Four dollar a gallon gasoline? Why?
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Tags: bailout, Big Oil, Blackwater, BP, Chevron-Texaco, Congress, Conoco-Phillips, Corporate welfare, Exxon-Mobil, FDR, gasoline, Halliburton, Iraq War, Jesse James, President, Republicans, Shell
Tags: bailout, Big Oil, Blackwater, BP, Chevron-Texaco, Congress, Conoco-Phillips, Corporate welfare, Exxon-Mobil, FDR, gasoline, Halliburton, Iraq War, Jesse James, President, Republicans, Shell
On June 6th, 2008 the average price of gasoline across the nation rose to $4 per gallon. “There’s nothing worse for our economy than surging energy prices at record highs,†said Mark Zandi, Chief Economist for Moodys.com. What do Jesse James and Big Oil have in common? Nothing if you believe the legends of Jesse James, who supposedly robbed from the rich and distributed his ill gotten gains to the poor. Big Oil robs from all of us and keeps the ill gotten gains for themselves.
If you think government is just about Taxes and Spending (Republican talking points) its time you received an education in Subsidies and Favors, which is the biggest problem our government faces. Sure we all know that taxes are high, and many know that government is wasteful (think $2,000 hammers and $3,000 toilet seats or the bridge to nowhere). But if Subsidies and Favors were blocked, stopped (or made a crime without ¾ vote of Congress) the few rich fat cats that are receiving CORPORATE WELFARE) would stop funding lobbyists to get their piece of the pie. If this happened, the drain on our nation, state and local municipalities would slow to a trickle, and the pocketbooks of the poor and middle class would once again begin to fill instead of being emptied by our own governments and their puppeteers. Eliminating so-called “Tax Increment Financing†(TIF), which is merely a subsidy for large corporations would be one of the first steps. Tax Increment Financing which is financed by the taxes of small business people that the new corporate business forces out of business is double pronged sword that will come back to haunt local taxing bodies in the future. Where ever TIF is used, there is always an increase in sales and other local taxes to offset the losses to the taxing body. These losses are placed in the hands of the corporations and while they should be profit and thus taxed, they are usually sheltered and the new corporation doesn’t pay any taxes. Each one of us can see the huge subsidies pouring into outfits like Blackwater and Halliburton, not to mention those for the Big Oil Companies such Exxon-Mobile, while we the taxpayers are being gouged once again not only through higher taxes but in this case at the pump where gasoline just topped $4 per gallon. A case in point is the 2008 flooding here in Southern Illinois where 13 counties have been declared disaster areas, but which FEMA and the Republican Administration have refused to provide aid to. Why, because there are no Halliburton or Exxon-Mobile corporations in those counties. While I can’t seem to find the reference, if I recall correctly, we subsidize oil companies to the tune of 600 to 700 BILLION dollars. With advent of the Iraq War, the figure has jumped once again. Americans should be up in arms about oil and gas prices. A windfall profits tax on oil company profits (five biggest producers generated $145 billion in profits last year), if used to construct new refineries could be leased or sold to other than the largest oil companies, would ensure that these so called “gas shortages†would not be reoccurring as frequently as they have in the past few years. Another loophole for these same Oil Companies is the Royalty Relief provisions of the EPAct, if it were repealed then 12-15% of oil revenues derived from drilling on Government lands and waters would flow into our treasuries, this would be the second largest income after taxes for the US Government. But instead the Bush administration has repeatedly used it to allow these same companies (that donate millions to the Republicans) to drill and pump oil for free on OUR lands. Congress should repeal the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995. Some one once said that an oil executive bragged that for every dollar invested in Republicans they could expect hundreds of dollars in return from subsidies of various sorts. The Jobs Act of 2005 also lowered the income tax rate paid by oil companies by reclassifying oil and gas production as a manufactured good. This is just one more of the insidious moves made by the Bush administration to line the pockets of Big Oil (namely Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, Chevron-Texaco and Conoco-Phillips). Of course Republicans claim that the fact that Bush and Cheney while having not only Oil Industry backgrounds, but also large investments in the Oil Industry (in blind trusts) has nothing to do with the favoritism that they have shown to this bunch of corporate crooks. “President [Bush] said: “With $55 oil, we do not need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore. There are plenty of incentives.