Gas soars; voters whine; oil profits boom; politicians pander
From the Wall Street Journal (subsc. req.):
Booming crude-oil prices and improved refining profits are poised to put a firecracker under Big Oil’s first-quarter earnings and set the stage for a year that could come close to rivaling the industry’s record year in 2008.
First-quarter crude prices averaged about $100 a barrel, or about 20% higher than a year ago, pushed upward by oil-supply concerns due to political unrest in the Arab World and a recovering global economy. That spike is expected to lift earnings by about 50% at Exxon Mobil Corp., and about 33% each at Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips, compared with a year earlier….
“Major oil companies are firing on all cylinders,” says Fadel Gheit, an analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. “Their first-quarter earnings are going to be much, much better than a year ago.”
If oil prices continue to climb, they could at least rival 2008. That year, U.S. producers reported astronomic profits as crude hit $147 a barrel for a time. Exxon that year earned $45.2 billion, more than any other U.S. publicly traded company in history.
And of course, those numbers don’t become any easier to swallow when you consider the $4 billion in subsidies that the American taxpayer coughs up each year on behalf of Big Oil. Efforts in Congress to eliminate those subsidies have failed because Republicans have cast the reform as a tax hike. So even in the midst of a deficit panic, government is required to keep on subsidizing one of the most profitable industries on the planet, a practice defended by the party that proclaims itself the champion of the free market.
Intellectually, the current situation is not that complicated. People are demanding more oil than the market can supply — an economic recovery is boosting consumption at the same time that disruptions in the Arab world threaten oil output. So the price is jumping.
However, that market-driven fact of life is hard for people to accept. With the price of gasoline approaching $4 a gallon — close to the record average of $4.11 in 2008 — consumers don’t want an explanation, they want a solution. And politicians in turn are motivated to give them one, or at least the illusion of one.
Republicans, for example, want to cast government, and more specifically the Obama administration, as the villain. They propose that the federal government drop environmental restrictions and open additional areas to oil exploration and production, suggesting that such steps will lower the price at the pump. But among energy experts, there’s really no debate. Even if we removed all environmental restrictions on domestic oil production — and last summer’s Deepwater Horizon tragedy in the Gulf suggests such a step would come with a heavy price — the amount of additional oil that could be produced in the United States would be too small to move the global market, where the price of oil is set. We may not like to acknowledge that fact — it drives home our relative helplessness — but it remains fact nonetheless.
(And of course, every additional barrel of oil pumped from beneath American territory today makes us even more dependent on foreign oil tomorrow.)
For his part, President Obama is following the futile course set by his predecessor. Last week, he announced a federal investigation into the role of speculation in driving up oil prices, just as President George W. Bush did in 2005 and 2006. Those investigations turned up little or nothing, as will this one. But politically, it gives Obama an alternative villain to whom he can point, which in his situation is important.
The uncomfortable truth is that because the need for oil is so ingrained in our economy and lifestyles, oil prices have to move a lot in order to produce even a slight decrease in demand. They have to rise high enough to make it hurt before people will curtail consumption.
So … are you hurting yet?
– Jay Bookman
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824 comments Add your comment
Thulsa Doom on those evil ole oil companies
April 25th, 2011
2:20 pm
Peadawg,
That was a good one. But I liked 2 other Obamaisms better such as when he said that Austrians speak Austrian or that coal causes asthma.
Dave R.
April 25th, 2011
2:20 pm
MPercy, speed limits are largely revenue generation devices for government, with no real bearing on their claim of safety.
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:21 pm
At least you cons stopped attacking vets.
Good for you.
AngryRedMarsWoman
April 25th, 2011
2:21 pm
“God only knows what we are still doing in Afghanistan.”
