Posted on Wednesday, 4/08/2009 - 11:38 a.m. PDT — by Concerned Citiz...
When Obama declared the US will slowly retreat from Iraqi, I thought about the consequences to every American. Basically, what does the average American benefit from our presence in Iraqi? The answer is at the gas pump in my opinion. While our domestic oil production is on the decline, petroleum from Iraqi has hidden this fact. When we leave Iraqi, what will happen to this petroleum pipe-line? The Chinese and Indians are already positioning themselves. So, what is my bold prediction? We'll be paying $8 a galloon for gas before Obama is out of office in 4 years. If you think things are bad now, watch as Obama does create another Great Depression. If you think Obama will do something to improve our situation, he has plans to tax the crap out of domestic oil producers, big and small, alike, so forget about it! Enjoy the ride to a third world country! The peaceniks and environazis are celebrating their achievement.
Joined: Jul 2005
Current Posts: 1715
Iraq is still producing only about 2/3 as much oil today as it did before the United States invaded Iraq. Given the unprovoked and unnecessary nature of that invasion, not to mention six years (at least) of continuous occupation, I wouldn't blame the Iraqis in the slightest if they decided to shop their oil to someone a little less abrasive and threatening than us. We have such a hard time in this country taking off our holier-than-thou masks and seeing the world through someone else's eyes. At least twenty million Iraqis have been displaced by our actions, as many as three million killed, and everyone's life affected (negatively) in some way. Cities and neighborhoods are blighted, they still can't count on the lights staying on, and just how peaceful and friendly do you think it is going to be there once our soldiers come home?
From your tone, it sounds like you were a supporter of this invasion and occupation (something about the "tough guy" attitude, and the blame Obama for both the economy and the fallout from blundered Bush policies). If so, you deserve to pay $8 a gallon for gasoline. Personally, I think we should round up every single person who voted for George W Bush and separate them into three groups ... those who voted for him one time, those who voted for him both times (and should have known better), and those who had the temerity to publicly question the patriotism of people who spoke out against the policies of George W Bush. These three groups should be forced to pay for the outstanding debt arising from our illegal and immoral actions in Iraq. They would pay on a sliding scale, with those who voted for the sucker just one time paying the smallest amount and those who went out of their way to attack other Americans for their beliefs should pay the most.
I would have to think about whether or not they would be eligible for public assistance if they were forced to sell everything and cash in their 401(k)s to pay their share of the debt. One part of me thinks, since they are probably also nastily critical of the public safety net that many of us think is an obligation of government, they should be forced to rely upon private charity and/or the help of friends; another part of me thinks that it might be instructive for them to live on the dole for awhile in order to come to a sudden awakening that not everyone doing so is "milking" the system.
So why don't you give Barack Obama a chance. He has been in office for about 80 days, and has inherited one heck of a big mess from the last administration. Even George W Bush was given a chance (though, to be fair, about 51% of the population was pretty p-o'd that he was sworn in, and let their anger be known) ... that is, until he allowed Dick Cheney to organize a secret cabal of petroleum, coal and electrical generating leaders to organize and design our energy policy, which, not coincidentally, contributed to NOT beginning to seriously investigate and develop alternate sources and forms of energy, extended and heightened our dependence on foreign oil, carved up the oil fields of Iraq for "special assignment", and delayed serious action (even thought about) making efforts to curb global climate change for another eight years.
But I guess you guys are so power hungry and so mean-spirited that you just cannot stand the thought of being out of power for even 80 days!
Joined: Jul 2006
Current Posts: 285
Can you wrap your mind around the concept that oil is being market manipulated and that the price will continue to go up at the pump regardless of how much is pump out of the ground? The instrument of this manipulation is called oil futures. When a futures investor buys a million barrels of oil at today’s price and holds that oil off the market for a future price it removes that million barrels from the market place. When a thousand investors do the same the result is a billion barrels being removed from the market place and so on. An argument can be made for drilling our way out of an oil shortage if indeed a shortage of oil is the problem but as of now it is not. The other reason for high prices at the pump and just as important as market manipulation is the devaluing of the dollar as the result of this manipulation. Since the dollar gets its value based on how much oil it can buy this marketeering by speculators acts to devalue the dollar. There was a time when the commodities market was regulated so that no commodity could exceed rising any more than a dollar a day, but because of deregulation it is now allowed to rise in double digit percentages resulting in higher prices at the pump.
One must keep in mind that all of these markets were regulated for a reason and that deregulation has resulted in higher prices on oil, food and the cause of the collapse of the housing industry through the bundling and marketing of home mortgages which could never have been done if our government had maintained oversight of these financial institutions. Blaming billionaire sheiks for our oil woes is to discount the problems we face in other areas as somehow being caused by forces beyond our control when in fact we are responsible for everything that has happed in the market place and no other. Our government rulers have betrayed us through the process of privatization and deregulation. We have only ourselves to blame whether we be Democrat or Republican because we alone elected these mealy mouthed plutocrats to office.