Quote:
Originally Posted by bry623
And for God's sake, could we please start trading oil in terms of the Euro? The dollar is too weak to trade oil in. You trade in Euors, the price of oil will go down by almost 1/2.
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Well, that's a sad commentary on the dollar, bry. But even if it happened, it wouldn't matter because we'd still be buying Euros with Dollars.
When oil prices are discussed, let's not forget that the same companies that refine oil are often the same companies that produce it. That's why oil companies are making record profits. Generally, if a manufacturer has higher costs for raw materials, they might pass some of the costs along to the consumer, but they still feel the squeeze of the old fashioned price/demand curve. Oil companies today are pretty much exempt from this. There really isn't much competition in any meaningful sense. That's why I still oppose relaxing drilling regulations in areas like the Artic Wildlife Refuge. Of course the oil industry want us to believe this would translate into lower gas prices. Personally, I just see it as more huge profits with no relief at the pump.
So much talk about oil prices focuses on the Middle East, that most people seem to assume that's where virtually all our imports come from. That isn't true at all, and here's a
nifty chart to break it down for you.
Now what just happenend in Congress? Well, predictably the Republicans blocked a Democratic initiative to raise taxes on oil companies, and to set som limits on the profits made by speculators. The story is
here in the Washington Post. The money collected would have gone to an R&D fund dedicated to reducing U.S. dependence on non-renewable energy sources. One generally overlooked provision of the bill was that oil companies who invested the equivalent amount in home grown R&D to develop alternative energy resources wouldn't have to pay the tax.
Ultimately, one of the deal breakers was the Republican opposition to fiscal responsibility. They seem to have a deep seated aversion to "pay as you go" policy.
"Republican leaders said they were taking a stand against pay-as-you-go budget rules that automatically assume federal spending will increase from year to year but force lawmakers to make up lost revenue through tax increases or spending cuts when tax cuts expire.
"We don't believe philosophically that in order to extend existing tax policy you should use that to raise taxes on others," McConnell said."