Obama to tax Oil Companies for Oil Spill Cleanup.

[Guest]

Great news; except that the oil companies ultimately get their money from us. So I guess we can expect higher prices at the pump to pay for the increased taxes that the oil companies have to pay.
If the government says we have to pay we would scream, but here we pay anyway and think the government is getting tough on Big Oil.
Good thing I'm golfing tomorrow and will fume more about my game than government hypocrisy; for one day anyway.

[Guest]

A damned if they do - Damned if they don't situation..Either way we'll pay...

[Guest]

Great news; except that the oil companies ultimately get their money from us. So I guess we can expect higher prices at the pump to pay for the increased taxes that the oil companies have to pay.
If the government says we have to pay we would scream, but here we pay anyway and think the government is getting tough on Big Oil.
Good thing I'm golfing tomorrow and will fume more about my game than government hypocrisy; for one day anyway.

How would you have liked it to go down? I'm truly interested - and not being a wise guy. What do you think would have been a better, plausible solution?

Xavier

[Guest]

In the end, the consumer always pays. ALWAYS...

[Guest]

Everybody loves to rag on the oil companies. Do people realize the percentage of taxes that are paid from every gallon we put in our vehicles?

[Guest]

How would you have liked it to go down? I'm truly interested - and not being a wise guy. What do you think would have been a better, plausible solution?

Xavier

I just want honesty. I want the government to stop puffing up its chest and claiming to be cracking down on big oil by making them pay for their sins. We have Senators and Congressmen grandstanding in from of the media and the reality is it's all the same B.S.
The oil companies are never going to be down-trodden; it's always going to be us, the consumer who is.

[Guest]

Richie, you answered Xavier's question like a true politician.

[Guest]

Steals from a bank then all girls should be taxed to pay back the bank.

If one restaurant makes a 1000 people sick then all restaurants should be taxed to pay the medical bills.

Is this what Obama wants.

[Guest]

Steals from a bank then all girls should be taxed to pay back the bank.

If one restaurant makes a 1000 people sick then all restaurants should be taxed to pay the medical bills.

Is this what Obama wants.

These are pretty silly analogies, which certainly don't apply to this situation.

But the thread here is interesting because, with costly man-made disasters we are somewhat between "a rock and a hard place". The media hollered from day about who would pay. The administration answered, BP, Transocean etc. Some congressmen may be grandstanding with that answer, but it's still the fair answer. The problem comes when the private corporation raises prices to pay for the damage. Is that always what will happen? Perhaps not. The free market will theoretically prevent BP from raising their price significantly, no longer making them competitive. That is unless they conspire with their competitors and they all raise their prices. Here's where it gets tricky. If we had a "big" enough government, the administration would have the mechanisms to regulate these huge companies to 1) have all reasonable means in place to prevent or cap oil spills, and 2) prevent price fixing.

So, this a a good example of where "big government" might be the only means by which we could prevent the public from eevntually having to foot the multi-billion dollar bill to repair and compensate victims. It's situations like this and the banking mess which allow me to stretch my ideology in that cursed "liberal" direction.

[Guest]

These are pretty silly analogies, which certainly don't apply to this situation.

But the thread here is interesting because, with costly man-made disasters we are somewhat between "a rock and a hard place". The media hollered from day about who would pay. The administration answered, BP, Transocean etc. Some congressmen may be grandstanding with that answer, but it's still the fair answer. The problem comes when the private corporation raises prices to pay for the damage. Is that always what will happen? Perhaps not. The free market will theoretically prevent BP from raising their price significantly, no longer making them competitive. That is unless they conspire with their competitors and they all raise their prices. Here's where it gets tricky. If we had a "big" enough government, the administration would have the mechanisms to regulate these huge companies to 1) have all reasonable means in place to prevent or cap oil spills, and 2) prevent price fixing.

So, this a a good example of where "big government" might be the only means by which we could prevent the public from eevntually having to foot the multi-billion dollar bill to repair and compensate victims. It's situations like this and the banking mess which allow me to stretch my ideology in that cursed "liberal" direction.

How very telling. Liberals always want expansion of "government" and government's expansion into our lives. Apparently the lessons of Greece and most of Europe is lost on some, especially the media and this regime?

[Guest]

Richie, you answered Xavier's question like a true politician.

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[Guest]

T Perhaps not. The free market will theoretically prevent BP from raising their price significantly, no longer making them competitive. That is unless they conspire with their competitors and they all raise their prices. Here's where it gets tricky.

Have you been seeing too many black helicopters recently? Conspiracy theorists are almost always wrong. The free market is not out to get you, however we have seen abuses, normally by government. The example that comes to mind is the placement of a 'sales' tax on medical device makers that our government has told us will ad $30 billion of income to Obamacare while resulting in no impact on the other side of the ledger. Obviously, that's unrealistic.

When looking at a situation where we may see the need for bigger government, I go back to Thomas Jefferson's wisdom - "When the government fears the citizens, there is liberty but when the citizens fear the government, there is tyranny." IMHO the government already controls too much. Be careful what you wish for.

[Guest]

Administrator: "Political?"

[Guest]

Last year Obama gave BP an award for safety. This year he gives them the finger. Just wait til next year.