Overdue Political Rant
I was walking along the sidewalk at a local strip center during my lunch break today. As is my custom, I glanced to read the newspaper headlines from the local papers in the vending kiosks. The headline in today's Denver Post (I think it was the Denver Post) had a quote in bold letters. "The oil companies owe the American people an explanation." was the quote from Sen. Pete Domenici (who coincidentally is the younger brother of my former Catholic school Principal). Now I'm not certain that any of you who read this journal (all 4 of you) have been keeping up with this. The United States Senate has called before it several executives from major oil companies to investigate the alleged price gouging and the rather generous profit margin these companies have been enjoying. Whenever some politician starts accusing a private corporation of defrauding the American public, I can't help but feel an overwhelming sense of irony. For any of you folks out there reading this, I want you to play a fun game. I call it "Compare Your Bottom Lines". It's very fun and educational. First start the week off by filling up your gas tank before you go to work. Keep the receipt. Normally a full tank of gas will last until the beginning of the following week (unless you commute 20 miles to work every day or drive a Hummer). I didn't do any of this as yet but I thought it would be fun to do some theoretical comparisons.
The gas price at the 7-11 next to my house is presently $2.44 a gallon. I drive a 1991 Ford Bronco gas-guzzling 4-wheel drive monster. It has a 30 gallon tank. Typically a full tank of gas lasts me almost two weeks, but for the sake of mathematical simplicity we'll assume it will only last a week. Filling it up on empty at the local station would cost $73.20 (thats $2.44 multiplied by 30 for the non-math major). So far so good. It seems that as a driver of a monstrous SUV, I pay a considerable amount of money at the gas pump.
Here comes the second part of the game. Get a paycheck stub for a full 40 hour work week. If you get paid bi-weekly just divide the numbers in half. Read the details on the pay stub and add up any of the dollar amounts for that check that end with the word "tax". I've done this on one of my typical pay stubs, and for a week on my somewhat laughable paycheck the dollar amount comes to $118.36.
The third and final part of this game is comparing the bottom lines. In my case it comes out to $73.20 for gasoline, and $118.36 for taxes. Notice the difference? So now I am forced to ask "Is it really the oil companies that owe the American people an explanation, Senator Domenici?" "Perhaps it's you, the senate, and the congress that owes the American people an explanation." "By the way, how's your sister? She still a hag?" Ok I'm sorry. Got a little sidetracked. Even considering the high price of gasoline, a significant portion of that goes to...guess what? Taxes! The bottom line is the Senate, the Congress, and the entire Federal Government has raked in huge profits from the American people. And right now they are badgering the oil companies for no reason but the sake of political strategy. It's a remarkable waste of time and money. I'm not certain what could be accomplished from this futile endeavor but I am certain that I definitely have much more use for a full tank of gas than I do for the entire United States Senate.
The gas price at the 7-11 next to my house is presently $2.44 a gallon. I drive a 1991 Ford Bronco gas-guzzling 4-wheel drive monster. It has a 30 gallon tank. Typically a full tank of gas lasts me almost two weeks, but for the sake of mathematical simplicity we'll assume it will only last a week. Filling it up on empty at the local station would cost $73.20 (thats $2.44 multiplied by 30 for the non-math major). So far so good. It seems that as a driver of a monstrous SUV, I pay a considerable amount of money at the gas pump.
Here comes the second part of the game. Get a paycheck stub for a full 40 hour work week. If you get paid bi-weekly just divide the numbers in half. Read the details on the pay stub and add up any of the dollar amounts for that check that end with the word "tax". I've done this on one of my typical pay stubs, and for a week on my somewhat laughable paycheck the dollar amount comes to $118.36.
The third and final part of this game is comparing the bottom lines. In my case it comes out to $73.20 for gasoline, and $118.36 for taxes. Notice the difference? So now I am forced to ask "Is it really the oil companies that owe the American people an explanation, Senator Domenici?" "Perhaps it's you, the senate, and the congress that owes the American people an explanation." "By the way, how's your sister? She still a hag?" Ok I'm sorry. Got a little sidetracked. Even considering the high price of gasoline, a significant portion of that goes to...guess what? Taxes! The bottom line is the Senate, the Congress, and the entire Federal Government has raked in huge profits from the American people. And right now they are badgering the oil companies for no reason but the sake of political strategy. It's a remarkable waste of time and money. I'm not certain what could be accomplished from this futile endeavor but I am certain that I definitely have much more use for a full tank of gas than I do for the entire United States Senate.