Rush Limbaugh Program - April 27, 2006, Thursday, Hour #2

All Episodes

Previous Next

April 27, 2006 - Rush Limbaugh Program

35:11

April 27, 2006, Thursday, Hour #2

Large

Audio Only |

Scroll

Time	Text
	And America's Anchorman is back.
	I am firmly ensconced here in the prestigious Attila the Hun chair at the distinguished Limbaugh Institute for advanced conservative studies.
	We together have more fun than human beings should be allowed to have.
	It's the Rush Limbaugh program at 800-282-2882.
	The email address, rush at EIBNet.com.
	This is really going to make people mad.
	The oil companies are rejecting these accusations that they are gouging.
	That's going to really make it when Senator Durbin accuses you of gouging, you better agree with it, or they're going to even do more than want to see your books and force you to give your profits away.
	We've got the numbers here for ConocoPhillips.
	Their profit in the first quarter was $3.29 billion compared to ExxonMobil's $8.4 billion.
	And so we can figure that the federal government made about, let's round this up to $3.3, so $6.6 billion on the, in fact, you know what?
	I'm shooting low on this.
	Let's start this again.
	ExxonMobil's profit was $8.4 billion in the first quarter, and there's $0.9 per gallon of profit in the sale of a gallon of gasoline.
	So it's easy to figure that the federal taxes are $0.18.
	So the feds get twice what the oil companies get in their profits.
	So the $8.4 billion profit for ExxonMobil translates to $16.8 billion that the Feds get.
	But ExxonMobil then pays taxes on their profits.
	ExxonMobil pays taxes.
	So that $16.8 billion is actually larger by the time Exxon pays its taxes.
	Same thing with ConocoPhillips.
	And of course, the drive-by media is playing right along with this because the profit is one thing, but it's the profit margin that you actually need to look at.
	And that's where you can find gouging.
	Now, the first quarter 2004 profit margin for most of big oil is about 8%.
	This first quarter, it was 9.4%.
	The first quarter 2004, I should say.
	First quarter 2004 was about 8%.
	And the first quarter this year, 2006, is 9.4%.
	So that's an increase of 14% in the profit margin with an increase of revenue of 24%.
	They're taking in a lot more money, but their expenses eat up almost half the gain.
	So if you wanted to suggest that they're gouging, you would have to say, you'd have to find evidence that their profit margin is skyrocketing, and the profit margin is not.
	Just looking at the number of dollars in the raw profit, that's the simpleton way, and that's the way you get everybody all ticked off and everything.
	It's a big business for crying out loud.
	It's a big business.
	What do they do with all the profit?
	They give it to the executives when they retire is what they do with all the profits.
	I don't know what they do.
	They pay it to their stockholders.
	They're publicly traded.
	Exxon shares, this profit adds $1.37 to the average Exxon shareholder per share.
	That's one of the things they do with it.
	I'll tell you, economics education is so woefully inept.
	By the way, ladies and gentlemen, there's a Democrat coming to your door this year.
	The Democratic National Committee says that volunteers will go door to door in all 50 states on Saturday to share the Democratic Party's bold vision for America and begin a series of conversations with the American people about the upcoming elections.
	It's like the Jehovah's Witnesses do this now and then.
	So the Democrats are using a religious group as their model.
	They did this in 2004.
	I was up in Connecticut.
	I was up there on a golf trip with some friends.
	We were having dinner one night.
	There's about eight of us.
	And a doorbell rings, ding-dong.
	And one of the guests, not the hostess, goes up and answers the door, is gone for about five minutes, comes back and says, you never believe who that was.
	It's some young kid with a fact sheet on why John Kerry is great for America and why Bush is going to destroy the country and so forth.
	And with a rush here, I couldn't very well let her in.
	I said, with me, here is why you should have.
	So we all left the dinner table and we went scouring the neighborhood trying to find this little Democrat door-to-door snake oil sales.
	We couldn't find her.
	We found a little car.
	You could tell which car was hers, a typical liberal mobile.
	But we never did find her.
	They're calling this Neighbor-to-Neighbor Organizing Day part of the DNC's effort to gear up for the 06 elections.
