Gaseous bipartisan demagoguery from the Dems–and McCain
Credit: Red Planet Cartoons
Today on the Hill, lawmakers in both parties get a second chance to strut and tut-tut as they harangue oil company executives about high gas prices–and display their abject ignorance of, and hostility towards, basic economic principles of supply and demand.
John Hinderaker at Power Line has a good rundown of the back-and-forth between the businessmen who make a living creating wealth and the politicians who tax and take it away. A few key excerpts:
The industry lineup was formidable: Robert Malone, Chairman and President of BP America, Inc.; John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company; Peter Robertson, Vice Chairman of the Board, Chevron Corporation; John Lowe, Executive Vice President, Conoco Philips Company; and Stephen Simon, Senior Vice President, Exxon Mobil Corporation. Not surprisingly, the petroleum executives stole the show, as they were far smarter, infinitely better informed, and much more public-spirited than the Senate Democrats.
One theme that emerged from the hearing was the surprisingly small role played by American oil companies in the global petroleum market. John Lowe pointed out:
I cannot overemphasize the access issue. Access to resources is severely restricted in the United States and abroad, and the American oil industry must compete with national oil companies who are often much larger and have the support of their governments.
We can only compete directly for 7 percent of the world’s available reserves while about 75 percent is completely controlled by national oil companies and is not accessible.
Another theme of the day’s testimony was that, if anyone is “gouging” consumers through the high price of gasoline, it is federal and state governments, not American oil companies. On the average, 15% percent of the cost of gasoline at the pump goes for taxes, while only 4% represents oil company profits. These figures were repeated several times, but, strangely, not a single Democratic Senator proposed relieving consumers’ anxieties about gas prices by reducing taxes.
The last theme that was sounded repeatedly was Congress’s responsibility for the fact that American companies have access to so little petroleum. Shell’s John Hofmeister explained, eloquently:
While all oil-importing nations buy oil at global prices, some, notably India and China, subsidize the cost of oil products to their nation’s consumers, feeding the demand for more oil despite record prices. They do this to speed economic growth and to ensure a competitive advantage relative to other nations.
Meanwhile, in the United States, access to our own oil and gas resources has been limited for the last 30 years, prohibiting companies such as Shell from exploring and developing resources for the benefit of the American people.
Senator Sessions, I agree, it is not a free market.
According to the Department of the Interior, 62 percent of all on-shore federal lands are off limits to oil and gas developments, with restrictions applying to 92 percent of all federal lands. We have an outer continental shelf moratorium on the Atlantic Ocean, an outer continental shelf moratorium on the Pacific Ocean, an outer continental shelf moratorium on the eastern Gulf of Mexico, congressional bans on on-shore oil and gas activities in specific areas of the Rockies and Alaska, and even a congressional ban on doing an analysis of the resource potential for oil and gas in the Atlantic, Pacific and eastern Gulf of Mexico.
The Argonne National Laboratory did a report in 2004 that identified 40 specific federal policy areas that halt, limit, delay or restrict natural gas projects. I urge you to review it. It is a long list. If I may, I offer it today if you would like to include it in the record.
When many of these policies were implemented, oil was selling in the single digits, not the triple digits we see now. The cumulative effect of these policies has been to discourage U.S. investment and send U.S. companies outside the United States to produce new supplies.
As a result, U.S. production has declined so much that nearly 60 percent of daily consumption comes from foreign sources.
Unfortunately, it’s not just gaseous Democrats demonizing oil companies as evil profiteers and crusading for punitive measures like the Carter-era windfall profits tax that Ronald Reagan valiantly battled.
The RNC rightly took on Obama’s support for the tax.
But here’s GOP presidential candidate John McCain in Charlotte, NC:
Transcript:
MCCAIN: “Um, I don’t like obscene profits being made anywhere–and I’d be glad to look not just at the windfall profits tax–that’s not what bothers me–but we should look at any incentives that we are giving to people, that or industries or corporations that are distorting the market.”
I warned you of McCain’s class warrior rhetoric in January when he sneered at those who embrace the profit motive and bashed “greedy” corporations who engage in free enterprise.
Would Ronald Reagan ever stand up in front of the liberal media and Republican voters and inveigh against “obscene profits?”
Any pro-McCain trolls out there care to explain? 50 brownie “points” available now!
***
Background: IBD’s excellent overview of the windfall profits-taxing windbags here. The answer McCain should have given:
Our free-market economy is built on profit. Higher profits mean more jobs, higher incomes, more investment in equipment and people, higher standards of living. Yes, profits are the engine for all of this — and that includes the profits of “Big Oil.”
By signaling that supply is scarce, higher profits encourage more production. Except, that is, when Congress through its inept lawmaking stands in the way. And that’s the case now with the oil industry.
Congress seems almost constantly at war with the oil companies — slapping them with taxes and pillorying their CEOs while ignoring the fact that higher profits lead to more exploration, drilling and development.
If anyone is to blame for our current energy mess, it’s Congress. At least 20 billion barrels of oil sit untapped in Alaska and another 30 billion lie offshore. Such sources that could help satisfy U.S. demand for years to come. Yet, Congress has put them out of bounds.
