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As Gas Prices Rise Again, Democrats Blame Big Oil »
Posted by: Karina 2 years, 6 months agoA week after U.S. gasoline prices hit a near-record $3.05 a gallon, Democrats in Congress are promoting legislation taking aim at the big oil companies, although industry experts say that the efforts aren't likely to have any effect.
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Karina
Karina Longworth blogs about film at Spout.com. She co-founded the film blog Cinematical in March 2005, whilst simultaneously completing an MA in Cinema Studies ...
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Comments: 579
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schillinfl1
May 11, 2007, 10:39 a.m.Democrats need to look in the mirror for blame. Why don't we have more refineries? Because of Democrats. Why don't we drill in Alaska and the Gulf, where we have found oil? Democrats. Why aren't there more alternative fuel plants? Democrats don't want them in their backyard.
Yet they keep up with this charade because the sheep flock to it.
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Twistoflex
May 11, 2007, 10:39 a.m.If the tax exemption incentives and absence of oversight for price gouging are still there what difference will breaking up the Big Oil companies produce? The American media religiously avoids Big Oil's role in both the Afghanistan (pre-dating 9/11) and Iraq wars. Americans would better understand what led us into these wars and why the Dumbya dictatorship insists on staying there if the journalists did their jobs.
I think that Big Oil should be regulated by an international body under a set of international treaties which would forbid these companies of stealing majority shares of foreign assets. These companies should also be nationalized: they're the main reason the US can't wean itself from fossil fuel dependency.
We need to migrate from fossil fuels for several reasons:
1. It's a finite resource.
2. Civilization will collapse if we maintain dependency.
3. It's the principle cause of carbon pollution.
4. We can create millions of jobs and exportable technologies.
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mesodude
May 11, 2007, 1:10 p.m.Let's me get this straight...You're actually suggesting that the Democratic Party is as beholden to Big Oil as the GOP is?
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OldHickory
May 11, 2007, 10:48 a.m.How about creating a windfall profits tariff? There is something obscene about a corporation reporting quarterly multi-billion dollar profits and then 'crying poor' when they are criticized for the continuing upward spiral in the price per gallon of gasoline. They can make all the excuses in the world but as far as I am concerned the oil companies rank below used car salesmen in popularity polls and at the absolute bottom as far as believeability is concerned.
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liberty
May 11, 2007, 10:57 a.m.I wish they would just get tax more instead of "tax breaks" that is discussing.
Automatic 30% taxes should be demanded because it is a finite resource and that money should be giving to research of other cleaner energy.
They are so greedy and then they come in and cry poverty, what an insult. We should not have to drill alaska for prices to go down, this is not about lact of oil, just greed. And then you hear the US car makers bitching because we want 35 mpg by 2020, when Europe is already getting 40mpg years ago. I will not buy american cars, because they suck (constant break dow compare to toyota or honda) and are great pollutants.
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bhoch
May 11, 2007, 11:06 a.m.the democrats always find someone to blame when things are bad. and they always take the credit when things are good.
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eviln3d
May 11, 2007, 11:13 a.m.Lets be fair. There are a lot of things that create the high gas prices.
Refineries are operating at 90-95% capacity so any maintence at one or fire causes a shortage. We need more refineries, but no one demo or republican wants one in their back yard they are big ugly and stinky.
Auto manufacturers make huge SUVs and Americans buy them. You have people drive a SUV that gets 15MPG and youre using the gas of 2 compact cars. Simple logic says you're going to use more gas with SUVs and that will cause prices to go up for gas.
The commodity market for crude oil is a sham. less than a 10th of a percent of the actual crude oil that is ever used is actually moved through the commodity markets. Yet all of the prices that are paid for crude are based on the prices crude sells for on commodity markets.
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CarlM82
May 11, 2007, 11:20 a.m.You know, I hate to say it, but as far as the gas prices go, as bad as they are here, we've got it EASY compared to places where they've been paying $6 a gallon for years now. People in those places drive much less, because it's just that expensive to get around. I'm not making excuses for the prices myself and I certainly hate them and I believe the oil companies are indeed profiteering off of everybody else's loss, but we need to get away from oil as a primary fuel source. Research on alternative fuel and better energy conservation methods need to happen very quickly so green cars and kits for making existing cars green can reach widespread adoption. All of that's great, but better prices today would make saving up for better technology that much easier.
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endofdays
May 11, 2007, 11:34 a.m.In my humble opinion, if there is a conspiracy behind escalating gas prices the proponents of alternative fuel technologies are behind it. Despite all the BS rhetoric about "going green" and "reducing our carbon footprint" the fact is that Americans are never going to take alternative fuels seriously until they are forced to, financially. Think about it, what could be better for the manufacture and sale of solar panels or wind turbines or electric cars than $5/gallon gas?
Anyway, we are a bunch of crybabies. Gas at $4/gallon is still cheaper than soda, beer, and olive oil.
Go buy a scooter. Organize a carpool. Stop using your car to go to your mailbox.
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brothers
May 11, 2007, 11:40 a.m.What a bunch of twofaced people we have in congress. They just realized that the price of gas is high??? Why didn't they try to do something way before it got this high. They are not going to do anything about it because big oil keeps pileing money into their pockets to keep their mouths shut.