	Our National Organizing Day will bring together neighbors and communities as we mobilize for the fall elections to make sure that Democrats are elected up and down the ticket throughout America.
	Who is saying this?
	Howard Dean.
	Howard Dean said Democrats who knock on doors will tell their neighbors what Democrats stand for, our vision for change, and the clear choice voters will face in November.
	That'll probably take about 20 seconds.
	And then after that, they'll start bashing Bush.
	I've been there.
	I've seen this.
	In fact, I was in Atlanta one weekend and I was walking around and did a little dog walk and ran into two of these canvassers.
	They're going door to door, you know, trying to sell the story of John Kerry.
	So Democrats repeating a losing strategy this Saturday.
	Just wanted you to be aware.
	And if they knock on your door, have fun.
	Invite them in.
	I mean, it's up to you, but oh, there's a stolen car, and the cops are chasing this stolen car in Fort Worth, Texas.
	I'm watching this on Fox.
	The odds are that the person who stole the car is listening to this program.
	If you are driving the stolen car, everybody knows you stole it.
	Everybody knows who you are.
	Make it easy on yourself and just pull over.
	Really, you don't want to cause any injuries.
	We know you're listening.
	Everybody driving does listen to this program.
	So just pull over, pull into a gas station, do something.
	Claim that make whatever you're doing, the reason for it, gasoline price or something.
	You have a chance, but pull off.
	Speaking of this, here's a Reuters story out of Los Angeles.
	Some California drivers are resorting to desperate measures to beat the surge in gas prices at the pump.
	They are deliberately running out of gasoline on the state's freeways, and they just wait around for rescue.
	Every time fuel goes up, we start noticing it.
	But right now, we're noticing it a lot more.
	Said Andy Lujan, owner of California Coach Towing in Orange County.
	Lujan's 20 trucks roam the busy freeways of Orange and L.A. counties as part of a publicly funded patrol that gives a free gallon of gasoline to drivers who have run out.
	It also offers the basic assistance to other basic assistance to drivers whose vehicles have broken down.
	Gas prices in California, where the car is king, are some of the highest in the nation, more than $3 a gallon and rising.
	Welfare gas, welfare gas.
	Mr. Snerdley, you even said that people are hurting out there.
	This makes total sense that people would run out of gasoline on purpose for a free gallon of gas.
	At LA prices, $3, $3.50 a gallon.
	Hell yes, makes total sense.
	It's a scam, but people are running it.
	Free gallon of gas.
	Well, you're the one yesterday that kept badgering me about people being hurt.
	You ought to be supporting the program.
	You ought to be applauding the ingenuity of these people.
	Instead, you can't believe that they would go to all this trouble for a gallon of gas.
	For three bucks, $250, $350, what's the difference?
	People are hurting out there.
	You said it yourself yesterday.
	When people are hurting, they take drastic measures.
	They take drastic action.
	They're not going to stop going to Starbucks.
	They're not going to stop going to Blockbuster.
	They're not going to stop buying their plasma TVs, but they will run out of gas for a free gallon.
	You've got to learn how the American people think, Snerdley, if you're going to continue to be the official program observer here.
	Let me grab a quick phone call because Don in Brighton, Michigan's been waiting a while.
	Don, great to have you with us.
	Welcome to the show.
	Shadows, Rush.
	Thank you.
	Enjoy every day.
	Thank you.
	A great article, editorial by the Detroit News.
	Gran Holmes' oil profit cap will damage pension funds.
	Online petition drive would cheat state retirees.
	Governor Jennifer Granholm's grandstanding to get oil company profits capped is not only misguided and misinformed, it's bad for Michigan, particularly the state retirees.
	The pension system for the state workers, public school employees, judges, and state police is about $2.5 billion invested in energy companies, including 12.8 million shares of ExxonMobil worth $832 million, the largest holding in the state portfolio.
	The Treasury spokesman, Terry Stanton, now actually a Democrat, says, well, the administration is not saying oil companies shouldn't be profitable, but there's a concern about too much profit.
	Yeah, of course.
	She's a lib.
