what percentage of oil company profits go to shareholders that are not involved with the company itself?
Because of contributions to politicians for re/election campaigns and lobbyist. Lobbyist you know those people Obama promised would never work in his Administration? Then right after he took office placed them in positions within his Administration, Cabinet, or as Advisors and Czars. Obama also took more money from oil companies than his rival in the last election. That really pissed me off! :glare: After-all Republicans are supposed to be the party of Big Oil and Big Business! D's are such copy cats! FactCheck.org: Obama's Oil Spill Additionally, he placed over 40 former lobbyist into senior positions in his administration. http://washingtonexaminer.com/politics/obama-makes-mockery-his-own-lobbyist-ban You asked and that's my .02 cents. :thumb: It will continue on from administration to administration no matter the party in power until voters on both sides of the political spectrum figure out a way to hold their politicians responsible. Something like the Tea Party is attempting now.
At least we agree that tax credits and other subsidies for oil companies should end. Now contact your Senators and Representative and tell them so: Contact Elected Officials: USA.gov
Oil drops below $100 on worry of weaker US demand - Yahoo! News Increase demand. Prices go up. Prices go up causing demand to go down. Self correcting homeostasis.
Well when they aren't "tea bagging" as closeted republicans do, they are trying to make abortion illegal, dismantle unions, and pass the insurance burden from the state to grandma.
2k1toaster, tell us how you really feel... The gas prices in Chicago avg price 4.50. Lowest Price by me 4.37. Last bought (topped off) at 4.25... Last weekend I thought I was in a different country, drivers were actually doing the speedlimit on expressway, and I was the guy passing people...
Privatization of Medicare. Since the US doesn't have universal healthcare, it is more of a government run health insurance company. So their great idea is to cut the cost of Medicare by making the users pay more for it, i.e. old people. Pay up or die... Kind of sounds like death panels. And since they want it to be a voucher system, there is no guarentee any company will pick you up. Pre-existing conditions? Well you may have a voucher, but nobody will touch you with a 100ft pole. What good does that do other than decrease the population of the lower class?
Hopefully .... we will not be made to endure this additional cost: "The administration is brokering a draft plan as part of the 'Transportation Opportunities Act,' according to the Transportation Weekly that follows a Congressional Budget Office report that supported the idea of taxing drivers based on miles driven .... a VMT tax. It is suggested the miles driven could be monitored by an electronic device installed on each car that would record the miles driven, and payment would occur electronically at the gas pump." "The CBO report was requested by Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-N.D)" I could find no mention if this would be in addition to the tax per gallon, or replace the gasoline tax. Hopefully, this idea will not mature. But I am absolutely certain that government is not going to let EV owners excape paying a road tax. And, of course, there is the issue of fuel efficient vehicles not paying "their fair share." I know this was all discussed on another thread ... but it just seemed to "fit" here as well.
But this country effectively has ADD and anger management problems so they don't consider it. It's about to get to $4 a gallon in Dallas, yet there is no shortage of rush hour traffic that have to blast by "that damned hybrid"....perhaps $6 a gallon and the economic fallout on all the goods transported would stop them from kicking their right foot thru the floorboard on me and many others, but it angers me that higher gas prices are the ONLY THERAPY they will respond to and the rest of us have to suffer with these angry idiots!
Sorry for a late response and reviving a deceased part of the discussion, but just about every sentence in this paragraph is either misleading or flat out wrong. a) Actual deficits are a function of revenues and outlays. You can "budget" a certain amount and be off due to unpredicted circumstances affecting those two things. For example, the Bush proposed FY2009 budget was way off due to the sudden economic crisis. Plus, there's "mandatory spending". b) Again, with mandatory spending and the inertia of the federal government, fiscal problems can persist for years. c) Part of FY2009 was signed by Bush. It included defense spending for the year. The remaining part, the FY2009 omnibus signed by Obama, was $410 billion, an 8% increase in spending. 8% of $410 billion is ~$33 billion. For perspective, the federal government is currently at ~$3.5 trillion and the deficit for FY2009 was $1.4 trillion.
Doesn't matter cause it's not gonna happen. The Administration has already clearly stated that they don't support this, and its obviously a non-starter politically.
The deficit in 2007 was $162 billion dollars, D's took over congress that year. In 2008 the deficit was $455 billion dollars and one short year later it was $1.4 Trillion dollars. I don't see how my statement "deficits are a function of annual budgeting" or my main point that "congress controls spending not the President" or any other part of my post as misleading or wrong.
I drive a Prius, but I'm not laughing about gas prices. Gas pricing is so very manipulative; up and down pricing at the emotional expense of the consumer.
As I have thought for months oil was a bubble and now we've basically got proof of that. a 8% drop in one day doesn't happen to a stable, viable price. I still want to get a second Prius but they are way, way high right now and have been for a month. If now is when oil starts to properly recede again maybe some reasonableness will be bred back into their pricing.
Then it should be easy for Obama to announce that America is looking at it's reserves and contemplating a go at energy independence by whatever means necessary. That would drive the speculators out and lower the price of fuel.