There is a rational and justifiable argument, that the Nestlé’s, Coca-Cola, of this world have been ripping of the tax paying citizen and exposing them to great liability (contaminating the "Host Town's Aquifers") at the rate of between 20-40 million dollars per year. Those "Host Towns" that allow these bottled water company's to "free suck" these aquifers are putting themselves at great risk and all mortgaged property (Tax paying citizen) is at risk, once the aquifers are declared contaminated by the effect of "capillary action" that draws any contaminant, because of that "large sucking sound of irresponsible greed".

The company's will hide behind, the state laws that allow this enormous profit and withdrawal to happen in the first place. All "Host states and Towns" easily have a claim on “BIG WATER.”

I believe a retroactive claim on the uncollected moneys, or at least a present assessment on total gallons or total sales, that are part of the cost to produce the raw Farming of foods. The general excepted standard in this survey’s, say 20% is the raw cost to the farmer (tax paying at-risk citizen, the subsidizing field-hand for “BIG WATER”) before the manufactured or packaging process. WATER is a FOOD. (See Standards and poor’s Industrial Surveys cost of farming the raw products are a 20% of retail price or gross profit, that is the cost to the supplier of a raw commodity, before it becomes a finished product). Example: It is “not unusual for a "Host Town" to allow a beverage company to buy their water from a Public Utility, for a cost of .003-5 cents per cubic foot. One cubic foot is approx 8 gallons of water. That water comes from a public supply that is usually one or more confined/possibly unconfined aquifer. The tax-paying citizen owns theses aquifers and should do a better job regulating them. The raw water that come to these beverage company's just turn the valve (this is the extent, pretty much of their labor cost)they pay their free, excuse me, I mean fee of .003-5 cent for approx 8 gallons, polish this water at an accounting to the benefit of the "Bottom-Line" (they call it, accelerated [MFG.] equipment depreciation. This very high cost of bottling equipment, cost the company's profit zero and these companies would allow you to believe that they make only pennies on the gallon. This seams to be a familiar story that the Oil Company is like to post as poor me economics and expects us to believe these convoluted economics. People the reality is that all corporations try to run their business on little to no profits, as any accountant worth his salt.

Therefore, the devil is in the details, that the BIG OIL and BIG WATER want you to believe, that they are making very little. The contradiction to these economic gamesmanship is in the quarterly reporting’s. BIG OIL reports the largest quarterly earnings each quarter and they are trying their best, to sell the congress and the consumer, that very little, only as much as approx .08 per gallon goes to company profits. Do a little reverse math and divide the .08 cents a gallon into the HUGE ($ 10 Billion dollar Quarters) or is it the other way around, of well, you figure it out. However, when the correct math is applied, how is it possible to arrive at these "HUGE QUARTERLY PROFITS" on only 8.3 cents per gallons (2007 reporting).

The proof is "in" the pudding. The public thinks and believes what they “are told”. My Dad, use to always tell me, "Never believe what you are told, always, (by many methods) always question authority. His classic expression was, "Who said". Never believe or rely on what you “are told”, until you research the facts. Another thing, do not believe what you see, in writing, it always an opinion and usually skewed. My question to "BIG OIL" and "BIG WATER” is, how do you make sense out of the declaration, that this is the profit base number (circa 2007) of 8.3 cents per gallon, converts into 40 Billion dollars per year profit. These numbers do not add up. Most people, even the congressional representatives in committee, look at this, problem as convoluted. It will be difficult for me to be convinced, that they, really want to get down and solve this problem, anyway, I’m not convinced these people should be doing the investigation of this (“BIG OIL or BIG WATER”) profits game. I liken this dilemma, of trying to find the answer to who is behind the greed, is when you look at that picture, of the three pronged tuning fork, that has no closure, this is how most people come away with trying to understand the numbers. Because I have been confused almost all my life, this "BIG OIL and BIG WATER" accounting seems to make sense to me, that their explanation is, like try to eat an "upside down cake, standing on your head, yeah get it.

The other great oration from Dad, use to be, “Do you understand, can yeah handle it".

All the profits “can be found” in the profit and loss, and balance sheets. Preferred stockholders and loans back to the company “can be traced” to a few. Remember someone has to make the profits.

dps