Qatar to Politicians: Shut Up
Gas supply fears drive up price of fuel. This is a proven fact throughout history.
As the rhetoric with Iran began the fuel prices rose...
Even when we went to war in Iraq, the prices rose...
These were because of fears in the market. These fears drive the prices up.
Even the Qatari Energy Minister sees this and suggests that if the politicians would quit with the rhetoric which is driving the prices up, if they would stop, he thinks prices would drop at least $15 a barrel.
Meanwhile it is true that oil companies are posting fantastic increase in profits, I believe that is partially due to increase in demand, but I have to admit it is shocking that oil profits are as much as they are:
Question, if the oil companies are making record profits and the amount of profit they are making is HALF of what the Federal Gas Tax is, just how much is the Government raking in with federal taxes twice what the profit is for the oil companies?
So not only does Gas get taxed at the pump, but the oil companies also pay taxes on the profits they make (remember, their profit is HALF of what the Federal Government takes per gallon at the pump).
So while politicians play up the fear game, getting driven around on our taxpayer dollars in their own SUVs, grandstanding and driving the fear of higher gas prices and fanning flames of blame at the oil companies, we see what is NOT being reported, that 7 BILLION of the 8.4 Billion profit reported went to the Federal Government for taxes.
Suprise!
We don't hear about this in the grandstanding of the politicians, nor in the news media. They report on the profits but not the taxes at the pump and not the taxes paid out on those profits to the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, senators are proposing taking the profits of the oil companies and redistributing it back to the public.
Where I have I heard this type of rhetoric before?
You make too much, your too rich, we will take from you to give to the poor....
Not only does the government take 7 Billion of the 8.4 Billion in profits, but now makes the suggestion that out of what is left, that the oil companies should give back what remains of their profits to the public in $100 rebates? What is that, 2 tanks of gas?
Out of those remaining profits, these companies need to expand, reinvest back into the companies with supplies, machinery, upgrades, meeting newer federal government standards, pay employees, pay for services, pay investors...ect.
What do you think that will do?
Do you think if they hit the oil companies up for more taxes, when they are paying out of that 8.4 Billion, they have paid 7 Billion already in taxes, and the Senators want to hit them with MORE taxes, do you think that will reflect more or less at the pump?
I say it will drive prices up more to help offset the government leeches.
Meanwhile senators still stall on allowing drilling in ANWR, which would allow the US to become more independent on our oil, which in turn would bring the price of gas down since the crude oil would be ours and not by the barrel from OPEC. But let's be realistic, we will never completely free of buying from OPEC, the demand is too great. We will need to develop other sources to help us reduce our dependency on oil.
Political Gateway thinks that High Oil Prices: It's the Democrats, Stupid
He brings up an excellent quote about Enviromental whackos, which constantly push and lobby the Government for steeper and steeper standards for manufacturing and gasoline. Standards that the government is looking at relaxing to help relieve the high gas prices:
Expect Clean-air activists to rally and protest now that this is being considered.
Also expect more appearances from the Angry White Man, Al Gore, with cords standing out in his neck and his face as flushed as Ted Kennedys, to rant about an increase in Global Warming if standards are relaxed.
Ann Coulter does make an interesting observation about Democrats and their grandstanding about gas prices now:
Does she accurately portrait the Democrats agenda when it comes to gasoline, big oil and reduction of dependence?
I realize she is highly snarky when it comes to talking about Liberals and Democrats, but if you dig through that, she does make some excellent points.
As we begin the ramping up of politics for elections, you can bet there will be a few major items being looked at: Iraq, Illegal Immigration (Border Security), and High Gas Prices.
Start looking at where your politicians stand on each point, remember this when it comes time....
See Sanity's Related Posts:
Gasoline Prices Predicted to Surge
Others blogging this issue:
Leaning Straight Up, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, Ms. Underestimated, Expose the Left, Stop the ACLU, Church and State, The Unalienable Right, Texas Rainmaker, Amy Proctor
As the rhetoric with Iran began the fuel prices rose...
Even when we went to war in Iraq, the prices rose...
These were because of fears in the market. These fears drive the prices up.
Even the Qatari Energy Minister sees this and suggests that if the politicians would quit with the rhetoric which is driving the prices up, if they would stop, he thinks prices would drop at least $15 a barrel.
Link
Qatar: Price of oil would drop $15 if politicians shut up
ABU DHABI Qatar plans to invest $5 billion through 2010 in an attempt to increase the production of crude oil.
Qatari Energy Minister Abdullah Bin Hamad Al Attiyah said the price of oil would drop by $15 should politicians end their expressions of concern over a halt in supplies.
Al Attiyah said the record oil prices of more than $75 per barrel was the result of fears and speculation within the market.
Qatar intends to allocate $5 billion over the next five years to boost oil production capacity to 1.1 million barrels per day.
