This is just wrong on so many levels

[Timm Hutchins]

Roger, you do have a choice. You could purchase an electric car. You could buy a horse and ride that, you could walk, you could ride a bike, etc. The only way those things are not practical for a person is if you choose not use them. You also could buy a converstion kit and run your vehicle on other products. Charleston SC does this with their cabs and other vehicles. Other choices are always out there.



Oil is a traded commodity. Big Oil and/or OPEC can not raise the price of oil on their own and bring down anything. Anything that has its value determined on an open market can be moved based on regular people. You are seeing it right now. Oil has dropped over $20/bbl in the last two weeks. Why? B/c the demand has decreased and inventories have grown. This is based on regular people making adjustments to their habits. The other major force in oil prices seeming so high is b/c of the week value of the dollar. If oil was at $40/bbl now, it would be too low in other countries that have a stronger economy. They in turn would over buy and then stock pile it. The way for people to turn this around is to continue to support the economy. In particular, the US companies. General logic is to stop spending and hoard money during bad economic times, but that is the opposite of what needs to happen for the economy to turn around.

 

[Scott Doughtie]

Trucking is not the only reason food prices have risen. It is a portion, but not the whole. The cost of energy as a whole has risen, so it costs more to run a plant and/or run a tractor in the field.



My company produces plastic food and beverage containers. It takes natural gas and petroleum to make the plastic resin. It takes a lot of heat to melt down the resin for the blow molding/injection molding process - we use a lot of energy to create that heat.



Our prices have gone through the roof for everything, thus we pass it on to our customers, who then pass it on to the consumer.



Another factor people tend to forget about is the weak Dollar. It has created shortages in several raw material areas. The Europeans can buy it more cheaply here, including transportation back to Europe, than they can at home. This has affected my company as the resin market is now tight. All of our resin is going to Europe and all of Europe's resin is going to Asia. The result, another price increase to pass on to you and me.

 

[Jack Wiley]

Free market capitalism is sweet ! Long live the Misses School and Fredrick Hayek.



John

 

[TrainTrac]

This was first published during last quarter's frenzy over "big oil's obscene profits". It's still relevant now:

In defense of oil companies



It's fashionable to characterize Big Oil as greedy gougers that should have their profits taxed more heavily. Here's why that's foolish thinking.



By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large

Last Updated: April 29, 2008: 12:43 PM EDT



NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Oil producer BP (BP) reported a 63% increase in profits Tuesday to a whopping $7.6 billion. Royal Dutch Shell's (RDS.B) first-quarter earnings increased 25% to a record $9.1 billion.



Chevron (CVX, Fortune 500) and Apache (APA, Fortune 500) are both expected to post huge increases in profits later this week.



And when Exxon Mobil (XOM, Fortune 500) reports its first-quarter results Thursday, if it doesn't report a record profit, it will come awfully close. Analysts are projecting net income of $11.4 billion.



With all this in mind, it wouldn't surprise me to see more politicians and even average Americans call for oil companies to have their so-called windfall profits taxed more heavily.



Just check out the reader reaction to the recently released Fortune 500 list, which has plenty of energy companies on it, and you'll get a taste for how much rancor people have towards oil companies.



But I think a windfall tax is a bad idea. Sure, there are plenty of reasons to complain about oil companies. Several energy CEOs are obscenely compensated. The industry could be doing a better job of finding new sources of energy to lessen the dependence on oil. And don't get me started on their environmental track records.

Jobs in the oil patch



Here's a look at why I'm defending oil companies (and preparing for the flood of reader hate mail.)



There is a lot of concern right now about job losses and rising unemployment. Companies that are facing tough times (paging Citigroup) have been forced to layoff thousands of workers. But the energy sector has been largely immune to the problems in other industries.



I looked at the annual reports for the largest 25 energy companies in the S&P 500 and found that 20 of these firms had more employees at the end of last year than they did at the end of 2006. So the oil boom is creating jobs.



According to the most recent figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, average weekly wages for nonsupervisory workers in the natural resources and mining industry (which includes oil and gas extraction workers) were nearly 70% higher than the national average.



In addition, weekly wages rose nearly 8% from a year ago compared to a 4.6% increase overall.

Gushing stock prices and dividends



Instead of bemoaning the amount of profits that oil companies make, people might have been better off investing in more energy firms.



