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
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:04 pm
Doggone…..Do they pay federal income taxes. The answer is NO.
You speak of corporations cheating the system for taxes. However did you know the major of all tax cheats are lower class citizens lying about the number of chilren they have.
See they dont see their childrens as their youth…they see them as a paycheck……WHO DAT MY BABIES MAMA!! hahahaha
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:05 pm
USMC,
The 7 lies in 2 minutes wasn’t as much funny as it was maddening. Sure enough each of those statements is a proven lie- I just can’t figure out which one is the worst.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
3:05 pm
**On more than one occasion you pretty much ran Jay off the blog**
Your perception is your reality, but I don’t recall that ever happening. Besides, It’s pretty hard to have winners and losers on an opinion blog, even the best data can be manipulated to prove your own point.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
3:06 pm
Po Folks don’t pay taxes! No taxes at all! Oh NO! How do they do that. I thought only GE could pull that off.
Bosch
April 25th, 2011
3:06 pm
“Do they pay federal income taxes.”
That was not the original point that Doggone was addressing.
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:06 pm
“Do they pay federal income taxes.”
Once again…with feeling: not paying INCOME tax is NOT THE SAME AS NOT PAYING TAXES
Got it now? The original statement was that they PAY NO TAXES
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:07 pm
“Yeah, Guy, I think they still have to pay sales tax… even with their food stamps:-)”
LOL…I flummoxed Kamchak with this exact same point, so much so that he signed off the blog for the day.
If someone has no job, and all of their housing, food, etc is totally provided by taxpayer funding, can we really say they are “paying” sales taxes?
Mick
April 25th, 2011
3:08 pm
dave r
Yeah they balanced the budget by voting against the clinton tax increase – every last one of them. You can’t take credit when you have a no vote on record…
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:08 pm
“So, who’s your guy?”
I’m not sure yet, Mick. I will play wait and see.
I think Romney is probably the most electable though.
(that’s who I voted for last time when McCain won the nomination)
How is the South Florida weather today?(dumb question)
Disgusted
April 25th, 2011
3:09 pm
However did you know the major of all tax cheats are lower class citizens lying about the number of chilren they have.
What a bunch of unadulterated bunkum! You can’t claim a dependent without supplying a Social Security number for that dependent. The Internal Revenue Service instantly checks that number against the Social Security database. The days of claiming an inflated number of dependents are long gone.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
3:09 pm
Harry Callahan pays no taxes. Well, make my day.
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:09 pm
Mick…you do realize that when Obama extended the Bush Tax Code that unemployment actually lowered? What do you think is going to happen if Obama raises taxes? unemployment 10,11,12,13%?
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:10 pm
“can we really say they are “paying” sales taxes?”
yes, just as we can say that companies who buy things with the money their customers give them are paying taxes
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:10 pm
“Once again…with feeling: not paying INCOME tax is NOT THE SAME AS NOT PAYING TAXES”
Once again…with feeling; Social Security and Medicare are insurance programs, where you get a benefit in return…NOT really taxes. And my guess is that anyone paying zero federal income tax likely pays zero state income tax as well.
So, despite the lame attempts to split hairs, about 50% of Americans contribute little or nothing when it comes to funding our government.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:10 pm
Mick,
When we were debating the 400 wealthiest Americans and their effective tax rates Jay was on the blog most of the day. Then MPercy came on and produced some stats from the IRS about their effective tax rates that flat out proved Jay wrong. Jay not only did not have an answer for him but he simply left the blog. Go back and look it up.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:10 pm
Jay….What kind of whine goes well with $4 gasoline?
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:11 pm
“The 7 lies in 2 minutes wasn’t as much funny as it was maddening. Sure enough each of those statements is a proven lie- I just can’t figure out which one is the worst.”
I know Thulsa and yet the mainstream media just let’s Obama off the hook all of the time.
They treat Obama with kid-gloves.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:11 pm
Doggone: 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
And they all said, AMEN!
Taxpayer: Go easy on jm. He probably still believes that Swiss watch movements will make a comeback.
I actually like going back and forth with jm. He actually articulates things as an adult without all of the namecalling. He also backs up what he says with information as opposed to just expecting his word to be enough. I can respect that, even if we don’t see eye to eye on something. That’s exhibiting a level of class that we don’t often have in political discourse.
