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It isn't likely while the Bush Administration is in office that anything will be done to stop the obscene profits now being sucked up by the oil companies, both domestic and foreign. You don't have to be a Democrat to know the Bush family, Dick Cheney and many other Washington bigwigs are deep into the oil business, and their families have had Middle East oil connections for generations.

We don't know the full facts yet, but every American citizen can hope, that the extent of the greed and thievery of these politicians will be exposed. If honest government prevails, we can also hope the investigation will result in fair prices, appropriate excess profits taxes and prison sentences for the offenders, no matter how high up they are in government today.

As for applying windfall taxes, that should be done immediately and put into effect retroactively to cover at least the past ten years to include the tremendous profits the oil interests have made. There is no secret about it. Just look at the profits the big oil companies have officially reported over that time period, and the big salary benefits and bonuses they've paid their executives.

Of course, that's not the whole story. They didn't report the billions of dollars in bribes to government officials, both in the US and abroad, and probably even hedged somewhat the the extent of their profits. The average driver who pays $3 or $4 a gallon doesn't have to be reminded that oil company records during the past decade show the largest margins of windfall profits in their history.

Learn more about this author, Ted Sherman.
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