Instead, Congress scapegoats oil profits. In reality, according to Ernst & Young, from 1992 to 2006 the U.S. oil industry spent $1.25 trillion on long-term investment vs. profits of $900 billion.
Truth is, oil industry profits are in line with the rest of American industry. In 2007, a record year, they earned 8.3 cents per dollar of sales. Beverage companies and cigarette makers, by contrast, earned 19.1 cents. Drug makers, 18.4 cents. Indeed, all manufacturers, 8.9 cents on average, made more than “Big Oil.”
Besides, we’ve tried windfall profits taxes before, in the early 1980s, and they were an utter failure. As the Congressional Research Service found, revenues produced for the government were nearly 75% below what was expected. Meanwhile, domestic oil output fell 8%, while oil imports surged 16%.
That’s just poor policy, and even worse economics.
Remember: Oil companies don’t really pay “windfall profit” taxes, anyway. You do. Some 50 million Americans today own oil company stock, either directly or through 401(k)s and mutual funds. Don’t be suckered: “Windfall profits” taxes come right out of your retirement account, not out of the oil industry’s business.
See also: Jonah Goldberg, The Windfall Profits Tax Slap.
See what others have said
Note from Michelle: This section is for comments from michellemalkin.com's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that I agree with or endorse any particular comment just because I let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with my terms of use may lose his or her posting privilege.
Trackbacks
- Demcorats Came to Give a Lecture, But Went to School Instead | The Sundries Shack
- The Radio Patriot
- It’s official. : Adam Lawson
- Oil Execs Vs. Congress « Tai-Chi Policy
- Root causes | Cold Fury
- Oil Company Derangement Syndrome | THE HOT JOINTS
- The DaleyGator » Blog Archive » Oh those economic morons in the Senate
- Bent Notes » Blog Archive » What should be obvious is screamingly obscure
- Ankle Biting Pundits » Blog Archive » Quick Hits
- Flashpoint » Blog Archive » Politicians have no ability to define what is reasonable
- Regarding gas prices, Democrats and McCain denying the obvious | The TIW Blog
- Gasoline, Who Profits The Most? : BigMouthFrog
- Why Does the Senate NOT Want Energy Solutions?
- Michelle Malkin » Planned Parenthood’s obscene profits
- Michelle Malkin » Harry Reid’s Jimmy Carter Memorial Act: Senate takes up windfall profits tax
- Michelle Malkin » Drill bits: The uphill battle to lift domestic restrictions
- Obscene Government Profits « Stupidtax
- Drill bits: The uphill battle to lift domestic restrictions : The Liberty Tree Lantern
- Michelle Malkin » McCain on offshore drilling: For it before he was against it before he was for it again
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Rasmussen: Plurality of Democrats support … nationalizing America’s oil industry; Update: McCain rips Obama on windfall profits tax
- Born Again Oil Man: John “spud” McCain–Praise The Lord and Start Drilling « Pronk Palisades
Comments
You must be logged in to post a comment.
You’re right about that. He was “elected” by a lot of Democrat crossovers, and the so-called “independents”, aided in large measure by the media. Talk about an “Operation Chaos”.
But the problem DOES lie with the GOP, and it’s complete and utter failure to offer up a candidate who TRULY embodied conservative principals. That lack of a candidate resulted in the ability of “independents” and Democrat crossovers to select McCain as the GOP candidate, while the conservative vote was being split among other barely palatable choices.
The libs have already won this election. No matter which of the three remaining candidates wins, they will have somebody they like in the White House.
Yes. The question is whether we should contine to do so.
Exactly. And the corollary to that, we need to STOP voting for liberal Republicans, or at least be far more selective about when and for who we do it.
Brian, I’ll say this R….E……A…..L….L…..Y Slow, so you can comprehend.
Obama or Rodham WILL PICK COMMIES AND SOCIALIST. WE KNOW THIS FOR A FACT.
If you do not vote for McCAIN…..YOU GET OBAMA. Obama gets you radicals, commies, socialists and more liberalism.
Guaranteed.
Have a nice day.
” Democrats have a commonsense plan to bring down skyrocketing gas prices.” : Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, April 24, 2006. On that date regular gas averaged $2.91/gal.
This is my feeling exactly. No matter what happens with the election, say hello to ever more Global Warming propaganda, taxes, fees, regulations.
This will absolutely kill this free enterprise system.
We are SOOOOO screwed.
What strikes me is how few politicians are able, or willing, to articulate conservative principles. Reagan was the first and still really the only one to do so.
Even conservative publications like National Review don’t teach conservative principles any more. They focus on politics as a horse race. But people need to be taught conservative principles.
That may be your wish, but I’ve never heard Rush wish a Democrat plague on the nation. To the contrary, he’s very fearful of the long-term damage four years of Democrat control of the White House, Senate, House of Representatives and federal judiciary would do to the nation.