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:11 pm
Disgusted???? Right…keep thinking that. Go talk to any CPA they will all tell you the same thing.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:12 pm
“yes, just as we can say that companies who buy things with the money their customers give them are paying taxes”
Congratulations…dumbest post of the day!
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:13 pm
“Social Security and Medicare are insurance programs, where you get a benefit in return…NOT really taxes”
And *I* never mentioned either one of those. Stop trying to narrow it down. The original statement was NO TAXES, with no qualifications
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:13 pm
Doggone, do companies get money from customers without giving anything in return, you know, like welfare recipients do?
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:14 pm
“Jay….What kind of whine goes well with $4 gasoline?”
answer: MadDog MD20/20!
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:14 pm
Doggone…..you are the one that is side stepping the subject. Great job.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:14 pm
“And *I* never mentioned either one of those. Stop trying to narrow it down. The original statement was NO TAXES, with no qualifications”
So tell us what taxes they pay, if that’s your insinuation.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:14 pm
Harry Callahan,
I was wondering the same point. Doggone/GA has the mistaken notion that welfare recipients pay taxes in the form of sales taxes. But if their housing, food, medical care, and welfare check are all provided to them via other taxpayers then how is it that they themselves pay sales taxes? Wouldn’t it be the other taxpayers who are actually generating sales tax revenue on behalf of the parasite?
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:14 pm
If someone has no job, and all of their housing, food, etc is totally provided by taxpayer funding, can we really say they are “paying” sales taxes?
Other than not having a job, you’re pretty much describing the military. If you have proof, I’d like to know of at least one person that fits the description that you gave: “… no job, and all of their housing, food, etc is totally provided by taxpayer funding“
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:15 pm
“Congratulations…dumbest post of the day!”
Nope, far from it. Companies do print their own money. The ONLY money they have is what they get by selling their goods and/or services. Their CUSTOMERS pay all of their bills, including their taxes.
stands for decibels
April 25th, 2011
3:15 pm
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.
AngryRed, that sounds fine in theory. But if anyone is in a position to seriously primary challenge Obama in 2012, Obama’s probably not going to win the general election. That’s just a fact of political life.
How it will likely play out instead is, we’ll maybe see someone like Kucinich on the margins, trying to keep Obama honest (and that’s cool, I guess) but I don’t see that person taking anything more than a token share of delegates.
Put another way, the national convention isn’t going to be “exciting.” You really don’t want it to be.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
3:15 pm
doom
Let me follow your logic here: You think because jay left his blog he capitulated? I leave, you leave, when something more important comes up. You are assuming, and in some professions when people assume, others can get hurt. Now, no one is correct 100% of the time but I’ll stick with bookman, it’s his job and he has to be more factually accurate before signing off on a column.
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:15 pm
Oops! “companies do NOT print their own money
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:16 pm
Thulsa,
Your interpretation of the economic contributions to society made by the welfare recipient is essentially the same as mine.
AngryRedMarsWoman
April 25th, 2011
3:16 pm
“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.”
I am sympathetic to the plight of people who are at a level where they don’t pay income taxes, but did you ever consider that once they get their EITC check and you credit it against the payroll, sales and other non-income taxes they pay it might work out to $0? A single mom making $25k with two kids gets an EITC check of $3.2k – okay, she doesn’t pay income taxes because she is pretty poor, but with the EITC she is getting back what she paid in Social Security and Medicare “taxes” plus most, if not all, of what she paid in sales tax. And that doesn’t even take into account the child support she is hopefully receiving each month – which is tax free to her and also not included in the EITC calculation.
I have sympathy for people. I really do. But this constant argument that while they may not pay “income” taxes they pay lots of other taxes is sort of illogical to me once you factor in the EITC and see that it covers most, if not all, of those other taxes. I know there are exceptions. I know there are people who do not receive EITC. I know, I know….but there are still way too many folks out there who are actually paying nothing.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:16 pm
MadDog MD20/20!
Only if it’s this one right here….
http://crimecrawlers.files.wordpress.com/2010/06/86458300-orange.jpg
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:17 pm
Taxpayer: Go easy on jm. He probably still believes that Swiss watch movements will make a comeback.- Southern Comfort
You never know Southern Comfort- Bell bottoms made a little bit of a comeback- not much but a wee bit.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:17 pm
“Other than not having a job, you’re pretty much describing the military.”
