George,

If ever there was a more blatant example of corporate greed run rampant, Exxon-Mobil Corporation has announced a quarterly profit of TEN BILLION dollars! Royal Dutch Shell made a record SEVEN AND ONE HALF BILLION.

Exxon-Mobil made a higher quarterly net profit than the total gross domestic product of Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates for an entire year! Two of the largest oil producing nations on the planet.

While we are told high gasoline, diesel and natural gas prices are justified because of the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and the high price of crude oil; the oil companies exploit the misery of the American consumer who must shell out through the nose every time the family car is refueled or the heating bill arrives, these greedy "don't give a damn" companies brag of their record earnings. It is truly a plutocracy we now have running our nation.

The oil companies know they need fear no repercussions from the Bush Administration, who will use this scandalous profiteering as a sign of how well the economy is performing.

I think the operative two words to the American working stiff from the oil companies is,"DROP DEAD!".

Harry Tenney (electronic mail, October 27, 2005)