Dear ExxonMobil

I'm so, so sorry you are disappointed about your earnings last quarter. Really. It must be killing you, since last years fourth quarter was so friggin' huge. Not having that extra billion in profit must be such a damn hardship--I guess that third or fourth vacation home your executives were thinking about may have to wait. But I'm sure they have friends in the mortgage industry that will get them a hell of a deal.

Maybe your exec's ought to pull up to a gas station sometime and pump their own gas into the Hummer--they might even meet a few of the folks struggling to keep up with the rising prices
putting money in the company kitty. Maybe they will even think about them if they are asked to put on a dog and pony show testify again before congress. But I guess they won't really notice until the help can't afford to drive to work.

Until then, I'm walking a lot more, car pooling and just hanging around. I guess I should thank you; I'm getting exercise and helping the environment.

I just wouldn't hang out at any truck stops if I were you.

Comments

[colleen]

I can't say that I regret selling my car. I am, however, looking at dropping some serious cash on a nice bicycle. But, I suspect that Exxon doesn't care about that.

[Marta Verhoff]

I think that we all need to remember that the price of a barrel of oil is not set by the oil companies. Oil is traded as a commodity on commodity indices. Therefore, traders/speculators set the price of oil. Additionally, we must all remember, too, that when the price of a barrel of oil goes up, the federal government gets more tax dollars. Have you compared the change in revenue and profit of the big oil companies, owing to the increased price of a barrel of oil, to the increase in tax windfall to the federal government, owing to the increased price of a barrel of oil? It is a very useful exercise.

[Dava]

Interesting comment, Marta. Just wondering, who do you work for?

I would be interested in knowing where those tax windfalls go. We need them, seeing as we are paying $5000 a minute for the war.

I have yet to see much improvement in roads and infrastructure on both the state or federal level.