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The fact that Congress is starting to take a closer look at the bloodsucking oil industry makes me very, very happy. Now we just need to get them (oil industry) to help pay for the maintenance/development of our roadways and free up local funds for more pressing issues. It's about fucking time these assholes give something back to the people who make them obscenely wealthy.
i live somewhat near Oil City, PA. we have commercials for a "local" gas station chain that sells "AMERICAN MADE GAS" and they go on and on about how you should support the local economy. i'm sorry, but when it's the same fucking price as shit from overseas, i'll get it from where ever the damn i please.
The price of a barrell of oil is slowly going down, but gas prices sure aren't. Fuck these assholes.
I CAN'T GET BEHIND THAT!Quote:
Originally Posted by Dolemite
Massive CEO salaries and general greed across the board are making sure we won't see a dip in gas prices anytime soon. And you can be damn sure that NOT FUCKING ONE of these mother fuckers actually cares about alternative energy sources.
The massive infrastructure they have already produced, and their desire to propagate the same technologies already in place (I don't want to see anything change on this Earth that doesn't make me money, YEE HAW, FUCK THE AVERAGE MAN IN HIS STUPID, POOR ASS!!!"), have all but made sure that they will persue nothing more than to work in areas where we have denied them drilling, and are so far entrenched that without some serious flogging of this predatory industry, we will obviously see nothing more but the same.
Free market blah blah blah. We only let them go as far as we let them, right? Free market my ass.
LoL
srsly who cares, big business is business as always. Either get cut in or stfu.
Mars you are no fun since you got into law school.
Rock the status quo baby.
Regulation sucks. But, hey, I'll bet baseball is 100% clean now that Congress wasted our money on that, right?Quote:
Originally Posted by Type Ryan
I honestly tried to rep you for that, and it wouldn't let me.Quote:
Originally Posted by YellerDog
I can't get behind student drivers.
Look unless the government implements some massive new regulartory body with powers to seize data and levy multimillion dollar fines for non-compliance, and jail time for members of a board, this is all a dog and pony show.
Congress has no teeth against industries unless they have watch dog groups like the FDA and FCC (at their prime, not their current gutted state). Otherwise enforcement and regulation is a joke.
It has its purpose. Greed is what's killing our country.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Greed is what led us to war in Iraq.
Greed is what led us to the mortgage crisis.
And now, greedy oil companies continue to suck what little finances we have left so they can increase their bottom line. Something has to give.
Then add to this, rising healthcare costs and social security, and we're left with a shit load of money going out the door and not a whole lot coming in. It's bad for the economy.
IMO, the easiest way to trim off the fat and put more money into consumers' pockets is to regulate these motherfuckers or - at the very least - have them reinvest some of the billions of dollars they earn each quiarter into something tax payers normally pay for (public transportation, road maintenance).
I understand the American dream and capitalism and all that blah blah blah; but when I see a bunch of assholes getting filthy rich off of the average joe's hard-earned money and they do nothing nothing to keep the costs reasonable so the average joe can live a normal life, I can't help but feel that these oil companies are acting more like sophisticated criminials than business people.
Yes.Quote:
Originally Posted by Type Ryan
You honestly believe all of that? Seriously?Quote:
Originally Posted by Type Ryan
Let's focus on the mortgage "crisis". Please explain how corporate greed led to that one.
Also, please explain how regulation, which will absolutely lead to less take home pay for every American, helps this.
Lemme ask you something.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Do you honestly believe unchecked capitalism is any less of a threat to a stable economy and what the American citizen can take home than unchecked socialism?
The only danger of pure capitalism is monopolies. As long as competition exists, the consumer can act as the check and balance system better than any government ever will. Look at alternative energy as an example. People buying hybrids or eco diesels or whatever send the message that car companies need to make those to compete more and more. The government doesn't need to pay for research or regulate. The free market drives the right behavior because the consumer demands it.
Which is why the electric car was killed dead on the spot when it proved popular.
