. Buckley, Jr., Young Americans for Freedom concentrated on bringing the conservative message to college campuses. Lloyd-Morgan possess both undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Carolina and Southeastern Theological Seminary at Wake Forest, NC. As an educator he has conducted seminars and continuing education for various professional groups. Readers may reach his blog by clicking here.