At least there was some basis for going in – there was none for Iraq. Had we remained focused only on Afghanistan and the Taliban rather than rushing to declare victory and rolling into Iraq we might have a read handle on that worthless land of rocks and poppies…sigh. Hussein had been blustering about WMD forever, but he never backed it up, so we needed to go in because??? Heck, you got Ahmadinejad in Iran spouting even worse crap all day every day (with nuke plants to back it up) and we aren’t doing anything there. The people in Iraq needed an iron-fisted ruler like Hussein to keep them from wandering aimlessly like a bunch of idiots in a mish-mash of sparring cultures created by the darn colonial-minded Brits….and we screwed it up. Anyway….time to grab some oil (yeah, whatever, everyone thinks we were there for oil anyway so why not?) and leave them to manage their own freedom or lose it.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:21 pm
”The intellect level from our cons has never been lower”
Obama Gaffes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W4gFdKuMYL8
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:21 pm
See getaclue run.
Run, run, run.
JKL2
April 25th, 2011
2:21 pm
Harry- “Is it a coincidence that Obama backer George Soros repositioned himself in Petrobras
Soros set up the deal but he actually sold out before everything came thru. I’m sure he’s getting a giant kickback somewhere, but he pulled out his money for some other evil scheme…
oldguy
April 25th, 2011
2:22 pm
So….We now have a defintion of racism…..
Racism is broadcasting, ver batum, a speach by a Demoncrat from the floor of the House!!!
Paul
April 25th, 2011
2:22 pm
MPercy
Not too sure about that. Here in TX immigrants keep a pretty low profile. They get caught, they’re gone.
But what started that entire conversation about illegals was my observation that those who use “but that’s the LAW!!!” excuse their own lawless behavior as ‘not that bad.’
I’m with you on the speed stuff. Just isn’t worth the few minutes saved for a few hundred dollar ticket.
Besides that, the law’s the law.
Bosch
I’ve seen’em turn on the lights, go thru a red light, then a few blocks up, turn into a restaurant…
Every profession has its share of unprofessional idiots.
Thulsa
Wasn’t one of the points that kicked this off about the gazillions they earn in profits while some still think we need to dig in our pockets to give them billions in subsidies?
Seems kinda nutty.
John Birch
April 25th, 2011
2:22 pm
Just need to increase taxes on the rich and levy a huge windfall tax on those evil big, big, big oil companies and we can give free gas to all the homeless. Oh, that’s right, first we’d have to give them cars! No problem, Obama’s got this one.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:22 pm
“At least you cons stopped attacking vets.”
Congratulations, 7 words. That’s almost a sentence.
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:24 pm
Do we really need to go back over all the w’s or gop gaffes?
Lets not because it is silly.
barton apologizing to bp was epic.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:24 pm
I did not have relations with that woman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiIP_KDQmXs
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:25 pm
Getalife…>Get a clue….W is not president anymore.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:25 pm
USMC,
Are you kidding. Democrat Corrine Brown of Florida blows that away with this speech congratlatin the Floduh gatas on dey national bsc champonsheep team Wayyyyyyy tooooo funny
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KgbBP9Em00A
stands for decibels
April 25th, 2011
2:25 pm
Do we really need to go back over all the w’s or gop gaffes?
want some wood?
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:25 pm
Did Bookman serioulsy post a blog last week entitled “Why does GOP want to protect tax cheats?”
I guess he didn’t get the memo that paying taxes was optional in Obama’s cabinet?
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:26 pm
“Do we really need to go back over all the w’s or gop gaffes?”-getalife
At least W knows there are not 57 states…(yet):-)
JKL2
April 25th, 2011
2:26 pm
Paul- Bottom line, if your care is earlier than 1995, you’re toast. And things don’t look to good for lawn mowers, blowers and weedeaters, either.
The next big thing is going to be additives for your fuel. When gas comes out of the pipeline it’s all the same. The gas company then adds their additives to make it “their own” kind of fuel. Eventually you’ll be mixing something for everything.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:27 pm
“At least W knows there are not 57 states”
Obama thinks Kenya is a state.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:27 pm
Democrat Corrine Brown
One, two, three, fo, five- dem dere gatas don’t take no jive!
Bob
April 25th, 2011
2:27 pm
Well, with the oil profits the big oil companies are making, maybe we should takeaway the $4 billion in tax break and “incentives” (hand-outs) and contribute half to fixing our roads and half to reducing the deficit.
