Sure seems to most people Tom that the spine-snapping was self-imposed and we all know that the patient will come out fully intact after the procedure, a bit slimmer and trimmer maybe but I doubt any of these oil industry fat cats will be worried about making their huge mortgage payments.

At a time when the record deficits you cite were being run up by the Bush administration, those very industries you're so concerned about were running up record profits, much of those profits guaranteed by our decisions to wage wars in oil-producing nations.

Those poor energy producers were so concerned about the welfare of American citizens when gas prices were above $4 a gallon weren't they. It was so refreshing to see them cut back on profits and not bolster the fraudulent speculation that was so nicely lining their wallets so they could help the little guy trying to drive to work each day and the struggling airline industry. Oh wait, that didn't happen. They deserved every penny.

You also conveniently forget to mention that those oil companies already hold numerous leases that they have chosen not to drill because the profit margins aren't high enough. This was a always a political issue and never a business one.

But then that's always your style to conveniently leave out the part of the big picture that makes your assertions laughable.

Art