Define "popular".
Having to get them physically reposessed from members of the test-market? You could say that's a sign they were "well liked".
So people didn't want to give up something they got for free. That doesn't equate to a profitable business venture.
Easy.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
People who would have normally qualified for a normal house loan got bumped down to the subprime loans - which meant more money in interest payments to lenders. Hmm, what led to that decision? GREED. Now that's not to say that there weren't a bunch of fucking idiots taking loans they shouldn't have, but there was also a lot of people who should have been given a better deal had it not been for the greedy lenders trying to earn an extra buck by forcing them into a subprime loan.
Look at where the financial windfall these bad loans have taken us. Look at the billions of dollars in write downs the largest financial institutions have made. We lost Bear Stearns, almost lost Countrywide, and if things don't improve dramatically, Citi Group could be the next big institution to take a shit.
I'm more interested in learning why you don't think this wasn't caused by greed, but that's for another thread. I'm bitching about oil companies hrrr.
:wtf:
The problem was caused by lenders giving loans to people who shouldn't have been approved at all. The interest rates were minute. It was just that moronic consumers didn't understand what variable meant. The banks made a horrific business decision in most cases. That's not greed.
You sound like a some goddamn brainwashed liberal with a statement like that Yoshi.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Anything, left unchecked. will be corruppted. Someone will always find a corner to cut, someone will always find a way to make it benefit them more than it should, someone without any kind of oversight, will always realize they aren't being watched and find a way to cheat it out of themselves.
Ryan's right, unchecked capitalism is simply the promotion and sale of greed. Greed leads to a lot of things politicians and Yoshi don't like to admit it does. But thats ok as long as they don't pay taxes. Which they still do, btw because that mongrel useless Republican congress couldn't get a goddamn thing done in the 6 years of supreme rule they had over this country. When the fuck are you gonna realize btw that your party just like my party, stands for absolutely nothing you claim it too?
When I see a normal average American, defending, (of all fucking things) the oil companies, it makes me sick. Its bad enough when Republicans just defend corporations in general, but seriously the FUCKING OIL COMPANIES?
What exactly do they do for you Yoshi that makes them not subject to any kind of oversight or regulation? Do you like paying 4 bucks a gallon for gas? Is that a trend you'd like to see continue? 5? 6? 7? The problem with greed Yoshi is it has no limit. It gets what it wants. Ryan's right, a greedy society is what we have right now, and no way things like class separation and corporate immunity keep going like this forever.
At some point, people just won't take it anymore.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
I don't know, Collusion can fuck up that whole "competition" argument if 5 big oil companies agree to not lower their prices, while they make more $$$$ and maintain the illusion of "fair competition".
Sometimes, people just need to be told what to do for the greater good. I demand better fuel economy, but I can't rely on an American car for that. If the American auto makers listened to the consumer's demand for better fuel effeciency, you wouldn't see GM and Ford taking giant shits and selling parts of their company off in order to remain solvent.
I totally agree there with the oil part. I meant monopolies in a more generic way than the literal term. You can't have anyone price fixing, including the government putting caps.
As far as the American auto makers, they have an antiquated manufacturing system that can't compete with the Japanese and they can't afford to overhaul. They're fucked. It has nothing to do with a lack of desire to do the right thing.
I just like to see the big guy get fucked.
if only they had a almost free labor force so they could dump all their cash into engineering.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
you know how I know you're gay?Quote:
Originally Posted by icarusfall
lol. That will be the day.Quote:
Originally Posted by buttcheeks
Not following you here.Quote:
Originally Posted by buttcheeks
Do you like "the big guy's" buttcheeks?
It is precisely alternative energy that makes me think government regulation is needed to check the oil companies. Yeah, we have some expensive hybrid cars (that run on oil) decades after the time they should have been put on sale. We have stricter emission standards (for cars that run on oil) way past the time they should have been in place.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
But it's too little, it's way late, and everything STILL runs on oil.