I know, that would make too much sense. Here some more tax breaks and “incentives” for you to drill, big oil. I know you CAN afford to do it yourself but here’s Government money anyway.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
2:28 pm
Natural Gas and LPGas seem like good alternatives until you figure in the other factors.Do you want half of your trunk space taken up by a large tank filled with explosive gas? Think of a hard rear end collision and you kids sitting a foot away from a bomb. Also, the fuel lines have to be checked regularly, have you ever had anything under pressure that didn’t leak? (Tires, radiator, etc. Liquid gasoline is stable, and is not as prone to explosions in car wrecks as a gas fuel. Are you ready for the huge hassles that alternitive fuels require? Do you want your teenagers refueling your car at a station using Natural or LPGas?
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:28 pm
And of course, Obama wants D.C. to be a state so Marion Berry can be a Senator.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:30 pm
“Well, with the oil profits the big oil companies are making, maybe we should takeaway the $4 billion in tax break and “incentives” (hand-outs) and contribute half to fixing our roads and half to reducing the deficit.”
I could say the same thing about GM, Chrysler, or all the banks that Obama bailed out.
By the way…$4 billion is chump change compared to the moolah Obama is handing out all over the place…
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:30 pm
USMC,
Back at ya. This is a good one with Democrat Alan Grayson talking about the Republican plan for health care- for old people to just die!
Very timely seeing as how both Jay and Cynthia were posting a couple of days ago about the need for death panels.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-usmvYOPfco
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:31 pm
MAXINE WATERS OUTS THE DEMOCRAT’S SOCIALIST AGENDA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrA9zj94NuU
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:31 pm
Democrats would probably like to make Cuba a state, too. Having Castro in the Senate would be huge fun.
Paul
April 25th, 2011
2:31 pm
JKL2
Took one of the cars in for service. They wanted to do the $120 fuel line cleaning. I said I stick with Shell, Chevron, Valero, Texaco. They said ‘oh, in that case, no problem. You don’t need it.”
Years ago before additives became the norm Consumer Reports ran tests on gas cleanliness. Only Chevron passed muster. They’d just come out with Techron. Now it’s the norm. But ‘norm’ doesn’t mean you can be assured it’s in unless it’s advertised as in, as I understand it.
JKL2
April 25th, 2011
2:32 pm
getalife- They call Medicare welfare, so they want to end it.
I thought that’s what obamacare was for? Maybe you should read it and find out how great it is…
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:32 pm
The Democrats want to let Mexican el presidente set U.S. immigration policy. maybe we should just make Mexico a state.
Left wing management
April 25th, 2011
2:33 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout 2:11:
You post a link to rebut me that only proves my point.
But you can’t admit that into your world view, so you think you’ve scored a point.
Like I said, neoliberal garbage. It’s epidemic in both parties.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:34 pm
Thulsa
Wasn’t one of the points that kicked this off about the gazillions they earn in profits while some still think we need to dig in our pockets to give them billions in subsidies?
Seems kinda nutty.- Paul
Paul,
I’m completely with you on that but its only 4 billion and that’s for the entire oil industry. But nevertheless I totally agree. End this corporate welfare even if it is just a drop in the bucket compared to the tens of billions of dollars we collect from all the oil companies in taxes. Exxon alone paid 28 billion almost in federal taxes and that’s just one oil company.
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 25th, 2011
2:34 pm
LWM changes sockpuppets after getting smacked down on taxes on Brazilian ethanol.
Don’t fear facts, libbtards!
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:35 pm
“The intellect level from our cons has never been lower.”-getalife
Once again for the hearing impaired:
Obama Is Going To Pay For My Gas And Mortgage!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36×8rTb3jI
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
2:35 pm
Anybody seen Granny Godzilla or Kamchak? Is Monday a “Liberal Day of Rest” or something?
mm
April 25th, 2011
2:35 pm
“speed limits are largely revenue generation devices for government, with no real bearing on their claim of safety”
You just can’t make this stuff up. Nevermind, I guess you can.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
2:36 pm
I see the cons are contributing their usual today.
buck@gon
April 25th, 2011
2:37 pm
LWM @ 10:07,
Pelosi and Sanders I am familiar with, Wiener I am not.
