Who says we tax less? I believe or corporate and capital gains tax rates are higher than many other industrial countries.
So does the government give them $15 billion back in the years that they struggle? That's just $15 billion that they companies will pass to the consumer, or not spend on other things, like IT, research and development, new exploration, etc. The last place it will come out of is stockholders. The first place it'll come out of is consumers and employees as well as other capital investments. Its just taking away $15 billion Exxon would have spent with IBM, HP, or Dell. Its $15 billion out of the pockets of employees, or thousands of layoffs. Its $15 billion that might have been used in resarch for alternative energy source, new exploration, cleaner consumption research, etc. Dumb. 10-12% margins are NOT terrible. They are fair for a world leader in an industry. People without financial sense are making real dollar observations without taking into account the cost or the scope.
Want to see a windfall to the oil & gas companies? Withdraw from Iraq, leave them high and dry, allow Iran to re-initiate a conflict with Iraq, and watch the region totally go to schit. That ought to add....oh about $100 to the price of oil. Get ready for $8/gallon gas if the libs apply that plan...
Yeah... I'm sure Iraqi production is at an all-time high right now. Typical Republican fear mongering.
So you guys think everything will be hunky-dory in the region if the US leaves? That's the height of naivete right there, folks. Sounds like an Obama proposal... Iran has been at Iraq's throats since the 70's. Think they'll just lay down their arms, embrace and sing cumbaya? Hilarious. Arguing for lower oil prices and withdrawing from Iraq just doesn't mix... typical obama-supporter confusion...
I dont give a damn if Iran has been in Iraq's throat. We went there looking for weapons of mass destruction and they weren't there. Then it was "Al Qaeda is widespread in Iraq." Then it became "we are liberating the Iraqi people." AND NOW ITS "OIL PRICES WILL GO THROUGH THE ROOF!!!" Give me an F'ing break T_J. Our men and women are dying and losing limbs for NOTHING! At least let them go after that rat-b*stard Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan or wherever the F he is.
Those people should be punished for trying to capitalize on an oil bubble like the people who tried to capitalize on the credit bubble. Oil at this level is not sustainable. At this point it begins feasible to use alternative energies.
Punish people for trying to capitalize on investment opportunities. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my life. Honestly. You exhibit extreme ignorance on this topic. Extreme. Please either have your pappy reply for you in the future or just withdraw from the thread. TIA
so they should be punish for continuing to do the business that they have been doing for decades? that is simply the most insane and ridiculous thing that i have ever heard. and oil at this level is very sustainable...get used to it. just because it is the most expensive that it has ever been doesn't mean it still isn't cheap.
All signs indicate that you are correct. This increase in the price of oil is much different than that of the 1980s boom. In fact, we still haven't reached the inflation-adjusted levels of 1981. Although technology (specifically geology and drilling technologies) has massively improved in recent times, producing oil is extremely expensive (much more so than natural gas) and still risky and the REWARD SHOULD ALWAYS MATCH THE RISK. That being said, stocks are different and will adjust pretty quickly. Once they reach a certain level and the accelaration of oil prices decreases, then we will start to see people realizing some gains and investing elsewhere.
People who are trying to bid up oil at this point are playing with fire. You would probably have been saying the same thing about those guys tying to speculate on houses. It seemed like a good opportunity at the time.
I have no problem them making a lot of money. Just tax them accordingly. I mean they get too many breaks as it is. Oil prices right now are so high is because of the weakness of the dollar and speculators gone wild. The head of opec in September of last year said 80 dollar prices was too high now we are at 120. Oil shale technology is viable at 60 bucks, if we didn't have these environmental restriction.