	She's a socialist.
	Of course, there's a lot of too much profit.
	Now, state Republican Party Chairman Paul Anousis, or Sol Anoussis, I'm sorry, countered, this shows there are real-life ramifications for her political posturing.
	This affects every state employee.
	Absolutely.
	That is such a great point.
	And Don, thanks for the call.
	The pension system for many public employees in Michigan is invested to the tune of 12.8 million shares in ExxonMobil.
	And so people's retirement packages and a lot of people are no doubt invested in Exxon and their 401ks or just in their portfolios.
	And here come these clowns wanting to lower the value.
	We've already got pension reform questions in this country, pension problems.
	And so, yeah, let's just jump on a successful company that is contributing to the growth of pensions and let's punish them.
	That editorial is right on the money because there are ramifications to all of this that nobody stops to think about.
	Thanks again, Don, for the phone call.
	We'll take a quick timeout and be back after this.
	You know, as I mentioned yesterday, folks, it's not just ExxonMobil and big oil that are experiencing great economies and lots of profit.
	The economy is good.
	A lot of companies have profit.
	Microsoft's profits 38%.
	Nobody cares.
	And don't give me this.
	You don't need Microsoft everyday business like you need oil.
	It's not the point.
	Just try these headlines.
	GlaxoSmith Klein profits surge in first quarter, big drug.
	Siemens beats expectations in second quarter.
	I's $1.86 billion U.S. deal.
	Jackpot Harris first quarter income jumps 75%.
	Foreign businesses still gung-ho about USA, CEOs say.
	This is in USA Today.
	There's all kinds of great economic news out there.
	But a Senate committee on Wednesday announced an investigation into taxes paid by big oil and asked the IRS for the company's tax returns.
	The Senate Finance Committee promised a comprehensive review of the federal taxes paid by the oil companies on their record profits last year.
	Senator Charles Grassley at Republican, Iowa, the committee's chairman, said the panel was concerned about high profits and executive compensation at oil companies.
	I want to make sure the oil companies aren't taking a speed pass by the tax man.
	It embarrasses me.
	It just embarrasses me that Republicans are leading this effort.
	And it's just pure election year politics.
	Matt in Redlands, California, I'm glad you waited.
	Welcome to the EIB network.
	Hello, Rush.
	It's an honor.
	You know, the Democrats believe that they're going to win November elections just by riding the wave of anti-Republican feelings due to these high oil prices.
	But I think the Democrats must have been shocked when yesterday's NBC Wall Street Journal poll showed that in just the last month, when asked who they plan to vote for in November elections, the Democratic lead over the Republicans has been reduced from 13 points to six points.
	And I believe the main reason for this Democratic fall in the polls is that if you remember, six months ago, Howard Dean promised Tim Russert on Meet the Press that the Democrats would come out with a political plan other than attacking Bush.
	And here we are six months later, and the Dean and the Democrats still haven't come up with a plan other than bashing Bush, except for now they're also bashing the oil companies.
	Well, except that is the plan, bashing Bush.
	They don't intend to come up with a plan.
	He's talking about, and we mentioned this in the first hour, and I'm glad you brought this back up, Matt.
	He's talking about the generic ballot.
	The Democrats did have a 13-point lead in the generic ballot, and this is for Congress.
	But let me tell you something.
	I can't remember the 2002, 2004, they also led in the generic ballot going, but they never win.
	The generic battle is just that.
	But when you start attaching names to the generic ballot, all the generic ballots are going to vote for Democrat, you're going to vote for Republican for Congress.
	Oh, I'm going to vote Democrat.
	The Democrats seem to always win these generic ballots, but when the real voting comes, they haven't lately.
	And I don't know that it's so much that they don't have a plan.
	It's who they are.
	You know, they're not being helped by people like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi.
	They're not inspiring people.
	They're not inspiring people to join them.
	And by the same token, Matt, this negative drumbeat that's coming out of them and has been coming out of them for five years is not inspiring either.
	Why do you think they're on the wrong side of immigration?
	They're making a big push to try to get as many illegals in the country as possible so they can turn them into voters.
	And they're trying to legalize convicted felons as voters.