As for liberals I seem to have meant you, in particular, or you and SFD anyway.
Regarding the administration, the political spectrum is not a question for me of absolutes. I have no interest in labeling anyone anything insofar as it affects my policies. Relatively speaking Obama is FAR more liberal than I am and than I care for in my policies. Speaking of that the whole of Washington DC is too liberal for my taste, including even George W. Bush.
As for a person who met the challenges of HIS time with conservative principles as President, I would have to go with Ronald Reagan, even though I see no point in the exercise of placing Reagan in this time and say, he would or should have done this or that right now.
Whatever liberal means, to me, it means truly left-wing. These days that means tending toward socialism, marxist thought. Surely Obama qualifies, does he not? He grew up with strong marxist influences, including his father, his high school teacher, Bill Ayers, Saul Alinsky (whom he once taught to other students) and Jeremiah Wrigt, the grievance-minded dean of black liberation theology. He favors a social agenda the likes of which even Planned Parenthood has said, that they weren’t going to support killing living babies of failed abortions.
Obama’s fiscal policies seem to recognize no debt crisis whatsoever, except that to which he needs to win the percentage of electorate of 2012 that believes in such a crisis. I don’t see Obama as ever having proposed anything himself but liberal policies, in fact. His capitulation to continuance of the Bush tax regime wasn’t really his choice anyway. He was required by politics, seemingly kicking and screaming, to a compromise. Right now in fact, he is reversing course on this, and even raising taxes higher, for the expedience of raising easy revenue.
As for Obama’s foreign policy, I’m afraid I have no idea what to call it. Bush’s foreign policy wasn’t dear to me, but it was crystal clear. Obama’s is a mess of political expedience and seemingly snap decisions consisting of caving to international pressure and demands of the Washington press corps. We should bomb this country, but not that. We will force Ghadafi out, but we aren’t going to. We will close Gitmo, except that we won’t. Anyone calling this foreign policy liberal or conservative is guilty of giving Obama undue credit for thinking before he acts.
As to the difference between Obama and Pelosi, I just do not see it, vis-a-vis areas where they can both be compared.equally, ie., you have to exclude things like foreign policy from the equation. Obama was the most left-wing senator and Pelosi is pretty much the most left-wing House member (there are others, sure (Sanders, Lee, Waters), but none of them have the power Pelosi did).
As for modern left-wingers who are not politicians, I’d go with Paul Krugman, Jay Bookman, The Cynthia, you., etc. I think it’s fair to call you all liberals, especially if to you, I am a conservative.
buck@gon
April 25th, 2011
2:37 pm
The Paul Krugman School or Rhetoric
Dear Mr. Bookman,
Welcome fellow traveler! Thank you for your interest in PKSoR, and we are pleased to grant you acceptance into our program. The Paul Krugman School or Rhetoric is an excellent place to learn to write or to hone your already proficient writing skills for the honor of the vision that we all share for our soon to be great country of which we will all soon be very proud as Michelle Obama said, “for the first time.” We here at PKSOR are making it happen.
In the Paul Krugman School of Rhetoric you will learn:
1. …how to confound conservatives with baseless accusations of racism, neglect, extremism, homophobia and hypocrisy.
2. …the tricks of the trade–convince your friends and the undecided that conservatives are a bunch of rednecks.
3. …how to turn the laws of economics around so that we can rewrite what it means to be successful.
4. …how to find successful economic applications in the fiscal and monetary policies of great nations like Mexico, Venezuela, Cuba and North Korea.
5. …the tools of the trade. A new vocabulary that will help keep you looking civil while you go for the throat.
In our general roundtable entitled “Nothing to see here folks”, you will learn how to remain unmoved and unflinching when bad news happens., eg., the collapse of the dollar etc. You will learn psychological techniques for coping with bad news and then convincing your political opponents and undecideds that it’s really all the GOP’s fault.