“Government always finds a need for whatever money it gets.” - Ronald Reagan
There is a way to be taught these principles:
Rush Limbaugh
Mark Levin
and of course, Michelle Malkin .com
Notice that this link is NOT part of the list: GOP.com
OK … time for some facts about this refinery and gasoline business … bear with me please as this is going to be a bit lengthy … so I apologize in advance … but it is all verifiable for those wanting to check it out … I also have some temporary solutions at the end …
first … refining capacity …
this business of building new refineries because we haven’t built an new ones in over 30 years is not 100% accurately portrayed …
Well … the 30 years is correct … but the lack of new refineries is not because no one has tried …
They have been trying to build a new refinery here in AZ since 1998 … and at every turn the enviro-nuts have found a way to delay it and block it through the courts … I feel certain this is not the only place that has happened … so anyone with other examples please post them for everyone to see …
Secondly … the obscene enviro-nut restrictions Congress has acquiesced to passing across this same period of 30 years has forced the closing of over 150 refineries in this country since 1985 … most of those were smaller producers that could not afford the ridiculous costs of meeting these stupid enviro regulations so they went out of business …
Most of these refineries were out in the middle of nowhere, not near major cities where they could complain about the daily air quality and such …
Now … about the gasoline itself …
Are you aware that these refineries have to produce over 150 different blends of gasoline? … this is because of the different octanes and local standards from state-to-state …
Each time that they have to retool the refinery to produce a different blend they have to completely shut down the production line … retool physically … and flush the entire pipe system to prevent mixing and residue from the previous production runs … this usually takes from 7 to 15 days depending on the size of the refinery …
In addition … this same flushing has to be done for the pipelines that carry that fuel across the country … so those have to be shut down and flushed between fuel types sent through the pipelines as well …
OK … now to some solutions … and again … sorry to make this so long everyone …
1. Determine which gasoline blend is yielding the highest level of clean burning emissions and make it the national standard and the only octane and only gasoline blend produced in the United States …
2. Accelerate the permit and building process to allow new refineries to be put in place with the newer cleaner technology now … these could go on some of the abandoned military bases as has already been recommended by others …
3. Suspend the current enviro-nut regs to allow a 10 year reopening of the closed refineries that are still viable to relieve the refining capacity shortage while the new facilities are being built …
#72 xler said:
From cbs2chicago:
In Chicago, taxes account for 20% of the overall price at the pump?
Yet, in the same news article, Dick Durbin asks the oil execs, “Does it trouble any of you when you see what you’re doing to us?”
This might be sustainable on a university campus, but irrational demagogues like Dick Durbin and the current crop of US legislatures are not sustainable for the survival of our Nation, period.
In California, we pay tax on tax because the state applies the sales tax (average 8.0%) on the full price per gallon including ALL applicable federal and state taxes. If that doesn’t frost your begonias, nothing will.
wise_man, i wouldn’t know if he has ugly teeth or not, i haven’t paid any attention to his looks. what i have paid attention to were his actions towards conservative ideals and conservatives in general. i have observed his subterfuge for many years now and have deduced that he cannot wait for a chance to inact his liberal policies.
i have observed that he is a power hungry, egomaniacal politician. what his teeth look like not so much..
And yet the libs are currently fighting between themselves between Obama and Hillary. This will weaken the victor. And this is a beautiful thing.
And they will support whichever one prevails. Not only that - they are doing everything possible to make sure McCain does not get elected. They lie about him , they slander his record in vietnam while a POW, and they(Obama) take his words out of context.
And what are we doing? Fighting. Not between two candidates, but to the destruction on one. Deciding that this election is lost. Would make Harry Reid proud. If there is no difference between Obama and McCain, then the Obama people won’t care which one wins. Unless this claim is BS. Then there is a difference.
Have to disagree with you. Rush has speculated several times that it just might be better for the long-term health of conservatism if the Dems ran the show. I realize he says this half-kiddingly, but he has said it more than once and he’s no fan of McCain by any means. He’s even said that McCain’s real objective here is the complete and utter destruction of conservatism.
Seemed like Newt did a pretty good job of it, until his recent migration toward the dark side. Shame, really. I used to like Newt a lot. Lately though, he’s got me shaking my head.
Disagree. Most people figure out conservative principles by the age of seven. Thou shall not steal; thou shall not kill; etc.
The first solution to this problem, which indirectly would probably solve many other problems, is TERM LIMITS. If they apply to the highest office in the land, they should apply to EVERY elected office and judgeship.
And don’t give me that “Well, voting them out is like imposing term limits”. Get real. The American electorate spends more time watching Oprah, American Idol(atry), and “reality tv” and votes on name recognition. Term Limits would at least require them to do some homework on the candidates before they elect someone who thinks suing OPEC (while supposedly being dependent on them) is good strategic energy policy.
Isn’t it interesting how the senator lives up to his name?
Washington State is said to have the highest tax per gal. in the country now. So I drive 10 min. to Idaho and save an easy 15 cents per gal. The state legislature is majority Lib right now. Our two U.S. senators are BIG Libs too. No end in sight…………….
desert lover, you are so right, worked in the oil industry in Tulsa, OK. for small petroleum producer and your facts are right on; and i like your solutions, too.
if only we could congress critters to stop appeasing the enviro nuts..
I still think I’ll vote for McCain, just to prevent Obama from creating a half century long Supreme Court that will be a third house of Congress, mandating new laws, and a second executive, vetoing every bill a future Republican Congress and President might pass, but he is such a flaming idiot, it is hard not to sympathize with the people leaning third party.
I’m hoping for a good VP pick, a win, and no more than a single term.
Kind of like hoping coughing up blood only means tuberculosis and not lung cancer.