	That's their outreach.
	And people notice this.
	So now they've got to be shocked.
	I am sure that they are shocked when they saw the 13 go down to six.
	John in Lima, Ohio, you're next on the program.
	Great to have you with us.
	Hi, Rush.
	Hi.
	With China and Cuba going to be drilling for oil in the Gulf soon, neither one of these countries has the environmental record that we have.
	They don't have the environmental controls we have.
	If there should be an accident, how many weeks is it going to take China to get a fleet here to clean it up?
	Or how many years will it take Cuba to build a fleet to clean it up?
	If there is a problem, they're going to depend on us to clean up their mess.
	No question about it.
	We're not going to wait for China.
	We're not going to let China send a fleet here, except wait.
	They own the ports in the Panama Canal, so we can't stop them.
	Too bad they could send a fleet here.
	It's true.
	It's true.
	That's an excellent thought.
	What happens when they botch it and there's a spill down there?
	I want to know where the environmentalists are.
	I want to know where the environmentalists are saying, no, you can't do that.
	And of course, they won't tell Castro that Castro from such a lovely Paradise Island nation, the best healthcare in the Western Hemisphere, but a poor nation.
	Rice cookers is about the only appliance half the population has.
	And so we understand their need to get into the big oil club of the world to balance the power between the evil superpower United States.
	They're not going to oppose it.
	They're not going to oppose the Mexicans doing it either.
	All right.
	Do you remember back during the 90s when Bill Clinton couldn't tell the truth to save his life?
	Lying big, small, white, black, whatever, telling lies all over the place.
	We got stories eventually from the mainstream media about how lying is good.
	It will spare people hurt feelings.
	And it actually is a very compassionate thing to lie at the right time to the right person about the right things.
	Well, from the University of Chicago Press, we have a book here.
	This is a book review in the Washington Post: A Positive Take on Negative Advertising.
	If you're one of those Americans who cringe every time they see a negative political ad on TV, John G. Gere is not your cup of tea.
	Gere, a Vanderbilt University political scientist, has set out to challenge the widely held belief that attack ads and negative campaigns are destroying democracy.
	Quite the opposite, he argues, in his provocative new book, Negativity is Good For You and the Political System.
	Now, the story goes on to have some details here.
	Negative ads, he says, are far more likely to be about substance rather than personal attacks and are more likely to be supported by documentation than are positive appeals.
	Now, I know people say there's an axiom, the cliché, that don't expect negative advertising to go away anytime soon because it works.
	And there's no question that it works.
	But I'm curious about the timing here.
	Right in the midst of the 06 elections, I don't know, Mr. Gere, but I find it interesting that when we are in the midst of perhaps the most mean-spirited, baseless, personal, negative, day-in and day-out presentation of the news by the Drive-By Media and the Democratic Party, that we now get a book saying that's pretty good for us.
	That's good for us.
	So we can benefit from this.
	It's very substantive.
	Now, I know he's talking about ads, political ads here, but there's nothing substantive to the Democrats' attacks.
	That's the point.
	It is all personal, and it's all based on a foundation of falsehoods, untruths, prevarications, and for those of you in Rio Linda, lies.
	And yet, this is good for us, has the potential to be good for us.
	That's awfully similar to the kind of things we heard about lying being good for us in the 90s.
	That's what we do here, folks.
	We make the complex understandable.
	Now, I am reminded by Mark Ward from Carson, California, who's a subscriber at rushlimbaugh.com and thus has the super secret email address to get straight to me.
	He says, Russia using the ExxonMobil $8.4 billion profit as if it came entirely from gasoline sales.
	It doesn't.
	Only 46.4% of each barrel of crude is refined into gasoline.
	The oil company profits come from a lot of them.
	They sell jet fuel.
	They sell a number of other things.
	Still, the feds are getting taxes on every product produced from each barrel of crude.
	It's about 19, what is it?
	Gallons of every barrel that actually is devoted to refining gasoline or is refined as a gasoline.
	All kinds of, you know, we wouldn't have crayons.
	Your kids wouldn't have crayons without big oil.
	It's a petroleum product.
