Obama's starting to sound like Hugo Chavez...

[pBills]

Like the old line about pornography, you know it when you see it. You can whine all you want about capitalism, but with rising costs and unemployment at a 4 year high, drastic measures need to be taken like they were when FDR took office if the private sector won't do it voluntarily. The threat of a windfall profit tax is just a shot across the bow of the energy companies to remind them that their days of excess are numbered, and if they don't lower prices to help the economy while still making a profit, then steps will have to be taken. At the very least the first step should be to end their tax breaks.

 

 

Days of excess are numbered... does that pertained to the large amounts of land that they have and won't touch, but they still need to open offshore facilities? After all, investment in exploration and oil drilling technologies is where the bulk of the profits go right? One would think that tens of billions of dollars could cover some of that.

[KD in CA]

How do you make that determination?

 

They're only going to tax the evil companies.

 

Duh.

[pBills]

Like Walmart.

[DC Tom]

Like the old line about pornography, you know it when you see it.

 

Of course, that old line was a load of BS used to justify arbitrary and excessive government interference as well...so it hardly strengthens your argument.

 

 

You can whine all you want about capitalism, but with rising costs and unemployment at a 4 year high, drastic measures need to be taken like they were when FDR took office if the private sector won't do it voluntarily.

 

You have got to be kidding me. Did you just compare 5% core inflation and a 5.7% unemployment rate - a four year high - to the Great Depression? Are you really that much of an idiot?

 

 

(Don't answer that last, Darin. It was rhetorical.)

[erynthered]

Like Walmart.

 

 

Speaking of Wal Mart. I read this, this morning. Enjoy.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1217556490...p_us_whats_news

[DC Tom]

Days of excess are numbered... does that pertained to the large amounts of land that they have and won't touch, but they still need to open offshore facilities? After all, investment in exploration and oil drilling technologies is where the bulk of the profits go right? One would think that tens of billions of dollars could cover some of that.

 

I hear lots of bitching about "the oil companies already have enough land" these days.

 

 

Uhhh...does anyone know if that land has oil under it?

[KD in CA]

Speaking of Wal Mart. I read this morning. Enjoy.

 

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1217556490...p_us_whats_news

 

 

Good for Wal Mart.

 

I'm sure one of the leftards will be happy to explain why it is a criminal offense for a company to express political opinions but perfectly acceptable for labor unions to do the same thing.

[berndogg]

I have to agree with the majority on this one. Also, Obama's stance on raising the capital gains tax despite the fact that statistical evidence indicates that when the capital gains tax is lower, people invest more, make more, and more money ends up going to the government also makes me think that he's not the guy to fix our economy. Unfortunately, neither is McCain, he's out of touch and all of his speeches indicate that he can't grasp any of the more complex matters that effect the market in this day and age. Ron Paul in 2012!

[yall]

Good for Wal Mart.

 

I'm sure one of the leftards will be happy to explain why it is a criminal offense for a company to express political opinions but perfectly acceptable for labor unions to do the same thing.

 

No, more like fck Wal Mart.

 

I'm no fan of unions, but that is straight-up fear mongering, and it should be prohibited for both unions and corporations. It's essentially intimidation.

[/dev/null]

Ron Paul in 2012!

[GG]

You have got to be kidding me. Did you just compare 5% core inflation and a 5.7% unemployment rate - a four year high - to the Great Depression? Are you really that much of an idiot?

 

 

(Don't answer that last, Darin. It was rhetorical.)

 

Can I answer, then?

[Chef Jim]

I'm willing to get less return on my investments if there's shared sacrifice for the benefit of the average American.

 

Oh man...I think China's hiring.

[pBills]

Good for Wal Mart.

 

I'm sure one of the leftards will be happy to explain why it is a criminal offense for a company to express political opinions but perfectly acceptable for labor unions to do the same thing.

 

 

I would not complain about them expressing their political beliefs. I just look at the other practices they do.

[PastaJoe]

Of course, that old line was a load of BS used to justify arbitrary and excessive government interference as well...so it hardly strengthens your argument.

 

 

You have got to be kidding me. Did you just compare 5% core inflation and a 5.7% unemployment rate - a four year high - to the Great Depression? Are you really that much of an idiot?

 

 

(Don't answer that last, Darin. It was rhetorical.)

