who knows whats going to happen... its all a crap shoot anyway.... all i know is were circling the drain now and its time for a change....hopefully someone will pull the economy out of the toilet before inflation rises so much we cant afford to do anything.

 

okay, i know there is no changing anyone's mind over politics or religion, but if you think clinton was the reason the economy was good and bush(s) is the reason the economy is bad, that's just rediculous. the economy started it's downward slide in early 2000, before the election, a full year before any republican presidential policies were in place. it was a result of the clinton admins. policies towards business and accounting practices....that's why enron, mci, and a few other big companies had nothing, but pretended to have everything. i'm not gonna say what high/low taxes for the people will really do for the country or what tax breaks for big oil will do either, but if big business runs this country, which it does, i think they need money for research on future energy sources. they claim (don't know how true it really is) that they invest x-number of $$ into R&D every year for alternative energy...that's fine by me, i don't want a $1000/month gas/electric bill or $10/gallon gas.
if NY loves hillary, they can keep her.

 

Well, hear me out before you click away from this post. I know it is long winded but hear we go.Despite what you may have heard, there really is a shortage of refined oil products in the world marketplace today, and we are never, ever going back to the good old days of absolute abundance when we didn't need to share. Nor should we.

Higher prices at the pump today are a matter of simple economics. U.S. refiners have the ability toturn out 17 million barrels of gasoline per day. Demand is around 22 million barrels per day. To make up the difference, we bring in gasoline from foreign refiners, which means that, at the margins, pump prices are set by import prices.
Total U.S. demand for oil products is up 2.7% year to date, boosted in part by the surge in cold weather in February. But since we are far from the only country importing gasoline and other key refined products, we don't have a lot of say in what those prices are.
Gasoline, like crude oil, is auctioned worldwide to the highest bidder, and with the dollar weak and overseas economic growth strong because of our fantastic appetite for iPods made in China and T-shirts made in Costa Rica, we have to pay up to keep our supply coming in. And that's all there is to it.
With U.S. refinery capacity now at ridiculously low levels due in part to lack of investment in new plants amid harsh environmental rules, any little change in the supply chain has an amazingly powerful effect.
If there's a blip in supply from Nigeria, where violence is raging, or there's a refinery accident that causes a kink in capacity, the amount of gasoline and diesel available for American consumers shrinks dramatically. Price then becomes the great allocator of this scarce resource. Right now, U.S. gasoline inventory is at a record low, with just 20 days' supply available.
If there's one thing you can pin on the oil companies, it's that during their long trek in the wilderness in the 1980s and 1990s, when prices fell dramatically, they failed to maintain their refineries adequately. This shortfall in investment led in part to the tragic 2005 explosion at the Texas City refinery of BP, which killed 15 people, as well as the recent fire at the McKee refinery operated by Valero Energy . Combine the poor maintenance with a stunning lack of qualified refinery engineers and some bad luck, and you've got the current mess, in which several of the nation's biggest refineries are running at half-speed. As much as 500,000 barrels per day of gasoline capacity is unavailable.

 

I don't know how much of any of this I believe. What I DO believe though is that immediately after 9-11 it seemed like EVERYONE saw a reason / excuse to jack their prices and it hasn't stopped since.

Prior to 9-11, we were all just painting happy little clouds

 

I agree with you htgriffith. Crude oil is a commodity on the World market. Devoloping countries now have an increaseing need for energy. Population grows, more consumers, greater demand.

Our refineries are maxing out now if not for a turn around, or breakdown. I work on the Mississippi river, and I've never seen so many tankers moving.

I agree that fuel is sky high, wish it was lower also. But the idea of any government systemactically confiscating the profits of any industry and we're talking about the oil industry , is ludicris. This is exactly what is happening in Venezuela, Chavez nationalizing different indutries, such as telecomminications, energy and about anyone who opposes him. He is building up his government into a dictatorship, like his mentor....Castro.
If the US government wants to help with the energy supply, consider the vast supplies that haven't been taped yet right off our west coast, east coast, and gulf coast of Florida, not to mention Anwar. Another possible help, is to remove some, or all of the federal taxes on our fuel. Next time you're at the pump, take a look at the federal stamp on the pump, it'll show how much tax per gallon the feds and state are charging you.

