If the problem is refinery capacity, we should have these high gas prices all the time. So, then the oil companies claim it's because they can't use MTBE and are forced to switch to ethanol. But Bush gave the oil companies tax breaks and subsidies and all sorts of cash and prizes so they could invest in infrastructure, you know, "trickle down." Seems like something sticks and it's not the ethanol.
Posted by ann at April 25, 2006 08:19 AMum, that's "stinks" not "sticks"
Posted by ann at April 25, 2006 08:20 AMAnd then Democrats should detail how much money Big Oil has given to the GOP and Bush/Cheney these last six years. It would also help to note that Bush is using this to relax clean air additive requirements once again on Big Oil.
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And Amercans wonder how Brazil can become energy independent, but the US, the mighty, mighty U. S. of A., sonmehow can't figure it out. Yea, I wonder... The BS from this admin is so thick we could use it as a source of methane gas for years to come.
Posted by oppressmenot at April 25, 2006 08:23 AMwell, our economy is strong and so are china's and india's. lots of demand for crude. that's for sure. if it *really* bothered folks, they'd drive less. and they're not.
but we live in a culture were folks have no problems dropping $4 a pop on coffee at Starbucks or spending money buying bottled water when tap water is free.
Posted by muckdog at April 25, 2006 08:38 AManother unfortunate aspect of our country is that we have to listen to propaganda spewing assholes like muckfuck..why not stay on your own blog loser?
Posted by headxray at April 25, 2006 08:58 AMOh. No one cares about high gas prices. Well, I guess this is just another thinly-veiled political attempt by Bush trying to curry favor with the ignorant masses - he must have seen the latest poll. Either that or he just wants to let oil companies pollute the air more so that more kids will develop asthma and the good folks at Glaxo can keep their profits up.
Posted by ann at April 25, 2006 09:11 AMActually, refining capacity is a bit of an issue since the oil companies actually reduced it during the '80's.
Of course, if Bush was really serious about reducing our dependence on oil, maybe he should have a chat with a few high school kids.
Face it: This administration, along with damn near every single one before it, doesn't care about reducing oil dependency. And why would they? Oil companies pump millions into campaign coffers, and the politicos just drink it up.
Posted by Unholy Moses at April 25, 2006 09:52 AMbut we live in a culture were folks have no problems dropping $4 a pop on coffee at Starbucks or spending money buying bottled water when tap water is free.
muck, You'd buy bottled water also if you ever worked at Water Treatment Plant that cut corners.
The oil companies tell us that they are simply passing along the increased cost of using more ethanol, decreased refining capacity, and higher prices for middle eastern oil. Yet, they are reporting record profits with Exxon recently jumping ahead of Wal-Mart as the most profitable corporation in the world. If they are just passing along their increased costs, shouldn't their profits remain about the same. It certainly sounds like Bush-think to me.
Posted by PretzelsOne at April 25, 2006 10:33 AMwell, our economy is strong and so are china's and india's. lots of demand for crude. that's for sure. if it *really* bothered folks, they'd drive less. and they're not.
but we live in a culture were folks have no problems dropping $4 a pop on coffee at Starbucks or spending money buying bottled water when tap water is free.
Muckdog, people are driving less, but many people find it difficult to curtail driving because they still have to go grocery shopping, drive to work, etc. Because of the high gas cost, they are cutting expenses elsewhere.
Not everyone can afford bottled water and $4.00 for coffee at Starbucks. Those are the same people driving SUVs and have plenty of money to throw it away on expensive self-indulgences. Maybe in your world that's what they do, but not in the average Joe's world.
Posted by Judith at April 25, 2006 10:57 AMfrom Raw Story:
The measure, proposed by Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ), would reduce the cost of gas by $0.184 per gallon and the cost of diesel by $0.244 per gallon. The move, aides say, will provide $100 million dollars per day in relief.
Democrats say the money will be made up by cutting six billion dollars in tax breaks to oil firms. Currently, the money from the federal gas tax goes to the Highway Trust fund.
Got that? We, the taxpayers give Big Oil six billion dollars in tax breaks.
Holy shit, the man is beyond desperate now:
Bush also called for a rollback in $2 billion in government assistance and tax breaks for oil companies over the next 10 years for items such as research and development for deep water drilling.
"Record oil prices and large cash flows also mean that Congress has got to understand that these energy companies don't need unnecessary tax breaks like the write-offs of certain geological and geophysical expenditures or the use of taxpayers' monies to subsidize energy companies' research into deepwater drilling," Bush said.
cnn.com
Besides, why would manipulating domestic supply through this action have an impact if the real problem according to Big Oil is a lack of refining capacity, and if OPEC says that all demand is currently being met?
