Posted by ( Beth Hilbert ) on May 05, 2008 at 11:33 am

There’s something wrong with this picture when the presidential candidates are spending over $100,000 dollars a day on their campaigns. This should make all blue collar working people upset when we work very hard for our money and some people are really not paid what they are worth. If you look around people are having hard times paying for gas, food, etc when some of them only make $8,9 or $10 dollars an hour and trying to keep a family up.  There are homeless people, adults and children going hungry people loosing their homes, people loosing their jobs due to industries going overseas.  It not only takes two people working these days, it takes the whole family working to keep up.  Some teens can’t even go to college because their family can’t afford to pay the amount.  The car industry is down, the housing market is down.

Think about it: Over $100,000 a day for their campaigns?  Why not give it to the American people who really deserve it.  Who can afford to live these days!

Posted by ( Todd Landers ) on May 05, 2008 at 5:35 pm

If the government can’t control price gouging by companies like Exxon Mobil,and they’re willing to have a gas tax free day, why don’t they just do away with federal gas tax altogether ?

Posted by ( Karen ) on May 06, 2008 at 7:16 am

Yes, I think the protests are a good idea, but, unfortunately, will probably accomplish nothing. I work for a communications company and every price that we have is regulated by the government. They only allow us to make a certain percentage of profit. They say that they have the right to do that because everyone has to have communcation. So, tell, me, how many of you can do without gas to get back and forth to work. Why is the government not regulating how much profit the oil industry can make off of us? Could it be because when big oil makes money; the politicians (both parties) are making money too? After all, why would they cut their own profit?

Posted by ( diane ) on May 06, 2008 at 8:35 pm

the government wants to send out all of theses tax rebate checks, but does not want to lower the gas bill! yes it will help out, but it will not solve anything and 600.00 does not go very far, so in my opinion why not lower the gas price? what is wrong with this country anyway!

Posted by ( Robert W ) on May 10, 2008 at 9:23 am

NO WAY IN HADES!!!! if gas is eating up their profits,whynot stop using mowers that are as big as my car. people are doing it to themselves.
KAREN,,,economics 101 this is a capitalistic country,,businesses are in it to make money. have you heard of a lil thing called profit margin? the oil companies profits go up ,but you have to look at the profit margin,,,it is almost identical as 10 years ago.
JOSH SMITH,,,,you shudder to think how much it will cost to drive from bluff city to the heart of bristol? give me a break! for ten years i have driven from russell county,va to bristol to work. 90 miles a day,,,ask any one of my family and co-workers ,,,you’ve not heard me complain,,,it’s a part of life. deal with it.there’s a thing called a budget and personal responsibility,,majority of folks don’t want to face it!

Posted by ( Karen ) on May 20, 2008 at 7:06 am

Obviously Robert from Rosedale, VA is an idiot. Of course I know lots about economics. But, you obviously can’t read.  I said that the government CAN regulate how much profit that the oil companies make. They regulate other industries because people have to have the services of those industries. Is there really another industry that needs regulation more than oil right now?

Posted by ( lauren paisley ) on May 21, 2008 at 12:25 pm

Robert, The gov’t doesn’t regulate profits on widgets.  It regulates the profits of many businesses like telecommunications companies, insurance companies, etc.  these companies cannot charge rates to the customer unless it is submitted and then approved by the govt first. Not everyone needs a widget, Robert, but they need insurance and phones. And they need oil/petroleum products. I agree Karen, I cannot think of any other industry that desperately needs regulation besides pharmaceutical companies.  Oil companies CANNOT bankrupt the whole nation to satisfy their greed. But they ARE.  They are making over a billion dollars a month. They are breaking down Americans one gallon of gas at a time & they are doing a helluva great job at it.  Sit back and watch what happens next when nothing is done about it.

Posted by ( lauren paisley ) on May 21, 2008 at 1:24 pm

Copied and pasted from the new york times just for you Robert:

Headline: Exxon Mobil Profit Sets Record Again

The company Exxon reported Friday that it beat its own record for the highest profits ever recorded by any company, with net income rising 3 percent to $40.6 billion. The company’s sales, more than $404 billion, exceeded the gross domestic product of 120 countries.

Exxon Mobil earned more than $1,287 of profit for every second of 2007.

“Exxon sets the gold standard for the industry,” said Fadel Gheit, an oil analyst at Oppenheimer & Company in New York.

Oil companies have all reported strong profits in recent days. Chevron, the second-largest American oil company, said Friday that its profits rose 9 percent to $18.7 billion last year; Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported net income for 2007 of $31 billion, up 23 percent and the largest figure ever for a British company.

The backlash against the oil industry, which has periodically intensified as gasoline prices have risen in recent years, was predictably swift on Friday.

One advocacy group, the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, called the profits “unjustifiable.” Some politicians said Congress should rescind the tax breaks awarded two years ago to encourage oil companies to boost their investments in the United States and increase domestic production.

------ok, this is me talking now...---------
So like I said, we can protest all we want, but until oil companies give up making record-breaking profits, we’re all screwed. Wondering why the oil companies’ profits raised 3%, 9% and 23% so far this year?  Um, could it be that we’re paying more per gallon of gas??? I remember reading a tongue-in-cheek article about how gas prices rise on the speculation that gas prices may rise. Now I don’t think it was a joke.

Posted by ( lauren paisley ) on May 21, 2008 at 2:25 pm

90 miles every day? for ten years? I have to agree with Karen from Kingsport. Robert you are an idiot.

OMG that’s wasting, if my calculations are right, (top speeds from Rosedale to Bristol isnt more than 70mph hwy, but I guessed an avg 45-50 mph...) you’ve wasted 5220 hrs, or almost a year of your life sitting in a car. (I didn’t include weekends) Not to mention $25,056.36 in gas (if you avg 22-25 mpg) you spent extra b/c you didn’t just move closer to work 10 years ago. You could have spent all that time and money on your wife, your kids… a volunteer organization… man… you didn’t complain, but somebody should have.

Posted by ( lauren paisley ) on May 23, 2008 at 4:09 pm

don’t copy and paste me something out of the “so far left they are almost marxist New York Times”,, find a credible information sourse

NO, Robert, YOU find me something showing their profit margin since I obviously didn’t pick one to your neo-con likings.

yeah right, neal boortz? I listen to him all the time~! He talks with someone until they disagree with him, then he hangs up on them.  Way to talk out your differences in opinions, Neal.

Posted by ( Robert W ) on May 26, 2008 at 9:14 am

here is you a lil something,,,,by the way, boortz doesn’t hang up when they disagree,,he hangs up when they are no longer able to support their argument with facts. most people who call in to talk are not informed enough to argue their

If this advantage isn’t enough to stop the Big Media boo-hooing, or to lead them to go private or otherwise fight back against Wall Street, what will?

A typical newspaper with a 100,000 circulation makes a 15.6 percent annual pre-tax profit margin, according to Inland Daily Press Association and the International Newspaper Financial Executives. The Tribune Company, which owns the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and other media outlets, for example, operates on an 18.3 percent pre-tax profit margin. Gannett, which owns 90 newspapers in the U.S., including USA Today, operates on a 21.4 percent pre-tax profit margin. By comparison, Walmart Stores Inc. operates on a 5.4 percent pre-tax profit margin, while Exxon Mobil Corporation operates on a 17.9 percent pre-tax profit margin points.