Subsidized by the Devil?

common sense for the common good

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February 1st, 2007 by Vihar Sheth
Posted in Capitalism, Entertainment, Politics, Society

There has to be a smidgen of truth to Hugo Chavez’s claim that George Bush is the devil. Let’s put aside the fact that Chavez isn’t the most democratic leader in this history of civilization, but then again, neither is Bush. And even if Venezuela’s elections were rigged, at least Chavez rigged his to get more than 50% of the vote. You can be evil and smart after all. Of course Bush is just the first, and more evidence was provided in the profit numbers of a company Bush works so hard to subsidize.

“For the year, Exxon Mobil earned $39.5 billion, up from its previous record $36.1 billion in 2005.” - Reuters

Go ahead and take a minute. That’s profit folks. Profit from high oil prices that have been turned right into higher gas prices. Most of the time the consumer will only bear a percentage of the increased cost of doing business. But not with Bush’s oil buddies. Not only has the cost of goods sold gone up, companies like Exxon Mobil receive subsidies from the government to gouge consumers. The new Congress has started to roll some of that back, but real progress won’t be made until Bush either has no chance at a veto or there’s a Democrat in the White House.

The reason I bring topic up is because it relates to the sustainability of society on a large scale. The poorer people in the U.S. have to drive because our country is built around cars. Adding higher energy costs to people already strained by economic hardship (education, healthcare, housing, you name it) is just mean. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for high gas prices. BUT, the artificially inflated profits shouldn’t go to companies and their shareholders - they should only realize non-subsidized profits. The excess revenue should go to education and roads and healthcare and housing. Only then will society be able to bear the weight of the less fortunate, whose burden gets heavier every day.

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