In addition, if you sign up now and pay tuition by May 25, we also have a bonus evening of instruction and interaction with our founder and Nobel Prize laureate, Paul Krugman. This program is famously known as the Paul Krugman Night of Surprises, or PKNOS. We aren’t going to reveal the program just yet, but last years crowd was wowed by Joe Biden karaoke. The Trig and slide show was great for a few giggles too.
Hope to see you this July 4th for the kickoff.
Sincerely,
PK.
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:38 pm
“I see the cons are contributing their usual today.”
Just another day of insanity called American politics.
JKL2
April 25th, 2011
2:38 pm
“God only knows what we are still doing in Afghanistan
Libya syas “What?”
No wonder Ahmadinejad said obama was a cowboy.
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:38 pm
I guess we ran off Getalife…..that was not hard.
Left wing management
April 25th, 2011
2:39 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout smacks down imaginary enemies and crows to the heavens like the town lunatic.
If you want to speak of “facts”, they are the following: neoliberal ideology, which dominates our politics and of which you are a foot soldier, is bankrupt. And on a certain level, even you know it.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:39 pm
USMC,
I got that one beat. This is Obama getting completely flumoxed when his teleprompter went out. This one will have you on the floor laughing. Its just that funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omHUsRTYFAU&NR=1
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:39 pm
Darn wishful thinking.
Paul
April 25th, 2011
2:39 pm
Thulsa
When my kids were little and they wanted something they’d always say “but it’s only ” then they’d say the price.
Some on this blog scream about the deficit and the Obama Administration’s spending but when it comes to corporate subsidies say “it’s only so many billion.”
Unbelievable.
I’m with you. Add up a few ‘but it’s only” and you’ve got a serious chunk of change.
But hey, I always thought four billion was a serious chunk of change…
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:39 pm
THULSA!! HAHAHAHAAHA I love that one.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:40 pm
USMC,
As Obama said in the last video I put up if they got asthma cure it with a breathalizer. I’ll try to find the one where Obama said coal gives people asthma. What is it with Obama and asthma anyway?
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:41 pm
cons,
Who is your candidate that can beat the President?
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:42 pm
Getalife….who needs a candidate? Obama is doing a GREAT JOB of beating himself! Right now I would take Mickey Mouse over him.
JKL2
April 25th, 2011
2:43 pm
GOP gaff = They’re stupid.
Demwit gaff = You’re stupid for not realizing they operate at a higher level than you do. It was a simple mistake because they have bigger things on their mind. Why are you such a racist/hater?
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:44 pm
That was hilarious Thulsa!
“Who is your candidate that can beat the President?”–getalife
It doesn’t matter who the Republican candidate is, getalife.
Obama will lose in 2012.
buck@gon
April 25th, 2011
2:44 pm
“Just another day of insanity called American politics.”
getalife,
I think that is pessimistic and cliche. If you are down on American politics, is it because you have no hope yourself (or hope and change), or is it because you seek to discourage others with this pap?
Frankly, I think politics is politics, but that liberals are insanity personified–especially given their bare nonchalant acknowledgement of the coming debt crisis.
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:45 pm
So ug and USMC chose nobody.
I agree.
Nobody will beat him.
Four more years!
buck@gon
April 25th, 2011
2:46 pm
getalife:
“cons,
Who is your candidate that can beat the President?”
getalife
Just so.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:46 pm
Obama’s numbers are so low and will continue to shrink as we get closer to the 2012 election.
They will then replace Biden by putting Hillary on the ticket and still Obama will lose.
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:46 pm
Getalife….he couldnt even manage to keep his base for two years. What makes you think he will be able to manage 6 more? Hahaha this is TOO easy.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:46 pm
Paul,
You’re right. Its still 4 billion and there is no dang way they should get 4 billion. I’m just making the point that 4 billion is a drop in the bucket relative to the mindnumbing amount of tax money they pay and the mindblowing amount of tax that local, state, and federal coffers get from a gallon of oil produced by someone else. That 4 billion is but a grain of sand on a beach if you compare it to the vast amount of tax revenues that oil companies and their product put into govt coffers. The overall tax revenues on gas and on the oil companies themselves would of course be the beach.
mm
April 25th, 2011
2:47 pm
” HAHAHAHAAHA I love that one.”