Current production was reported at 850,000 barrels per day.
"We are putting a lot of effort and investment into increasing our oil output," Al Attiyah said on the sidelines of the International Energy Forum in Doha on April 23.
Meanwhile it is true that oil companies are posting fantastic increase in profits, I believe that is partially due to increase in demand, but I have to admit it is shocking that oil profits are as much as they are:
Link
The report comes amid consumer outcry in the U.S. about soaring gasoline prices. The average retail price of gasoline in the U.S. is now $2.91 a gallon, or 68 cents higher than a year ago.
In January, Exxon Mobil posted the highest quarterly and annual profits of any U.S. company in history: $10.71 billion for the fourth quarter of 2005 and $36.13 billion for the full year.
Link
NBC excoriated the company for "cashing in" at 9.5 cents per dollar, without noting how that's half the federal gas tax per gallon.
Question, if the oil companies are making record profits and the amount of profit they are making is HALF of what the Federal Gas Tax is, just how much is the Government raking in with federal taxes twice what the profit is for the oil companies?
So not only does Gas get taxed at the pump, but the oil companies also pay taxes on the profits they make (remember, their profit is HALF of what the Federal Government takes per gallon at the pump).
15 percent of profits went directly to shareholders in the form of cash dividends, and the biggest chunk, 40 percent, was used to repurchase Exxon's own stock." But ExxonMobil paid 83 percent as much as the $8.4 billion it earned, $7 billion, $2 billion more than a year earlier, in just federal income tax -- and a lot more in other taxes.
So while politicians play up the fear game, getting driven around on our taxpayer dollars in their own SUVs, grandstanding and driving the fear of higher gas prices and fanning flames of blame at the oil companies, we see what is NOT being reported, that 7 BILLION of the 8.4 Billion profit reported went to the Federal Government for taxes.
Suprise!
We don't hear about this in the grandstanding of the politicians, nor in the news media. They report on the profits but not the taxes at the pump and not the taxes paid out on those profits to the Federal Government.
Link
Exxon earned 9.5 cents on every dollar of gasoline and oil sold, cashing in at every stage of the process." Yes, ExxonMobil cashed in by investing and working to get their product to the retail customer while the federal government collected 18.4 cents per gallon in tax for doing nothing, while many states swiped twice that.
Meanwhile, senators are proposing taking the profits of the oil companies and redistributing it back to the public.
Where I have I heard this type of rhetoric before?
You make too much, your too rich, we will take from you to give to the poor....
Not only does the government take 7 Billion of the 8.4 Billion in profits, but now makes the suggestion that out of what is left, that the oil companies should give back what remains of their profits to the public in $100 rebates? What is that, 2 tanks of gas?
Out of those remaining profits, these companies need to expand, reinvest back into the companies with supplies, machinery, upgrades, meeting newer federal government standards, pay employees, pay for services, pay investors...ect.
Link
House and Senate conferees - as part of a broader tax package - were also considering a measure that would change accounting rules involving oil held in inventory, which would force the five biggest oil companies to pay an additional $4.3 million in taxes.
What do you think that will do?
Do you think if they hit the oil companies up for more taxes, when they are paying out of that 8.4 Billion, they have paid 7 Billion already in taxes, and the Senators want to hit them with MORE taxes, do you think that will reflect more or less at the pump?
I say it will drive prices up more to help offset the government leeches.
Meanwhile senators still stall on allowing drilling in ANWR, which would allow the US to become more independent on our oil, which in turn would bring the price of gas down since the crude oil would be ours and not by the barrel from OPEC. But let's be realistic, we will never completely free of buying from OPEC, the demand is too great. We will need to develop other sources to help us reduce our dependency on oil.
Political Gateway thinks that High Oil Prices: It's the Democrats, Stupid
He brings up an excellent quote about Enviromental whackos, which constantly push and lobby the Government for steeper and steeper standards for manufacturing and gasoline. Standards that the government is looking at relaxing to help relieve the high gas prices:
Environmentalists are not actually concerned with the well-being of man. Their real motive is to sacrifice man to nature by stopping industrial activity. For instance, Adam Kolton of the Alaska Wilderness League states, "Drilling the wildest place in America is objectionable no matter how it's packaged." David M. Graber, a research biologist with the National Park Service, states, "We are not interested in the utility of a particular species, or free-flowing river, or ecosystem, to mankind. They have ... more value -- to me -- than another human body, or a billion of them."
Expect Clean-air activists to rally and protest now that this is being considered.
Also expect more appearances from the Angry White Man, Al Gore, with cords standing out in his neck and his face as flushed as Ted Kennedys, to rant about an increase in Global Warming if standards are relaxed.
