Gasoline: It Happened

I remember when gasoline crossed over the $2 per gallon price. I also remember thinking, at the time, that it would never go back, under that marker again.

But here we are.

This was yesterday, last evening, in Springfield, Missouri, anyway. It's likely lower in Oklahoma.

Americans polarized politically? Follow the money

As a nation, plenty have wondered aloud why we Americans are so polarized, politically.  Why so far Right Wing? Why so far Left?

There was a terrific, even important, if lengthy, article in The New York Times yesterday, describing at least in part precisely why it happened and is happening.  As usual, as I've written here and elsewhere before, it's a case of money--and political parties--buying us.  And votes.  And even legislatures:

A National Strategy Funds State Political Monopolies

By his third year as chairman of the Alabama Republican organization, Mike Hubbard believed his party had just about everything it needed to win control of the State Legislature.

He had a plan: an 88-page playbook for the 2010 campaign, with detailed, district-by-district budgets and precise voter turnout targets. He had candidates: doctors, lawyers and small-business owners, most of them political novices recruited with an eye toward the anti-establishment fervor roiling the country.

What Mr. Hubbard did not have was enough money. Alabama law barred corporations, deep-pocketed natural allies for state Republicans, from giving more than $500 to candidates and parties — a limit that did not apply to the state’s unions.

So began a nationwide quest for cash that would take Mr. Hubbard, plan in hand, to the Republican Parties in states like Florida and Ohio, to a wealthy Texan who was one of the country’s biggest Republican givers and to a Washington organization that would provide checks from dozens of out-of-state corporations, among them ExxonMobil,  Google, Facebook and Altria.

Exploiting a loophole in the state law and a network of political action committees in Alabama and Washington, Mr. Hubbard shuffled hundreds of thousands of out-of-state dollars into the Republican organization in Alabama, vastly outraising the state Democratic Party. On Election Day, Republicans won majorities in both the State Senate and House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction — and Alabama joined the rapidly growing fraternity of states where government is controlled by a single political party, now the largest it has been in more than half a century.

Further proof positive, folks.  We are being bought and sold. The wealthy and corporations, as shown here, are buying and selling us.

We have to fight to end this. 

We need to fight to end campaign contributions. 

We need to fight to get bills making this kind of out-of-state contributions illegal.

We need to make political campaigns--what?--one or two months long, total, on both the state and federal levels, as England did years ago so our legislators don't need or shill for this money.

And it's not just a Republican Party problem, by any means. It's both parties and any and every other political party that has any power whatever.

It's only then we'll get our country back, our government back, for the people.

Additional, great information on this very topic, too, from local blogger 

Radioman Kansas City:  

Leaked Republican Tape reveals they Manufacture Scandals

We're being bought and sold, folks.  You know it, I know it, we all know it.  We need to stand up and demand an end to it.  We can do this. 

In the meantime, these are just some of the results we're getting here in America, as we also know:

Doesn't this go against everything America and Americans are supposed to be about?

The Keystone XL Pipeline through Missouri?

Put the Canadian oil company's Keystone XL pipeline through the US and Missouri?

Why? So we can get more of this?

Exxon says Missouri oil spills from already-ruptured Pegasus line

Mind you, folks, this is from the news yesterday. That recent.

 

The picture below is from the recent Arkansas oil spill.

 

 

We want that? Some of that? More of that?

 

Certainly not.

 

Let's shut this down now. Let your Congressional representatives know we want no part of this.

 

Links:

 

U.S. House of Representatives Contact Information

 

U.S. Senate: Senators Home

On America and "Big Oil"

Additionally? We, the people, you and me, all the working class stiffs in the nation give "Big Oil", the oil companies like Exxon-Mobil and Shell and BP and all of them? We give them tax deductions and subsidies. Yep. The wealthiest and most profitable companies and industry in the nation and the world and we give them--they get--tax breaks.

We just aren't very smart.

Further proof: We have to get the big money out of our elections

If we don't kill "campaign contributions" and get the big, ugly, corrosive, corrupting money out of our election system and so, our government, nothing will ever change. This trailer for this coming documentary also confirms this.

