Democrat Solution -- Old Failed Policies -- Punish Success, Raise Prices

Senate Republicans blocked a proposal Tuesday to tax the windfall profits of the largest oil companies, despite pleas by Democratic leaders to use the measure to address America's anger over $4 a gallon gasoline.

The Democratic energy package would have imposed a tax on any "unreasonable" profits of the five largest U.S. oil companies and given the federal government more power to address oil market speculation that the bill's supporters argue has added to the crude oil price surge.

(...) "The American people are clamoring for relief at the pump," said Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., but if taxes are increased on the oil companies "they will get exactly what they don't want. The bill will raise taxes, increase imports."

Associated Press

Raising taxes sure does seem to be the default position of the Democrats isn't it!

Taxing away your freedom doesn't leave you very free does it.

Corporations aren't evil and taxes on corporations are taxes on us -- either via higher prices, lower employment, or lower investment returns. Corporations don't pay.

Here is the strange thing -- and I've heard O'Reilly repeat it often -- why don't the oil companies all lower the price and give us a break?

Well, for a few reasons. In many states it is actually illegal for gas to be sold below a certain margin, undercutting competitors.

If one company lowered their price then others would follow and they would be accused of colluding illegally.

If the price of the company suffered at all, the company, the CEO, and everyone else involved would be sued and possibly held criminally responsible for any loss investors suffered.

Making money doing something legal and moral should be admired and praised, not demonized! Especially when we have made it as hard to do business as any business out there.
DKK

The USA Is The Saudi Arabia of ...Oil -- Congress Won't Let Exxon Get To It

Energy: Exxon Mobil's CEO says his energy company's "corporate social responsibility" is to produce more energy. While Congress wants to tax oil profits, he wants to spend them to find more oil.

While some companies like British Petroleum run endless ads touting their capitulation to the global warming religion by saying they are "beyond" petroleum, Exxon Mobil has been refreshingly unapologetic about developing the resources beneath our feet and making money doing it.

Speaking to reporters after the annual meeting of Exxon stockholders Wednesday, CEO Rex Tillerson shoved political correctness aside and insisted the science on climate change is not settled and "that to not have a debate on it is irresponsible" and that to "suggest we know everything about these issues is irresponsible."

(...)

According to the Institute for Energy Research, "The United States has 2 trillion barrels of oil shale. This is more than 7 times the amount of crude oil reserves found in Saudi Arabia, and is enough to meet current U.S. demand for over 250 years."

Out west we may have what could be called a "Persia on the Plains."

A Rand Corporation study says the Green River Formation, which covers parts of Colorado, Utah and Wyoming, has the largest known oil shale deposits in the world, holding from 1.5 to 1.8 trillion barrels of crude.

Of that, some 800 billion barrels are recoverable with current technology — roughly triple Saudi Arabia's current known reserves.

Nick Loris of the Heritage Foundation says: "If full-scale production begins within five years, the U.S. could completely end its dependence on OPEC by 2020." That's quite a forecast, given that nearly a half of our oil today comes from that monopoly.

Indeed, there is enough North American petroleum trapped in oil sands and shale rock to form our own OPEC.

While OPEC, the Saudis, and even the U.S. Congress are telling us to pound sand, at least one U.S. company wants to get energy from it.

The Democrats in Congress would rather tax the oil companies then allow them to use those profits to drill for our own oil!

Foolish Washington that keeps costing you every day.

By the way, we are the Saudi of Coal also -- WTF is our government stopping us from using our own resources.
DKK
IBD -- Getting Oil From A Stone

Bootz Points Out -- Durbin Makes A Fool Of Himself

It was nothing less than a show trial. The Senate brought the leaders of the largest oil companies to Washington DC for a little grandstanding yesterday. Right there in the middle of all of this was Illinois Senator Dick Durbin.

I'm sorry, but this has to be said. Dick Durbin is either a shameless demagogue or a complete dumbass. I'm going with dumbass. This fool couldn't tell you the difference between a profit and a profit margin if his reelection depended on it. He sat up there on his fat ass and said to these oil company executives "Does it trouble any of you when you see what you're doing to us?" So ... there you go. These high gas prices? This is all being done to us by the evil oil companies. They're doing it to us with their huge profits.

We have increasing demands worldwide ... and a diminishing supply of oil ... and Durbin wants the uneducated people of this country to believe that these high gas prices are something that the oil company executives are "doing to us."

Why can't these guys defend themselves? Why can't just one of them say: "Tell us, Senator, do you honestly believe that this government; the government that gave us Social Security and pork spending, could run these oil companies any better than we do? The American people instinctively know that if this was a government operation they would be waiting for days just to be able to put ten gallons of gas in their tank. Frankly, Senator, you don't know the difference between an profit and a profit margin, and you would be hard pressed to make a successful attempt at running a corner gas station."

Yeah .. I know. In my dreams.

DKK

Neal Boortz

Maxine "Chavez" Waters Unveils The Democrats Agenda

Video: Maxine Waters threatens to nationalize America’s oil industry

This, "solution," that the Democrats find as their default position (rather then say -- letting us use our own oil!) is frightening and has been tried before. The end result is typically shortages and prices that would make $4 gas look like a gift!
DKK

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