McCain to Obama: keep your word on public funds

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by 88-31-10

Big oil.
They got the greenlight baby.
Billions and billions. Might I add at your and my expense.

"Big Oil"....

You must mean the oil companies. We have been through this before. Yes they are making a profit....but did you know their profit margin is less than banks and pharmacuticals? AND once again....how many people do you think own shares of "Big Oil" or have some type of "Big Oil" company in their 401K? Those people are profiting off of "big oil" also.

Here:

Today, U.S. consumers pay an average of 45.9 cents per gallon in gasoline taxes. The federal gasoline excise tax is 18.4 cents per gallon while the average state and local tax is 27.5 cents. The vast majority of these taxes are levied at a flat rate per gallon—regardless of whether a gallon of gas costs $1.49, $2.49, or $3.49. Thus, the effective rate of these taxes can vary wildly, from roughly 31 percent in the former case to 13 percent in the later.

[88-31-10]

The price of oil has more than quadrupled from under $20/bbl to over $100/bbl. I am not talking about the price of a gallon of gas and it's associated taxes.

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by 88-31-10

The price of oil has more than quadrupled from under $20/bbl to over $100/bbl. I am not talking about the price of a gallon of gas and it's associated taxes.

the price of a lot of things has quadrupled over any given time. Have you checked the price of corn lately? What's your point?

[88-31-10]

Originally Posted by Army_of_One

the price of a lot of things has quadrupled over any given time. Have you checked the price of corn lately? What's your point?

And most of the increases are directly attributtable to the price of oil.
When oil goes up four and five fold, the cost to deliver all goods in the country go up accordingly. Food, clothing, chemicals, fertilizers....I think you get the picture. You should, it's been brought to your attention many times. Corn is up as a result of these high oil prices. Not only has the cost to produce it gone up, but we have started another government sponsored boondoggle to try and offset the high price of oil and we all know how much you dislike government boondoggles. It called ethanol production. So the increase in the cost of a bushel of corn is DIRECTLY linked to the increase in the cost of a barrell of oil. In more ways than one.

Now what's my point you ask? My point is simply the point I made earlier in the thread. I think maybe big oil should be compelled to give up some of their grotesque profits to finance your hero's messy little war. They are the one's who seem to be profitting the most from it. What you fail to see Mr Army man is this, they wouldn't be giving up any of THEIR money in the first place. It's your and my money. We gave it to them in exchange for goods delivered. Goods in the form of exhorbitant energy prices. Whenever ANYTHING goes up in price for WHATEVER reason, the consumer (that's you and I) foot the bill. Always been that way, always will.

Now to address your earlier comments about big oil profits contributing to your 401k plan. I hope you have a hell of a lot of oil stock in your plan to offset the direct increases to your cost of living. And remember stock boy, you can't touch these "profits" until you retire. Hell, by then you'll need a SHARE of oil stock to buy a gallon of gas. You just keep right on defending big oils felonious methods Mr. AOO. They appreciate it. They really do.

[Bubba]

I don't know about everybody else, but my 401k is down thousands of dollars because of the sorry state that our economy is in and the sad state of the stock market being down most days.

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by 88-31-10

I think maybe big oil should be compelled to give up some of their grotesque profits

"Compelled to give up some of their grotesque profits"..

Wow, you sound like Hillary Clinton. That would be a dangerous road to go down when the gov't starts determining when a company makes too much profit and "compels" them to give up that extra profit....

[Binky Bainbridge]

Originally Posted by Army_of_One

"Big Oil"....
You must mean the oil companies. We have been through this before. Yes they are making a profit....

Just take Exxon, the world's largest oil company. It's turnover in 2006 was $405.55 Billion - bigger than the gross domestic product of Turkey, the world's 17th largest economy!

It declared record profits for that year of $40.6 Billion!!

I'm certainly not against the profit-motive, but there is something obscene about such profits in today's world when you read such about such things as below, in what is after all the largest & richest economy in the world - we haven't even got to third-world countries yet!

