Republicans block extra taxes on oil companies

[calpoon]

Not this same argument again.

You act like we don't drill for oil. We drill for it all over the place. the reason that we don't have any is because there isn't any. It's all used up, the pumps are not producing it, or rather the ammount that they are producing is so little that it is barely worth the price to extract it.

If you'd be willing to have them put a well and pump in your backyard, then be my guest, because that is the only untapped space.

the rest of the "vast areas full of oil" consist of the 2% of the country set aside as national preserves because some "crazy" people back in the day used to think that this country was beautiful and worth taking care of instead of gutting and turning into a burn out trashcan never to be seen by future generations so that we can have maybe a decade or two at most to drive around in our fucking trucks.

Also a lot of the land that has potential for development belongs to the Indians. yeah, remember those guys? I'm sure if you ask them real nice for it you can convince them that they should turn it over so that corporations can make more billions of dollars that neither them or us will ever see.

 

[guard189]

That's what I call American freedom:

I drive a pick-up whose tank filling has cost 2,44 bucks whilst shooting a rifle at full speed. In case, I crash against a tree I happily die because I can't afford health insurance ... taxes are communism!

but if you collected welfare you would.....sad isnt it.

 

[guard189]

im not a huge fan of either of our choices this year, but it seems like obama will be it he cant be worse than bush.......at least lets hopebush is an idiot, i love his speaches, "um....um.....umm haha well because of the threat in who gives a fuck i think we need to go over there um ummm um" hes cant even give a speech. im sure he will be on the board of directors for exxon mobil next year.

 

[captclown]

I wouldn't be surprised if this guy's got it right.

You don't get to be a good businessperson by paying for things that you really don't have too.

 

[Friday on my mind]

You know who has to share a lot of the blame for our situation is the public.We were warned!
People old enough to rememebr the 70s should remember Jimmy Carter telling us we needed a new energy policy as what was happening then was just a little snipet of what was to come.He sat in his sweater and told ya's to conserve and did we people take that to heart? Hell no.Along came Reagan with his it's "Morning In america" theme that said don't worry we can go on just like we had.Big houses,SUV's etc,etc,etc.
So don't blame the political class for the lack of a sane energy policy,people didn't want one.And as others have said this idea that more drilling was going to somehow make it all be ok is nonsense.The amounts left to find wouldn't even cover the growth in consumption.I laugh when the same people who think the govt should stay out of just about everything scream where's our mandated energy policy! Nobody made the americans buy the big houses and suv's but I guess the govt was suppose to somehow stop us.For better or worse politicians will only usually do what is going to be popular with the people.Needed to start conserving and going for alternatives 30 years ago.And a few polticians said so at the time at a cost to their own popularity.On balance they have been at least as responsible about it if not more than the public has.

 

[Legzman]

^^^How does that justify oil companies raping us at the pumps?

 

[captclown]

^^^How does that justify oil companies raping us at the pumps?

Part of it is not having built any new refineries in 30-40 years. Part of it is the tech didn't and still doesn't exist. Part of it is the environmentalists have become the new Luddites. Part of it is that oil is like the spice Melange from Dune, it is literally in everything.

 

[Friday on my mind]

^^^How does that justify oil companies raping us at the pumps?

It doesn't and I was not saying it did.Remember I started the thread and its point is the oil companies are gouging us.Congress tried to do something about that,not that that alone would really help us but there is no reason the oil companies should be allowed to gouge us on top of everything else right now.But make no mistake it was the pubs who blocked it so they share more of the blame for the oil co overcharging.And don't listen to this stuff about we haven't built a refinery and all due to some enviormentalists.Oil companies were asked would they like to build new refinery's and the answer was no,they are not needed.They did expand some of their current ones a few years back.And it's important to know too they don't even operate the ones they have at full capacity,so why would they need new ones?
And this notion that the oil companies would just raise prices more if they lost the tax breaks they were given and a new windfall tax was imposed is really people thinking the oil co's can do anything they like.Let them be seen as doing that and the govt will fall on them like a house of bricks,or at least the dems would who will be in total power soon.They should be allowed profits but not windfall ones.Price of oil rises pass it on,but not the extra they have added.

 

[captclown]

It doesn't and I was not saying it did.Remember I started the thread and its point is the oil companies are gouging us.Congress tried to do something about that,not that that alone would really help us but there is no reason the oil companies should be allowed to gouge us on top of everything else right now.But make no mistake it was the pubs who blocked it so they share more of the blame for the oil co overcharging.And don't listen to this stuff about we haven't built a refinery and all due to some enviormentalists.Oil companies were asked would they like to build new refinery's and the answer was no,they are not needed.They did expand some of their current ones a few years back.And it's important to know too they don't even operate the ones they have at full capacity,so why would they need new ones?

