Oil Firms Post Profit While Others Suffer

I was saddened to read the letter from Michael Burgos commending Exxon Mobile for its record profit in the last two fiscal quarters (“Exxon Not to Blame for Profit,” Letters, Feb. 12).

Just because capitalism may allow you to do something does not make it morally and ethically correct. For Exxon to make record profits in a time when the country is at war and there are hundreds of thousands of people left homeless from hurricanes Katrina and Rita is inexcusable.

Jeff Symonds

Los Angeles

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May I disagree with the headline? Exxon is to blame -- a tribute to good management. That’s why I’m a stockholder too.

Those who claim price-fixing should explain why the same thing is happening to copper, corn, gold and other commodities in growing demand.

Dick Ettington

Palos Verdes

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Exxon is a private corporation that has benefited greatly from our taxpayer-financed foreign policy. In combination with the mockery of how the tax system treats the oil companies, the least we consumers ought to get out of it is cheap gas.

David Hirsch

Ventura