Big oil, meet Sarah Palin, the barracuda.

[themadscientist]

She will work with you but she WILL get you to work and on fair terms. I see the other side talking about the republicans being lap dogs to oil companies, not this little lady from Alaska; she stared em down and they blinked.

http://online.wsj.com/article/...s_wsj

Gov. Palin's interest in speeding up development of the state's resources, in part to boost revenues to the state and provide jobs, is evident in her clash with Exxon Mobil. Earlier this year, she attempted to revoke Exxon's license to the Point Thomson oil-and-gas field, one of the largest undeveloped fields in the U.S., for failing to develop it quickly enough. The company hasn't drilled a well there since 1982.

On Thursday, Exxon said it has brought in equipment and was preparing to drill a well this winter. An Exxon spokeswoman declined to comment when asked if Gov. Palin deserved any credit for accelerating development.

I know my liberal buddies will have trouble understanding it, it is called backbone, she has it. You want to talk change, here is someone who has done it. She has kicked *** from day one and will continue to do so as vice president.

[rn79870]

I'd point out that big oil in Alaska (where the state has complete control over the land) is much different than big oil in the global market (which she has no experience handling). But nice try.Now, let's look at the "heartbeat" issue, the issue that dropped McCain from even in the race to a 9 point underdog overnight.

[themadscientist]

Thank goodness Obama has experience, with, well, any oil company. Oh wait that's right, he doesn't. Wow, that must sting.

[rn79870]

Look reasonnably at her minor accomplishment and Obama's plan for energy independence in 10 years. No brainer, Obama clearly wins.

f course, I assume the issue will come up in the VP debates. I really look forward to that.

[themadscientist]

Yes, let's look at her accomplishment compared to Obama's like idea about oil or something. What was it again? Oh yes inflate my tires and get tune ups. The man is a genius. Too bad he has never actually done anything.

[telcoman]

She will work with you but she WILL get you to work and on fair terms. I see the other side talking about the republicans being lap dogs to oil companies, not this little lady from Alaska; she stared em down and they blinked.

http://online.wsj.com/article/...s_wsj

I know my liberal buddies will have trouble understanding it, it is called backbone, she has it. You want to talk change, here is someone who has done it. She has kicked *** from day one and will continue to do so as vice president.

Hmmm, lets see which candidate wants to raise taxes on oil companies and other large companies. Hmmm could it have been Obama?

Maybe I'm just having another senior moment or I'm dreaming?

One heartbeat away from the POTUS, sorry I don't think so.Lets give the Dems eight years and perhaps take another look at Sarah then?

Telcoman

[themadscientist]

It is the government that takes the biggest chunk out of your *** at the pump and what have they done? Did they find the oil? Did they buy the equipment and drill for it? Did they transport it and refine it? Nope but they get their own "windfall" try to understand something rather than just regurgitate talking points spoon fed to you by BOTH SIDES.

http://www.factsonfuel.org/gasoline/index.html

Taxes add a significant amount to the price of motor fuel and vary widely by state. For the first quarter of 2008, the average state gasoline tax is 28.6 cents per gallon, plus 18.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 47 cents per gallon. For diesel, the average state tax is 29.2 cents per gallon plus an additional 24.4 cents per gallon federal tax making the total 53.6 cents per gallon

Oil company profits are comparable to other industries. Don't beleive the hype.

[rn79870]

It is the government that takes the biggest chunk out of your *** at the pump and what have they done? ...the total 47 cents per gallon.

You seem to contradict yourself there tms. $0.47 isn't the biggest chunk of $3.80. 47 cents isn't even unreasonable.

[themadscientist]

Take out the cost of the product and figure the oil companies profit. Plug $.08 cents on the dollar into whatever you pay per gallon and see how it stacks up against $.47 cents per and tell me which is bigger.I don't contradict myself, I leave that to you lib types. If you don't think $.47 cents is unreasonable then you pay my share. I think it is.

[rn79870]

I'd rather not pay any tax, but unreasonable, no it's not. The US is still paying far, far less than most European and Asian countries, so we're doing something right here.

[themadscientist]

you really didn't answer that question now did you. I'll help you, and with math too, trust me that is bad when you need my help with math. Let's start with $4.00 a gallon as the tax suggested above is a constant and profits scale with price; so to be fair I'll make it pretty high.

4x.08 =32So the group that did all the work from "holy crap there's oil" to "that will be $4.oo a gallon sir" at a cost of $3.21 gets $0.32 out of that $4.00 while the group that did absolutely nothing to contribute to the process pockets $0.47 and you want to tax the previous more? Seriously? Are you sure you don't want to tell the latter to get out of your pocket? I mean to be fair what did they do? If you take money from them you get money back. If you take money from the company they don't pay out dividends on their stock which hits your investments, they cut people which increases unemployment and in the end a smart company would pass the cost on to you as much as possible in the end anyway. You would rather do that? really? Way to take care of that middle class.