Going After "Big Oil's" Tax Subsidies: Great News

From the news today: Obama seeks halt to tax subsidies for oil industry And this is great news. The oil industry is the most profitable industry in the nation--and the world--yet we, the American people--give them tax subsidies and breaks. Does that make any sense to anyone? It's crazy. They should be quickly and summarily done away with and as soon as possible. Even with money coming from the oil industry to our Congressional representatives, this should be an easy goal to attain. It's good for America. It's good for business and it's good for every home in the country--even if they didn't have a car, let alone if they do. Kudos, Mr. President. I would salute this action regardless of the political party that originated it, certainly. (And the Tea Party, Libertarians and Independents should all be behind this. Link: http://news.yahoo.com/obama-seeks-halt-tax-subsidies-oil-industry-100325515.html

We give tax credits to the most profitable industry in the nation and world

This could be a definition of insanity. It is most certainly a definition of gross unfairness.

Predictions on gasoline this year

My first prediction is that gasoline here in the area--the midwest, overall--will hit at least $4.00 per gallon this Summer--likely go a bit higher than that--and stay there most of the 3 months.  It will stay there all Summer unless, that is, the economy really grinds to a halt because of it.  Then it will come back just under 4 bucks a gallon.

My second prediction is that Exxon Mobil and all the oil companies will once again make all time, record-breaking profits, even for themselves, surpassing the last time this happened which were, at that time, record-breaking profits.

Final prediction---like the idiots we are, we STILL won't take away the tax breaks Congress gave them so long ago.

We really aren't that bright, collectively, are we?

Links:  Boehner rejects Dems' request for vote to end subsidies for Big Oil
Exxon Mobil profit soars along with gas prices
Oil edges higher; natural gas rallies nearly 4%
Rising Gas Prices: Obama Re-Tries Cutting Oil Subsidies; Kucinich ...
Gas Prices Increase to $3.88
Gas Price Spikes

A simple change we need from Washington

I've said repeatedly here that one of the easiest, simplest and smartest things we need to do is have one enterprising representative in Congress in Washington introduce a bill that would take away incentives to take any manufacturing or business offshore.  Here's proof of what I'm saying from an article yesterday on Alternet:

According to the non-partisan Government Accountability Office (GAO), eighty-three of the 100 largest publicly traded U.S. corporations utilize such tax havens to reduce their U.S. tax liability. Ironically, these accounting tricks aren’t available for companies that only do business in the United States, so Congress in effect is providing tax incentives to ship jobs overseas and dismantle the middle class.


It would be so easy.


And smart.


Some bright--even demagoguic--representative or senator should sponsor a bill taking away tax benefits to offshore business and first, they'd be a huge media darling, overnight.  Second, they'd be hugely popular with the people, just as quick.  Third, they would gain a great name for themselves locally, in their own districts but also nationally, in case they wanted to run for some other, higher office later.


This would be perfect for ANYONE in any political party--Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent but especially a Tea Party member.


I don't understand why this isn't happening.


Well, other than the fact that some corporations might not want to give them more campaign money.  Other than that.


Link:   http://www.alternet.org/economy/150598/how_12_multinational_corporations_avoid_paying_taxes

Note to Washington: A minimum corporate tax makes sense

There is a great article out right now on The Huffington Post by Chuck Collins making a terrific point:

We're chumps unless we force Congress to stop tax haven abuse.



Instead of cutting state and federal budgets, the United States should crack down on the corporate tax dodgers thumbing their noses at us.


Across the nation, states are making deep cuts that will wreck the quality of life for everyone to close budget gaps that total more than $100 billion.


But there's a more sensible option. Overseas tax havens enable companies to pretend their profits are earned in other countries like the Cayman Islands. Simply making that ruse illegal would bring home an estimated $100 billion a year.


The next time you read a story about some politician bemoaning that "there's no money" and "we have to make cuts," just point to artful tax dodgers in our midst.

They include some of the banks that trashed the economy but gladly took our tax dollars to stay alive after the economic meltdown. Bank of America. Wells Fargo. Citigroup.


Goldman Sachs took a $10 billion taxpayer bailout but then gamed its effective tax rate down to one percent through what its shakedown-artist executives call "changes in geographic earnings mix." Shame on them. Pay up.


See that FedEx delivery van go by on the roads you paid for? Pay up FedEx! Don't pretend you're not making billions in the U.S. Don't lie and tell us you made all those profits on some island with more palm trees than people. We know the demand for coconut delivery isn't that big.