Well, gee, having or not having a job is pretty much the crux of the matter, is it not?
Disgusted
April 25th, 2011
3:17 pm
Disgusted???? Right…keep thinking that. Go talk to any CPA they will all tell you the same thing.
Nonsense! Just try submitting a federal tax return listing a nonexistent dependent. It will be flat-out rejected. Every CPA knows that. There’s a reason that taxpayers are required to supply the SSN of every dependent on Form 1040 or 1040A. And the SSN is checked against the SS database before a return is ever accepted.
Doggone/GA
April 25th, 2011
3:17 pm
“Doggone/GA has the mistaken notion that welfare recipients pay taxes in the form of sales taxes”
No I don’t. We do not…yet…have 47% of our population on welfare. There are good, hardworking people – hard WORKING people – who are still low enough on the economic scale that they owe no INCOME tax. They still pay taxes.
It’s not ALL just about welfare recipients.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:19 pm
” But this constant argument that while they may not pay “income” taxes they pay lots of other taxes is sort of illogical to me”
It’s way past illogical…it’s downright stupid.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
3:19 pm
usmc
The weather is so-so, heading into the mean season. Romney will get shellacked by romney care and his notorious flip floppin. With that being said, He is the most sane out of that whole minor league bench…
Keep Up the Good Fight!
April 25th, 2011
3:19 pm
Once all taxes are taken into account, according to the Congressional Budget Office, the richest one percent of Americans pay about 28 percent of total federal taxes, which is right in line with their 25 percent share of total income. And therein lies the real story: the richest one percent of Americans pay such a large share of federal income taxes because they make such a large share of the overall income.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:19 pm
“Only if it’s this one right here….”
Pass me a cup, Soco… Oh yeah, that’s the kind that you drink straight from the bottle:-)
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:20 pm
” But this constant argument that while they may not pay “income” taxes they pay lots of other taxes is sort of illogical to me”
And besides…it’s federal income taxes that are the crux of the current political debate in this country. NOT state taxes, or local taxes, or sales taxes.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:20 pm
USMC…..I do believe that you could just pour that MD 20/20 in the gas tank and drive on that.
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:20 pm
Doggone….47% on welfare….good, hardworking people//////REALLY,,,,WOW
Keep Up the Good Fight!
April 25th, 2011
3:21 pm
The richest one percent owns as much financial wealth as the bottom 95 percent of Americans — 40 percent of all the wealth in America. Four hundred Americans — the richest 0.0001 percent of the country — have as much wealth as the bottom half of the country combined.
Yes, the rich should pay more.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:21 pm
Mick,
I understand what you’re saying. Just because Jay left doesn’t mean he left cause someone gave him a blog beatdown. What I’m saying is that this happened twice where Jay was on the blog the whole day- MPercy contributed some irrefutable data and logic both times- and Jay up and mysteriously disappeared. Could very well be Jay just had to go. I just found it odd that he was gone like a fart in the wind both times when presented with some evidence that he couldn’t refute. That’s all.
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
3:22 pm
That’s exhibiting a level of class that we don’t often have in political discourse.
SoCo,
You somehow managed to use “class” in the same sentence with “political discourse.” I commend you on your ability to post such a sentence. I break out laughing every time I try and therefore am unable to accomplish said task.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:23 pm
“The weather is so-so, heading into the mean season. Romney will get shellacked by romney care and his notorious flip floppin. With that being said, He is the most sane out of that whole minor league bench…”
I’m not sure if Romney will even get the nomination, but Obama wasn’t even a minor leaguer and won. Obama had NO experience period, so I disagree. But I do believe Obama will lose, even with Hillary Clinton on ticket, to whoever wins the Republican nomination.
We shall see, though.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:24 pm
“USMC…..I do believe that you could just pour that MD 20/20 in the gas tank and drive on that.”
LOL! You can also clean a rifle with it!
TaxPayer
April 25th, 2011
3:25 pm
And besides…it’s federal income taxes that are the crux of the current political debate in this country. NOT state taxes, or local taxes, or sales taxes.
Not really. I pay more in state local and sales taxes than I do in federal taxes and the Republicans want us to pay even more.
Mick
April 25th, 2011
3:26 pm
doom
Like I said, your perception is the reality, so if it seemed like jay got thumped, maybe he did. He seems to be pretty competitive about fact checking however, your take on it may very well be correct…
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:26 pm
Now some politician wants us to help the Syrian Rebels.Is there any ME country that we are NOT bombing already?