But he’ll probably pick Crist or Graham, or here is a crazy idea, Olympia Snowe, just to throw another “F*** You’ to the Republicans.
Re-read my posts. I have consistently said McCain is marginally better than Hillary, but he’s still substantially better than Obama.
My problem is that he’s still too far left for my taste. Look at his stances on social and economic issues. He doesn’t even make it to the center.
Then it’s funny how few conservatives there are in the world.
IMHO, he will probably siphon more Dem. voters with this strategy.
He certainly is making an effort to keep all the Conservatives at home in November.
Have you heard about the senior McCain staffer who has only been working for McCain on condition that Oama NOT win the Dem primary? He won’t work against Obama.
What does it tell you about McCain that he has people like that in his inner circle?
Maybe the ones you are thinking about flenser, haven’t surpassed an emotional and intellectual age of seven?
Wiseman, WE are not the problem here. McCain and his team have made a deliberate calculation that they don’t need those embarrassing right-wingers to win. They think with all the Grahams, Liebermans and Nelsons out there to be taken from the waay too left libs, he will step to the left from the right and grab the middle from the Democrats. They have already decided they don’t need me to win this.
McCain and his team are chomping at the bit to throw the right under the bus to get the middle, and the middle-left.
Conservatives have been marginalized already, and it’s only going to accelerate in the general. Look at all the GOP Senators McCain has been at odds with recently. They happen to be all my favorites. Sessions. DeMint. Cornyn. Inhofe. Coburn.
Look at who’s been at his side in all these battles. Graham. Warner. Smith. Snowe. Collins. Specter. Alexander.
The RINOs.
This is how the campaign will go, too.
Hell, he ought to just throw out all pretense and pick AlGore.
Term limits would help, perhaps a lot.
I think that they should have a windfall tax of a 100% on all profits over 5% - this would hit every media company hard - LMAO.
Brian, if we all voted for Thompson, as an example, then we wouldn’t be having this problem today. The sad fact is that a conservative did not win the republican nomination.
Oh, it’s too bad that Lincoln Chaffee lost his seat before McCain got the nomination, otherwise he might have even more Republican support in the Senate!
McCain/Chaffee ‘08!
The only fence we support is the one we are sitting on!
Vote nothing in ‘08!
Term Limits are a neccessity! Kennedy wants to will over his senate seat to his wife so it stays in the family! This is a wall street seat.
Lifted from my SilverBulletWebSit.com site - a public service web
The U.S. has more coal than any other country in the world. It’s a resource used in a process called Fisher-Tropfsch
and produces gasoline or jet fuel (synthesize the coal gas/methane into liquid hydrocarbon fuels). The forward looking governor of Montana, Brian Schweitzer, thinks his state could environmentally safe produce total United States gasoline needs for the next forty years (proof not all our elected official are bought and paid for).
If we were to construct fifteen Fisher-Tropfsch fuel refineries [1],
built on strategically located previously closed military bases,
we could produce $40 or less a barrel oil, provide free medical, payed up social security retirement, and a free college education for those who so merit from the profits rendered by our National Energy Foundation.
The Fisher-Tropfsch projects will cost in the thirty billion dollar range (Oh, wow! That’s four months cost of the war in Iraq). And who has that kind of money other than big oil, whom I would never again put in a position of trust, is us, the people (the first law of the free market is not supply and demand but charge what the market will bear.) Have you noticed the price of gasoline of late. So let’s not get screwed as is the tradition by capitalist. Let’s screw the capitalist, do this ourselves and out-source the corporations.
[1] These refineries would daily produce 375 million gallons of gas for various civilian needs, 54 million gallons of commercial jet fuel, 20 million gallons of military gas, and perhaps 16 million gallons of military jet fuel.
I am sending John Hofmeister, President, Shell Oil Company a letter, a real hand written letter, with my thanks.
I am also adding him to my Christams card list.
We have to let these folks know they are not alone.
Lifted from my SilverBulletWebSit.com site - a public service web
uhangtight
Thanks for the support on that … I grew up in Tulsa … my late father and most everyone in the family from his generation worked in some phase of the oil business … so I do have some factual background from which I speak …
but I know that none of what I wrote has been brought out regarding how we got to this point …
and absolutely no one is coming out with any kind of a solution that addresses the immediate needs in a rational way …
I was really strong for Thompson early in his testing the waters phase, which lasted forever. But, he really lost his standing with me bringing Spencer Abraham into his campaign.
You are right, “a conservative did not win the republican nomination.” But, from what I could see, I don’t think we really had a “conservative” from which to pick in the primary.
Bit Boy just blew up what might have been a decent idea with one little phrase that is a no-go deal breaker for me:
National Energy Foundation
Sounds like English for GAZPROM.
No thanks.
It would be a breath of fresh air to have someone, anyone, in government who understood the first thing about economics. For that matter it would be a breath of fresh air to have people in socialist academia who understood and taught it. But both are asking too much.
That’s a BIG RED FLAG. How about let the companies do what companies do, provide goods and services people need for a PROFIT, sell shares to the public and share the wealth in a capitalist fashion, which is the only way that it will work.
That sounds way too much like nationalization of the coal gassification technology.
Let the private sector do what it’s supposed to do, and get Congress the hell out of the way!
