Oil economics

“WTF?
If we're not going to support the arts, let's go all the way and discourage all expression.

A sterile society is far less bothersome.”

“you just made my point for me. If its something you support you see no problem dumping tax money into it. If its not something you support then you see plenty of problems. Its in the eye of the beholder. I think much of the money that goes to arts is pork, and what goes to PBS is even worse.”

“PBS is controlled by advertizers almost as much as Fox Noose. As long as they have an income tax on corps, they will use the advertizing deductions to control the media. Get out of the income tax business and into the value added, less you create subsidies that put the legislators up for sale.”

“Thanks for expressing my opinion HyWay, trouble is it ain't my opinion.

We have a democratic legislative process to decide how the money is spent and they can't make everyone happy about everything.
But we can pester our own legislators with our complaints and praise.

All bullets and no crayons, huh?”

“I think the government should subsidize religion. Then I can quit putting money in the basket.”

“Here's two opposing views on the ethanol debate.

"Archer Daniels Midland, the Decatur, Ill.-based agricultural giant, saw a 42 percent increase in its quarterly profit, to $517 million, amid volatile grain markets. Acknowledging high food prices, Patricia Woertz, the company's chairwoman and CEO, made a passionate defense of the ethanol industry that has benefited the company.

"Retreat from biofuels is wrong; it's dangerous, it's a mistake," Woertz said. "It won't fill anybody's stomach and won't fill any gas tanks."

But Tyson Foods Inc. was saddled with a $5 million quarterly loss because of higher feed costs, and CEO Richard Bond fingered ethanol as the cause. He questioned the investment in a form of energy that will never displace oil's role in the economy.

"In 2007, ethanol production will replace only 3 percent of U.S. oil imports," Bond said. "The fact is we can't grow enough corn in this country to make a dent in our petroleum dependency."

President Bush sympathized with the families who exhaust their paychecks on groceries and gasoline, but he remains committed to the possibilities for ethanol.

"The high price of gasoline is going to spur more investment in ethanol as an alternative to gasoline," Bush said Tuesday. "And the truth of the matter is it's in our national interests that our farmers grow energy, as opposed to us purchasing energy from parts of the world that are unstable or may not like us."”

“Marko, it isn't the federal governments job to take income taxes and redistribute that money to subsidize the arts, oil companies or any other private operation. Now if they want to give tax credit to companies/organizations that provides those things then sure go ahead.

“People make up the government, corporations buy those people..........The People pay to subsidize incompetence and greed.”
MarkO
10:02:41 AM
4/29/08

I see a lot of that in the art community as well as the business community”

“And, all because we just can't say' NO 'to the car keys.”

“I tend to fall in the no subsidies for anyone camp... the market should be allowed to govern price and availibility”

“"Marko, it isn't the federal governments job to take income taxes and redistribute that money to subsidize the arts, oil companies or any other private operation."

I'm not disagreeing with you.

How does public funding of arts and culture compare to propping up military industry with public funds?”

“because the purpose of the federal government is to provide for Defense. let the states support the arts.

It has occurred to me that you might be thinking that I support subsidies for oil companies. I do not.”

“I think the government should subsidize religion. Then I can quit putting money in the basket.

Wouldn't be any subsidies if you were all like Nimble and didn't report that church stuff on your schedule'A'.HEHE”

“Good point. I don't even go to church, but my tax return looks like I'm buying a new batmobile for the pope every year.”

“"....because the purpose of the federal government is to provide for Defense."

Wasting money on gold-plated wonder weapons that are never used is hardly providing for defense especially when public education and general infrastructure is lacking.

Another purpose of government is to promote domestic tranquility, something that education and health can improve and maintain.”

“stretchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

“Only a stretch for those that need it to be.”

“Oh Marko, Bush already proved you don't need a Phd. to 'fix things up real good'.”