In a sane world where there wasn't some huge overwhelming power influencing things, we'd be throwing everything we had at alternative energy. It would be the first, second, and third story every day on the news. At the very least a good chunk of consumer cars would be oil-free by now.
But changing this slowly and moving forward with oil in any way is totally insane. Way, way past "horrible idea" and squarely into lunatic territory. Every stat I've seen says we can't keep expanding the developed world while upping oil production to match. Too lazy to Google right now. Look it up on your own. But the amount we need to consume keeps rising while the amount left keeps falling. In other words, the last 1/2 of oil left on the planet is going to be used up infinitely faster than the first half.
Not only that, but the stuff is way too valuable to be using for fuel. We kinda' need medicine and plastic, ya' know?
And it's not like we're stuck for other energy ideas. They're all sitting right there, waiting on someone to give them the R&D and infrastructure they need.
And it's not like we don't know time is running short. Can't really create a new energy system once the oil runs out since we need the oil to fuel the construction of the new system in the first place.
No, there is some out-of-check power holding this whole thing back. I'm guessing the oil companies are a prime candidate.
they were on lease, the last of them werent they?Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
If the consumer were interested in alternatives on a mass market scale earlier, we would have had the cars earlier. The government has dick to do with it. If you don't like where we are in terms of oil dependence, blame your fellow citizens. The government is not and should not be a baby sitter.
I agree 100% Fuck government babysitting.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
But this isn't legislating morality or saying what can and can't be on TV for the good of the children or all that crap. This is the survival of our civilization. This is preventing mass-destruction. This is not babysitting.
But the government is no more qualified to do that than they are to raise our kids.
And that's why we're not really trying to get off oil. I never said they were qualified. I said the oil companies need their asses regulated.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
Complaining that the govt. needs to get on the ball is a whole 'nuther complaint.
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree on this one, but you basically proved my point. Due to the lender's greed, they took a risk on lending money to someone they know they shouldn't have.Quote:
Originally Posted by Yoshi
So incompetent pursuit of power and wealth was the root cause, just like everything the feds have ever done essentially. I still think business makes better decisions than government.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Congress
srsly
Look every system developed has problems. I like the current one becuase with education, luck and massive loans its possible to get into the top 10% or higher. I'm fine with millions of people suffering because we've never been inclined to do better than this.
The system is fine, get a degree in law, engineering, medicine and pursue the dollar relentlessnessly. Get a job at an insurance co of some kind mercilessly denying claims on the tiniest details of a contract, you'll go far. Because the system no matter what it is unfair. And you're an idiot for not taking advantage of that.
The trick is to make it unfair in your favor.
/fuck idealism.
I wouldn't even call it unfair. It's perfectly fair in that everyone is in it for themselves. Your point is dead on though.
Government: Lower your prices, oil is cheaper now!
Oil companies: Mwahahahaha! *kicks baby kitten*
Gas isn't even that expensive. People will buy billions of dollars worth of bottled water, an industry with little to no regulations of quality or purity claims, and have a smile on their face. Yet when a commodity like gas goes up they cry foul.
I want cheap gas as much as the next guy, but it's hard to argue with that. I still drink water from the tap.
Fuck off with that.Quote:
Originally Posted by MarsKitten
+1
I like researching problems and applying logic. Yay problem solving, there's entire genres of games that make this the central feature.Quote:
Originally Posted by icarusfall
Hop too buckaroo, don't give up on yourself.
On gas prices:
Get educated TNL.
Please.
Don't like paying high gas prices? Hey, I don't blame you. Neither do I (which is why I'm looking to move even closer to work and probably riding the bus). But all this omgeeeeeeevil BP/Exxon/Chevron/Texaco is coming across as petty jealousy. Oil companies are raking it in right now b/c India and China are coming online and driving up the cost of oil.
So ride a bike, take the bus, or get a fucking Prius and stop crying that a high demand product (gasp!) costs more.