Exxon Mobil's stock is up 15% in the past year. Shares of oil services giant Schlumberger have soared 36%. And deepwater oil driller Transocean's stock has skyrocketed nearly 80%.



The oil companies have also been rewarding shareholders with more than strong stock price gains. Of the 36 energy companies in the S&P 500, only five don't pay a dividend. And of the 31 companies that do pay dividends, only three have failed to increase their payouts in the past few years. Chevron and ConocoPhillips (COP, Fortune 500) both pay dividends that yield over 2%.



Could these companies afford to pay higher dividends? Probably. But the oil companies also do need to make sure they don't dedicate too much cash to give back to shareholders...which brings me to my next point.

Oil companies aren't as profitable as you think



I sometimes get the impression that people think oil executives hold clandestine meetings where they unilaterally decide to set the price of oil and gas in order to maximize their profits. After maniacally lau

 

[TomT]

Exxon is making more profit because people use and need oil. Not because they are exploiting us.



Supply and Demand people...read an economics textbook.

 

[Bill Barber]

TJR, RE fixed incomes, if your trying to make do on SS, that is fixed, if your paying 80 bux a mo.for your medicare suppliments and 200 bux a month on your meds on fixed income you are in dire straights.

Spend less, thats a joke, they have fixed expenses, some eat dog food for dinner.

Change your situation to make more, thats the ticket TJR, the job market is really hot these days for 70 and 80 yr olds that have had triple bypasses done and Bi-lateral joint replacement.

:wacko:

 

[Dave S 2]

$90K per minute...$5.4mil per hour?

Meh...PEANUTS!!!!!!!!!!!!



http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/01/business/01oil.html?bl&ex=1217649600&en=fb42d6956a44f73a&ei=5087%0A

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill Barber,



I think you missed my point. I appreciate the plight of the elderly on a "limited" income.



I think that should be the term: "limited"



That is more accurate a description of the situation, IMHO.



If Bill Gates decides tomorrow to work no more and to just sit back and draw on his retirement savings then he will have a "fixed income".



Fixed income, again, implies that the income doesn't or can't change, which I appreciate. But I submit that most everyone has a "fixed" income.



The issue isn't that the income of the elderly is fixed, as is mine, or yours, or anyone else that doesn't get paid some random amount each week...no; the issue is that many elderly's income is "limited!"



As I said, it's just a word pet peeve of mine. Nothing against you using it, or against you.



TJR

 

[Bill Barber]

the elderly have no way to earn more TJR, they are Fixed

take no offense at what you say.

Hell, I'm 61, semi retired, work two days a week in my chosen prof (medical)

The rest of the time I restore clocks (for money) I have a small pressure washing buis

Do maybe 4 jobs a week at 4 hrs perjob, do a shitload of plumbing and carpentry work in my retirement community, more work than I can handle actually, maybe 30 hrs a week at 35 bux an hr.

I work for much older people, people that have not the ability to earn more income.

I have seen how they live, firsthand, and 30% of the time I work for free, materials only.

You reap what you sow.

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill Barber,



Everyone reaps what the sow. The elderly person at 70 that has no skills and no ability or desire to augment their "limited" income, as well as the 61 year old, semi-retired person like yourself that will probably stay active, earning, and feeling young for years by keeping some "irons in the fire" for decades to come.



We have to change our mentality AND our expectations with regards to the "so-called" elderly. People are living well into their 80s, and that number is only going to rise on average. We can't assume that people have no options and can't take care of themselves and then some, once they hit some imaginary age line (63, 65).



I see lots of "so-called" elderly around here bitching about the rising costs of real estate taxes, yet they sit on homesteads that they could sell and pocket $300k to $500k (net).



Cry me a river.



TJR

 

[Bill Barber]

Cry you a river, not on a bet, ever pay capital gains taxes TJR?

 

[Thomas Rogers]

Bill Barber...I've paid capital gains taxes for many of the past several years (moving around stocks and other investments). Often I have offset CG with CL (capital loss).



Just as bad as cap gains, I have paid AMT for at least the past 5 years. Ouch.



TJR

 

[Richard L]

What is so strange about this story is what I heard on the news last night. Dispite Exxon/Mobil's tremendous profits, Wall Steeters are unhappy because they thought that they should have made an even bigger profit.



I think that is starting to show that these companies (not just oil companies) are being driven by the greed of the stock holders and Wall Street wheelers and dealers.