“So far it seems ethanol has done much more harm in the world market than good. More expensive than oil, less effective as a fuel, increasing considerably the hardship on millions dependent on grains for food. It doesn't make economic sense, scientific sense, or humanitarian sense. Greed sucks.”

“And what exactly have we been defending ourselves from lately?.....”

“Clinton: Let Uncle Sam Determine Profits
May 01, 2008 11:41 AM ET | James Pethokoukis

Hillary Clinton was on Fox News's The O'Reilly Factor last night and said what she would do about high gas prices:

In the short term, I do want a gas tax holiday but to pay for it by putting a windfall profits tax on the oil companies.... The oil companies have made out like bandits, and there is no basis for them to have these huge profits. They're not inventing anything new.... You set a baseline and, above that baseline, you begin to tax their profits.

As they say on my favorite TV show, Battlestar Galactica, "All this has happened before, and all of it will happen again." We tried a windfall profits tax in 1980, with lousy results. This from the Tax Foundation (boldface mine):

During the 1980s the federal government experimented with a new tax intended to limit the "windfall profits" of domestic oil companies. In reaction to the rise of energy prices during the late 1970s and the removal of price controls on the energy industry, President Jimmy Carter signed the Crude Oil Windfall Profits Tax Act into effect on April 2, 1980.... The windfall profits tax was forecasted to raise more than $320 billion between 1980 and 1989. However, according to the Congressional Research Service, the government collected only $80 billion in gross tax revenue ($146 billion in 2004 dollars). The net amount was actually less than this—roughly $40 billion—because the tax was deductible...CRS also found the windfall profits tax had the effect of decreasing domestic production by 3 percent to 6 percent, thereby increasing American dependence on foreign oil sources by 8 percent to 16 percent.... The 1980 windfall profits tax was also found to be highly burdensome for the industry to comply with and for the Internal Revenue Service to administer, especially in years when no revenue was raised. It seems unlikely that a new tax could be designed in a less burdensome fashion. Tax Foundation economists estimate that U.S. companies currently spend nearly $150 billion annually to comply with the federal income tax alone.”

“This thread will die when transportation nolonger can be used as an expense of doing businss.”

“Oil, what oil?

www.popularmechanics.com/automotive/new_cars/4237853.html?series=19”

“That's a cool vehicle, but it doesn't look very safe to be in, if you got in a collision.”

“Formula and Indy cars are better than what we drive and this thing is high ,light and well designed.

If the SUV is a standard of safety, better get into the truth of how horrible they really are. By the way this is not a car, it is a tricycle motor cycle(see the Cal license plate and no bumpers).

Let's face the fact that the rich are the only ones that can afford anything other than what we all drive and maybe they'll do the research to find the things that work and what doesn't. GM had the EC-1 , but killed it because the status quo of the millions of people that live off the economy of their other god awful things.

If you're afraid you'll never go to another gas station, they'll have groups that share the pain for their local unemployed Iranians.”

“I watched the news last night and thieves sawed off the catalytic converters on 30 new SUV's parked at a local car dealership. They said the metals inside are worth $200 per unit. The local police have reported some stolen converters at mall parking lots, but never this many stolen at one time.”

“That link needs an oil change or maybe I can't get through the filter.”

“I can't get it either.”

“grazie”

“Wish I knew who that salebored is.I met him on a mountain trail in late 2001. He was a tall guy with a beard ,funny hat sandles and a long shirt. I told him of TT and wrote that salebored name and the password on an expired AAA card and traded it for a neat walking stick.”

“Did you go upside Salebored's head with that neat stick?

Was the funny hat to cover a shiny dome?”

“The stick is broken , but I can't remember anything about a salebored after that stick broke- Oh wait, Kerry had onw of them there things.

That link rev is wright on about the black stuff, no?
last edited: 5/11/08 11:00:25 AM”

“The Dingle Peninsula is located in County Kerry.”

“Write on, dig it and all that groovy stuff.”