You forgot about the NIMBYism that goes on in a lot of the places where it would be feasible to place a refinery.

And this notion that the oil companies would just raise prices more if they lost the tax breaks they were given and a new windfall tax was imposed is really people thinking the oil co's can do anything they like.Let them be seen as doing that and the govt will fall on them like a house of bricks,or at least the dems would who will be in total power soon.They should be allowed profits but not windfall ones.Price of oil rises pass it on,but not the extra they have added.

It is a valid notion based on past history, common sense, and the fact that oil touches everything used. The oil companies are not going to let anything screw with their profit margin. They aren't in the business of being nice to people they are out to make money long term and short term.

 

[Member2019]

Doesn't do anything ...

This was a "feel good" and "100% political" bill. I used to think oil companies got all sorts of tax breaks and what not that other industries do not, until I started reading up. It seems people have been skewing facts a long time.

I also noted that percentage-wise, oil company profits are down. They are actually making less and less return in profit as the price of oil per barrel goes up. I.e., they are reducing their own profit margins.

Frankly, between this and other things, I believe so many Americans are not only so outta-touch with reality, but just looking to blame anyone but themselves for our own shortcomings, that we deserve what we get. I mean, the boom of SUVs and countless waste didn't happen during W., and it wasn't Clinton's fault either.

It's been our own attitudes since the '90s.

 

[Friday on my mind]

Oil companies report record profits for 1st quarter of "08"

http://www.newsday.com/services/new...day/news/ny-bzoil115722131jun11,0,42350.story

"The bill would have imposed a 25 percent tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies - Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhilips and Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell plc and British-based BP plc - which together made about $36 billion during the first three months of the year. It also would have rescinded tax breaks expected to save the firms $17 billion over the next 10 years."

HIGHER PROFITS

In the first three months of each calendar year:

EXXON MOBIL

'07 $9.28B'08 $10.89B

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

'07 $7.44B'08 $9.20B

BP

'07 $4.75B'08 $7.58B

CHEVRON

'07 $4.72B '08 $5.17B

CONOCOPHILLIPS

'07 $3.55B '08 $4.14B

 

[captclown]

Oil companies report record profits for 1st quarter of "08"

http://www.newsday.com/services/new...day/news/ny-bzoil115722131jun11,0,42350.story

"The bill would have imposed a 25 percent tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies - Exxon Mobil Corp., Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhilips and Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell plc and British-based BP plc - which together made about $36 billion during the first three months of the year. It also would have rescinded tax breaks expected to save the firms $17 billion over the next 10 years."

HIGHER PROFITS

In the first three months of each calendar year:

EXXON MOBIL

'07 $9.28B'08 $10.89B

ROYAL DUTCH SHELL

'07 $7.44B'08 $9.20B

BP

'07 $4.75B'08 $7.58B

CHEVRON

'07 $4.72B '08 $5.17B

CONOCOPHILLIPS

'07 $3.55B '08 $4.14B

Break the numbers down into the various bribes, expenses, liabilities, and dividends.

 

[Peter Gazinya]

And this notion that the oil companies would just raise prices more if they lost the tax breaks they were given and a new windfall tax was imposed is really people thinking the oil co's can do anything they like.Let them be seen as doing that and the govt will fall on them like a house of bricks,or at least the dems would who will be in total power soon.They should be allowed profits but not windfall ones.Price of oil rises pass it on,but not the extra they have added.

Wow. That post reeks of heavy taxes, totalitarian government regulation, price fixing, and communism.

That's not an America I want to live in. Oil companies don't exist for our welfare. Like anyone else, in our free market capitalist society, they are free to offer a product and charge the price they see fit. And how is taxing THEIR profits ever going to help you anyway?

Let me ask you this: These "extra profits" they are making. Would you rather those profits be in the hands of a motherfucking politician or in the hands of an entity operating in a free market system? Be sure of one thing: If that money ends up in the hands of the government then YOU WILL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN. If it stays in the hand of those who rightfully, for better or for worse, earned it then it has a much better chance of recirculating into our economy.

How anyone could want this money in the hands of our bloated, incompetent, corrupt, evil government instead of in the hands of the shareholders and of those who earned it, is a horror beyond my comprehension.

Remember, a corporation is not some faceless behemoth machine of diabolical greed that exists only to devour all that's in it's path. It is a collection of human beings who have invested time and money into the production of a product and the perpetuation of a profit producing entity.

You don't like their profits? Don't buy their product. Problem solved.

The "Government", that's the faceless behemoth machine. That's the guilty one.