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:26 pm
Doom
Good point on the bell bottoms!!!
USMC
No cup. Straight out the bottle from a brown paper sack…
TaxPayer
I haven’t completely given up on us politically. We’re about 80% fubar, but there’s a slight chance we can pull a miracle from this mess.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:29 pm
Yes, MadDog has some firepower behind it.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:29 pm
Mick,
Or I may very well be wrong! It just seemed obvious to me that he by far got the better of Jay on both days. But like ya said everyone’s perception can be different and “perception is reality”.
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:29 pm
“Four hundred Americans — the richest 0.0001 percent of the country — have as much wealth as the bottom half of the country combined.”
Given that the bottom half probably has a net worth of zero, due to their own decisions (buying houses they can’t afford/no equity, upside down in car loans, credit card debt, etc) this is hardly surprising.
Splavistic
April 25th, 2011
3:30 pm
I welcome high prices. It’s the only way to really get alternative energy to market. Just live near where you work, people. Yes, take personal responsibility! Carpool, ride a bike, take MARTA. It’s a lifestyle change that you either embrace or just stay miserable the rest of your life.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:30 pm
LOL! You can also clean a rifle with it!
Was MD 20/20 the precursor to WD 40?
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:30 pm
harry…>AMEN!
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:30 pm
“Not really. I pay more in state local and sales taxes than I do in federal taxes and the Republicans want us to pay even more.”
Republicans are lobbying for higher taxes at the state and local level? Really? Source?
@@
April 25th, 2011
3:31 pm
And what does Obama do about it…he authorizes a task force to look into it…
I found that very amusing. He announces one day that there’ll be an investigation of speculators, only to say two days later, that there’s “no silver bullet” when it comes to gas prices.
First he leaves people to think that he IS the silver bullet then declares there ISN’T one.
I think they call that a ricocheting silver bullet.
How many task forces has he formed during his 28 months in office? Seems like every time I check in, he’s forming “something”. Manure perhaps?
If you’re riding a horse and it dies, get off!
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:32 pm
Is there anybody out there that didn’t drink some mad dog 20/20 as a teenager? Or some boone’s farm strawberry wine?
Or dare I say the kickin rooster thunderbird?
What’s the word? Thunderbird?
What’s the price? Sixty twice!
Who drinks the most? Poor white folks!
Come on now! Fess up! I know I aint the only one in here that drank some of that stuff!
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:33 pm
“Was MD 20/20 the precursor to WD 40?”
No…that was Thunderbird wine.
What’s the word? THUNDERBIRD!!!
What’s the price? A DOLLAR TWICE!!!
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:34 pm
LOL!!! Thulsa and I were typing at the same time…
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:35 pm
How did MadDog get it’s name? Said backwards, it is the first you say after the first sip.
Lil' Barry Bailout
April 25th, 2011
3:35 pm
LWM, you got schooled on that ethanol import tax. No response from you except to drag out your usual straw herrings.
I win.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:37 pm
@@,
Last count was 37 when gas prices ran up during Bush. Congressman railed and wanted some studies done to prove collusion, etc. At that point in time something like 37 studies had all concluded the same thing at various times- that there is no collusion and that if there is it could ” could possibly account for a 1% rise in the price of gas”. “could possibly” mind you and that was for a possible explanation for about 1 % of the rise in gas prices. The rest was explainable with supply/ demand and mostly kinks in the distribution system such as the pipeline from LA. being disrupted for several days in the wake of Katrina.
USMC
April 25th, 2011
3:37 pm
“No cup. Straight out the bottle from a brown paper sack…
”
I’m with ya Soco! Bust that badboy open!
Keep Up the Good Fight!
April 25th, 2011
3:38 pm
Given that the bottom half probably has a net worth of zero, due to their own decisions (buying houses they can’t afford/no equity, upside down in car loans, credit card debt, etc) this is hardly surprising
Rather due to the greed of the unscrupulous, pay day lenders, title pwn shops, employers violating labor laws and failing to pay proper wages, “company stores”, and a housing market bubble that crashed because of the greed and stupidity of Wall Street.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:38 pm
Damn… Not the BIRD!!!!! There should be many livers harder than concrete from consuming Thunderbird.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:38 pm
Harry Callahan,
So are you fessin up or did you just like the jingle?
stands for decibels
April 25th, 2011
3:39 pm
If there’s some way to manage some positive spin over how the House GOPers have handled their DOMA legal case, I’m all ears.
see also:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-25/clement-quits-king-spalding-over-marriage-act-decision-2-.html
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:39 pm
“So are you fessin up or did you just like the jingle?”
