I don’t remember exactly who said that.  It was either Forrest Gump or Sarah Palin.  But here we are, one more time, watching oil prices go up, which under-mines our economic recovery, while politicians say, “We need to do something”.  How many times has that happened in your life time?  I’m easily counting five, if not ten times, in my lifetime and it seems to be getting more frequent.

And why not?  We’re coming off the most ridiculous stretch yet, where Exxon-Mobil supposedly had to pay HUGE cleanup costs and penalties for leaking oil in the Gulf of Mexico last summer.  You would think that would have been really expensive, maybe set the company back a little.  Nope.  Third quarter of last year, they made $14-billion.  This week, they reported profiting $11-billion for the first quarter of 2011.

Can we talk economics ever so quickly?  If the price of something goes up and you’re selling me that something, I’m going to assume you’re going to pass the price increase along to me so that you can still make a profit.  Since last year, the price of a barrel of oil has practically doubled.  So, stay with me, the cost of Oil Companies getting that product went up.  That, logically, should mean that their profits might take a hit unless, of course, they increase their prices, which they have.  So, we’re paying more than ever because of “the cost”, yet the oil companies are making more than ever.  Again, I’m all for a business making money and staying healthy, but the oil folks are getting rich at a cost of harming the economic health of their host country.  That would be like me offering you the nicest spot in my living room, you sitting down and farting.  Well, not really, but I like farting analogies. And a fart is made up with gas, so it does connect. Sorta…

Experts are predicting that we’re just going through a phase again…up to $6 a gallon or so, down to $3-something by December, for which we’ll all be eternally grateful.  And then, sometime soon, we’ll go through this all over again.

Forrest Palin or Sarah Gump, whoever it was, you were so right.

Tim Hunter