 

[Rattrap]

That's not an America I want to live in. Oil companies don't exist for our welfare. Like anyone else, in our free market capitalist society, they are free to offer a product and charge the price they see fit. And how is taxing THEIR profits ever going to help you anyway?

You don't like their profits? Don't buy their product. Problem solved.

Bingo! I've certainly said it before and I'll likely say it again every time one of these threads pops up: the less energy spent complaining (not saying this thread is a complaint, but in the broader sense taking place across America) and more into becoming less dependent, the better off we'll be.

Rising prices hardly affect me. Yeah, the price of food goes up a little. I tend to buy local stuff anyway, though, so it's negligible. And the price at the pumps? I usually just laugh at the poor drivers coughing up the cash as I pedal by.

 

[Friday on my mind]

Wow. That post reeks of heavy taxes, totalitarian government regulation, price fixing, and communism.

That's not an America I want to live in. Oil companies don't exist for our welfare. Like anyone else, in our free market capitalist society, they are free to offer a product and charge the price they see fit. And how is taxing THEIR profits ever going to help you anyway?

Let me ask you this: These "extra profits" they are making. Would you rather those profits be in the hands of a motherfucking politician or in the hands of an entity operating in a free market system? Be sure of one thing: If that money ends up in the hands of the government then YOU WILL NEVER SEE IT AGAIN. If it stays in the hand of those who rightfully, for better or for worse, earned it then it has a much better chance of recirculating into our economy.

How anyone could want this money in the hands of our bloated, incompetent, corrupt, evil government instead of in the hands of the shareholders and of those who earned it, is a horror beyond my comprehension.

Remember, a corporation is not some faceless behemoth machine of diabolical greed that exists only to devour all that's in it's path. It is a collection of human beings who have invested time and money into the production of a product and the perpetuation of a profit producing entity.

You don't like their profits? Don't buy their product. Problem solved.

The "Government", that's the faceless behemoth machine. That's the guilty one.

I don't think having the 3 oil companies we have now is much of "free market".I guess this is a fundamental question,who are we going to trust more the elected govt or the for profit corporations.Thats really the question with things like health care.Do you trust for profits more than the govt with such a neccesary thing?Like I said profits are fine its the gouging they are doing while receiving corporate welfare in the tax beaks that should be controlled.Maybe we don't need a govt at all lets just let corporate guys decide whats best and let them run things.And I agree the oil companies don't exist for our welfare but we don't exist for theirs eitheir.While you may think govt regulation and control of corporations is "Communism" it's better than monopoly's IMO that control neccessties of life.Oil companies would still be doing very well even if this windfall tax had passed.And govt is no more a faceless behemoth machine than a corporation is.And the difference is that their only objective is not just more profits.God look at the salary's of the CEO's of the oil companies,hundred of millons a year lol.Just what does anyone do that's worth that? But legally I guess they "earned" it.

 

[Peter Gazinya]

Do you trust for profits more than the govt with such a neccesary thing?

Well, if it's not very clear by now, I "trust" our government in absolutely no respect whatsoever.

Friday, I hear your sentiments, but I wonder what IS the result of government price fixing on the price of gas. Why doesn't one of us do a little research and try to find a country where that has happened and what the result has been.

For now, I have to help a friend move a few things and then go play poker. But I might look into it tomorrow. If you happen to, though, please let me know what you find.

 

[deb41]

This is the first thing I've seen the Republicans do right in years.

If the oil companies have to pay additional taxes they'll just pass the costs on to the consumers, actually if you think about it, no corporation pays taxes, they just collect taxes from us and send them on to the government.

Every tax a business has to pay is just passed on to you.

We also don't need to give the oil companies additional reasons to send more oil to China & India, where the govt subsidies the cost of oil.

Way I see it anyone who votes for a Republican this year is just dumb.

Anyone who votes for a Democrat is a piece of shit.

Do the right thing and Vote Libertarian and tell all the Democrats & Republicans where to go.

 

[Facial_King]

Yes, taxing the oil companies more would be pushing us closer to "communism"!!!

 

[deb41]

^^^How does that justify oil companies raping us at the pumps?

Its the oil producing countries like Canada, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, Iran, Venezuela, and OPEC (a cartel that is illegal to operate in the US) who set the price not the oil companies.

The oil companies are only making more money because we are buying more gas and diesel. Not to mention China & India.

If you want to hurt the oil companies they buy less gas - just don't cry when your mutual fund and 401K go down in value.

 

[deb41]

Let's also remember the world demand for oil is greater than the daily supply.

If the politicians continue to harass to oil companies, it won't be long before the oil companies just say to hell with the American market, as they can make more than enough money in China & India.

Most of the oil companies aren't even US based: Valero, Citco, Shell, BP.

The US is no longer the biggest consumer of oil.