The inflation-adjusted high was at $103 in April 1980- we hit that in March. We got to around $120 a few days ago. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/03/business/worldbusiness/03cnd-oil.html?ex=1362286800&en=50b6611134f
we need to get all spending under control. i don't know how one accomplishes this task either. clearly you have to maintain the infrastructure of the country but social programs and military spending (aka iraq war) need to be cut back. i think we can all agree that would go much further than increasing taxes. i don't think people really understand how much stress the national debt puts on our nation's economy. i really feel america is on an uncorrectable path with the debt and deficit spending. the numbers aren't even real anymore. i am very afraid it is going to take an economic implosion for things to change. we've got something like 9.3 TRILLION in national debt and like another 47-50 TRILLION in off balance sheet national debt. does anyone really believe we can service this debt if we don't act immediately? i honestly can't imagine what would happen to the stock market if one day china decided it wasn't going to buy our national debt. we would probably gap down 20% and halt for the day. clearly, china wouldn't do that because it would be totally destructive to them but that kind of scenario is what i am trying to get across. this is an article from a few months ago from thestreet.com. it summarizes the problems pretty clearly. imo things could play out exactly like we saw the subprime/credit breakdown play out. things will be going great until their not and then you have total breakdown of the system. in a situation like this we would be ****ed. http://www.thestreet.com/s/the-state-of-the-union--and-its-debt/markets/marketfeatures/10400586.html The State of the Union -- and Its Debt 01/27/08 - 11:15 AM EST Terry Savage The financial state of the union is a mess. That's not a surprise. It's in the headlines -- from the mortgage crisis to the wild gyrations of the stock market. Surely President Bush's State of the Union address will touch on those financial issues. But will the president tell the truth, the whole truth, about the numbers and the extent of our nation's financial woes over the long run? Will he acknowledge the true cost of the emergency economic-stimulus package now being worked out by Congress? The Institute for Truth in Accounting is determined that the real numbers will not only be spoken and written, but considered by all the candidates running for office this year. This nonprofit, nonpartisan institute has created a Web site to bring the financial facts to the public attention. Prominently displayed on the home page are two running series of numbers that increase almost faster than the eye can capture. The first is the "official" National Debt, which was $9,193,222,137,000.00 at the instant I checked. (That's the figure taken from the Treasury Department's Web site.) The number is growing by $1 million every minute! Beneath it is another number, also constantly clicking higher. This, according to the Institute, is the true national debt figure: $55,146,513,890,000.00. This calculation of the national debt includes all the "off balance sheet" liabilities of the government, such as its promises to pay benefits to Social Security and Medicare recipients far into the future, as well as military and civilian government workers' pensions. In other words, the true liability of the United States of America is not only the Treasury bills, notes and bonds we sell to finance our annual deficit and past deficits. To get to the true liability, you must include all the promises we've made to make payments in the future. That's how you get a staggering $55 trillion national debt! Off Balance Sheet No one talks about those "off balance sheet" obligations. It's as if you only looked at your checkbook balance to figure out your family finances -- and ignored the amount due on your mortgage and your credit cards. That would totally misrepresent the state of your finances. Do you think you could get a loan if you presented only your checking-account statements? Surely your banker would demand the complete picture. And that's just what's happening around the world, as central banks have been recognizing that the U.S. is on a collision course with debt. The result is evident in the value of the U.S. dollar, which has collapsed over the past year. Foreign central banks have been dumping their dollars in favor of other currencies, as well as commodities like gold. Of course, those foreign central banks still have huge holdings of U.S. Treasury securities. The U.S. remains the most stable country on the planet, and the safest place to hold assets during a crisis. And, the foreign central banks earn interest on the Treasury securities they hold. So far, they've kept holding our debt as the Fed pushes rates down to stimulate the economy. Political Solutions? All of the political candidates are rushing to give the American public their solutions to an economic slowdown. Most involve sending a check from the government, a rebate on the tax dollars that have been deducted from our paychecks all year long. In the long run, those checks will only increase the deficits, and thus increase our borrowing demand, eventually pushing rates higher. The only other alternative is for the Fed to "print" (create) the extra money. That is the definition of inflation: excess money creation. As we all learned in the late 1970s, if inflation seems likely, lenders demand higher rates to compensate for the falling buying power of the currency. If you're thinking the government is caught in a tight spot, you're right. In previous recessions the government could "stimulate" the economy and get growth back on track. Now, because we're so indebted to the rest of the world, our options are limited. If they won't buy our new debt, who will? The American people need to ask their president, and their presidential candidates, how they'll deal with this tough issue. Truth in Accounting Institute founder Sheila Weinberg says: "It isn't pretty. But we have to face the truth -- or we could face disaster." That's definitely The Savage Truth.
yes they need to end the subsidies. they are outdated. quit listening to opec. if you do pay attention to them you would know they talk out of both sides of their mouth. they are a cartel and they are full of crap when they say stuff. further these oil prices are not speculators gone wild. speculators gone wild is what has gone on in the fertilizer markets and food markets. that market will normalize itself. however, oil prices are here to stay. they are not a bubble. the production that people believed would come online at higher prices simply has not come to fruition. just read a quarterly report from exxon or schlumberger. SLB is pretty up front about things. production is declining at this point in time. who knows if it will increase in the future or not. maybe we will look back on this era and view it as the drought of oil production. maybe there will be more and more massive fields that are discovered like the 2 in brazil. who knows...the only thing that is known now is that oil production is declining.