Barry F.
As you know I am not a McCain backer and am as disappointed as everyone else regarding our choices …
But … in fact … in the current political climate that we find ourselves in he is probably the only Republican/RINO that has a chance of stopping the election of a Democrat to the White House …
A true conservative would not stand much of a chance of being elected at the moment … hard as that is to admit …
A sad commentary to say the least …
bit_boy
You need to switch to decaf, quickly. More big-government, anti-capitalist, socialist claptrap disguised as “public service.”
A “Real” public service would be to take the the feters off the oil companies; let them drill where the oil is; let them build refineries; let them process the Colorado shales; let THEM build your Fischer-Tropfsh plants.
And as icing on the cake, do away with all of the stupid taxes on business, including gas taxes, “taxes” on profits, etc., — businesses don’t pay taxes, they just shift money from consumers to government, albeit more efficiently than government itself.
Was that Hugo “BitBoy” Chavez?
I’d like to read more - but I cant get to that site or any other versions in case it got misspelled. I get an error message saying that the site is not found, and ‘SilverBullet’ just goes to some domain squatter. Can you help with a direct link?
That info is really interesting. We’re also (slowly) beginning to explore methods for clean burning power plants that use coal. A facility is to be constructed in Illinios. (maybe.)
But, other than an “R” after his name, what do we have, DL?
I hadn’t in the past but I am starting to see some other’s argument about a Democrat getting in for four years and then regrouping for 2012.
But, you are probably right about a conservative’s chances right now, from the way things look. Voters pulled the lever for a RINO in the Republican primary. *sigh*
I believe Obama soundly denounced oil companies when he was at the Getty house on Billionaires Row in San Francisco. Not.
It makes me furious to see such an ignorant congress acting tough while trying to ineptly treat symptoms but not the disease. It’s not just congress either, many in positions of influence simply don’t understand or casually ignore the real reason oil prices are so high.
Global inflation has been causing massive spikes in commodity prices for the last 8 years, and nobody wants to talk about it. Michelle:
This is correct is you are talking about the oversupply of continually devaluing dollars compared to commodities that represent actual units of value. However, if this statement is blaming oil prices simply on increased global supply or wild speculators, then you’re wrong. The market is working correctly, and the demand is clearing supply - there are no oil shortages nor supply gluts. OPEC won’t raise production because they don’t need to, the world is producing enough oil for all the consumers.
The elite in this country have caused this problem and show absolutely no desire to fix it. Inflation is rampant, and the government numbers are beyond laughable. In 2005, when the Federal Reserve stopped publishing the M3, the money supply in the system was increasing by 15% a year. Increasing the money supply is the cause of inflation.
The Chickens have come home to roost, we can no longer maintain our standard of living by exporting our inflation to gullible countries through debt financing. The world, especially the countries with currencies pegged to our dollar, are experiencing crippling inflation, and our government says CPI was 0.2% last month.
Don’t kid yourself on why this is happening, an unaccountable leadership has caused this commodity run up, and it’s not going to come down. In fact it’s going to get a lot worse, and the excuses of evil oil company profits, global supply shortage, third world demand, or wild speculators are going to sound more and more vapid.
Ummm…..psssst…..J Sidney Mac, maybe your wife should release her tax records. I think she might need to be investigated for her companies making “obscene profits” ??
On another note, would one of you Republican politicians voice the fact that we need to immediately give “big oil” the opportunity to drill just about anywhere they want and build new refineries or we can kiss the US of A, as we know it, GOODBYE? Grow some friggin balls and tell it like it is. Don’t sugar coat it or “nuance” the facts.
Besides do the “environmentalists” ever go anywhere in the Middle East to whine and complain about how they are destroying the earth. When are they going to demonstrate and protest in Iran or Saudi Arabia? Are they going to China anytime soon to protest greenhouse gas emissions, etc? We’ll see how much protesting they do when we are under Sharia Law!!!!!
Barry F.
That was my point aboout the current climate … but I will not vote for the Dems no matter what my personal feelings about McCain … and I will not waste my vote by not voting in protest or whatever other reason people want to espouse … I have 2 kids in the military and there is no way I want them in any more danger than they are already in by putting a defeat seeking anti-military person in the White House …
I realize that is selfish in some of the people here’s view … but so be it …
And the people who believe what they read at liberal blogs are being spoon fed this:
This is the same thing that I saw the ranking democrat say in the opening statement to the oil exects. “Since Bush took office.” Bush. they are attempting to make this as Bush’s doing when this is a global supply and demand issue.
And they are getting away with it.(in teh Mainstream Media & liberal sites. redundant, I know)
My friends, if I become as stupid as our “STUCK ON STUPID” congress, just shoot me.
I’ll front the shooter and ammo.
I don’t know why so many find this issue hard to understand.
If I make 500 gallons of gas this year, and earn a profit per gallon of $.10, I’ve made $50.
If I make 550 gallons of gas next year, and earn a profit per gallon of $.10,
I’ve made $55. . .RECORD PROFIT!!
The oil companies are being demonized because they’re selling more gasoline than in prior years. It’s simplicity itself.
They were going to build 100 of the plants in the 1980s…but oil droped from $39 to $8 on the news. So they only built 1. Go figure.