	I'm sure people don't care about that.
	Have you checked the price of crayons lately?
	Sean in San Diego.
	Great to have you on the program.
	Nice that you're with us.
	Hello.
	Mr. Limbaugh, it's an honor.
	Thank you so much for taking my call.
	You bet.
	I have a quandary.
	This morning I received a forwarded email that had a suggestion on it as how we as consumers could possibly lower the cost of gasoline.
	And it suggested that we boycott ExxonMobil for the rest of the year and just buy our gas like we normally do, but in other places.
	And to me, it seemed like, you know, maybe if the supply went up for ExxonMobil, and then their price would have to drop, and then maybe everybody else's prices would drop a little bit.
	So it seemed reasonable.
	But I want your opinion because I did forward that and I'm starting to feel a little bad about it.
	Well, no worries, just a forwarded email.
	Most people think of it as junk anyway.
	In fact, I have a filter on my email.
	Anything that begins with an FW gets deleted.
	I mean, it's all junk, all these FW things.
	It actually came from a friend that I admire, so I took it for its face value and sent it off.
	This has shaken up a lot of people.
	You know, my friend that I was in New Jersey with on this honest story, true story, was in New Jersey on Tuesday.
	And when I went over to Nick's, Roast Beef in South Philly.
	And by the way, while I'm at it, I'm going to plug another restaurant because this is in Wilmington.
	We ate dinner in Wilmington on Monday night at a place called the Columbus Inn.
	And this place was unique, too.
	They had a great wine list and so forth, a great bunch of people running the place.
	But if you're ever in Wilmington and get there fast because the population is leaving.
	Just kidding.
	Just kidding.
	The Columbus Inn, fabulous, fabulous place.
	Anyway, we're driving back to the airport.
	We're in a rental car.
	My friend says, you know, I'm going to top this thing off, lower my rental charge.
	So he pulled into a Citgo station.
	And I said, why are we stopping here?
	You know who gets the profit here, don't you?
	He said, no, who?
	I said, Venezuela.
	This is a Hugo Chavez station.
	Okay.
	So the point is, you go boycott ExxonMobil, go to Sitco, or go to ConocoPhillips or go to BP Mobile, whatever they are, BP, what they've merged with.
	I don't think it's going to matter.
	We're all going to be buying the same amount of gasoline.
	The only way this is going to work is if anybody buys less, you're still going to have the same amount of gasoline being purchased.
	And the theory that this will force ExxonMobil to lower its price in order to lure customers back, you've got a problem with that because the federal government watches gasoline prices and they don't like gas wars.
	And if gas stations start selling gasoline below profit or below cost, then feds move in and shut them down.
	You can't do it.
	You think the government would actually be upset if they lowered prices for any reason right now?
	Damn right they would.
	If they did that, if they lowered them enough to attract business, sure, then they'd start investigating gas wars and a number of other things because their tax base would be reduced.
	I just, besides that, you know, I know when I say this, when I say this, I get calls from people in the oil business and they always tell me I'm wrong, but it's just my consumer experience.
	I choose gas stations on two basis.
	When I'm out and need some, and which one's closer?
	Brand loyalty, it's all gasoline to me.
	I go to, there are two stations here where we live.
	There are two gas stations without crossing a bridge and going over to the dreaded mainland.
	And one of those stations is much closer to my house than the other one is.
	And I can't even tell you what brand it is.
	I think it's Texaco, but I'm not even sure.
	It is Texaco.
	What's the other one?
	Sunoco.
	Yep.
	The other one, yeah, it's north of here.
	Texaco's south of here.
	I'll have to go someplace.
	Will they change my oil?
	Or will they check it?
	Or will they do my windshield?
	Yeah.
	Texaco station I go to does my windshield.
	Well, they do it here.
	That's the point.
	But when I'm, I don't buy gas anywhere but here on the island.
	I don't shop.
	I don't brand shop in gasoline is my point.
	I don't know who does.
	Now, you may know your gas station guy, so you go there to patronize him.
	He's part of family and so forth.
	But my gasoline purchasing habits are probably different than most based on the proximity of stations here.
