Excuse right this minute is that refineries have begun annual shutdowns for maintenance prior to the targeted mid May ramp up for the hurricane prediction season/peak driving season.
Yes, big oil is indeed our friend, after all who pays more taxes than they do. Kinda gives you a warm fuzzy feeling even if they don't give reach arounds, or even butterfly kisses for that matter.
Former President Clinton published a list of donors to his foundation Thursday to help clear the way for his wife to become secretary of state.
Bill Clinton speaks to at the Clinton Global Initiative conference in Hong Kong in early December.
The donations to the William J. Clinton Foundation include amounts of $10 million to $25 million from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and real estate mogul Stephen Bing, a personal friend of Clinton's.
The Clintons came under intense pressure during Hillary Clinton's campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination to release the names of donors to both the foundation and to the Clinton presidential library in Arkansas.
Bill Clinton agreed to the release the list after President-elect Barack Obama nominated Hillary Clinton to become secretary of state.
The governments of Kuwait and Qatar are also on the list, as is Saudi businessman Nasser Al-Rashid, who has close ties to the Saudi royal family. Saudi Sheikh Mohammed H. Al-Amoudi, reputed to be one of the richest men in the world, is among the donors as well. Both Saudis contributed in the $1 million to $5 million range. A group called Friends of Saudi Arabia and the Dubai Foundation appear in the same category.
dbackjon wrote:The Big Oil scam - and the right says we should just smile and say thank you while we are getting fcuked without lube.
Even after it has been proven that the oil spike of last year was mostly artificial, caused by the unregulated oil futures market scam.
So, you suggest we tax the oil companies more? How do you solve the problem?
Psst...by the way, the left says the same thing...hence, that was Clinton. You really have to wake up and realize they're all politicians...
Both parties are too much in bed with big business - especially the financial sector.
Clinton has admited as much - that he was too trusting with the financial sector and didn't regulate it enough, and Bush removed many of the regulations/put industry insiders in regulatory jobs.
The Oil Companies, for the most part, have been beneficial bystanders to much of this. Some of them, especially Texaco/Chevron/Exxon, bear some culpability and need investigation for price-fixing for closing refineries to drive the price up.
But the majority of the blame lies, like most of our current crisis, in the financial sector.
ASUMountaineer wrote:
So, you suggest we tax the oil companies more? How do you solve the problem?
Psst...by the way, the left says the same thing...hence, that was Clinton. You really have to wake up and realize they're all politicians...
Both parties are too much in bed with big business - especially the financial sector.
Clinton has admited as much - that he was too trusting with the financial sector and didn't regulate it enough, and Bush removed many of the regulations/put industry insiders in regulatory jobs.
The Oil Companies, for the most part, have been beneficial bystanders to much of this. Some of them, especially Texaco/Chevron/Exxon, bear some culpability and need investigation for price-fixing for closing refineries to drive the price up.
But the majority of the blame lies, like most of our current crisis, in the financial sector.
But, that's not a solution, that's more blaming. I can do that all day. You seem to know what the causes are and what are the wrong solutions, but you didn't present a solution.
For starters, the real solution will be to have viable alternative fuels. Ethanol is not a viable option. I think we need to offer incentives to the oil and auto companies (and any other companies/ individuals) who want to work at developing a viable alternative fuel. I would offer companies tax breaks (once they provided a detail plan how they would develop such alt. fuels and timelines for when each part would be accomplished) if they put money toward developing viable alternative fuels (and have the GAO and/ or CBO keep up with how the money is spent), if it is not spent to develop viable alternative fuels they will lose the tax breaks and pay penalties.
In addition, to the problem of unstable prices and severe peaks and drops in prices, you have to get to the problem. The problem is in the ability to refine mass amounts. They have no incentive to refine more oil into gasoline, and Americans have no incentive to drive less or drive more fuel efficient cars. We looked at a hybrid, but the price vs. tax break was not worth it. So, I would offer an additional tax break (this is assuming I couldn't revamp the entire theft system known as income tax) that makes it advantageous for people to buy a more expensive hybrid or to buy a more fuel efficient car...or, to do like I do, and take public transportation.
It will eventually come down to a politician with the balls to make tough decisions and to tell Americans (and big companies) that they will have to sacrifice, and we may as well do it now when people are already in sacrifice mode.
Appalachian State Mountaineers:
National Champions: 2005, 2006, and 2007 Southern Conference Champions: 1986, 1987, 1991, 1995, 1999, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT! WE'RE GONNA SHOUT IT! NOTHING'S HOTTER THAN A-S-U!
I agree Ethanol is a scam, and no solution. It can be used as a suppliment, especially waste-based plants.
You have to id the problem before you can fix it. Futures markets need to be fixed, or nothing else that is done will solve the problem.
I really think the ultimate solution will involve developing new electrical sources (fusion, advanced nuclear) and new storage technologies so everything can run off of electricity.