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Because, Mr. "I want to be the Decider, not a Uniter" thinks that everyone is as stupid as he is. The Present-dunce even states that the move will have little effect on costs in term of supply/demand dynamics, and that gas prices will continue to sky rocket over the summer, guarenteed. It's his usual game of throwing a pebble at a monster that he helped to create, and then wanting credit from the people for slaying it. Putz.
Posted by oppressmenot at April 25, 2006 11:50 AMBush also called for a rollback in $2 billion in government assistance and tax breaks for oil companies over the next 10 years ...
Don't forget the proposed $7 Billion land giveaway to the oil companies.
From the NYT in February 2006: "New projections, buried in the Interior Department's just-published budget plan, anticipate that the government will let companies pump about $65 billion worth of oil and natural gas from federal territory over the next five years without paying any royalties to the government."
What's the old cliche - enough is enough
Posted by Jim Faith at April 25, 2006 11:55 AMSorry, bad link above: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/14/business/14oil.html?ex=1297573200&en=87dc413fa6add582&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Posted by Jim Faith at April 25, 2006 11:58 AM"Easing the environment rules will allow refiners greater flexibility in providing oil supplies since they will not have to use certain additives such as ethanol to meet clean air standards."
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Thank you George Bush. The Green President. Your children have to breath too, you pig. How about investing some of the 10 million/month that you're pumping onto killing people into helping people find affordable energy that doesn't poison us? Wind, solar, geothermal? Naaa. Can't fuck the public and have the energy industries shoving cash up my ass if I do that. AAARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Posted by oppressmenot at April 25, 2006 12:06 PMLet's see...the oil companies got $6 billion in tax breaks.....$7 billion in land giveaways....and Bush wants to roll back only $2 billion in tax cuts? And he's trying to blame the tax breaks on Congress, not Dirty Dick's Double Secret Energy Task Force? I'd laugh but I'm afraid I'd just start crying.
Posted by ann at April 25, 2006 12:26 PMBush's first move was to screw the environment and thus our health by relaxing refinery emissions. Guess who benefits from that. That is Bush and the GOP in a nutshell (pun intended) - every crisis is first examined for how Big Corporate can benefit, once that is done, a bunch of lies spew forth to cover tracks.
As for Mucktroll- drivel from a member of the 32% losers.
I disagree with reducing the fuel tax. In the end it is just a subsidy for the oil industry and does absolutely nothing towards solving the fundamental problem.
Been screaming for years to fix the oil dependency this country runs on, nothing will get done until it hurts. Its insane
Posted by Simp at April 25, 2006 02:46 PM"As for Mucktroll- drivel from a member of the 32% losers."
T2, the pathetic part for Mucktroll is he has no clue he is a member of the losers party.
ann,
I believe the government gave energy companies over $40 billion in tax cuts just this last year alone right after Katrina while they were reporting record profits.
I don't know the total for tak cuts since 2000, probably much more.
Posted by Glen at April 25, 2006 03:23 PMNo, I take that back. The bill cost $88 billion of which $8 billion was tax breaks for big oil. Here's what we got:
While the price tag of the bill has fluctuated over the years between excessive and exorbitant, one thing has remained constant: It will do nothing to solve the nation's energy problems. It will not lower gas prices, not lower electricity prices, not even lower our dependence on oil. Last year, the Energy Information Administration (the analytical arm of President Bush's Department of Energy) concluded that despite spending billions of dollars, the energy bill would result in an 85 percent increase in U.S. imports of oil by 2025.
Posted by Glen at April 25, 2006 03:42 PMHere's some thing Bush could really do right now which would make a difference (I lifted these from Dan Fromkin):
---Develop an exit strategy for Iraq. Fear of continued instability in the Middle East is widely seen as contributing to a 'risk premium' that's driving up crude oil prices.
---Tamp down speculation on the oil-trading exchanges, either by re-regulating the markets, raising interest rates, or both. There is some evidence that avaricious speculators have driven the price way above the levels justified simply by supply and demand conditions.
---Do something about the weak dollar. The dollar's dramatic drop against major currencies directly translates to higher gas prices for Americans. (But strengthening the dollar might require serious deficit reduction.)
---Tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve.
---'Jawbone' producers into increasing production.
---Aggressively investigate the possibility of price gouging by the oil industry.
But I don't expect W to do any of these.
Doesn't this all feel sorta familiar? Remember the California energy crisis? Sound like Enron? There has been evidence that there has been collusion on the market to drive up prices. Sure, we're going to run out of oil, but not this month, so why did these price jumps happen?
So what do I think will happen? Well, invading Iraq for it's oil WORKED SO WELL, and Iran is just asking for it.
Posted by Glen at April 25, 2006 04:02 PM