†Now, today the price of oil is well above $55 per barrel [at this time, $139.00 to be exact]. Is the President wrong when he says we do not need incentives for oil and gas exploration? The New York times reported on March 3, 2008 that in a 2005 address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Mr. Bush spoke forcefully of the need for an energy strategy that looked to the long term and emphasized conservation and renewable fuels. Of the oil and gas industry, he said pointedly: “I will tell you with $55 oil we don’t need incentives to the oil and gas companies to explore. There are plenty of incentives. What we need is to put a strategy in place that will help this country over time become less dependent.†Why was it true at $55 a barrel and not true today at $139 a barrel… more of this Republican Administration’s voodoo accounting? Since 2005, the largest five oil companies have had cumulative profits of $345 billion and spent $252 billion buying back stock and paying dividends to shareholders. In addition, they are sitting on $53 billion in cash. Indeed, in 2007, Exxon-Mobil spent $3.34 billion on capital expenditures in the United States, while spending 850 percent more — $31.8 billion — buying back stock. Why is this not invested in refining capacity which is causing the so-called “bottleneck†in the distribution pipeline, instead of increasing the value of the stock options held by Oil Co. executives? Deregulation of the energy trading markets has allowed oil companies, investment banks and hedge funds to exploit and manipulate energy prices. Most energy traders are speculating in a type of legal “insider trading.†Indeed, in October 2007, BP agreed to pay more than $300 million to settle allegations that the company manipulated American propane futures markets. Closing the “Enron Loophole†to restore transparency and reduce speculative abuses will help bring down prices. Derived from: Business Law Prof Blog June 09, 2008 If Obama wins the election and he will, will we see higher investment taxes and will we see stricter anti-trust enforcement? Lord I hope so. I am willing to bet anyone that between now and November that we will see an even greater concentration of the oil industry because these people aren’t stupid they can see the hand writing on the wall as can you or I. They will have to spend the billions of dollars of cash that is just lying in their corporate coffers before a Democratic President and Democratic Congress gets a chance to hold their feet to the fire. Republicans argue that the government cannot stop he economic cycles, I say bull crap, witness the 1930’s and early 40’s when FDR did just that with his so-called Socialist Policies. If we had not had an FDR where would we be today? Are we going to see changes in the future? Not right away I think, with the economy on its knees, and this being an election year it would upset too many apple-carts. But if there are not changes made, and I mean NOW, then history will show that those now in power and those coming to power will be “DO NOTHINGS†and that they let We The People suffer. It is time to raise up the HOLC, Home Owner's Loan Corporation of the 1930’s. If we can bail out the likes of Chrysler, Bear Stearns and the Savings and Loan industry we can bailout the home owners of today. If it means taxing the hell out of the oil companies so be it. Will Obama address these issues, I don’t know since I am not privy to his inner circle, but he should. The sooner the better is my opinion. Ron McBride WeDemocrats.org WE! Weekly Online Magazine Issue #73 now up!(http://www.mytown.ca/we)
If you think government is just about Taxes and Spending (Republican talking points) its time you received an education in Subsidies and Favors, which is the biggest problem our government faces. Sure we all know that taxes are high, and many know that government is wasteful (think $2,000 hammers and $3,000 toilet seats or the bridge to nowhere). But if Subsidies and Favors were blocked, stopped (or made a crime without ¾ vote of Congress) the few rich fat cats that are receiving CORPORATE WELFARE) would stop funding lobbyists to get their piece of the pie. If this happened, the drain on our nation, state and local municipalities would slow to a trickle, and the pocketbooks of the poor and middle class would once again begin to fill instead of being emptied by our own governments and their puppeteers. Eliminating so-called “Tax Increment Financing†(TIF), which is merely