I’ve drank it (drunk it?) before…college kids do stupid stuff
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:40 pm
Does anyone here remember a locally produced, cheap, Peach wine from the 60s. I forget the brand name. That was a rotgut.
stands for decibels
April 25th, 2011
3:40 pm
whoopsie, got dead threaded on a topic I just posted about @ 3.39… headin’ upstairs.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:40 pm
Doom @ 3:32
That list sounds like a post-football Friday night menu from high school…… How I still ended up less than 2 points from Valedictorian, I’ll never know…
USMC
You’re my kinda guy!!!!
UGA1999
April 25th, 2011
3:41 pm
Bada Bing…..Boones Farm?
Harry Callahan
April 25th, 2011
3:42 pm
“Rather due to the greed of the unscrupulous, pay day lenders, title pwn shops, employers violating labor laws and failing to pay proper wages, “company stores”, and a housing market bubble that crashed because of the greed and stupidity of Wall Street.”
Anything to avoid taking responsibility for your own decisions, eh?
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:42 pm
Southern Comfort,
As soon as I got my first part time job washing dishes at Quincys steakhouse I moved up to the good stuff like Old Milwaukee and the beast. Only did the kickin rooster once or twice and maddog- oh lordy. My liver is about to give out just thinking bout the maddog.
Bada bing was right about maddog spelled backwards cause that’s what you say after the first sip.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:45 pm
Not Boone’s Farm, they might have had one, but that was not the brand I recall.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:45 pm
The truth comes out with all the fessin up from the mad dog, thunderbird, and boones farm drinkers. Ya’ll nasty!
onpatroll
April 25th, 2011
3:45 pm
Well, you’ll have to pry my steering wheel from my cold dead hands…
chuck must be huge.
RW-(the original)
April 25th, 2011
3:46 pm
Section 1. The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age.–26th amendment
Where did they hide the clause that says 17 year olds can be deemed 18 year olds in federal elections?
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:48 pm
When I was a teenager, all of us would drive to Adamsville in SW Atl. and give old men on the street a few bucks to buy us some alcohol. Lord only knows what we were drinking, I could hardly force it down.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:48 pm
Bada
Just read that 3:35, and you got my sides cramping from laughin so damned hard!!!!!! I had never heard that before, but I completely agree with it.
Doom
I was around 10 when I had my first Old Milwaukee. My high school years were fueled by Boone’s, Mad Dog, Thunderbird, and Brass Monkey…. I’ll probably eventually need a liver transplant or something. Hell, one night, I tried stepping out of a car and missed the ground after drinking mad dog. That stuff is dangerous.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:51 pm
As I recall, the booze we were drinking was so bad, that I held a gun on my friend and forced him to drink some. Then he held the gun on me.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:51 pm
Damn Bada. That had to be some bad booze..
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
3:54 pm
SOCO….I will trade you a liver for a tank of gas.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
3:56 pm
LOL!!! You sure? We’ll have to have that liver professionally examined first.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
3:56 pm
keep up the good fight at 3:38pm,
Its a strange day when I find myself in agreement with keep up. And no. I’m not even hitting the maddog 20/20 or the rooster that we’ve been talking about.
Everyone knows someone- a friend, family member, classmate, someone who went through hard times and made the mistake of going to a pay day lender, title loan place, etc. Its no secret that these places prey on poor people, people down on their luck, or yes- people who just made a series of poor decisions. I had a friend that was outta work and ended up doing the title loan thing- and lost his car. He was a monumental screw up but eventually made his way back and is now a successful tax paying businessman who is selling franchises to his business. Very proud of him but I’ve no sympathy for the pay day lenders or title loan places that prey on people at their weakest.
