Oil and terror
The easy speculation to make here is in order for the speculators to make money, a successful attack would have been preferable. The fact itwas touted as “advanced stages of planning” means the airlines and governments did their job and stopped it with enough evidence to figure out who it was andconvict them. However, the perception is because they once again chose touse airplanes, the airline industry suffers financially as well as the oilspeculators. Now, $1 out of $75 isn’t going to mean a hill of beans at thepump for me or anyone else. I guess I’ll just have to live with the fact that the people who have been causing pain at the pump will have to suffer some pain of their own because my family is safer. I guess about 20 more of these stories between now and November will get that pesky high price of oil off the Republicans backs.
Or, a LOT of talk of government regulation of the oil industry thereby removing the speculators entirely from the picture is in order.
Now, some realism here:
This is what
Exxon has been donated to candidates:
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Dems |
Repubs |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2006 |
$447,532 |
$52,782 |
$394,550 |
12% |
88% |
|
2004 |
$925,166 |
$102,582 |
$820,134 |
11% |
89% |
|
2002 |
$1,180,246 |
$108,950 |
$1,070,846 |
9% |
91% |
|
2000 |
$1,391,955 |
$144,550 |
$1,242,705 |
10% |
89% |
|
1998 |
$1,097,955 |
$139,850 |
$955,955 |
13% |
87% |
|
1996 |
$1,214,581 |
$126,939 |
$1,085,798 |
11% |
89% |
|
1994 |
$1,070,088 |
$186,728 |
$882,110 |
17% |
82% |
|
1992 |
$790,012 |
$154,741 |
$634,771 |
20% |
80% |
|
1990 |
$521,829 |
$126,175 |
$395,155 |
24% |
76% |
BP:
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Dems |
Repubs |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2006 |
$126,600 |
$36,150 |
$89,950 |
29% |
71% |
|
2004 |
$323,165 |
$126,559 |
$196,406 |
39% |
61% |
|
2002 |
$489,430 |
$148,800 |
$339,630 |
30% |
69% |
|
2000 |
$1,302,740 |
$395,481 |
$906,259 |
30% |
70% |
|
1998 |
$811,716 |
$191,350 |
$620,366 |
24% |
76% |
|
1996 |
$878,055 |
$188,800 |
$688,805 |
22% |
78% |
|
1994 |
$505,350 |
$130,000 |
$375,350 |
26% |
74% |
|
1992 |
$479,625 |
$137,551 |
$341,824 |
29% |
71% |
|
1990 |
$488,023 |
$122,950 |
$365,073 |
25% |
75% |
|
Election Cycle |
Total Contributions |
Dems |
Repubs |
% to Dems |
% to Repubs |
|
2006 |
$272,807 |
$55,382 |
$217,425 |
20% |
80% |
|
2004 |
$499,242 |
$86,511 |
$412,731 |
17% |
83% |
|
2002 |
$1,307,081 |
$328,481 |
$978,600 |
25% |
75% |
|
2000 |
$1,565,826 |
$423,872 |
$1,140,954 |
27% |
73% |
|
1998 |
$1,248,815 |
$326,142 |
$922,423 |
26% |
74% |
|
1996 |
$1,508,025 |
$284,489 |
$1,223,203 |
19% |
81% |
|
1994 |
$1,137,042 |
$368,249 |
$767,848 |
32% |
68% |
|
1992 |
$1,148,086 |
$333,364 |
$814,722 |
29% |
71% |
|
1990 |
$488,41 |
$135,650 |
$352,768 |
28% |
72% |
Ya think that’s a lot? That doesn’t even include contributions to 527′s. The political realities of candidates calling for regulation in mass are nil IMO. Some people are claiming there will be a mass anti-incumbency vote in November. What I see is neither of the above happening to any great extent. So, with that in mind, expect a few more terrorist/petroleum stories to push the price down. ( And, to remind us of how great we’re being protected. ) That’s all we can hope for in controlling the price of gas at the pump right now. I’m not sure the US is at the breaking point politically regarding the pain at the pump, but I bet we’re getting pretty close.