[rn79870]

Sure I'd like to not pay any taxes. But I do and I will probably always have to.

Look at the price of gas here. California has expensive gas compared to most of the US, about $3.75 a gallon. Of that $0.50, probably more, is tax. Still, in respect to the rest of the world, where 6 to 8, even up to 16 dollar a gallon gas is the norm, I've got it good.

Don't forget what that tax revenue is used for. I've got nice roads, well lit for the most part, and long safe freeways to drive on. Somebody has to pay for the construction and the maintenance of those roads. The alternative are toll roads. We have a few toll roads here and they charge about 3 bucks for an 18 mile stretch. That's about one gallon of fuel to drive my car that far, or 50 cents. I'd rather pay 50 cents for 18 miles than 3 bucks for the same 18 miles if taxes didn't support the roads. That's how I do math anyway.

[OriginalWheelman]

I'd point out that big oil in Alaska (where the state has complete control over the land) is much different than big oil in the global market (which she has no experience handling). But nice try.

But Bush has experience with international oil. So he must be good then?

[rn79870]

I guess Anne Oakley is the Republican answer to oil. What must I have been thinking.

[audtatious]

You seem to contradict yourself there tms. $0.47 isn't the biggest chunk of $3.80. 47 cents isn't even unreasonable.

Break that down based on cost per barrel and the cost of refining and shipping and supplying along with the taxes the oil companies are already paying to the Gov and you will see that Gov as a whole is making 1 bazillion times the amount of money off of oil. Yeah, let's take an industry making an average of 7% profit and take MORE profit away from them, makes for a good plan. While we are at it, let's further punish corporations in the US in order to fund more socialistic programs for the population while also complaining that American corporations are not doing enough nor paying enough so the little guy can afford 32" rims on his Escalade.

You guys really are pathetic.

[rn79870]

Like I said Matt, the oil companies aren't the ones paying for the roads we all drive on. How do you propose to pay for them, a lottery? Donations? Higher taxes from the middle class?

Quit complaining about taxes on oil. They make, as I pointed out above, transportation 6 times cheaper than the free market roads are.

[Marenta]

One heartbeat away from the POTUS, sorry I don't think so.Lets give the Dems eight years and perhaps take another look at Sarah then?

Okay, I can't let this one go... Even though it's Telco and I know I should. The last time we had a Dem in office for 8 years, we got attacked and thousands of people died shortly after they left office.

While we do have a "Tag! You're it!" system going on in the US and it happened on Bush's watch, the culmination of what happened on September 11 was wholly due to Clinton.

If he weren't so concerned about wasting cigars and instead be concerned about the state of affairs in the world, we might have avoided some planes crashing into some buildings.

[dusred]

Like I said Matt, the oil companies aren't the ones paying for the roads we all drive on. How do you propose to pay for them, a lottery? Donations? Higher taxes from the middle class?

Quit complaining about taxes on oil. They make, as I pointed out above, transportation 6 times cheaper than the free market roads are.

I'm mostly a lurker here in the Politics forum but this thread interests me.

First off, the Gov. seemed to make nice roads just fine back when fuel was $1.00 per gallon and road tax was about 15 cents per gallon (i'm just guessing the tax amount). If I'm right the cities and states funds pay for most of the roads and their maintenance. IMO, this tax is justified; however where does the other 1/2 that goes to the Federal Gov. go? Grants to Cities for improvements? maybe some of it.

Were does the rest go? Who knows? For all I know the Gov't spends it on beer and Cig's.

[rn79870]

Federal highways (interstate highways) and matching federal funds for state projects. Costs have increased greatly over the years, as have the number and length/width of roads. We have one that is 12 lanes wide where two freeways merge south of here that is (almost) completed.

[dusred]

Costs of making roads have increased because of the fuel prices.

There are bigger, better roads, yes. But the reason it is necessary to build more and larger roads is because there are more cars/people driving on them and thus more gas is sold and thus more $$$ for the Gov't from fuel tax.

The think the Gov't doesn't realize is that when you decrease tax you increase revenue. If fuel prices were less people would drive more, and thus buy more gas.

This country needs another Regan.

The last thing Oil companies need is more taxes and regulations because they will be passed right on to us, it will effect all who buy Gas. Raising taxes on Oil companies would solve one problem and create another one that is even bigger.

Speaking of Jefferson here is a quote from him: " Bad Government results from too much Government ".

[Qwerty1942]

If he weren't so concerned about wasting cigars and instead be concerned about the state of affairs in the world, we might have avoided some planes crashing into some buildings.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/....html

Quote »Mike Allen wrote in The Washington Post in August of 2001, as Bush's first long Crawford vacation wrapped up: "The length of the trip revived old questions about Bush's work ethic." Of course, no one knew at the time that Bush had, during the first week of that vacation, waved off the now-famous memo specifically for the president titled " Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in US." According to author Ron Suskind, Bush heard his CIA briefer out -- then told him, "All right. You've covered your ***, now." [/quote]see, it goes both ways.

