HercDriver130

Interesting perspectives.... one I tend to agree with, that there is plenty of blame
and reasons to go around

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/20/news...htm?cnn=yesand

tpersuit

Guess we could..

*drill in northern Alaska (however, the million hikers that go up there might see a drill )
*drill miles of the Florida and California coast (not seeing the oil rigs won't be a problem, but knowing they are out there is)
*build a ton more nuclear power plants (unfortunately, we will all have deformed babies)
*build tons of wind powered fans in the desert and produce hydrogen for fuel-cell cars(unfortunately more birds will die )

Dang every idea I think of has a huge negative that will affect the majority of us in a bad way, guess its just better for all of us to pay more at the pump.

III Corps

There hasn't been a refinery constructed in the US since 1976. The enviros have created such a web that construction is all but impossible. So, the oil companies build refineries elsewhere.

Speculators are estimated to have driven the price up 30% by some sources. On $4/gal that translates to gas being at $2.80/gal.

The costs are being manipulated by many but the brunt of criticism is focused on the oil companies and those that the enviros (new socialists) want to corral.

And if you think the price of oil is bad now, wait until Hillary or Barack pass their 'windfall profit' taxes. It seems that almost any intelligent person knows companies don't pay taxes.. they merely pass taxes along to customers and 2) no one has said how they will be able to collect taxes from international companies who have the option to move resources elsewhere.

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Simple solutions are seldom either.

HercDriver130

You are spot on if you think the oil refineries and producers will pay taxes out of profits..... if they did ... think of the negative effect on the fundamentals of their business..... they will just pass it on to consumers.... way to go HILBAMA.

States such as FL or CA that dont allow drilling should be subject to a federal tax for not using their natural resources for the good of the country.

while no NEW refineries have been built capacity has increased, just not enough to keep pace with demand.

Led Zep

Bingo.

Corporations are taxed this way: Income - expenses = amount that is taxed.

People are taxed this way: Income - taxes = amount left over for expenses.

If corporations are going to be taxed then they are simply going to roll that cost into the prices that they pass onto the consumer. So here is what the new formulas will look like with higher income tax implementations:

Corporations: Price + adjustment for higher taxes = Increased cost for the consumer. This equates to higher revenue for the corporations, but the profits remain relatively unchanged because: Income - expenses = amount that is taxed.

People: Income - taxes = amount left over for expenses. Increased prices due to higher taxes equates to less purchasing power for the consumer. In addition, if the corporations are taxed at a higher rate then personal income taxes will probably increase as well. The outcome? The only people who are negatively affected the most are consumers. All of this equates to less and less money going into the economy.

WhizWheel

I think this is a great idea. Maybe then the state legislatures would think twice about allowing environs to strong arm its elected officials. God forbit you make a 2000 acre footprint on 19,000 acres in order to ease foreign oil dependency. Our priorities in this country are completely out of whack.

Stryker

Am I the only one who is bothered by the fact that the oil market is controlled by a "CARTEL" which by definition is ILLEGAL in the US?? Also the oil producing nations such as Venezuela and Saudi Arabia are paying $0.12 and $0.78 a gallon. But on the other hand other countries such as the Netherlands and Norway have it much worse than us.... This is the very definition of "price gouging"....

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If you strap a big enough engine to anything it will fly....

Stryker

Here is where I got those numbers:

http://money.cnn.com/pf/features/lis...bal_gasprices/

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If you strap a big enough engine to anything it will fly....

mattisawesome

It bothers me that oil is controlled by a CARTEL but you can't do anything about it but get your oil somewhere else. We can get it from our own sources...it is the only way. The Saudi and Venezuelan governments heavily subsidize the cost of oil because their fields are controlled by the state. As for Europe "having it worse than us" that is bull crap it's their own fault. I have a bunch of guys from Europe I work with that tell me how lucky America is blah blah blah. The fact is half of the price they are paying is government tax. Gas is 5 pounds/gallon in the UK which translates to $10/gal here but $5 of that $10 is government tax!! OPEC isn't doing that.

fosters

A question - have you actually voiced your concern to a senator in FL? I did, he had a good reason for not supporting the drilling. I can't remember who it was, he was a public spokesman for not drilling off the coast. Anyway, it might be something to consider.

Also, even if we were to drill here in the US, guess how much oil would cost? The SAME. It's sold on the market as a commodity. The US actually is an EXPORTER of oil even today.