It just occurred to me that these Dems may not just be interested in grandstanding or even more taxes on the “windfall profits”. These endless hearings may be the early stirring of a move to nationalize the oil companies. The language at these witch hunts sound just like the same Democrat talking points about out of control health care costs and the evil pharmaceutical and insurance companies which are behind it all. Soon we will be hearing about our “right” to clean, affordable energy. Which, of course, the government can best provide.
This may sound crazy but after watching Dems Gone Wild for the past 30 years it would not suprise me in the least. Liberals are always anxious to increase the size and scope of government and nothing like an energy supply problem to demand “something be done” about the oil companies. If they ever manage to get their national health care through it will be only the tip of the iceburg and will be used as a precedent for other sectors of the economy. Count on it.
Big Oil is the new Big Tobacco. It’s really that simple.
From the powerline article:
At our current consumption rate of approximately 7.6 billion barrels a year the low estimate of 800 billion barrels gives us approximately 105 years of energy independence.
Duncan Hunter was a real conservative. Viet Nam vet who went to law school on the GI Bill. His son joined the USMC and served, I think in Afghanistan.
He was very pro-border security. Pro-life. Church going Christian. No scandals. Fiscal conservative.
I sent him some money, but he just didn’t have enough to compete.
Of the better funded candidates, Romney said all the right things, except he was a bit iffy on the Second Amendment. His relatively recent conversion from pro-death to pro-life made some question his sincerity. But I believed him. Unlike McCain, he has real world business experience.
But he was LDS. The Huckster played that up in all kinds of subtle ways, and I’m not defending the LDS (they aren’t Christian, in any real sense of the word), I encountered enough anti-Mormon bigotry on various conservative blogs to know it was probably what did him in.
BTW, I suspect most of the anti-LDS people wouldn’t have a problem with a Jewish candidate, because what bothered quite a few people was the fact that Mormons consider themselves Christians. That, and maybe Jews aren’t little more than a century removed from polygamy, like the LDS.
Me, personally, Roman Catholic, and other than an issue with the one religion not built to handle the separation between church and state, Islam, if the candidate has the right ideas and character, I’ll vote for him or her.
In New Mexico, where I live and work for the energy industry, we have much natural gas, oil and coal, which is used in the production of electrical power at the local power plants. The energy industry contributes billions of dollars to the economy of NM and its employees are taxpayers as well. Despite the first class dollars provided by the industry and its workers, federal, state and county officials consistently place more and more obstacles in front of the production companies. Every new rule results in an increase in the price of the gas, oil and electricity that you pay for every day. Any time government gets involved, it costs you as a taxpayer and consumer.
This is price gouging plain and simple. When a hardware store in the path of a hurricane triples its price on 4×8 plywood and other supplies, it is against the law.
The oil companies are doing the same thing and have flimsy excuses for it, and I dont believe the 9 cents a gallon profit or 4 cents or whatever they say it is. Fact remains that they are making unheard of profits while business and industry are suffering, businesses will close and there will be massive layoffs. This is serious stuff.
My grandfather’s mother held stock in an oil company. That stock passed to him upon her death. Those shares and the “obscene profits” paid to him from them enabled him to live independently (though frugally) until the day he died.
John, my friend, where’s your compassion for the AARP set? Some of them actually own–gasp–shares in companies that make obscene profits.
I swear these people won’t be satisfied until we’re all living in 900 sq. ft. gray boxes, all wearing gray uniforms, and trudging off every morning under gray skies to work at our dull factory jobs from dawn to dusk.
While, of course, they enjoy the obscene profts made from our labors . . .
I seem to recall that as soon as oil prices rose to a level that projects like this were announced, or that US oil companies started to increase pumping or drilling new wells, OPEC slashed prices enough to make these activities unprofitable and thus, be stopped so as to eliminate the competition.
Tell me, do you have lots of rent-to-own furniture?
The global price for oil is up. This price is not set by US oil executives. They make less than ten cents profit per gallon on the purchasing, refining and distribution. The government takes almost 45 cents for doing absolutely nothing.
Your comment is factually wrong and without any merit whatsoever.
BTW, and I’m not sucking up to the owner here. Well, maybe a little, but she probably doesn’t have time to read all the comments on every thread.
I have no idea if Mrs. Malkin is still RC, converted when she married, or what.
The MSM would go ballistic, and if she still lives in Maryland the landscape doesn’t favor it, but if she ran for public office, I’d send a check. But Chris Matthews throwing a conniption alone would make it money well spent.
if you want to see what mccain is saying thats not up to snuff:
http://elections.foxnews.com/2008/05/22/trail-of-tall-tales-john-mccain/
they’re doing one on obama as well, a link for hillary is there already.
figured someone might wanna see
You do realize that oil traders, who don’t work for the big companies, (ie, the free market) and to a lesser extent OPEC, control oil prices.
Exxon produces a lot less oil than they refine. They buy most of it at whatever the market price is, and they aren’t a charity.
Typical Obama voter.
sillygatboy
You are totally in the grip of the MSM on this one …
it is a fact that the oil companies profit margin is less than the average profit margin of all businesses in the US and much less than drug, tobacco, and many others …
they are just a convenient campaign year whipping boy for the Dems … and they are the kings at senseless worthless time consuming congressional investigations … if they weren’t beating up on oil they would have found another industry to berate …
and we are all sending all our income to them that they hope to redistribute to others in need and to us only the remaining pocket change they feel we deserve.
