We Are Being Raped by the Oil Companies (Monopolies) - It is Finally Time to Do Something About It

By Norman Fernandez

Does everyone remember how the price of Gasoline decreased substantially before the last congressional elections? I wonder why that was. Does anybody think that maybe the Oil Companies were trying to influence the elections? If the price of gasoline and oil are truly market driven, how was it that gasoline prices managed to substantially fall close to the elections?

Since the last congressional elections Gasoline has gone up here in California about 80 cents a gallon. Regular unleaded gas is going for over $3.00 per gallon now, and premium is at about $3.20 per gallon. My Oldsmobile Aurora and Harley Davidson Electra Glide take Premium gasoline. I wonder why it is that I am paying 80 cents more per gallon than I was just a few months ago.

The past couple of years the oil companies have been raking in record profits at the expense of all Americans. Big Oil’s greed is ruining our economy at all levels. We are an energy driven economy. The price of oil and gasoline is directly proportional to the price of everything else we buy. We can expect the price for everything to go up, people to lose their jobs, and a potential recession to spring up due to the cost of gas in our nation.

I have read the same lame excuses for the price increases that the Oil companies always use i.e. some refining plants are down for maintenance; summer is coming so demand is up, etc. It is not even spring yet!

Oil companies are in fact monopolies. A monopoly is a company or market where there is not true competition because only one or a few companies control the market.

I am not going to make the article boring by writing about what the history of the laws that have been enacted to break up monopolies such as the John D. Rockefeller “Standard Oil” monopoly on the early 1900’s, or the “AT&T” (ma bells) breakup in the 1980’s, or even the monopoly charges involving Microsoft. Monopolies are the bane of capitalism.

Capitalism is a supposed free market system that runs our economy. The theory is that private people or companies can buy and sell goods and services for a profit. The gist of capitalism is that competition for profit will keep prices in check because one competitor will lower prices and keep the cost of producing a product down so that they can beat out their competitors. You may wonder what I mean by “supposed” free market. When there is no real competition in a particular market, then there is no capitalism, there is a monopoly. There is no competition in the oil business; it is a monopoly. A monopoly in its simplest form is the absence of choice. We have no real choice when it comes to buying gas.

It has been shown that unregulated capitalism has time and time again wreaked havoc on our economy and nation. Have you heard of the Great Depression in the 1930’s, or the Savings & Loan collapses in the 1980’s, etc.?

I am not knocking capitalism by any means, other economic systems are much worse. I am saying that sometimes regulations need to be put in place to protect our economy and our people from monopolies and illegal practices.

There is no true competition in the oil market. A very few companies control the entire market. We are basically slaves to these companies. If they decide to charge us $3.20 per gallon, than we have to pay and that is it. It is not like we can drive down the street and get a better price and they know it.

I am proposing that it is time to regulate the oil market in America just like the utility companies. In California if a utility wants to increase the cost of electricity than that increase has to be justified to the California Public Utility Commission. A company has to make a presentation as to why an increase is necessary and the increase must be approved before it goes into effect.

I think that it is now time to force the 3 or 4 oil companies that control all of the gas in this nation to have to go through a similar system before they can just willy nilly increase gas prices on a whim. I have heard all of the hoopla about how the market controls the oil prices, bla bla bla. The reality is that there is no free market in oil. There is a false appearance of a free market for gas and we are all suckers.

We are all being duped. The President and his Vice President are all oil men, backed by the oil companies. Why do you think that the gas prices dropped during the recent elections? The oil companies were trying to ensure that the government was being controlled by people that would let them continue raping us all. Do you honestly think that the gas prices substantially fell before the elections by coincidence? If you do than I have a very big ocean called the Pacific for sell!

If something is not done now to put checks and balances on the less than a handful of oil companies that control all of the gas in our nation, we are in for a serious world or hurt. Sometimes it is necessary to enact laws in our nation to protect us citizens from what the oil companies are doing to us right now. A very few are becoming super rich at the cost of our nation’s economy and well being.

What will be the effect of regulation? Maybe these poor oil companies might have to give up a few of their tens of billions of profit each fiscal quarter to ensure that our economy remains strong.

I still believe that the will of the people controls our nation. It is time for all of us to ask our government for help here. If they will not help us than we need to elect people that will before it is too late. I am tired of bending over at the gas pumps so that a few maynerds can get rich.

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007

Norman Gregory Fernandez is a California lawyer who handles many types of legal matters. You can reach him through his website at http://www.norman-law.com

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