	Do you shop for a brand named gasoline, Sean?
	Is there a particular gasoline you like better than any other?
	As a general rule, I go to the mobile because it's the most convenient and it has a car wash that I like.
	But if I thought this would actually make a difference, I would go a little out of my way and hit Costco or something.
	I'm just looking for a way that I can be proactive that might actually be efficient.
	You know what?
	I think more than trying to boycott ExxonMobil, because you realize how many millions of Americans are going to have to join you in this to make it work.
	The batteries just don't use as much.
	Cut back your driving if you actually want to make a difference.
	And remember, Hitler made a difference.
	You have to define making a difference.
	I would suggest driving a little bit less.
	You're in San Diego.
	Have you tried the technique of running out of gas and waiting for the rescue truck to give you a free gallon?
	Even though I'm a AAA member, I would never attempt that.
	Okay.
	Thank you so much for your expertise.
	If you think of anything else that we can do to have a positive influence on this dilemma, please share it with us.
	Well, okay, let me ask, since you seem very, you're really interested in this, let me ask you just a couple of questions.
	Why do you think the price is going up?
	I think that it's a lack of supply and a huge demand.
	Well, there's not a supply problem.
	And we're able to supply what everybody wants, but the price of crude is skyrocketing.
	And I have my theories as to why.
	The market is one.
	You've had China and India in the last 10 years increase their usage of oil and petroleum products and gasoline in the past 10 years.
	They're using as much, I think, as we were using 10 years ago.
	I mean, it's increasing.
	So that's a huge factor on the demand side.
	And the laws of supply and demand, when there's more demand, the price naturally goes up.
	Then you have the commodities market.
	You have the commodities market that is bidding the price up based on factors such as potential supply interruptions due to war, what's going to happen with inflation.
	So the futures price of oil is what gets reported here at $75 a barrel.
	If you go look at the actual price right now, a barrel of oil probably doesn't cost that much, but it will down the road because the futures price is being bid up.
	I also believe that this lunatic president of Iran, every time he opens his mouth about wiping out Israel or provoking a war with the United States, causes the futures market to get all jittery, and they start worrying about the future impact on supply, and that bids the price up.
	There's so many factors.
	And big oil, the one thing to remember, ExxonMobil, Conoco, Phillips, whatever, they don't set the price of crude.
	They're not the ones that the market sets the price.
	OPEC, all of these other countries that produce, let me give you the list, Sean, from where we get our oil, the countries from which we import, and this is as of 2005, 18% of our oil imported from Canada, 15% from Mexico, 12% from Nigeria, and Nigeria is shut down because they've got internal political unrest and the oil fields have been shut down,
	and they're 3% of the world supply.
	We get 12% from the Saudis, 10% from Hugo Chavez, 6% from Angola, 5% from Iraq, 3% from Colombia, 3% from Ecuador, and 2% from the UK.
	We use about 22 million barrels per day.
	8.7 million barrels are our own.
	We import 13.2.
	We can't drill in Anwar.
	We can't drill anymore in the Gulf.
	So we're going to be more and more dependent on all these other countries.
	And we don't, and big oil cannot tell OPEC or Canada or Mexico what to charge for a barrel of crude oil.
	They just can't.
	So if you really want to have an impact on this, you would drive less.
	That's what everybody's expecting to happen, but it's not happening.
	People are driving as much as they have been.
	It's hard to change your way of life unless you just simply can't afford it.
	I schlep two kids around and drive a long way to work, but I really was hopeful that this was a reasonable idea, but I trust your judgment, so apparently it's not.
	Let me ask you another ⁇ now you're going to consider this perhaps a little hard-hitting, but I want to try to be as realistic as I can.
	I need to ask you a question.
	If you don't want to answer it, feel free not to.
	But is the new price of gas, what are you paying for it out there in San Diego?
	Something like $305 right now, I think I have the idea that it is.
	Is it breaking your bank?
	Is it causing a huge interruption in your lifestyle?
	Are you making sacrifices in other consumer areas in order to buy gasoline?
	No, I'm not.
	But I'm very lucky.
	I know many, many people that work for me are suffering.
