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Automotive News & Views Are gas prices fueling your pain? 
10042 messages, Last post on Jul 12, 2008 at 3:07 PM
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Replying to: texases (May 27, 2008 6:39 am) You know, that is an interesting question....if their margin of profit per barrel of crude is so slim, why didn't they show Congress the books that show this? One possible answer: It's possible that they didn't do so because they were under oath and knew those numbers to be false. All it takes is one whistleblower buried somewhere and all of a sudden CEOs are facing charges.
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Replying to: gagrice (May 27, 2008 8:05 am)
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Replying to: bpizzuti (May 27, 2008 8:28 am) Which numbers are false? You don't think there are 100 eager-beaver politicians and lawyers who would jump on this? Please provide specifics.
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Replying to: trispec (May 27, 2008 7:19 am) Or you think the oil companies are running some sort of under-the-table operation only reporting part of their businesses? And they're putting tons of cash in Swiss banks? and under their mattresses? And you think the IRS is stupid enough not to know what's going on? Oh I forgot the conspiracy that the oil companies have paid off Bush and the Congress, and the IRS is infiltrated with tons of oil company moles.
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Replying to: imidazol97 (May 27, 2008 8:30 am) Who said that "we" have a "right" to someone else's product at any price?
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Replying to: texases (May 27, 2008 8:30 am) However, if they were to display those numbers as part of their testimony and later it were to come out that those numbers were false, there would be charges...lying under oath is a crime. I was advancing that as a potential reason why the executives didn't "just display a pie chart" when they were testifying before Congress. And it may also explain why some eager-beaver politicians ARE jumping...the execs were unwilling to provide specifics under oath. Again, I do not have proof of this, but it's a valid possible explanation. Most companies have more than one set of books you know...the real ones and the ones for people outside the company to see. And they always get in trouble when the real ones somehow get out. 
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Replying to: bpizzuti (May 27, 2008 8:28 am) The scenario of a CEO or CFO going to jail could happen any day; it doesn't require being in front of Congress for that to happen. Read-up on the Sarbannes-Oxley Act. I work at a smaller manufacturing company and we're always doing inventories, getting audits, and managers have to verify the bill-of-materials, all under the threat of jail-time for any willful misrepresentation. Companies the size of the oil companies would be under pretty heavy scrutiny, and it's fairly hard to hide refineries or millions of gallons of oil, regularly.
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Replying to: ny540i6 (May 27, 2008 8:38 am) |
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Replying to: kernick (May 27, 2008 8:38 am) Entirely possible. Don't know how likely, mind you, but it would not be the first time. How many corporate executives have been suspected/investigated/charged/convicted lately? And don't tell me Ken Lay doesn't count just because he died before they could sentence him (even though that's technically true, which just goes to show what a WONDERFUL legal system we have...).
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Replying to: bpizzuti (May 27, 2008 8:45 am) The Enron - Ken Lay story was slightly different then what we're talking about here, but it does illustrate that a large financial scheme will collapse within a few years, no matter how skilled and intricate. This thus supports that the oil companies do not have some large, unified conspiracy that has lasted from 1973. I think people ought to not focus so much on the profits that the oil companies have made, but question why the government takes at least 2X the profit in tax. Instead of Exxon giving back their $40B profit, why don't we tell the government to let them keep that, and drop the $80B tax on Exxon, and make Exxon then drop the price accordingly? And how much tax does the government take from the other oil companies, which we the consumer eventually pay for. All the taxes every corporation pays, eventually is paid by you or I in the end.
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