Ann Coulter does make an interesting observation about Democrats and their grandstanding about gas prices now:
It's Hard Out Here For A Pump
By: Ann Coulter
I would be more interested in what the Democrats had to say about high gas prices if these were not the same people who refused to let us drill for oil in Alaska, imposed massive restrictions on building new refineries, and who shut down the development of nuclear power in this country decades ago.
But it's too much having to watch Democrats wail about the awful calamity to poor working families of having to pay high gas prices.
Imposing punitive taxation on gasoline to force people to ride bicycles has been one of the left's main policy goals for years.
For decades Democrats have been trying to raise the price of gasoline so that the working class will stop their infernal car-driving and start riding on buses where they belong, while liberals ride in Gulfstream jets.
The last time the Democrats controlled the House, the Senate and the presidency was in 1993. Immediately after trying to put gays in the military and socialize all health care, Clinton's next order of business was to propose an energy tax on all fuels, including a 26-cent tax on gas. I think the bill was called "putting people first in line at the bus station."
Al Gore defended the gas tax, vowing that it was "absolutely not coming out" of the energy bill regardless of "how much trouble it causes the entire package." The important thing was to force Americans to stop their infernal car-driving, no matter how much it cost.
And mind you, this was before we knew Gore was clinically insane. Back then we thought he was just a double-talking stuffed shirt who seemed kind of gay.
Democrats in Congress promptly introduced an "energy bill" that would put an additional 25-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline to stop "global warming," an atmospheric phenomenon supposedly aggravated by frivolous human activities such as commerce, travel and food production. This is the Democratic Party. That's their program.
Democratic House Speaker Tom Foley endorsed the proposal on "Charlie Rose," saying: "I'd have a five-cent increase every year for five years.... But that's not going to happen .... because we've got people who fret and worry that one- or two-tenths of a cent of a gasoline tax is going to cause some revolution at home." So in Tom Foley's universe, two-tenths of a cent is the same as a quarter - another testimonial to the American public educational system.
The Democrats' proposed gas tax did cause a revolution at home, and consequently the Democrats were able to sneak through only an additional 4.3-cent federal tax on gasoline. After tut-tutting the idea that voters would object if the Democrats attempted a huge gas tax increase, Speaker Tom Foley soon became former speaker, and indeed former Congressman Tom Foley.
Gary Hart, another whimsical demonstration of what Democrats think a president should be like, said at the time, "I certainly favor consumption taxes, particularly on energy." Then there's John Kerry, who favored a 50-cent increase in the gas tax in 1994. If he were a rap artist, Kerry's stage name would be "Fifty Cent a Gallon."
Last year, a couple of green "climatologists" at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign were back at it in the journal Science, wheeling out their proposal for a 25-cent-a-gallon tax on gasoline as an "insurance policy" against global warming.
Just two months ago, we were being confidently told - on the basis of a New York Times/CBS News poll, so it must be true - that "Americans might OK a gasoline tax hike if it reduced global warming or lessened U.S. dependence on foreign oil." (This poll was wedged in among the 29 polls claiming Americans think we're losing the war in Iraq.) Other results from the Times' "meaningless polls" section: Americans might "OK" a Dennis Kucinich presidency if it meant free ice cream every Tuesday.
How many times do Democrats have to tell us they want to raise the price of gas for the average American before the average American believes them? Is it more or less than the number of times Democrats tell us they want to surrender in the war on terrorism?
It's as if a switch goes off in people's brains telling them: The Democrats can't be saying they want to destroy the lives of people who drive cars because my father was a Democrat, and the Democrats can't be this stupid!
The Democrats' only objection to current gas prices is that the federal government's cut is a mere 18.4 cents a gallon. States like New York get another 44 cents per gallon in taxes. The Democratic brain processes the fact that "big oil companies" get nearly 9 cents a gallon and thinks: WE SHOULD HAVE ALL THAT MONEY!
When the free market does the exact thing liberals have been itching to do through taxation, they pretend to be appalled by high gas prices, hoping the public will forget that high gas prices are part of their agenda.
Does she accurately portrait the Democrats agenda when it comes to gasoline, big oil and reduction of dependence?
I realize she is highly snarky when it comes to talking about Liberals and Democrats, but if you dig through that, she does make some excellent points.
As we begin the ramping up of politics for elections, you can bet there will be a few major items being looked at: Iraq, Illegal Immigration (Border Security), and High Gas Prices.
Start looking at where your politicians stand on each point, remember this when it comes time....
See Sanity's Related Posts:
Gasoline Prices Predicted to Surge
Others blogging this issue:
Leaning Straight Up, Sister Toldjah, Michelle Malkin, Ms. Underestimated, Expose the Left, Stop the ACLU, Church and State, The Unalienable Right, Texas Rainmaker, Amy Proctor
posted by sanity | 4:04 PM
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