	Okay.
	Now, I understand that.
	Now, this is the tough love.
	And I hope you recognize it as such.
	If the price is not breaking your bank, and if you want to do something positive and proactive, the first thing you can do is stop worrying about it and tell everybody else who can afford the gas to stop worrying about it.
	Because I think what's happening here is most everybody, they're going to absorb it, but they're worried about the effect on everybody else.
	Some, it's hurting, like your employees.
	Those are the people you need to be concerned about, and advise them on what to do about it and so forth.
	And then take advantage of this, go out and buy some Exxon stock, donate it to a gas-poor family.
	You could go out and buy a smaller car, donate that to a gas-poor family.
	You could stop using oil-based products that are not necessary.
	There's any number of things you can do.
	Those things will make me feel better, but they won't lower the price of gasoline.
	Well, welcome to liberalism.
	That's exactly right.
	The liberals, you might raise your taxes.
	It's not going to help your boss.
	It's not going to help your employees.
	In fact, probably just the opposite.
	But your employees might feel glad that you got your taxes raised, but how is their back pocket improved?
	It isn't.
	So, you know, it's a tough thing, but there are any number of things you can do.
	buy less, you can cut back, you can, and if you're really worried about it, you know, increase or institute a program at your business that compensates your employees a certain number of cents per mile that they drive over and above what the gas price was last year.
	Any number of formulas you could work out here to help them out.
	Well, I'm going to keep pondering it.
	And like I said, if you think of anything else and you can share it with me and the rest of the country, I know we would all appreciate it greatly.
	Well, thank you.
	Thanks very much.
	I just, I understand the power of boycotts.
	Most of them fail, but the ones that work have near unified participation.
	And I just, I don't know, correct me if I'm wrong.
	I just don't know how many people are brand specific anymore when they buy gasoline exclusively.
	I'm only going to buy ExxonMobil for whatever.
	I don't think that is the case.
	It may be that they only buy ExxonMobil because it's nearby or because the price is right or for whatever reason.
	But brand loyalty is, I mean, they're just the biggest.
	There are more ExxonMobil stations out there than anywhere else.
	They're part of big oil.
	So I just don't know that a boycott's going to work because the same total amount of gasoline is going to end up being purchased and used.
	A quick timeout, folks.
	A little long here in this segment.
	We'll be back after this.
	I think we still have Sean in San Diego listening to the program.
	Sean did some research here in the break, went to the Snopes.com website.
	They are a website that imagines or examines, I should say, these myths.
	They're going around out there and they proclaim them true or false.
	They claim participating in a boycott of selected oil companies will lower gasoline prices.
	Status is false.
	Here's the market economic reason.
	A boycott of a brand or two of gasoline will not result in lower prices.
	Prices at all the non-boycotted outlets would rise due to the temporarily limited supply and increased demand, making the original prices look cheap by comparison.
	The shunned outlets could then make a killing by offering gasoline at its normal pre-boycott price or by selling off their output to the non-boycotted companies who will need the extra supply to meet demand.
	The only person who really gets hurt in this proposed scheme is the service station operator who has almost no control over the price of gasoline.
	The only practical way of reducing gasoline prices is through the straightforward means of buying less.
	That's what they say, which is what I told you.
	But I've got an even better solution.
	If you're really worried about this, folks, you have to understand the reason for the profits.
	Oil companies have profits because of a booming economy.
	So the solution is to run a Jimmy Carter-type Democrat for president.
	If the economy were as bad as the Democrats say, oil companies would be having much smaller profits.
	So what we need to do is get a guy like Jimmy Carter from 1976 to 1980.
	It was so bad, the oil companies in this country had the cap well shut down.
	The price went down to 10, 15 bucks a barrel, and they were hurting big time.
	Oil company got laid off.
	People got laid off, but the price came down.
	So the solution to high gasoline prices is a rotten economy.
	And if you want one of those, elect a Democrat in 2008.
	You want to hear what Jimmy Carter says about the gas price?
	We'll do that.
	He was on Larry King Alive last night.
	And we'll play some more soundbites for you.
	We come back.
	Sit tight.

▲