Oil nears $120 following labor and military strikes

[QM3steve]

In Feb. 2002, I bought a truck. The first tank fill cost me $1.19/gal. Now, $3.69. That means, that since the first gasoline pump was built in 1885, gasoline has, in the first 117 years, risen approximately a penny a year. In the last 6 years, since Bush came into office, gas has risen $.41 per year. In perspective, it took .05% of the time, since gas was being pumped, to raise the price of gas $2.50. MUB? More Useless Bulls**t.

True... get used to it. When the consumer looks at the staggering profits these oil mongers are making, it makes you want to puke.

[DeadlyDaring]

I think some of the problem on the sudden rise in fuel prices can be blamed on the stock exchange (investors) not just the oil companies
Like the big banks are loosing billions of dollars etc, at the same time investors move their investments from banks to the oil.
A good choice if I may add but a devastating choice for everyone else... I may be wrong on this but a fella I know here in OZ who works with investments, told me it has been going on at full steam in the last 6 months or so and the stock exchanges around the world are some what pushed with this happening....

[1CAVCCO15MED]

I don't see a place in what I posted where I said the oil companies are fixing the price of oil. Why should they? That is not how it works. Tax the oil companies? I just want them to pay the income tax all companies pay that they got congress to excuse them from in the way of subsidies. For $115 million in campaign contributions to both parties they got $6 billion in tax breaks plus $1.5 billion is subsidies for drilling. Then they "privitized" the distrubution of the money. That way there will be no government interference of distribution of government money. Damn government. Surprise, surprise the corporation,Texas Energy Corp., is run by a former member of the Reagan and Bush senior administrations. Did they need this money? Are they hurting for money so much as to need to suck on the teat of the taxpayer in order to survive? How many trillions are we in debt? Were their profits too low to need this corporate welfare? Money the oil industry got from the government is added to the national debt so yes, I call it treason. They are sucking us dry and calling us liberals if we object and we are so stupid they have convinced us liberal is a four letter word. Meanwhile the Congress just legalizes bribery in the form of campaign contributions and then tell us they make no promises for the money. Well, they don't but if they don't follow through they get no money next time. Meanwhile, the oil industry says all this is necessary to use less foreign oil and selling our oil overseas to the highest bidder just the free enterprise system at work.

[reconeil]

That fella you know is: "Right on The Money"(both ways), even though don't believe
that any; "Investors" in oil are the problem. He probably meant: "Speculators".
Such daily make vast sums selling long & short, and driving the price of Crude
up to where even The Shieks of Arabi could've never imagined ripping-off from peasants.

Plus Mate, and just take a wild guess whom amongst all people have the most
HARD CASH from Absurdly Excessive Profits to SPECULATE & KEEP WORLD OIL PRICE HIGH?
Yeah,...that's right. All Oil Barrons, Oil Sheiks & Rulers of Oil Nationalized Nations,
and/or pretty-much every Oil Exporting Nation on Earth (America inclusive) are in cohoots.

Governments & Rulers always fair well. The People,...eh?

Neil

[1CAVCCO15MED]

First of all, we have universal health care in this country. Nobody can be turned away that really needs it. The rationing comes in when working people can't get insurance because insurance CEO's need a quarter of a billion dollars a year in income or when these same companies make quotas in how many insured they deny claims. Everything is done in health care according to how much money it will make. Kinda like why Willie Sutton robbed banks. "Because that is where the money is." Expensive procedures and tests are overdone if they can get reimbursed. There is a cynical examination of the system for where they can get the most money and care is designed around it. I have been witness personally to that. Why do a chest x-ray when you get more for an MRI? As veterans, we are getting free government care from government hospitals so we are all officially participating in socialized medicine so if you don't like socialized medicine on principle, put you money where your mouth is and quit the VA. Good luck getting insurance at your age. You'll just have to be willing to lose all your assets if you get sick. Have you personally talked to anyone about their health care in Canada or other countries? I have talked to several Canadians, my brother is married to one, and they love it. Their biggest fear when they visit here is they will get sick here and have to go into the hospital. They can't afford it. The individual provinces administer their own systems so each one is different in how it functions. My sister in law says invariably when talk radio knocks Canadian health care they are actually talking about the Quebec system. Surprise there, the French can't get it right. Contrary to the propaganda machine, there are other alternatives than socialized medicine but they sure don't want you to hear about them. In fact, there are several systems already in place in other countries, some are even private. The people like them, they work, care is better than the US and their homes are safe from the hospitals. Switzerland had a system similar to ours and they went to price fixing. Of course they have a large drug industry there that fought it with all their might and lost. Now they are in favor of it too because they say they make up the difference by selling at higher prices to the US and they can appear to be patriotic Swiss and support the system. So we are doing our part to make sure health care is affordable in Switzerland every time we pay for drugs and they have lobbyists in Washington making sure we keep doing it. Add Canada to that process. Those evil Canadians baragain for drugs in bulk, kinda like Wal Mart does, and our drug companies make it up by charging us more. You want to be a rich MD in Britain? Set up a preventive medicine program. It prevents sickness and is very much cheaper than hospitalization so the British system pays well to support it. I got an idea, if the care is so bad in these countries, why is there no movement there to adopt the US system?

[DeadlyDaring]

Mate !!! You lost me in the first four lines... Twisted...

[Packo]

was a brand new 1970 Plymouth Duster 340 with everything but AC. It cost me $2,800 bucks right off the showroom floor. My truck, 2003 Dodge Ram 1500 was $38,000+. Friggin Republicans! Bush and Cheney are laughing their asses off at me!

Now an Independent...Pack

[reconeil]

You got that right.
We Americans are and have been bipartisanly screwed-over ROYALLY with fuel (plus drug)
prices, since The Seventees. Corporate Barrons (foreign & domestic) dictate such prices.

Still, why the hang-up with Bush & Cheney? They're just politicians and won't
even be around to BS US ALL about that standard: "Supply & Demand" Deceit or Duplicity.
in a matter of months?

Besides, the last time that American Politicians ever did anything totally & unarguably
right and resolved anything of great importance for The American People & U.S. Military,
was about 60 some years ago. Everything possible was Ordered or Commanded by
political leaders during WWII to safeguard The American Citizenry, Our Economy, and to
TOTALLY Defeat, Kill & Destroy our enemies.

Unfortunately, Politically-Correctness no longer permits such anymore.

Neil

P.S. Oh Wealthy One,...does that 38 THOU$AND Truck get good mileage? Just jokin.

[Packo]

Bush and Cheney are responsible for everything bad since at least 1970. Actually I think 1870. I think they said "Mission Accomplished" after San Jacinto and we still have a Latino problem in this country, so make it the 1840's.

If I was counting on gas milage....I wouldn't buy a full sized truck. If you can't afford the gas...buy a friggin Yugo is my motto. Screw gas prices. EVERY friggin' thing on earth has been going up since the 1700's. Get used to it people. Sell off your crap and huddle in your homes, if they are not being foreclosed...which is a whole nother' topic. One half of one percent of homes are being foreclosed. What was it 10 years ago? Like the Yugo...if you can't read the fine print, don't sign the mortgage. Mines 4.75%, locked years ago. I don't feel sorry for people that buy houses they can't afford. Oh, sorry....what I mean is...Screw Bush and Cheney for cornering the real estate market and forcing people to buy houses they can't afford!

Pack

[1CAVCCO15MED]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...052601926.html