On Mon, 05 May 2008 20:00:57 -0600, Jim <no_one@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
>still just me wrote:
>> On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 16:51:03 -0700 (PDT), nucleus
>> <rose122550@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
>> These sorts of situations are one reason the five major oil companies
>> made $126b in profits last year. Remember to support GWB and his
>> efforts to make sure the special tax breaks these folks get are not
>> repealed - that wouldn't be fair! Oh, and while you're getting pissed
>> off at GWB, don't forget to notice that the crashing value of the
>> dollar has global investors fleeing dollars and investing in oil -
>> driving oil prices higher and higher even as the dollar is worth less
>> and less. See GWB for that problem too (it has to do with a $3T
>> deficit and endless spending with no way of paying for it except
>> borrowing from other countries (further devaluing the dollar).
>>
>And you conveniently left out how much these oil companies pay in taxes
>in relation to other companies and how much money these are REQUIRED to
>invest in developing alternative sources of energy--(blame the Dems for
>leaving that out -- as usual)
But what they pay is irrelevant. Everyone business and individual
should pay their required taxes. I have a business, I pay lots of
taxes on it. Oil companies currently enjoy special EXEMPTIONS to
"encourage" them to explore for oil. How wrong that is requires no
explanation. it'd be funny if it wasn't OUR money filling the gaps so
that they don't have to pay taxes.
>Also, you conveniently omitted how these companies cannot drill the
>massive oil deposits in Alaska, North Dakota, and many places off-shore.
Totally irrelevant to their massive profits and reduced taxes - the
issue I posted on.
> Maybe there's not enough oil to last the rest of our lives there, but
>there is enough oil to affect supply and demand -- much of the money
>would go to the U.S., the oil companies would pay greater taxes, and new
>jobs would be created for the United States populace. And when's the
>last time you saw a new refinery built? It's almost impossible, given
>the environmental regulations.
First, you're playing into the industry ploy that they'd pump enough
oil to lower the prices. With a commodity that's not only limited in
terms of current supply, but in terms of longevity, that's just plain
BS.
Check into the industry practices a little. Just a couple years ago,
natural gas (heating) prices were out of control. At the same time,
the oil companies pumping oil out of the South were burning off
natural gas at the refineries. Why? Berceuse they have a limited
equation - they can produce natural gas, or gasoline, etc, but they
have a finite capacity to produce one or the other from specific
wells. They made more money by selling less natural gas at higher
prices (rather than pumping more to sell at lower prices due to
increased supply) and spend their capacity pumping other products (oil
and gasoline,etc) that they could then sell more of.
Bottom line, the oil companies are not your friend or mine, they will
gouge and steal every last dollar they can. They have no interest in
helping Americans - just themselves.
>If the Democrats win the next election, they are going to have to
>address these questions. Do you think we will develop cars running 100
>miles a gallon (or even 50 miles a gallon -- I know --we have those now)
>and if we do will everyone immediately junk their present car to buy one
>of these, or maybe we're not all independently wealthy.
I'm no fan of the DUmbocrats. However, we do need leadership that is
not a psuedo-facist (the pure definition) state where government and
industry collude to screw the populace.
In addition, there is currently little in the way of serious
government effort to develop alternative plans to oil. The piddling
dollars they claim go into research are a drop in the bucket compared
to the tax breaks the oil companies still enjoy at our expense. Fair
is fair - oil companies should pay equal taxes to all other
industries.
>Regarding taxes, I live in Colorado, and the State has said many of our
>bridges are badly in need of repair, and are talking about raising our
>vehicle registration fees by $50 (think that's the amount).
It sounds like a local problem is going to be repaired with properly
targeted local money. You drive, you pay to fix bridges. Sounds fair
to me. The issue in most states is to make sure the money doesn't get
diverted to unrelated causes.
>Just thought I'd add my 2 cents worth. (Ready to be flamed -- got my
>asbestos suit on).
Don't get me wrong - I'm not promoting either party. I'm promoting
fairness to the people who supposedly run this country (us).
Politicians and Administrations that run the government for the
benefit of huge conglomerates are not working in the interest of the
people.
The neo-cons running the Republican Party right now are offensive to
the principles this country was founded on. Knock on my door when the
real conservatives come back.
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