a subsidy for large corporations would be one of the first steps. Tax Increment Financing which is financed by the taxes of small business people that the new corporate business forces out of business is double pronged sword that will come back to haunt local taxing bodies in the future. Where ever TIF is used, there is always an increase in sales and other local taxes to offset the losses to the taxing body. These losses are placed in the hands of the corporations and while they should be profit and thus taxed, they are usually sheltered and the new corporation doesn’t pay any taxes. Each one of us can see the huge subsidies pouring into outfits like Blackwater and Halliburton, not to mention those for the Big Oil Companies such Exxon-Mobile, while we the taxpayers are being gouged once again not only through higher taxes but in this case at the pump where gasoline just topped $4 per gallon. A case in point is the 2008 flooding here in Southern Illinois where 13 counties have been declared disaster areas, but which FEMA and the Republican Administration have refused to provide aid to. Why, because there are no Halliburton or Exxon-Mobile corporations in those counties. While I can’t seem to find the reference, if I recall correctly, we subsidize oil companies to the tune of 600 to 700 BILLION dollars. With advent of the Iraq War, the figure has jumped once again. Americans should be up in arms about oil and gas prices. A windfall profits tax on oil company profits (five biggest producers generated $145 billion in profits last year), if used to construct new refineries could be leased or sold to other than the largest oil companies, would ensure that these so called “gas shortages†would not be reoccurring as frequently as they have in the past few years. Another loophole for these same Oil Companies is the Royalty Relief provisions of the EPAct, if it were repealed then 12-15% of oil revenues derived from drilling on Government lands and waters would flow into our treasuries, this would be the second largest income after taxes for the US Government. But instead the Bush administration has repeatedly used it to allow these same companies (that donate millions to the Republicans) to drill and pump oil for free on OUR lands. Congress should repeal the Deep Water Royalty Relief Act of 1995. Some one once said that an oil executive bragged that for every dollar invested in Republicans they could expect hundreds of dollars in return from subsidies of various sorts. The Jobs Act of 2005 also lowered the income tax rate paid by oil companies by reclassifying oil and gas production as a manufactured good. This is just one more of the insidious moves made by the Bush administration to line the pockets of Big Oil (namely Exxon-Mobil, BP, Shell, Chevron-Texaco and Conoco-Phillips). Of course Republicans claim that the fact that Bush and Cheney while having not only Oil Industry backgrounds, but also large investments in the Oil Industry (in blind trusts) has nothing to do with the favoritism that they have shown to this bunch of corporate crooks. “President [Bush] said: “With $55 oil, we do not need incentives to oil and gas companies to explore. There are plenty of incentives.†Now, today the price of oil is well above $55 per barrel [at this time, $139.00 to be exact]. Is the President wrong when he says we do not need incentives for oil and gas exploration? The New York times reported on March 3, 2008 that in a 2005 address to the American Society of Newspaper Editors, Mr. Bush spoke forcefully of the need for an energy strategy that looked to the long term and emphasized conservation and renewable fuels. Of the oil and gas industry, he said pointedly: “I will tell you with $55 oil we don’t need incentives to the oil and gas companies to explore. There are plenty of incentives. What we need is to put a strategy in place that will help this country over time become less dependent.†Why was it true at $55 a barrel and not true today at $139 a barrel… more of this Republican Administration’s voodoo accounting? Since 2005, the largest five oil companies have had cumulative profits of $345 billion and spent $252 billion buying back stock and paying dividends to shareholders. In addition, they are sitting on $53 billion in cash. Indeed, in 2007, Exxon-Mobil spent $3.34 billion on capital expenditures in the United States, while spending 850 percent more — $31.8 billion — buying back stock. Why is this not invested in refining capacity which is causing the so-called “bottleneck†in the distribution pipeline, instead of increasing the value of the stock options held by Oil Co. executives? Deregulation of the energy trading markets has allowed oil companies, investment banks and hedge funds to exploit and manipulate energy prices. Most energy traders are speculating in a type of legal “insider trading.