Leahy is right. “Disconnect” is the word for the day.

Oil Execs tell Congress: Don’t Blame Us

It’s wonderful to be rich and be an American resident. You have politicians catering to your every whim. You decide to break the law, the law looks the other way. Man-on-man sex in a public restroom? No problem! Taxes? Who the hell pays taxes?!

And when you decide to hold Americans up at the pump and rob them of their hard-earned money, money earmarked for food or some other essential item, the strength of the mighty U.S. Congress swoops down from above and raps you with a newspaper.

Yep. Wealthy Americans have it tough.

Big Oil defends profits before irate senators

WASHINGTON (AP) — On a day oil prices leaped to unheard-of highs, senators lined up Big Oil’s biggest executives and pummeled them with complaints that they’re pretending to be “hapless victims” while raking in record profits. [...]

It’s all about economics, came the reply. Supply and demand. The company leaders tried to shift attention from motorists’ anger over $4-a-gallon gasoline to a debate over new areas for drilling.

But senators at the Judiciary Committee hearing weren’t having any of that. They wanted to press the executives about public anguish over paying $60 or more to fill up a car’s gas tank.

“People we represent are hurting, the companies you represent are profiting,” Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told the executives. He said there’s a “disconnect” between legitimate supply issues and the oil and gasoline prices motorists are seeing.