It doesn’t take much to keep the simpleminded amused.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:47 pm
HOPE means: “I don’t have a plan”:-)
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:48 pm
buck@gon,
I paid very close to American politics during the w disaster.
Now, I see improvement.
I remember when the Clinton team balanced the budget. Then your party blew it so we will probably see history repeating itself again.
Paul
April 25th, 2011
2:49 pm
getalife
Republican candidates who could give him a run for his money will have a tough, if not impossible, time of getting thru the supercon-dominated primaries.
Rather ironic, isn’t it? The cons who hate Obama the most will very likely, by the candidate they’d pick, do the most to ensure Obama’s reelection.
Out for a bit.
mm
April 25th, 2011
2:49 pm
” 4 billion is a drop in the bucket relative to the mindnumbing amount of tax money they pay”
Were you asleep the last few weeks when word hit the news about many of our major corporations paying zero taxes?
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:50 pm
Getalife….”improvement” how?
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
2:50 pm
If you cons want Obama to give you cheap gas, you can start by getting down on both knees and begging.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
2:50 pm
It’s amusing to read supposedly grown adults debate like little grade schoolers. They really get a charge out of making fun of the president who stepped into the worst mess in the past half century courtesy of the previous failure…
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:51 pm
mm….what about the bottom lower class parasites that pay no taxes as well.
Hey those corporations that you speak of. How many people do they employ? How much in taxes do those employees generate? How much in taxes does the government make when the public buys their products or use their services???? GET A CLUE!!
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:52 pm
TaxPayer. But the left is already on their needs bowing to their king Barry Soetoro.
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
2:52 pm
“:what about the bottom lower class parasites that pay no taxes as well”
They don’t exist
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:52 pm
UGA1999 and USMC,
The Obama and the asthma/breathalizer one is pretty funny but for me the Corrinne Brown on the Florida gatas one is more funny because she butchers about 600 words in the English language and does it all in only 3-4 minutes.
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:53 pm
“The cons who hate Obama the most will very likely, by the candidate they’d pick, do the most to ensure Obama’s reelection”
It will be highly entertaining .They are attacking each other already. rove vs trump. beck vs gomer.
Great stuff.
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
2:53 pm
Doggone…..really? Hmmm because I thought they thought that Obama (God) was going to pay their gas bill and their mortgages….Hence the previous Youtube video of the Dems finest!
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:53 pm
Jay, why was my 2:49pm put under moderation? What did I say wrong?
MPercy
April 25th, 2011
2:53 pm
Thulsa Doom on those evil ole oil companies @1:38 pm
Doom, I’m humbled by your comments. Thanks.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
2:53 pm
But the left is already on their needs bowing to their king Barry Soetoro.
Glad to hear that you are not one of those whining about high gas prices.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
2:54 pm
Even if obama has ticked off his base, they will still vote for him because there isn’t a republican out there that can be trusted….4 more years..
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
2:55 pm
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
2:52 pm
“:what about the bottom lower class parasites that pay no taxes as well”
They don’t exist
Doggone/GA,
Really? People that live off of welfare, medicaid, and basically contribute nothing to society and certainly no taxes they just drain it. They don’t exist? Really?
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
2:55 pm
“Doggone…..really?”
Yes, really
JKL2
April 25th, 2011
2:55 pm
getalife- “Who is your candidate that can beat the President?”
I’m still waiting for Jay’s endorsement. I’m sure he’ll tell us who the best one is since devotes at least one column a week to the topic.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:56 pm
“Corrinne Brown on the Florida gatas’
Yeah, Corrine said a mouth full didn’t she? That was entertaining.
But think about it… She is U.S. Congresswoman… That’s scary:-)
Aquagirl
April 25th, 2011
2:56 pm
I’d say John Kyl claiming “his remark was not intended to be a factual statement” is far funnier than ‘ol Hank’s fears about Guam-tipping—-but when you think about it, it’s not as funny any more. It’s friggin’ scary. Unlike the Gogators! woman, Kyl thought he was serious.
