The Big 3 of Evil: Bush, Alito and Exxon
From the Comments section:
"My concern with the theory that Alito espoused for the Reagan Administration is that it seems to be his own view. We opposed one King George and now seem to be creating another"
Let’s say you’re right and Alito is going to give Bush a blank check to do whatever he wants. Look at the bright side: You only have to deal with the tyranny of King Chimpy Mc. Hitlerburton for less than 3 more years. His evil reign will be over on January 20, 2009. Halleluia.
Now, all the Democrats need to do is field an electible candidate to run against whoever gets the Republican nod, thus ending the Republican monarchy. It’ll be the Storming of the Bastille all over again.
Of course, that’s probably easier said than done.
"My only hope is that when the tide turns we will use the same wiretapping on the terrorists of Chevron, Halibuburton, and Exxon who in a time of national crisis and war have screwed America with their use of cronyism and price fixing schemes. And yes I do believe that."
As a stockholder of Exxon-Mobil (XOM on the old stock ticker), I must take exception of the terrorist tag you’re placing on them, if only because my portfolio got a SWEET bump. Of course, I guess that makes me a profiteer. Oh well. Pity.
All kidding aside, you call it cronyism and price-fixing, I call it "Economics 101: Supply and Demand."
Along comes Katrina, which caused a disruption of the ability of Big Oil to supply and transport gasoline. This resulted in wide-spread panic and demand for gasoline skyrocketed. You live around Towne Lake…almost every gas station within 15 miles of us was sucked dry in HOURS.
How do you best deflate demand? Jack up the price.
Had the prices been left as is with increased demand (exponentially) and diminished supply, there would have been a serious risk of long-term shortages and it’s entirely possible you’d still be paying over $3 a gallon…that is, if you could find a gas station that had a consistent supply. As it was, $3 a gallon lasted only a few weeks, instead of months or more. Now, gasoline is back to a much more reasonable price.
Could Bush have placed cost controls on gasoline in order to keep the American Public from getting “gouged”? Sure. Nixon did it in 1973…THAT worked well.
Were Exxon and others “unduly enriched” by this potential energy crisis? Probably.
Should they be deemed criminals because of this? No.
Do I, as a stockholder, hope that Exxon at least contributes some of their profits to some great cause as a show of good will? Sure, I'm game.
Do I, as a stockholder, hope that Exxon will utilize a larger portion of the profits for research and development AND to trying to figure out ways to avert another scare like this for future hurricane seasons? ABSOLUTELY.
Finally, am I, as a stockholder, conflicted about having profited off of this situation? Absolutely not. I bought this stock at $39 four years ago and saw it lose 25% of it’s value overnight. I took a beating on it for the first 2 years. Glad it’s moving the other direction. ;-)
"Harriet Miers did get screwed. Was she the best choice. Probably not but after getting selected and touted as the best choice the White House ran hard from her as soon as the extreme right yelled. The concern for me is either you have a best choice or not. Is Alito the second best? If he is... God help us for the 3rd. "
I’m sympathetic to Ms. Miers…if I’d have been nominated by my old running buddy to a high profile, monumentally important position that I was completely unqualified for, I’m sure my feelings would’ve been hurt when the rug got pulled out from under me.
She was not the best choice for the position and Uncle George knew that all along. I also feel pretty confident that Ms. Miers herself was aware of that fact.
Bush didn’t start running when the extreme right yelled…he’d already been running when the rest of the right (excluding those who believe he can do no wrong, which is legion), threw a temper tantrum about him nominating an unqualified attorney for the highest bench in the company purely on the basis of their friendship. Of course, I’ve already addressed that several times…no need to be redundant.
“Screwed” is such a harsh word though. She lost the brass ring, but she still managed to keep her job (and her proximity to her old buddy GWB), while avoiding what would have been a VERY ugly confirmation battle. Her hurt feelings must have gone away, though, as she was very actively involved in the Alito prep team. Looks like she’s not holding a grudge, so why all the grudges on her behalf??
Well...
I DO have a theory as to why Democrats are so torn up over Mier’s withdraw. Had Bush thumbed his nose at his base and proceeded with the nomination, it would have caused a terrible rift within the Republican Party and a huge division of the various factions would have occurred, destroying any appearance of a unified party, making the Republicans look like…well…the Democrats.
I’ll get back on the other comments/questions a little later. This “brief post” turned out to be way too long.
"My concern with the theory that Alito espoused for the Reagan Administration is that it seems to be his own view. We opposed one King George and now seem to be creating another"
Let’s say you’re right and Alito is going to give Bush a blank check to do whatever he wants. Look at the bright side: You only have to deal with the tyranny of King Chimpy Mc. Hitlerburton for less than 3 more years. His evil reign will be over on January 20, 2009. Halleluia.
