Tag Archives: EXXON

I Think The Fact-Checkers Went Home

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President Biden and his administration members have been claiming for the past few days that inflation in America is lower than inflation in other industrial countries. The claim is made with the assertion that because America has lower inflation it can’t be President Biden’s fault. The only problem with the claim is that it isn’t true.

The chart below was posted by The U.K. Daily Mail on Friday.The article reports:

In an interview with the Associated Press that was conducted Thursday, he (President Biden) slapped back suggestions he is to blame.

‘Isn’t it kind of interesting? If it’s my fault, why is it the case in every other major industrial country in the world that inflation is higher? You ask yourself that? I’m not trying to be a wise guy,’ he told AP reporter Josh Boak in the Oval Office.

While prices having been rising across the globe, the inflation in the U.S. has been higher than the G7 nations and China for most of the year.

The United Kingdom with a four-decade high of 8.6 percent has only just surpassed inflation in the United States.

But nations including Germany, France, Japan and Canada are Sall still behind the U.S. when it comes to prices.

Data from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development from April 2021 until April 2022 shows U.S. inflation has been rising steadily above all other nations.

The data runs only until April as it is where the fullest data was available. 

It should also be noted that President Biden has consistently criticized the profit margins of the oil companies. A website called Macrotrends includes information of both oil company profit margins (and for comparison) the profit margin of Apple.

Here are portions of those charts:

I don’t think oil profit margins are the problem.

Traditional Values At Exxon

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Exxon has seen the writing on the wall for ‘woke’ corporations. The slogan “go woke, go broke” has come true for more than one business.

Time posted an article on Friday about a recent decision by Exxon.

The article reports:

Exxon Mobil Corp. plans to prohibit the LGBTQ-rights flag from being flown outside its offices during Pride month in June, prompting backlash from Houston-based employees.

Exxon updated company guidance on what flags can be displayed outside its offices, banning “external position flags” such as PRIDE and Black Lives Matter, according to the policy seen by Bloomberg News. In response, members of Exxon’s PRIDE Houston Chapter are refusing to represent the company at the city’s June 25 Pride celebration, according to an employee group email also seen by Bloomberg.

As long as all flags of one type are banned, this is a wise decision. Any flag put up that supports a political organization or position is going to anger someone. It’s better to simply put up the American flag and the flag of the state or country you are operating in.

The article notes:

“The updated flag protocol is intended to clarify the use of the ExxonMobil branded company flag and not intended to diminish our commitment to diversity and support for employee resource groups,” Tracey Gunnlaugsson, vice president of human resources, said in a statement. “We’re committed to keeping an open, honest, and inclusive workplace for all of our employees, and we’re saddened that any employee would think otherwise.”

While the commonly recognized rainbow flag is prohibited, Exxon supports displaying banners and flags with logos of so-called employee resource groups, especially during signature months, Gunnlaugsson said. “The flags are directly related to our business and company support of our ERGs, including PRIDE for LBGTQ+ employees.”

Exxon has made significant strides to improve diversity and extend employee benefits over the last decade, but some workers perceive the row over the rainbow flag as a major setback for LGBTQ employees and their allies. The oil giant was slower than many corporations to provide equal coverage, but added gay marriage benefits in 2014, restored protective-employment language in 2015 and added transgender coverage in 2016.

When it is all said and done, I really don’t care what someone does in their private life as long as it does not directly affect me. There is no reason to celebrate or discriminate against a group of people because of their sexual preference. There really is no reason to air that in public–it belongs in private conversations. A lot of the problems the LGBTQ movement has encountered are the result of their insistence on special recognition and special privileges. There is no ‘straight pride’ flag. Are straight people allowed to have pride?

Using News Stories To Shape Public Opinion

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Today’s Wall Street Journal posted an editorial that clearly shows how the major news media uses the way they report (or not report) stories to shape public opinion.

On Friday it was discovered that an old Exxon Mobil pipeline near Mayflower, Arkansas, was leaking. No one said exactly how much oil had leaked, but Exxon responded with enough people and equipment to handle as much as 10,000 barrels and had the flow stopped and cleanup begun by early Saturday. This event made the headlines–the major media used the leak as an example of the tragedy that would occur if the Keystone Pipeline were built. Well, wait a minute.

Last week a Canadian Pacific Railway train derailed in western Minnesota. The train was carrying crude oil and spilled up to 30,000 gallons. The spill was larger than the leak in Arkansas and took place near a town. The media somehow didn’t bother to cover the story.

The Wall Street Journal goes on to say that in 2008 U. S. railways transported 9,500 carloads of oil. In 2012 that number jumped to 233,811. There were 112 railroad oil spills from 2010 to 2012. From 2006 to 2009, there were 10 oil spills. Pipelines have fewer incidents per mile than rail cars.

Two of the things to keep in mind as the Keystone Pipeline remains in limbo are the fact that the Canadian oil is going to be shipped somewhere–either to America or China and that the person who is profiting by not building the pipeline is Warren Buffett (see rightwinggranny.com). One of the railroads that is in boom times because there is no Keystone Pipeline is Burlington Northern Santa Fe, owned by Warren Buffett and Berkshire Hathaway. As usual, the discussion of the Keystone Pipeline is not really about the environment–it is about the money.

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The Government Gives, The Government Takes Away

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A website called fight the bias attributes the following quote to Thomas Jefferson:

“Government big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have … The course of history shows that as a government grows, liberty decreases.”

There are similar quotes attributed to Gerald Ford and others, but Thomas Jefferson seems to have understood the concept originally. We are seeing this statement in action in a current court battle between EXXON and the American government. Today’s Wall Street Journal reports that EXXON filed a suit against the Department of the Interior last week in Lake Charles, Louisiana. EXXON is fighting to maintain control of what is called the Julia field after a routine extension of leases was not approved.

The article reports:

The possibility that Exxon could lose this oil will likely send shock waves through the industry. “This is unprecedented,” said Amy Myers Jaffe, associate director of the Energy Program at Rice University in Houston. “The question is: Do our offshore rules allow for flexibility? You don’t want to let companies sit on a discovery…We definitely don’t want to send the industry a message that you need to be in a rush or we’ll take the oil away from you.”

Exxon’s lawsuit said the government has granted “thousands” of extensions over time. It said the government’s denial of its extension relied on legal interpretations that it “had never before applied and had never before articulated.” Statoil asserted in its lawsuit that no request for an extension for a deep-water development “had ever previously been denied.” The Interior Department couldn’t comment on this.

This is another example of how government policy impacts unemployment. The Department of Interior has changed their policies abruptly. How do businesses deal with future planning when the rules change in the middle of the game?


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