May 22nd, 2008 at 1:43 pm, Christian Soldier said:
Donkey :
used as symbol for stupidity and corruption by:
two great artists:
Michelangelo
Goya.
NO….thing .. has changed
except…the stupid party has become the donkey party.
LESSER OF TWO EVILS >>>>>>>>>>>
ANYONE!!!!!!
With all due respect, you have no idea what you are talking about. You are using emotions against American energy companies, when the real culprits in all this energy crisis are liberal Democrat politicians preventing any production here. American Oil Companies do not set the price of oil. If they did, why was oil allowed to go down to 8 or 9 dollars a barrel 10-15 years ago? They posted losses in those times. Did the Oil Companies do that to themselves on purpose? Of course not.
Ignorance is our most expensive commodity.
Term limits!
Mahmoud
10 billion in profits nealy every quarter.
(By the way, how did “typical Obama supporter” get thrown in there?)
Not by any means.
I’d love to see Michelle run for office. She notes how often that republicans screw up, and it would be wonderful to see anyone who is serious about wanting to solve problems try to do something about it. When someone in the media criticized her for not evr going to Iraq, she went.
People like her are the few in the media who I really respect and I think are doing a good job countering the lies and distortions with truth. There was news recently of all the military veterans who returned and ran for office. Thank God that some of them ( Like Duckworth and Hackett lost.)
People like Michelle who are more conservative, very smart and articulate and can react quickly while the cameras are rolling would be as effective as they could to present themselves to the people and get elected based on their message. The media want liberals and democrats to win. And we have all seen the media can do as much as they can to distort someone’s message when they want to. And only the strongest and brightest can counter that.
A lot of people drive cars. What’s your point?
We are not actually stuck with just the three liberals currently running.
Want to make real history?
We can still write in a real conservative. State bt state, vote by vote. That would be a thing to see.
Wouldn’t it be priceless to watch Hillary throw a tantrum after losing to Newt Gingrich as a write-in candidate?
Priceless I tell you.
What is wrong with profits? Nothing is wrong with profits. You do realize that ExxonMobil and the rest of them are publicly traded? That means you can buy into that profit tomorrow. ExxonMobil would send you a dividend check, part of those profits. You can be part of “BigOil” anytime you want to make the investment. Then you might be cheering the “record profits”, because a your dividend payment would be a record as well. Compare that to all the national petroleum concerns in the world. Do you think Chavez let’s anyone but his cronies get into Venezuela’s oil industry?
Ain’t that America
for you and me
Ain’t that America
somethin to see baby
Ain’t that America
home of the free
ExxonMobil shares for you and me
for you and me!
Sound reasonable to me, considering the hundreds of billions they spend every year, not to mention royalties and taxes to pay for more government programs. What do you think their profits should be?
sillygatboy:
There’s a big, big difference between profit and profit margin.
Try taking an introductory economics course, and quit drinking the liberal kool-aid.
I just saw something while walking to the food court here at the Galleria in Houston (I work for an oil company in an attached office building) that reminded me one other reason to choose the RINO over the communist.
A Caucasian man, his roughly seven year old son, with sandy brown-blond hair, and his wife, in Islamic dress. Not a full burkha, but the head-scarf. Now, he may be from a country in the Caucuses that has Muslims of European ancestry, or he may be a convert. But I do know, any Muslim woman devout enough to wear the hijab is devout enough not to marry a kafir.
Which gets me back to McCain’s other advantage over Barak Hussein Obama. It is my theory that the next Islamic terror attack in America may use Caucasian Muslim terrorists. Arabs and Pakistanis renting Ryder trucks and buying fertilizer, or whatever, arouses more suspicion than a white American would. European men hijacking an airplane is more likely to be believed if they claim they merely want to fly to Cuba, and not the Sears Tower, than a group of Saudis.
Obama is an appeaser. He will cut-n-run in Iraq, let Iran build the bomb, and I promise, if people think a George Bush/Condi Rice State Department pushes Israel too hard for concessions with the Palestinians, I think they will really be in for an awakening with an Obama SecState.
Something from American Thinker
#174 that’s liberal math for ya!
As much as I want to vote R in November, I cannot for the life of me imagine how someone like McCain will provide any semblance of conservatism anywhere in his appointments. His actions, bills and voting record scare me. Feingold, blatantly against the Constitution, Kennedy, again contrary to the Constitution and rewarding lawbreakers and costing up who knows how much in the process, siding with dems to filibuster Conservative appointments. I do not care WHO voted him in during the primaries, the fact remains that he has proven time and again not to have any conservative inclinations, a unique ability to bend to the will of the left under some guise of “reaching” across the aisle, and thoroughly lambasting anybody (Conservative) with the audacity to question his trashing of the Constitution, (now capitalism as well?) and our once great Nation.
All three candidates strike fear into my heart with what they can do to our nation and We the People.
absolutely crazy isn’t it.
Those who prevent us from drilling for oil on our own soil argue that it might damage the environment.
OK.