Now, all the Democrats need to do is field an electible candidate to run against whoever gets the Republican nod, thus ending the Republican monarchy. It’ll be the Storming of the Bastille all over again.
Of course, that’s probably easier said than done.
"My only hope is that when the tide turns we will use the same wiretapping on the terrorists of Chevron, Halibuburton, and Exxon who in a time of national crisis and war have screwed America with their use of cronyism and price fixing schemes. And yes I do believe that."
As a stockholder of Exxon-Mobil (XOM on the old stock ticker), I must take exception of the terrorist tag you’re placing on them, if only because my portfolio got a SWEET bump. Of course, I guess that makes me a profiteer. Oh well. Pity.
All kidding aside, you call it cronyism and price-fixing, I call it "Economics 101: Supply and Demand."
Along comes Katrina, which caused a disruption of the ability of Big Oil to supply and transport gasoline. This resulted in wide-spread panic and demand for gasoline skyrocketed. You live around Towne Lake…almost every gas station within 15 miles of us was sucked dry in HOURS.
How do you best deflate demand? Jack up the price.
Had the prices been left as is with increased demand (exponentially) and diminished supply, there would have been a serious risk of long-term shortages and it’s entirely possible you’d still be paying over $3 a gallon…that is, if you could find a gas station that had a consistent supply. As it was, $3 a gallon lasted only a few weeks, instead of months or more. Now, gasoline is back to a much more reasonable price.
Could Bush have placed cost controls on gasoline in order to keep the American Public from getting “gouged”? Sure. Nixon did it in 1973…THAT worked well.
Were Exxon and others “unduly enriched” by this potential energy crisis? Probably.
Should they be deemed criminals because of this? No.
Do I, as a stockholder, hope that Exxon at least contributes some of their profits to some great cause as a show of good will? Sure, I'm game.
Do I, as a stockholder, hope that Exxon will utilize a larger portion of the profits for research and development AND to trying to figure out ways to avert another scare like this for future hurricane seasons? ABSOLUTELY.
Finally, am I, as a stockholder, conflicted about having profited off of this situation? Absolutely not. I bought this stock at $39 four years ago and saw it lose 25% of it’s value overnight. I took a beating on it for the first 2 years. Glad it’s moving the other direction. ;-)
"Harriet Miers did get screwed. Was she the best choice. Probably not but after getting selected and touted as the best choice the White House ran hard from her as soon as the extreme right yelled. The concern for me is either you have a best choice or not. Is Alito the second best? If he is... God help us for the 3rd. "
I’m sympathetic to Ms. Miers…if I’d have been nominated by my old running buddy to a high profile, monumentally important position that I was completely unqualified for, I’m sure my feelings would’ve been hurt when the rug got pulled out from under me.
She was not the best choice for the position and Uncle George knew that all along. I also feel pretty confident that Ms. Miers herself was aware of that fact.
Bush didn’t start running when the extreme right yelled…he’d already been running when the rest of the right (excluding those who believe he can do no wrong, which is legion), threw a temper tantrum about him nominating an unqualified attorney for the highest bench in the company purely on the basis of their friendship. Of course, I’ve already addressed that several times…no need to be redundant.
“Screwed” is such a harsh word though. She lost the brass ring, but she still managed to keep her job (and her proximity to her old buddy GWB), while avoiding what would have been a VERY ugly confirmation battle. Her hurt feelings must have gone away, though, as she was very actively involved in the Alito prep team. Looks like she’s not holding a grudge, so why all the grudges on her behalf??
Well...
I DO have a theory as to why Democrats are so torn up over Mier’s withdraw. Had Bush thumbed his nose at his base and proceeded with the nomination, it would have caused a terrible rift within the Republican Party and a huge division of the various factions would have occurred, destroying any appearance of a unified party, making the Republicans look like…well…the Democrats.
I’ll get back on the other comments/questions a little later. This “brief post” turned out to be way too long.
posted by Big Bad Dad at 4:13 PM
1 Comments:
Quick response.
I disagree heartily with your view of the Oil industry because we are not just discussing the gas pump. Sure supply demand led to a price surge but a surge to RECORD profits. The deal is that while gas has gone down other petroleum based products/resources are near where they were with Katrina and all of these new costs are passed on to the consumer. And although I see a bump in the stock price it will be inconsequential to the bonuses of the very top.
Additionally, whty should these companies do R and D instead of status quo for next season. Seems the bottom line likes disasters.
BTW your own admission of favoritism shows why I dislike this President so much. Simply a lack of concern for the commmon good by doing what is truly deemed as best for all. And I think it is true of both parties but especially this administration.
Much more to say but I need to go waste our tax dollars by force feeding a government funded education down unsuspecting student throats and using my powers of osmossis to promote a wild left wing agenda. :)
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