 

I'll never be as much an idiot as you, that's a pretty lofty goal to achieve, but you wear the crown well.

 

Most of the oil that is pumping out of the ground was found and developed when oil prices this high were something that couldn't be imagined. Less than three years ago, Exxon's chairman said that the then-$60 a barrel price of oil included $20 of speculation. The increase in price - after subtracting taxes and cost increases -- is what economists would call a windfall.

 

The oil companies have now leased about 41 million acres of offshore leases. They're only pumping in 10.2 million of those acres. Seventy-nine percent of all the offshore oil available off the coast of Florida, Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast, lies within those acres that they now have. Why are they not pursuing what's estimated to be a total of 54 billion barrels of oil at their disposal right now if they pump? It's because they're not pumping the oil to keep the price up.

[GG]

I'll never be as much an idiot as you, that's a pretty lofty goal to achieve, but you wear the crown well.

 

Most of the oil that is pumping out of the ground was found and developed when oil prices this high were something that couldn't be imagined. Less than three years ago, Exxon's chairman said that the then-$60 a barrel price of oil included $20 of speculation. The increase in price - after subtracting taxes and cost increases -- is what economists would call a windfall.

 

The oil companies have now leased about 41 million acres of offshore leases. They're only pumping in 10.2 million of those acres. Seventy-nine percent of all the offshore oil available off the coast of Florida, Gulf of Mexico, the Atlantic Coast, the Pacific Coast, lies within those acres that they now have. Why are they not pursuing what's estimated to be a total of 54 billion barrels of oil at their disposal right now if they pump? It's because they're not pumping the oil to keep the price up.

 

If this was always true, why was the price of oil in the $30s only a few years back? Are all oil companies American? Do American oil companies control the price of oil? Would a company make more money if it can sell 1 billion barrels of oil at $150, or 2 billion barrels at $100?

 

If you're smarter than idiot Tom, the answers should be easy.

[IDBillzFan]

...but with rising costs and unemployment at a 4 year high, drastic measures need to be taken ....

 

Drastic measures need to be taken when only 5.7% of the population is unemployed? Really?

 

Emote much?

[GG]

Drastic measures need to be taken when only 5.7% of the population is unemployed? Really?

 

Emote much?

 

Apparently, he's not alone.

 

Indeed, we are less angry today than a decade ago. Let's look back to the glory days of the 1990s, when -- according to the media narrative -- we enjoyed uninterrupted peace and prosperity. In 1996, the General Social Survey asked exactly the same "outrage" question of 1,500 adults. Then, only 38% had not been outraged at all in the past week. The average number of angry days was 1.5 per week, 29% higher than at present.

 

Virtually every group in the population is less angry in 2008 than in 1996 -- those making more and those making less than the average income; college-educated and noncollege-educated folks; men and women.

 

Only one major group in the population has gotten angrier: people who call themselves "very liberal." While conservatives, moderates and nonextreme liberals all have seen their average levels of outrage fall over the past 12 years, the number of angry days among our leftiest neighbors has risen 56% (to 2.28 from 1.46), and the percentage with no angry days in the past week has fallen to 31% from 37%. Today, very liberal people spend more than twice as much time feeling angry as do political moderates. One in seven is outraged seven days a week.

 

Linky thingy

[KD in CA]

Only one major group in the population has gotten angrier: people who call themselves "very liberal." While conservatives, moderates and nonextreme liberals all have seen their average levels of outrage fall over the past 12 years, the number of angry days among our leftiest neighbors has risen 56% (to 2.28 from 1.46), and the percentage with no angry days in the past week has fallen to 31% from 37%. Today, very liberal people spend more than twice as much time feeling angry as do political moderates. One in seven is outraged seven days a week.

 

I think we could have guessed that just from reading the lunacy on this board.

[IDBillzFan]

Apparently, he's not alone.

Linky thingy

 

Here's a telling quote from that article:

In fact, extreme liberals were more likely than moderates in 2008 to say they were "very happy" about their lives (28% to 25%).

 

So, in conclusion, extreme liberals are very happy to be angry seven days a week.

 

You know what they say: some people just need to be miserable.

[Wacka]

I see that molson/ elegant is now using his pbills personna.

Molson disappeared (banned?), pBills appeared, pBills disppeared and elegant showed up. Now elegant has dropped off the boards and suddenly pBills show up again.