That people really like being polarized and separated into clashes of culture and We versus Them.
That Republicans still don’t get that it’s the economy, stupid.…
"A sinister cabal of superior writers."
We Are Not Amused - Comments Page 3
That people really like being polarized and separated into clashes of culture and We versus Them.
That Republicans still don’t get that it’s the economy, stupid.…
Article comments
76 - Lisa Solod Warren
Awww, come on over to The Dark Side, Canon.
(in a gravely, raspy, voice that sounds like it is coming from an oxygen mask:) "Canon: We are your partyyyyyyyyyy."
77 - Clavos
Thanks for the compliment, bliffle. Words have always been my metier, I "found" it long ago.
"National Heritage," eh. You mean like the Liberty Bell, or the Declaration of Independence? Perhaps like the Arizona Memorial, or Arlington National Cemetery?
You're right. We should immediately declare all known oil deposits be placed in the custody of the Department of The Interior, to be held in perpetutiy as part of The National Heritage. We can set up overlooks, where people can come out and gaze fondly and with great patriotic pride at the shale sands, knowing they will always be there; that their children and their children's children also will be able to gaze at them and feel pride in the United States of Preserved Oil.
We can change the national anthem:
"Oh, say, can you see,
All that oil 'neath the sea?"
And America:
"My country, 'tis of thee,
Saved that oil, just for me."
What a wonderful idea, bliffle!
We should put your picture on the three dollar bill we'll be printing; with a pool of oil on the obverse side.
78 - Lisa Solod Warren
(ooops, sorry, left out an "n." busy writing writing at the same time)
79 - Cannonshop
Lisa, I'll come back to the Democrats when they give me a Scoop Jackson or Harry Truman to vote for, instead of these half-ass efforts they've presented every year I've been alive, and I'll come back if they start cleaning up their own ranks with the same vigour their opponents have shown going after the crooks in THEIR ranks. It should be a competitive thing- seeing which party can drive out the crooks and the cons (that's "CON men") faster and more thoroughly from their own ranks. In my mind, there is simply no excuse for the Chairman of the Ways and Means committee to have seventy-five grand in unpaid taxes, or for anyone on a finance committee to be accepting donations from a bank that's regulated by that committee. there's a List... Not One of these guys should get a pass, of either party.
80 - bliffle
Our oil fields truly ARE an inheritance from Americans who have gone before and ARE part of our heritage.
How do YOU propose that we think of them?
81 - Cannonshop
a resource to be used? I don't know, I DO know that continuing to depend on foreign sources of supply, even at reduced rates, is a bad bargain.
82 - jamminsue
Depending on oil. a finite and becoming scare commodity as the main source of fuel is less than smart.
We can have fuel that is not oil or coal that will do the job, but it takes time and the oil companies to keep thier mitts away so it can be done.
I so not know this far a fact, but I was told that a certain amount of solar panels in the southwest would be able to gather enough to power the entire nation for electricity.
Batteries to run cars are now available, and if we had electricity from solar, we could use that to recharge the batteries. Such a simple deal.
Save what we have of oil for the things that are important - I think it is used in making certain drugs, and stuff like that.
Keep it simple, then its successful
83 - bliffle
Jamminsue is right: a rather modest deployment of current technology PV panels would supply all the nations electrical needs. Depending on how the calculation is made, a rectangle of PVs from 25 to 90 miles on a side would supply all the juice we need.
IIRC, Scientific American had an article detailing such a project and actually offered a Proposal.
Of course THAT would necessitate extensive distribution systems, so one would want to distribute the collection system.
84 - Clavos
...oil. a finite and becoming scare commodity...
Quoted for Truth (unintentional though it was).
85 - bliffle
What you guys don't recognize yet is that we, the USA, have worked our way into a very disadvantageous situation in international trade and politics, so that any oil brought up on our property is considered a part of the international pool. Under current consumption patterns, that means foreigners have dibbs on 2/3 of any oil at the wellhead. And it's only going to get worse as foreigners increase their consumption, and we have less claim on our own oil.
We should conserve that oil for our own use in the future for oil-optimized products rather than watch it be burned up in Chinese cars to further pollute the Beijing air.
The policy "drill baby drill" will have the paradoxical result of increasing oil shipments from the USA to abroad without increasing domestic supplies of oil.
How did this disadvantageous state come about? Watching it happen for 40 years I concluded that it's an unholy alliance of Leftist One World Dreamers and Rightist Profit First Industrialists. Who spoke for the US citizen? No one. It's up to US citizens to fight for themselves. And few did. They were fooled by leftist claims that giving away our wealth would make foreigners love us, and rightist claims that it was good for business (even if those businesses were foreign owned).