[Jager]

sorry blaming sept 11th on bush is rather ridiculous, blaming it on clinton is not exactly fair either, however his moves with the head of the CIA and budget cuts did get less CIA funding and resulted in a lack of intel for MANY operations we were involved in, even the clintons admit that, so september 11th could have been blunted or dealt with like many attempts we DONT hear about if funding was there and leadership at the head CIA position was as well.

as for oil if they have land leases to drill and they arent, i want them to lose the lease, or be forced to drill, and I want more US infrastructure to refine and process crude oil, giving companies tax breaks on specific infrastructure we must have to be more independent is a good thing. it also allows more jobs that pay well.

[Qwerty1942]

1998 Bill Clinton on launching military operations on Osama bin Laden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDQBsgpEdvc

Clinton speaking out against not doing more about Bin Laden

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYm1TH23e9E

[Jager]

have you read clintons biography? if not I highly recommend reading his and hillary's thoughts on military deployment after Somalia and Mogadishu. its a telling story about why we didnt go to rwanda and we didnt take on potential terrorlst threats earlier.

its good to see he knows what we have to do now, but he admits he made a series of grave mistakes during his term due to bad intel.

[Bwana]

Do you guys ever stick to a topic? Drilling in AK = fuel tax = Sept. 11th?

The problems surrounds fuel tax and the money it garnishes is management. Where is the money supposed to go? Theoretically it should be used for building, repairing, engineering, maintaining and designing the american roadway system, both on the state and federal level. The question is, how much of it is actually used for those purposes and how efficiently?

While I have no hard information on the subject I would suspect that mismanagement is rife and that the system is extremely top heavy with much of the funding being absorbed by the system itself. I personally know people employed by my state DOT who are collecting 3 months of paid vacation a year, these guys are truck drivers.

Another issue is the contracts negotiated with private contractors to build and repair our roadways. These projects are nearly always completed years after proposed at costs astronomically higher than bid. Accountability is apparently non existent. Why this is permitted I can't understand but I suspect the reason is political in nature.

[ishkabibble]

The think the Gov't doesn't realize is that when you decrease tax you increase revenue.

Demand for gas is relatively inelastic.

[ishkabibble]

Okay, I can't let this one go... Even though it's Telco and I know I should. The last time we had a Dem in office for 8 years, we got attacked and thousands of people died shortly after they left office.

While we do have a "Tag! You're it!" system going on in the US and it happened on Bush's watch, the culmination of what happened on September 11 was wholly due to Clinton.

If he weren't so concerned about wasting cigars and instead be concerned about the state of affairs in the world, we might have avoided some planes crashing into some buildings.

Strange that you post this considering your previous rant about personal responsibility. It happened on Bush's watch, and there is no way you can know whether or not more previous funding for the CIA would have made any difference.

We have a Republican in office now, and even more Americans have died.


Modified by ishkabibble at 5:35 PM 9/1/2008

[szh]

I guess Anne Oakley is the Republican answer to oil. What must I have been thinking.

Yeah! It is about time we took the big oil interests and shot them.

Z

[telcoman]

Sure I'd like to not pay any taxes. But I do and I will probably always have to.

Look at the price of gas here. California has expensive gas compared to most of the US, about $3.75 a gallon. Of that $0.50, probably more, is tax. Still, in respect to the rest of the world, where 6 to 8, even up to 16 dollar a gallon gas is the norm, I've got it good.

Don't forget what that tax revenue is used for. I've got nice roads, well lit for the most part, and long safe freeways to drive on. Somebody has to pay for the construction and the maintenance of those roads. The alternative are toll roads. We have a few toll roads here and they charge about 3 bucks for an 18 mile stretch. That's about one gallon of fuel to drive my car that far, or 50 cents. I'd rather pay 50 cents for 18 miles than 3 bucks for the same 18 miles if taxes didn't support the roads. That's how I do math anyway.

Tolls, you want to hear about tolls. My EZ Pass account runs over $70 per month for my commuting on the Garden State Parkway and the NJ Turnpike.Both are well maintained but the Turnpike has the edge during snowstorms.

State gasoline tax is one of the lowest in the nation and technically it is against the NJ State law to pump your own gas.

Telcoman

[szh]

We have a Republican in office now, and even more Americans have died.

Yes, unfortunate and truly sad that our Military is affected by our political requirements and decisions. And, yes, I for one do not like the reasons about why we went into Iraq.

But, it is still way less than the Americans who died in Vietnam obeying the orders of Democrat President L. B. Johnson. And those were for equally poor political reasons.

My point is that this particular issue sword cuts both ways. So, using it to denounce the current Republican admin means relatively little - the issues of the time demand a response, for better or worse. You may or may not agree with the response, but it is their job to make a decision and carry it out - that is what we elected them to do.

Z