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Teaselle
May 11, 2007, 11:45 a.m.It amazes me how everyone sits and argues, blames this and that group. Bottom line is gas prices soar and oil companies make billions. Customers complain yet do nothing. Just imagine what would happen if we found some way to let the oil companies know, as well as the government, that we are not happy - carpool, take bus, boycott, whatever, even for a day could make an impact. But instead you get all the naysayers saying how this and that won't work and people start to think that it won't. Even the smallest person can make a difference.
Gas will continue to rise and oil companies will continue to increase their profits until there is a big enough outcry from somewhere. In the meantime, all our opinions are just that - opinions. Which makes us what endofdays said we are "crybabies." Until we all get together and really do something, all we do is cry about it.
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b4thewind
May 11, 2007, 11:55 a.m.Shill - Haven't read your link yet - Appears you've done a whole lot more research on this than me. I'd like your opinion/comments on the following points - 1)This industry is unique, it seems to me, because retail pricing is based on replacement cost, not actual cost of what's being pumped. That's why retail prices jump so quickly. You are not paying for the gas based on what the distributor paid (or inventory cost), you're paying based on what it will cost that day to replace the gallons you pumped. That kind of guarantees a profit. It maybe still be free-market supply and demand, but pretty unique. 2) At least the vertically integrated companies - those who prospect, drill, pump, refine and distribute - pretty much have all the bases covered. hey benefit from futures buying - and when the price goes up they still get their margin at the pump. Other industries with far less impact are more regulated - Dairy, for example.
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Disulfate
May 11, 2007, 11:59 a.m.Actually we can't blame big oil because in 20 years they
are going to be sucking "mud" from those holes. They are
only getting richer while they can, knowing the lean years
are ahead. What then?
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saintetienne
May 11, 2007, 1:44 p.m.Alfalfa - The oil companies are also paying billions to the government in taxes, a higher tax percentage, in fact, than media companies, such as Nutscape, do.
So what's your point? You enlightened us about an American business turning a profit on a product, and the government collecting taxes on said product.
Is this news?
If you object to it, stop using the product.
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artists-and-writers
May 11, 2007, 12:30 p.m.Schillinfl1:
Whilst we're on the subject of posting facts, does anyone have a real handle on, specifically, the breakdown of the punitive taxes that the Communo-fascist Demopublican Megaparty levies per gallon of refined gasoline product upon you and me?
This would be especially enlightening with reference to the so-called "carbon states" of, for example, California and New York.
Let's face facts, here, OK? Someone is doing well by doing good, and the only thing we're getting at the pump is hosed.
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bhoch
May 11, 2007, 12:42 p.m.42 cents is nowhere close to $3.10 (that is if you are lucky.) how do you get they are only making a 10cent profit on a gallon of gas. They make a profit of at least $2 per gal and that is if it cost 68 cents a gal to get it out of the ground and refine it. It only cost 5 cents to get a barrel out of the ground.
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Truzseeker
May 11, 2007, 12:51 p.m.I blame Congress for not regulating commerce, and more importantly regulating energy essential to national welfare no different than any other essential utility such as water.
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TreeHugginCommunist
May 11, 2007, 1:02 p.m."I would beg to differ about whether this is a question of industry concentration and instead a factor of supply-and-demand economics," said David Sexton, president of Shell Oil Products.
This is what it is all about! It is really time to WAKE UP and smell the realization of PEAK OIL.
WE ARE RUNNING OUT OF OIL, WE HAVE HIT OR WILL HIT THE BELL CURVE OF OIL PRODUCTION WITHIN THE NEXT DECADE!!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peak_oil
We should NOT be wasting out time worrying about price gouging. We NEED TO START worrying about the monopoly oil has in energy; we need to get some real life alternitives to oil. When we hit that peak, and demand for energy and oil continues to increase because of the exponetially growing population, things will be very ugly. The economy will dive into a recession, jobs will be lost, people will starve to death. This is real stuff people, and its something we need to wake up to very soon. PLEASE let others know.
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simonsez
May 11, 2007, 1:19 p.m.We are not running out of oil ... we are running out of cheap, easy to get oil.
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groingo
May 11, 2007, 1:25 p.m.And IF we as a country decided to use less gas, BIG OIL would do what they always do, you use less gas we raise the price to cover sales shortfalls...seen it been there done that GREEDY BAS-ARDS!
DUMP BIG OIL AND START PEDALING!
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toph1973
May 11, 2007, 1:27 p.m.I hope it keeps rising. I drive so little anymore anyway. What's 20 extra bucks a month for me? Nothing. When will people relize that everytime that you fill up, you fund terrorism. The less gas mileage your vehicle gets, and the more you drive all of the unnecessary miles the more Iraqi's, and coalition troops get killed. IF this isn't enough of a reason to get off oil, I don't know what is.
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canadianrancher57
May 11, 2007, 1:34 p.m.Unlike most people I don't have the access to a transit system where we are we no longer even have local bus service because of rural depopulation, I must agree that people must start using less fuel for a variety of reasons. As for a shortage of gas I don't really believe this is fact, so far I have not seen any news reports of gas stations running out of gas like in the 70's. The story said about increasing milage but why has that not already happened given we had a shortage before, is it because only so much power can come from a gallon of gas and unless we want to ride in cardboard boxes there may not be much more increases in milage. The thing that bothers me about going into the city is why so many cars only have one occupant, when we go somewhere out here everyone gets in to go because there aren't going to be special trips made for nothing.
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