USA 2008: The Great Depression

Food stamps are the symbol of poverty in the US. In the era of the credit crunch, a record 28 million Americans are now relying on them to survive – a sure sign the world's richest country faces economic crisis




Disadvantaged Americans queue for aid in New York

Related Articles

• Food stamps are a continuing reminder of widespread poverty
• Click here to have your say
• Economic woes spark new US gold rush

By David Usborne in New York
Tuesday, 1 April 2008

We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

For full article:
USA 2008: The Great Depression - Americas, World - The Independent

[Army_of_One]

Originally Posted by Binky Bainbridge

Just take Exxon, the world's largest oil company. It's turnover in 2006 was $405.55 Billion - bigger than the gross domestic product of Turkey, the world's 17th largest economy!

It declared record profits for that year of $40.6 Billion!!

I'm certainly not against the profit-motive, but there is something obscene about such profits in today's world when you read such about such things as below, in what is after all the largest & richest economy in the world - we haven't even got to third-world countries

For instance, in 2004 Exxon Mobil earned more money -- $25.33 billion -- than any other company on the Fortune 500 list of largest corporations. But by another measure of profitability, gross profit margin, it ranked No. 127.

Jay Taparia, a lecturer in finance at the University of Illinois at Chicago and an expert on interpreting financial statements, said a quarterly profit or loss can only be judged in context, given the history of the company and its long-term prospects.

"People who are freaking out about Exxon's record profit are the same people who were freaking out about AOL Time Warner's record losses" of $98.2 billion in 2002, he said. "One quarter's net income or loss doesn't mean anything."

A $9.9 billion quarterly profit is mostly a function of Exxon Mobil's size. It had sales of $100 billion this quarter, more than any other U.S. company.

Even so, many companies smaller than Exxon Mobil "earn" more, depending on what measure is used.

Most financial institutions, such as commercial banks, are routinely more profitable than Exxon Mobil was in its third quarter. For example, Exxon Mobil's gross margin of 9.8 cents of profit for every dollar of revenue pales in comparison to Citigroup Inc.'s 15.7 cents in 2004. By percentage of total revenue, banking is consistently the most profitable industry in America, followed closely by the drug industry.

Altria Group, the maker of Marlboro and other cigarettes, made 22 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004, and pharmaceutical company Merck made 25.3 cents for every dollar of revenue in 2004.

By other measures, such as profit per employee, return on invested capital and free cash flow, Exxon Mobil is nowhere near a standout.

Oil industry analysts yesterday also pointed out that while times are good for oil companies, one of the reasons is the huge American demand for gas at a time when supply is constrained. And the cost of extracting and refining oil in the coming years is only going to increase, requiring hundreds of billions of dollars of investment. Energy research firm John S. Herold Inc. last month predicted that despite short-term increases in profits, higher costs will probably make many U.S. oil companies less profitable in the next five years, even as their revenue grows rapidly.

[Highwayman]

Originally Posted by Binky Bainbridge

Disadvantaged Americans queue for aid in New York

Related Articles

• Food stamps are a continuing reminder of widespread poverty
• Click here to have your say
• Economic woes spark new US gold rush

By David Usborne in New York
Tuesday, 1 April 2008

We knew things were bad on Wall Street, but on Main Street it may be worse. Startling official statistics show that as a new economic recession stalks the United States, a record number of Americans will shortly be depending on food stamps just to feed themselves and their families.
Dismal projections by the Congressional Budget Office in Washington suggest that in the fiscal year starting in October, 28 million people in the US will be using government food stamps to buy essential groceries, the highest level since the food assistance programme was introduced in the 1960s.

For full article:
USA 2008: The Great Depression - Americas, World - The Independent

There’s a few problems with The Independent's article. It’s less than honest.

Check out the source of the picture.

Getty Images

They didn’t do their homework on the stock market either.

Bloomberg.com: U.S.

[ksgrainman]

There you go again, trying to ruin a good thing by showing the truth, DAMN. Maybe, just maybe, the food stamps were in the pockets of the new coats they were giving away.