I am beginning to believe that our whole economy is based on Wall Street speculators and we are in for another very rude awakening if we have not noticed it yet!



...Rich

 

[user 62394]

Exxon's $11B pofit doesn't bother me in the least. Good for them. Way to run a business.



Now GM's $15.5B quarterly loss, that's bad.



Rocks

 

[TrainTrac]

Ditto, MTU. Or how about another one that's near and dear to this site's members?



Ford reported a second quarter loss of $8.7B. That's the largest reported loss in the company's 105-year history.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

some eat dog food for dinner.

I smell something... it's called B.S. This was a statement that the Democrats made about the changes that Regan and Bush Sr. were makeing. It turnes out that they could not find anyone to step forward to actually admitting to eating dog food since it's all they could afford.



Dog food actually costs quite a bit more than other staples. If you're eating dog food it's either:

a) You choose to because it tastes good, easy to prepare, has all the nutrients you need

-or-

b) You are a political hack and are trying to make a statement



You choose.



My grandparents are in their late 80's. They are on a limited income. They get social security. It wasn't enough. My grandfather works part time, on his own schedule on the jobs he wants to do. They also own 4 rental houses.



If your income is "limited" and you can't afford the things you need, then "unlimit" your income. It doesn't matter if your 10 or 100. There are things you can do (ok, so invalids, and bedridden have an issue). You can work from home on lots of things. You can clean houses. You can work, you just choose not to.



Where is it MY responcibility to fund someone else's retirement? I will help my family where I can, but I fail to see where Roger, a 65 year old who didn't save a dime his whole life and now retires on social security alone and is in perfect health needs MY help to pay for his golf expenses. Sorry. No compassion on that end.



Pay capital gains? So they will pay $50K (thanks to Democrats by the way) on $300K, pocket $250K, buy a small condo and live off $150K plus SS. If invested right, that would be more than sufficient.



Social Security WAS NEVER SUPPOSED to be YOUR SOLE RETIREMENT FUND. In fact, when origionally setup, very few people would ever get SS.



Let this all be an example to those under 55... YOU are your responcibility. Your retirement is best left TO YOU. YOUR INCOME is YOUR ONLY means of getting ahead. It would suck to retire at 65 with $300k in debt between house, car, toys and credit card because you had to have the latest and greatest and didn't plan ahead. Again, sucks to be you. Sell some junk and live off your means.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

Oh yeah, back to the oil companies....



What you don't hear is that Exxon-Mobil has paid RECORD TAXES as well... Income, sales, use, etc.



In 2007, Exxon alone paid $30 BILLION in taxes. Which was a record that surpassed the previous record of $28 BILLION (Also by Exxon) in 2006..





They pay 41% tax on their income. So let's do the math....



Exxon made $11.68 Billion in the quarter. That's 59% of their income. So the Federal Government got $8.11 BILLION just in the quarter. And what did the federal government do to "earn" that $8.11 Billion? Called the CEO's to testify before them. Told the sheeple and media that "We will tax these winfall profits'.



Yeah. Appearantly 41% is not enough for the libtards.

 

[Ryan Schaecher]

I hate to keep doing this but....





According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available:



Total number of tax returns: 130 million



Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million



Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion



Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion





So to be clear, in 2006, (1) company, ExxonMobil, paid as much tax as did 65 million households COMBINED.



Perspective, sheeple need some.

 

[EddieS'04]

I take offense to some of you that say senior income is not limited. My dad is 82 and medicaly not able to work. MY mom is 78 and medicaly not able to work. I wont go into the details of their different ailments. They cant work from home, not tech savy. Lucky enough to get the remote for the sat tv to work. My siblings and I, are always on key as to who will go first. Because we will have to make him or her, sell their house and live with us.



So for any of you that think they dont have to have a fixed income. "BITE ME"



By the way Obama is going to give $1000 of the oil companies profit. If you believe that. "BITE ME"

 

[Bill Barber]

Shek, your living in LA LA land, where can one by a small condo for a 100K?

So you have 150 K to invest, put it in a CD at 3% max and pay tax on the interest, what do you have left over to live on?

You say the elderly choose not to work, (wrong again)

You say invalids and bedridden have issues (FN a right they do)

In 4 yrs when I start sucking your money out of the SS system, you will be in my thoughts on the way to the bank.