Certainly it's more involving than what we're all saying here. This isn't just an issue here in the states, it's world wide.

 

Drew, your post reminded me of an emil that I got a while ago.

Check it out ...

[blockquote]
[blockquote]
WHERE DID THE WHITE MAN GO WRONG?[/blockquote]
[blockquote]

[/blockquote]
[blockquote]
Indian Chief, "Two Eagles," was asked by a white government Official, "You have observed the white man for 90 years. You've seen his wars and his technological advances. You've seen his progress, and the damage he's done."[/blockquote]
[blockquote]
The Chief nodded in agreement.[/blockquote]
[blockquote]
The official continued, "Considering all these events, in your opinion, Where did the white man go wrong?"[/blockquote]
[blockquote]
The Chief stared at the government official for over a minute And then calmly replied. "When white man find land, Indians Running it. No taxes, No debt, Plenty buffalo, plenty beaver, Clean Water; women did all the work, Medicine man free. Indian man spend All day hunting and fishing; all night having sex."[/blockquote]
[blockquote]
Then the chief leaned back and smiled. "Only white man dumb enough to think he can improve system like that."[/blockquote][/blockquote]

 

FYI: Clinton did NOT contribute to any GOOD for the ECONOMY!! it was Reagan-nomics finally kicking in. Clinton actually INCREASED TAXES and thats why it sucked when Bush stepped in. with BUSHES TAX CUTS (set to expire soon), the economy flurished!

on average, a Presidents tax changes (up or down) do not effect the economy for 6 - 10 yrs.

depending upon what they do.

Reagan made several great changes, which kicked the economy rolling in the late 80's . it took a bit to show, and Clinton (lazy ****..adulterer) got the credit...[:@]


Bushes tax cuts in the early times of his first 4 years made a huge difference for everyone!



just so you understand.

if you TAX the RICH, then THEY do NOT spend MONEY on NEW PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OR COMPANIES. then there is a HUGE lack of CASH in the system that would normaly trickle down to YOU as a job cleaning hotels, fixing airplanes, constructing buildings, or even fixing cars at Dodge .

so tax CUTS are GREAT!

also..

UNIVERSAL health care has a LOT of problems.

do some research please.

you seem to have drank for the Clinton kool-aid too [:@][:@][:@][:@]

[sm=rant.gif]


[sm=icon_cheers.gif]

 

Check out this video on Canada's universal government health care. Amazing that this happens in today's world!
Maybe our resident canadian Woli can elaborate on his opinion!

http://www.freemarketcure.com/brainsurgery.php

 

Drew hit the nail on the head ... When you increase taxes to businesses, they pass that price increase (and usually more) onto the consumer. If the tax cuts get repealed and\or the dems raise taxes, now you're getting it from both ends ... you're paying higher prices for your goods and paying higher taxes on your income.

If you factor in government sponsored healthcare, you'll pay alot more tax to take care of the healthcare of the poor and elderly. You're already paying for that in the form of SS and Medicare taxes and the government hasn't been doing so well with that either have they. Giving them more tax money for "healthcare" is like giving more money to your favorite TV evangelist; you'll never see a return on that "investment" but they'll surely ask for more.

Mike

 

Both that video and the movie Sicko are both eye opening movies and give you something to think and talk about. I too would be interrested in hearing Woil's experience witth the Canadian system.

All in all though I think the very first place we need to start to help eliminate insurance costs no matter what they are is with the total elimination of frivilious lawsuits and a major restructuring of the law system. To have some lady not only have a case appear before a judge, but also to WIN the case for spilling hot coffee on hefself served from McDonalds is ludicris. Eliminating these million dollar slip and fall claims would be a great start. If people would just "man up" and realize that accidents happen that aren't anybody's fault I think it would really help all of us.