These corporations are heavy users of our taxpayer funded public infrastructure and property rights protection systems. They use our regulated marketplace, call upon our law enforcement system and judiciary to remedy disputes. They're protected by U.S. police forces and firefighters. They enjoy all the privileges and benefits of tax-paying citizens. They just don't pay their fair share for them.


So, ExxonMobil: the next time your gas station erupts in flames, why don't you call the fire department on the Cayman Islands? Or when someone holds up the joint, how about calling the Luxembourg police, since that's where you claim your profits so you don't have to pay the taxes you owe Uncle Sam.


Hey, Pfizer. Without our remarkable taxpayer-funded system of patents and intellectual property rights protections, everyone and their brother would be making Viagra and undercutting your sales of little blue pills. Pay up!


Those of us who pay sales taxes and have income taxes withheld from our paychecks will bear the brunt of state and federal budget cuts in schools, public transportation, and recreational facilities. Our most vulnerable family members and neighbors will suffer thanks to cuts in mental health services, elder care, and Medicaid.


Oh yes, and children. Arizona is cutting health care for 47,000 children. California, New York and Mississippi are cutting K-12 education funding. Hey, kids don't vote. Nor do they have corporate lobbyists. An estimated 900,000 jobs will be cut, including teachers, firefighters, police officers, and medical first responders.


Boeing, you want another contract for a taxpayer-funded military jet? Well, pay up! Pay up General Electric, Mattel, Dow Chemical, Hewlett-Packard, and Cisco. Yes, we know you pay some taxes. But look these children who are losing their health insurance and teaching aides in the eye. Tell them you're paying your fair share.


These global corporations will complain that forcing them to pay their fair share of taxes will "kill jobs." Let's be clear: the patriotic businesses that currently pay their taxes and have to compete against these tax dodgers are the employers we want. It undercuts U.S. jobs for domestic banks, retailers, and manufacturers to have to compete against companies that can game the tax system.


The next time you're waiting longer for a bus or train than you should, or someone you know can't get timely mental health or drug treatment services, remember the tax dodgers. The next time your car hits a pothole or your kid's teacher loses her job, remember the corporations that are using armies of accountants to lower their tax bills.


In a democracy, if we sit back and just grumble, we get what we deserve. We're chumps until we wake up and force our members of Congress to stop tax haven abuse.

I ask here again, why isn't there at least say a 10% minimum corporate tax (or some such fair and wise amount) which any and all should pay so a) they have access to our markets and b) they support our infrastructure and so, in effect, the country itself they're benefiting from?

Isn't that the least they can do?  Isn't it the least we can ask of them?

Wouldn't it be downright patriotic to pay, on their part, let alone fair?

And why is no one proposing this?

Link to original post:  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/chuck-collins/pay-up-corporate-tax-dodg_b_828925.html   (Thanks and a hat tip to longtime friend Dennis for pointing out this article).

Dedicated to all the business people in the world who put money before all else

It's a small window, and it's closing

We've all watched the price for gasoline--both the price per gallon and per barrel, on the world markets.

We know it's gone from too high to ridiculous. The ridiculous part was when it hit $147.00 per barrel on those world markets, due mostly to speculation and people successfully, unfortunately, making a killing in the market.

Well, it fell to a bit less than $35.00 per barrel at one point and now it's back up to around $43.00 per barrel.

I have said several times that I should have--heck, we all should have--been very sarcastic, cynical and opportunistic back in 2000, when "W" and his cabal were about to take over, and invested heavily in oil and Halliburton stocks.

It only made sense.

We would have made a TON of money.

Of course, it would have been on the backs of the American people and the world but then we could have done some good with it.

So anyway, now, here we are, back in about the same situation.

If and when the world economy turns back around and people sense a "bottom" to the markets and economies start coming back, you can be sure people will start speculating--and speculating wildly--on oil, the price of oil and the oil markets.

There are a whole lotta' people out there who would like to make at least some of the money back that they've lost in these last months.

And that's where our government's plan to add $1.00 in tax or fee or whatever you want to call it comes in.

This should happen and it should happen now. It should happen right away.

It won't but it should.