Imagine for a moment that you are the CEO of a large oil company, perhaps you are Dutch, or German or French. What would YOUR strategy be for your company with regard to USA oil tracts?
I would secure as many oil leases as possible and hold them in reserve against the future. I wouldn't drill any of the new leases because then the royalties go up, and there's no need for my company to drill those tracts. And drilling rigs, as well as suitable exploration, are expensive. Those oil leases are like money in the bank. As time goes by more consumption shifts to non-USA markets and at the same time global consumption increases and so does my global demand. As I need more oil I drill the old tracts, not touching the new ones, because I know that there is much more oil available in un-drilled existing tracts than in the new ones (which I'm holding at low royalty).
I'm NOT going to flood the market with more oil and cut my own throat!
As time goes by and global consumption increases then the percentage of global oil going to non-USA markets increases and a higher percentage of global oil (even oil drilled in US tracts!) goes to non-USA consumers.
So USA consumers get a smaller allotment of oil, even their own oil from their own oil tracts!
The USA citizen has thus been screwed by politicians of every stripe who have mostly been suborned by international oil money to act against their own citizens.
We may try to rebel (too late!) against diminishing USA fuel, but even if we have riots in the streets the WTO in Brussels will just send in Chinese troops to quell the riots.
They have the rights of international law, and the USA wasted it's army in the middle-east (on a diversionary skirmish - how stupid) so all that's left are a few 50ish overweight US Survivalists with Remington rifles and they're easily, if brutally, suppressed.
This is truly a case where USA citizens must rebel against all the politicians of either party. Except for a select few, they can't be trusted, regardless of party.
And we don't need more brainless robots chanting "drill baby drill".
86 - Clavos
blittle,
You left out us rightist Profit First business types who are also One World Profiteers.
The bigger the market, the bigger the opportunity for profit.
Today, the Chinese build yachts for us, which we're selling in Europe since the $ deval; tomorrow we'll be selling yachts to them.
87 - bliffle
I'm not responsible for cataloging all the maniacs of the world.
"You left out us rightist Profit First business types who are also One World Profiteers."
Isn't there some psychologist who does that? Isn't there something called "DSM 4", or whatever?
88 - Daniel Miller
Bliffle,
Sometimes, it gets a bit complicated, but that's the thrust of it. I shouldn't be too difficult to do the same with oil leases. Perhaps someone should suggest it.Just out of curiosity, couldn't oil leases be reserved to entities controlled by U.S. citizens? Radio and television licenses (last time I checked) cannot be granted to entities controlled by non-U.S. citizens; the Communications Act of 1934, 47 U.S.C. Section 310, as amended, so states.
A 1995 FCC decision on the matter is reported here.
Dan(Miller)
89 - bliffle
Dan, it IS difficult. First of all, that would be actionable under WTO agreements, which we have signed up for in order to sell in international markets. Witness poor little Microsoft, humbled to submit to WTO antitrust laws while they haughtily ignored US antitrust law.
Second, who would you get to do such a thing? Several past and present US administrations have proven to be on the side of open trading and against National Privilege. The USA congress repeatedly has voted against such things until it has become a given that things will remain as they are.
Not only that, but ex-congressmen are recruited to lobbying firms in the hire of international oil cos. The famous Revolving Door.
More insidious is this new form of sub rosa lobbying by "of interest" (IIRC that's the right term, but I may be wrong) legal firms that are NOT required to register as lobbyists (thus avoiding certain laws restricting foreign lobbyists) because, IIRC, they do not call on congressmen, like real lobbyists, but rather congressmen call on THEM because of their expert ability!
Hey! Wow! Well, after all the congresscritters wrote the anti-lobbying laws so they know where they left the backdoors, eh?!
It's all pretty cozy.
It's interesting which flamboyantly patriotic US congresscritters are enthusiastic tools of the oil cos. that are screwing us out of oil tracts without promising to deliver ANYTHING!
Who would negotiate terms? Look at the characters who negotiated the 1998 contracts that omitted the escalator clause through an "oversight"! Oops! So that royalties wouldn't increase when oil was extracted.
There are all too many congressbums willing to sell the USA down the river as long as they get good commissions and can operate the concessions selling chinese-made flags to the Rubes.
90 - troll
Dan - (setting aside bliffle's objection for a moment) given the amount of federal control implied isn't your proposal in #88 tantamount to nationalization - ?