But those same people are using a petroleum-based product in their own vehicles every day…and that petroleum came from somebody’s environment…….which was probably ‘damaged’…….sooooooo…..
……….see where I’m going with this…?
i dont want to open up if i’m not informed…but…
I’m under the impression, based on discussion i’ve heard on the radio, research,etc, that the penny reduction is based on the actual gas hitting the pump, 10 years from now.
if they started drilling, the price would come down some, simply on the basis that the supply was going to be available.
could be wrong, but thats the impression i’m getting at least.
I’m sure it’s probably already been said, but it is worth repeating.
You know people are insane when they think adding to the expenses of a corporation or adding taxes to said corporation will cause the prices of the product the corporation produces to go down for consumers.
Their math goes something like this: 5+3=4
They not only fail econ 101, they fail math 101, basic logic 101 and sanity 101.
Two things are needed to reduce oil crisis like we have now:
1. Get Congress out of the way. It is their idiocy (limiting refining growth and drilling) and greed (for revenues and taxes) that have led to this problem. Of course, they use their favorite shell game (demagoguery) to put the blame elsewhere.
2. Create a food cartel. What’s good for the goose is good for the gander. Let those non-food producing Middle East countries get a taste of their own medicine. Once they find out that sand and crude oil make lousy entrees, we could bring some semblance of rational and fair trade back to this equation.
I know that there are a lot of people who would be squeamish about this (any elected official, for example), but these are tough times and its time to play by the same rules others want to impose on us.
I await the comments, my friends.
This isn’t really about oil at all. The liberals WANT the price through the roof. That way all of you right-wing extremists will finally get out of your evil SUVs and ride the bus with the rest of the environmentally enlightened crowd. This will solve so many problems… Expensive oil reduces global warming, traffic congestion and road rage.
Alright, Gatboy..
do you support domestic drilling?
less congressional regulation for the oil companies?
more of a uniform blend instead of all the regional blends (150 or so if I remember right) that have to refined?
new refineries being built?
that would help bring down the cost some..
cabrerski - GOOD Plan! Two snaps in Z-formation!
But our government wouldn’t do something so logical.
Members of Congress should have to pass an aptitude test BEFORE they can run. They need to possess BASIC knowledge of:
1) Economics, advanced
2) Business, principles
3) U.S History
4) Constitutional Law
5) Ethics
After passing a psychiatric exam, because the ones we have now are NUTS!
#176 WarTip: Totally agree with you. It’s not that I don’t want to vote for McCain; it’s more like I can’t seem to find the right reason(s) to vote for him. I try to talk myself into it and end up shaking my head and wondering how to do it. The only way I might consider it at this point is if he picks someone like Romney as his VP. And then, if they win, all I can do is hope and pray that Providence will intervene to make things right!
I really hope some viable and cheap alternative source is discovered that can be readily utilized, then all these foreign oil producers and govt tax sharks can shove their barrels right up their a55.
nhpatriot - Those are my thoughts exactly.
And I don’t take pleasure in wishing someone a hasty departure, but I love my country and it seems apparent to me, that’s what it will take.
And how is John “Open Borders” McCain going to solve that problem, rather than making it worse?
Most likely, wise_man. In addition, just because Bush has been president through eight years of rampant inflation and massive commodity price increases doesn’t necessarily make him responsible. The fact is we can blame this pretty squarely on Bernake and his predecessor Greenspan.
On another note:
We basically have one, it’s called Monsanto. Also fighting evil with more evil only leads to… evil.
I think that these “bipartisan” windbags need a good lesson in supply and demand. If there’s too much demand and too little supply, guess what happens, kiddies? The cost goes up! Were there any economic adults in the room when this was going on?
Let’s add on top of it the following things that are making the price of oil right now painful for Americans:
1. Lack of refineries
2. No drilling offshore, in ANWAR, and in the States
3. No renewable resources to replace oil as of right now. Yes, there’s investment but not enough wind for the windbags’ benefit
4. No discussion of nuclear or clean coal technology to replace oil
5. Demand from China and India
6. Iran hoarding its heavier crude oil off its coast
7. Speculators gaming the market at the expense of consumers
I always find it amusing, even puzzling, that American consumers are screaming mad about fuel prices but they’re not holding the people who are actully responsible for the lack of progress in addressing the problem: THE POLITICIANS.
Get off your high horses, political windbags, and do something for a change instead of your usual grandstanding! Suing OPEC is all well and good, but they’re in the business to make a profit, and you’re just attracting their mirth and ire.
Talk about the blind leading the blind. Really, when will passing the buck end already?
I disagree. The problem is that conservatives allied themselves with liberal Republicans, to get “half a loaf”.
We did not get half a loaf. And now conservatism is being blamed for the silly and destructive policies of our liberal GOP leadership.
Conservatives need to make it clear that they are not identical with the GOP. If they do that they can make the case for their own policies.
The above cartoon should be emailed to every member of Congress.
Outstanding.
sambo #146, very interesting and apparently a solution at that time. A price drop from $39 to $8 would now be a drop from $130 to $26.65. Our leaders have nothing in hand to fight the battle. Our leaders also lack the smarts to pick up a switch. POTUS was a cheer leader is college the potential POTUS ranked 895 in a class of 900. I wonder what history will identify as the problem that brought about the fall of the United States of America.