†Indeed, in October 2007, BP agreed to pay more than $300 million to settle allegations that the company manipulated American propane futures markets. Closing the “Enron Loophole†to restore transparency and reduce speculative abuses will help bring down prices. Derived from: Business Law Prof Blog June 09, 2008 If Obama wins the election and he will, will we see higher investment taxes and will we see stricter anti-trust enforcement? Lord I hope so. I am willing to bet anyone that between now and November that we will see an even greater concentration of the oil industry because these people aren’t stupid they can see the hand writing on the wall as can you or I. They will have to spend the billions of dollars of cash that is just lying in their corporate coffers before a Democratic President and Democratic Congress gets a chance to hold their feet to the fire. Republicans argue that the government cannot stop he economic cycles, I say bull crap, witness the 1930’s and early 40’s when FDR did just that with his so-called Socialist Policies. If we had not had an FDR where would we be today? Are we going to see changes in the future? Not right away I think, with the economy on its knees, and this being an election year it would upset too many apple-carts. But if there are not changes made, and I mean NOW, then history will show that those now in power and those coming to power will be “DO NOTHINGS†and that they let We The People suffer. It is time to raise up the HOLC, Home Owner's Loan Corporation of the 1930’s. If we can bail out the likes of Chrysler, Bear Stearns and the Savings and Loan industry we can bailout the home owners of today. If it means taxing the hell out of the oil companies so be it. Will Obama address these issues, I don’t know since I am not privy to his inner circle, but he should. The sooner the better is my opinion. Ron McBride WeDemocrats.org WE! Weekly Online Magazine Issue #73 now up!(http://www.mytown.ca/we)
We need a total revolution, an uprising that shakes Washington to the core. Vote everyone one out and if the replacements don't do what they prominsed, move for a recall.
My suggestion is run for office in your local area, you can do it!
Very best wishes.
Very best wishes.
Build that coaltion fromm the ground up!
Extremely powerful!
Things will change with a strong verifiable legitimacy that cannot be denied.
Just do it!
Build the coaltion for Obama!
Yes we can!
Very best wishes.
Very best wishes!
Wishing you the very best!
Also, the high prices have forced consumers to conserve. I've been frugal my whole life, don't have cable, no T.V., limited resources and live off of basic needs, but with the gas hike you read stories of people doing things that frugal folks have been doing for decades. I'm glad for the high prices, too, because it's showing the Repub's the seriousness of it. Since they always talk about limited taxes, limited government, I think many of them are realizing the dire need that government action is needed toward climate change.
Look at the hybrid cars flying off the rack lately.
Look at how GM closed down 4 SUV plants in Detroit.
Look at how ridership on public transportation has risen.
Look at how many folks are purchasing moped's, biking and walking more.
Look at how several gas stations across the nation have closed down and gone out of business.
Before we know it, 40 years from now folks are going to be like "our country once depended on oil? But how!?" LOL! When I read historical references about such situations in the past, I can not imagine how long it took to cook dinner and the fact that women had to grow the food, and the steps it took. Dinner was prepared in the morning just to eat by 5pm'ish. I try to imagine my life without my cell phone, and even find myself reminding myself that before cell phones, I used to give out all of the phone numbers that I could be reached, and my friends and family ALWAYS got in contact with me through work, social worker, places I volunteered, church, etc. I lived without a cell before, and now we hear folks that say, "I can't live without..." Such and such (fill in the blank).
I'm so encouraged and happy that prices have risen. I am seeing so many amazing things take place and move in a faster way because of it. I just finished watching Who Killed The Electric Car, and saw how Japan rolled out a 0 emissions electric car. The faster that product gets into the market, the faster the price will drop (because right now, low income folks can't buy into these expensive cars), and the quicker the government can install electric charging stations.
Ahh, I'm so excited about the future! I can't WAIT to see the new technology rolling out over the next few years with Obama's leadership.