This $1.00 per gallon could, would and should, then, be put to use getting us freer from Middle East oil. Parts of it could and again, would be given back to the American consumer but the rest would be used to get us onto renewable energy sources and so, again, out of the Middle East.

This would also, as I've written before, help clean up our environment, since it would be based on clean fuel and would help reduce the carbon dioxide being fed into our atmosphere so less climate change, God willing.


This, then, is what should happen, in a smart world--a perfect world.

It won't, though.

Not in a million years.

We haven't got the political fortitude to do it.

We haven't got the guts.

The politicians haven't got the guts.

In the first place, they'd all say it would just keep us in a recession--or worse. And actually, I'll admit, given that we're in financial and economic territory we've never been in before, it may even be true. (It shouldn't be, however, because of the returning of a good protion of the $1.00 per gallon to American consumers).

So the price of oil was outrageously high.

It came down.

And now it's creeping back up.

If and when the economy comes back, hold onto your hats.

It's gonna get ugly.

And expensive.

On a brighter note, if/when you see the bottom of the market, this time, buy lots and lots of oil stocks.

A bad situation, that should be a good one

Everyone knows the oil companies are doing great--and have been, ever since 2000 when they got one of their own in the White House.

Exxon-Mobil has enjoyed the largest profits, year after year, of any corporation in the history of the United States, as an example, for the last few years. They just announced more record profits, too, recently so the gorging hasn't stopped, even at the expense of their fellow Americans.

You would think that, with all that money, there might be a remote chance that the people who work for those same companies could and would share in all this profit, wouldn't you?

You would if you lived in Europe, anyway.

Well, this is the good old U.S. of A, where profits are profits and employees are things to be tolerated, if not abused.

Get this, according to the Associated Press:

"With a third contract offer rejected, some 24,000 refinery workers from the Gulf of Mexico to Montana prepared to head to the picket lines Saturday just hours before an existing labor agreement expires."

"The nation's biggest refiner, Valero Energy Corp., said it would shut down some facilities if workers strike. So did European oil company BP PLC."

See, with all those profits, the "little guy"--the Unions and the employees--figure there's money to be shared.

You might think so.

But this is Amerika, where the corporation is king and it operates for its own benefit and existence, employees be damned.

The heck of it is, since Big Oil has so much money, far from being ready to share it with its own employees, what they're going to do is tell those same employees--you know, the ones who make the corporation work and make money?--to just keep waiting for any raises.

With all their profits and the low oil prices per barrel, it BENEFITS the companies to have those same employees go out on strike. With that, there is an extremely high likelihood that the price of oil per barrel will go up.

The corporations nothing but win.

The employees lose.

The American people--and everyone buying gasoline and heating fuel--get screwed.

So get ready for it, ladies and gentlemen.

We are about to get collectively screwed.

Again.

Some more.

A new, important 28th Amendment

All that about suporting the "little guy"? Screw that...

This didn't get much coverage in the news, either:


Justices Cut Damages Award in Exxon Valdez Spill
Wednesday 25 June 2008
by: The Associated Press


The US Supreme Court ruled that Exxon will only have to pay $500 million of the $2.5 billion punitive damages awarded to victims of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil-spill disaster that contaminated Prince William Sound with 11 million gallons of crude oil.

Washington - The Supreme Court on Wednesday cut the $2.5 billion punitive damages award in the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to $500 million.

The court ruled that victims of the worst oil spill in U.S. history may collect punitive damages from Exxon Mobil Corp., but not as much as a federal appeals court determined.

Justice David Souter wrote for the court that punitive damages may not exceed what the company already paid to compensate victims for economic losses, about $500 million compensation.

Exxon asked the high court to reject the punitive damages judgment, saying it already has spent $3.4 billion in response to the accident that fouled 1,200 miles of Alaska coastline.

A jury decided Exxon should pay $5 billion in punitive damages. A federal appeals court cut that verdict in half.

The court divided 5-3, with Justice Samuel Alito taking no part in the case because he owns Exxon stock.

Exxon has fought vigorously to reduce or erase the punitive damages verdict by a jury in Alaska in 1994 for the accident that dumped 11 million gallons of oil into Prince William Sound. The environmental disaster led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of seabirds and marine animals.

Nearly 33,000 Alaskans are in line to share in the award, about $15,000 a person. They would have collected $75,000 each under the $2.5 billion judgment.