In an interesting note I used to have a lot of business with the military at the big base in Fort Stewart in Hinesville, GA. As everyone knows E-1-E-3 barely make anything and a lot of them ended up taking title loans, pay day loans, etc and just getting into a hole they could never get out of. The base commander forbade the soldiers from doing business with that particular industry. I don’t know how he enforced it but he made it a punishable rule. And this was the base that is home to the famed 3rd Infantry Division which did a lot of the heavy fighting in both Gulf wars with Iraq.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
4:00 pm
SOCO, oh you want to haggle do you.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
4:01 pm
Doom
All one has to do is drive the roads that lead to the gates at posts and bases and see that. I’m in agreement with the both of you.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
4:02 pm
Bada
I don’t want to end up with two bum livers.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
4:04 pm
Bada Bing,
Putting a gun to your buddy to make sure he has to drink the same crap. Now that’s bad bad.
Reminds me of when I was 18 and me and a friend bought a boat together and got the bright idea of going skiing in February on the Alabama river. It was in the 60s so we figured how cold can the water be. So we flipped a coin and he went into the water first. When it was my turn I jumped in and damn near went into shock and swam back into the boat. He drove the boat away and wouldn’t let me in until I skied also. He later told me he wasn’t going to be the only fool to jump into a river in February so that’s why he drove the boat away and wouldn’t let me in. Thank God we had been drinking some manner of cheap beer that day cause that was the only thing that kept us going.
Thulsa Doom
April 25th, 2011
4:13 pm
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
4:01 pm
Doom
All one has to do is drive the roads that lead to the gates at posts and bases and see that. I’m in agreement with the both of you.
Southern Comfort,
Its enough to piss you off on the title loan and payday loan thing. I’m all for capitalism and all that but on that industry I just think they prey on poor people and once there in a hole they are in a hole. Matter of fact I remember reading about a pawn shop owner in the business section- I think he was featured as the business personality of the week. Custrs spoke glowingly of him and he of his customers. He had one little ole lady month in and month out who just couldn’t make it till the end of the month on her fixed income. She would come to him with her diamond ring- he would lend her the $100-$200 or whatever it was till her check hit on the first. She would then retrieve it and pay off the loan and then 2 weeks later be right back to pawn the same ring all over again. This went on for years. Makes me sick to think how much this poor woman spent in interest on this viscious cycle. I guess she was too uneducated to understand how much this cost her over time.
BADA BING
April 25th, 2011
4:17 pm
Doom, been there, I used to jet ski in the Hooch off Roswell Rd. at the park on Azelia Drive. I went one year on my birthday in December. It was a record 70 degrees on Dec 1, 1990. I had a 1/2 wet suit on and it still turned me blue. That water is cold even in August.
Southern Comfort (aka The Man)
April 25th, 2011
4:26 pm
Doom
I feel you. I’ve seen it first-hand myself. I’ve given family and friends money instead of letting them go that route. It’s a no interest loan that they can pay back when they can. I have no problem helping someone who’s trying to help themselves.
MPercy
April 25th, 2011
4:34 pm
mm @2:49 pm Were you asleep the last few weeks when word hit the news about many of our major corporations paying zero taxes?
The CBO produced a report “THE INCIDENCE OF THE CORPORATE INCOME TAX” in which it states:
“A corporation may write its check to the Internal Revenue Service for payment of the
corporate income tax, but that money must come from somewhere: from reduced returns to investors in the company, lower wages to its workers, or higher prices that consumers pay for the products the company produces.”
Read that over and over until it sinks in.
It goes on to say “Although economists are far from a consensus about exactly who bears how much of the burden of the corporate income tax…The short-term burden of the corporate tax probably falls on stockholders or investors in general…In the very long term, the burden is likely to be shifted in part to labor”
So, while trying to “Stick it” to big evil corporations, the people who end up getting hurt the most are the people who have invested in the companies in their 401(k), IRA, pension, and mutual funds and/or the workers who will receive lower wages or lower employment figures overall.
MPercy
April 25th, 2011
4:40 pm
Doggone/GA @2:52 pm “:what about the bottom lower class parasites that pay no taxes as well” They don’t exist
At the federal level, they sure do. There is an increasing number of households that pay, effectively, no federal income taxes *or* federal payroll taxes. Currently, this is about 20% of “tax units”. Their EITC and other credits more than offset their total combined income and FICA taxes.
Thus, the only federal taxes they pay are the gasoline excise tax and maybe some phone-related excise taxes, and there is a good chance that their excess income tax credits more than offset those as well.
Now, state and local taxes are another matter.