Senate continues to screw the US

The Senate defeated the latest attempt to reign in the oil industry and its huge profits.

Up for a vote today was a bill that would have charged the oil industry $10 to $12 billion in a windfall profit tax, and would have eliminated the $17 billion in tax breaks the industry has received from the US since 2004. The bill would have also made energy price gouging against the law (isn't that already illegal?).

Not surprisingly, Texas senator Kay Bailey Hutchison was one lawmaker who wasn't going to let that happen -- denouncing it as "pathetic" (classic). Guess she doesn't have any hidden agenda coming from big oil country.

While this bill did have a lot of good points, there was one part that ticked me off -- one regulation would have allowed US lawmakers to sue OPEC for breaking anti-trust laws.

What the hell is the point with that? First off, no litigation would ever hold up, and who would enforce it? Would they go to the World Court in Hague? Apply sanctions that would encourage OPEC nations to not sell oil to the US when China and India can easily buy up their additional supplies? That's a brilliant idea!

Don't dilute the situation by pointing fingers at OPEC -- this problem is homegrown through market speculation, organizations like Morgan Stanley (see my previous post) and the oil industry itself.

It would seem apparent that Congress is going to continue to sit on its hands as the price of oil continues to escalate -- but don't count on that. Remember, this is an election year, so expect our fearless leaders to finally do something by September -- that way each party could claim victory and try to steal the vote in November -- that's why politicians suck!

RoadRage