Don’t let yourself get hoodwinked by greedy motives of oil barons

Don’t let yourself get hoodwinked by greedy motives of oil barons

Let’s be sure of one thing: Gasoline prices aren’t going up just because the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries is raising the price of a barrel of oil.

Speculation: Someone has to explain to me the meaning of that word. Is it where a bunch of oil barons sit around a table and talk about how they are going to survive on $100 billion in profits? Do they discuss their bonuses and how high they should raise the price of gasoline so those bonuses go higher?

All I know is that the oil companies aren’t hurting, but they sure are hurting commuters, truck drivers, and all the businesses and working people in general. A lot of people who commute daily to work spend a lot of money on fuel. The problem with that is that something in their budget has to be eliminated or cut to compensate. For example, recreation time with the family, going out to dinner and other expenses must be sacrificed.

There have been a few major incidents with big oil companies, most notably the Gulf oil spill, and you can take it to the bank that there will be more.

So here are my last words. You have to have gasoline; you know it, and they know it. Who wins in that scenario?

Bud McKelvey, Hermitage

Irony is profound in rant on unions

In reference to a Sunday Vindi- cator letter writer’s tirade about unions, I can only ask if anyone else saw the irony in the cartoon that was posted above the letters section that his letter was in?

The cartoon shows people talking about having to hold down two and three part-time, low-wage, temp jobs while in the adjacent panel a Wall Street bigwig is advising his broker to “Buy!” because employment numbers were up. It’s wonderful that the letter writer has a good government job with benefits and security, but I wonder about the mindset of people who want to deny such security to others and would rather see those people get through life without decent pay and benefits and full-time work.

David Szakacs, Lordstown