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
2:57 pm
“People that live off of welfare, medicaid, and basically contribute nothing to society and certainly no taxes they just drain it”
They most certainly DO pay taxes.
MPercy
April 25th, 2011
2:57 pm
Paul: MPercy The vehicles I cited belong to the ‘light truck’ category. That’s separate from the “Passenger Car” category.
Ah, I failed to notice that. Carry on then.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
2:58 pm
I think the Republicans will end up nominating John McCain.
Tommy Maddox
April 25th, 2011
2:58 pm
Yeah that hope & change business is working well.
Guy Incognito
April 25th, 2011
2:58 pm
Doggie,
They file Fed income taxes? Or is this your little 3rd grade semantic argument, “Nuh uh, they pay payroll tax and sales tax………blah blah blah
Child
USMC
April 25th, 2011
2:58 pm
“Even if obama has ticked off his base, they will still vote for him because there isn’t a republican out there that can be trusted….4 more years”
Boy, talk about dishonest…
Obama Lies 7 Times In Under 2 Minutes!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfu1_Scgyow
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
2:59 pm
Just imagine how high gas prices would be if Bush had not attacked Iraq.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
2:59 pm
jm @ 1:34
You don’t get solar any cheaper without research and/or trial and error. Think about how far behind we’d be in automotive technology if Ford and others had decided to use your approach and just wait until automobile making got cheaper? We’re not putting much effort into making it cheaper, while, Germany has an entire region focused on research. We have far more land area and sun exposure than they do.
poison pen
April 25th, 2011
3:00 pm
getalife
April 25th, 2011
2:45 pm
So ug and USMC chose nobody.
I agree.
Nobody will beat him.
Four more years!
Getalife, I think you were saying the same thing last November.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
3:00 pm
The cons did not vote for Obama! I’m shocked… awed. Was it because he lied to them.
Bosch
April 25th, 2011
3:00 pm
“because I thought they thought ”
That’s your problem right there.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:00 pm
MPercy,
I’ve always enjoyed your research on these blogs and have copied and pasted several of your research points from previous blogs- particularly on taxation issues such as when Jay was blogging about the effective tax rate on the 400 wealthiest Americans. On more than one occasion you pretty much ran Jay off the blog which is pretty funny and so I figured you’re research has to be pretty good if Jay up and quits his own blog. Keep it coming.
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:01 pm
“They file Fed income taxes? Or is this your little 3rd grade semantic argument”
Nope, just waiting for you to come back with this EXACT statement. You said they “pay NO TAXES” – they do pay taxes, they just don’t pay income tax – because they are low enough on the economic scale that they don’t owe any. You can thank Georgie boy for the increase in their numbers.
It seems like everry other day or so we have to explain this fact to one or more of you clowns: that no INCOME tax is NOT the same as NO TAX
AngryRedMarsWoman
April 25th, 2011
3:02 pm
“Even if obama has ticked off his base, they will still vote for him because there isn’t a republican out there that can be trusted”
Why wouldn’t they instead demand that their party consider a candidate who doesn’t tick them off? Is there some rule that the incumbent president has to run for re-election? No, I didn’t think so. If any portion of the Democratic base is unhappy with President Obama then they should demand a new candidate to challenge President Obama for the nomination…simple as that. Make the convention exciting rather than a “done deal” long before it is held.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
3:02 pm
SoCo,
Go easy on jm. He probably still believes that Swiss watch movements will make a comeback.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
3:02 pm
usmc
So, who’s your guy?
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:03 pm
“They file Fed income taxes? Or is this your little 3rd grade semantic argument, “Nuh uh, they pay payroll tax and sales tax………blah blah blah”
Yeah, Guy, I think they still have to pay sales tax… even with their food stamps:-)
Dave R.
April 25th, 2011
3:03 pm
“I remember when the GOP Congress balanced the budget.”
Fixed your typo, getaclue. No thanks needed.
Reality is a b!tch, isn’t it?