The French

[EyeManFla]

Just my two cents on Irish American funding of the IRA.

I was involved in a number of Irish American groups in Washington and Philadelphia. Did Irish Americans fund the IRA.....You bet they did! Did the US government fund the IRA....as a group, no....individually, yes!

Till 9-11 made it political suicude to do so.

Make no mistake, if the Northern Ireland peace accords completely fail, the provos could be up and running in a matter of a couple of months. Decomissioned weapons can be replaced very quickly.

[chm2023]

Sorry, thought the issue was the timing of price increases/decreases. (setting price based on future costs, versus actual inventory on hand).

[Jeff Trail]

chm2023 said:
Not to defend oil companies, but what happens when the price goes down? Don't they find themselves selling oil they bought at the higher price at the new lower price? Isn't this the essence of commodities and specifically futures markets?

Actually no, this was a "class project" type thing I had in statistics at school, if I can find the stuff I'll post it (trends vs. cost)
what it amounted to when you see gas prices drop as barrel prices drop we found the % was not in line when it went the opposing direction..both in cost and reduction of cost in relation to price per barrel.
Especially when we included the factors of refinery production, reserves and reduction of reserves..

[Pete Hanlin]

If you suspect that its the OIL companies....I don't think thats far from the truth. If you take a close look at the leadership of this country....can you find anyone with ties to the oil industry?? What this all means is beyond me, but someone (not in the optical business) is getting rich!
My dear and respected friend Harry... With great hesitation, I must disagree with your statement here (considering that you are my elder and all, and therefore apt to be more wisened).
;)
Do oil companies make a profit on the product they sell? Well, I would assume so- else they would be out of business. I would suggest, however, that we take a look at the overall trend in gas prices since the 70's. Has the cost of gasoline really raised all that dramatically when indexed to inflation? I honestly don't know (I'm sure one of us will be happy to look this up and report in), but my sense is- not really.

Assuming a successful invasion of Iraq, I wouldn't expect to see a huge windfall for the gasoline companies. If anything, prices will fall if stability is brought to the region. The problem right now isn't that we really need Iraq's oil production- the problem is that the area isn't stable with him there.

Anyone who thinks everything in the Middle-East would settle down if we would bring all of our troops back home just isn't being realistic. As it stands, we are threatening about as hard as one can, and Saddam is begrudgingly doing just enough to retain a few allies in the U.N. Take away the U.S. threat and what do you suppose Mr. Hussein would do?

I find it amazing how well anti-business rhetoric still seems to resonate in this country. Sue the tobacco companies, call the gas companies opportunists, as so on. For all the griping about gas prices, I still don't see many people acting in their own way to bring down prices (i.e., decreasing their consumption- which, in turn, decreases demand). Naw, its just easier to blame the "evil corporation," isn't it?

I'm not labelling you as such a person, BTW, Harry. I just used your comment as a springboard... I do see a lot of these folks on the news, in the papers, and even in my daily conversations, and it is wearisome and tedious.

[chm2023]

Not to defend oil companies, but what happens when the price goes down? Don't they find themselves selling oil they bought at the higher price at the new lower price? Isn't this the essence of commodities and specifically futures markets?

[hcjilson]

Oh! I imagine they'll find a way to...

Jeff,

Oh! I imagine they'll find a way to expense that out of the picture. Nothing like a raise for the exec. officers, and then there;s the lobbyists.....and then theres the politicians....
everybody gets a piece!

hj

[Jeff Trail]

Not to get off the subject of the thread :).. but the changes in taxes on gas , are on the city and county level.. they tack on as well as the federal...
The other part about the price of oil per barral and how the companies can change prices (well there reasoning) is oil is futures and commodities... so even though the crude that has been refined was at a lower price per barrel that you are using right now the crude at the higher rate we have not even got yet, so it is really a numbers game... oh I'm selling refined gas that I got from barrels that actually only cost me $30.. but I change my prices now to make up for the barrels I will pay $35 for I have NOT gotten yet ... this is when oil companies just LOVE, you can actually adjust charges NOW for something that cost more down the road while actually selling what you have you got for a lot less...
Here is an easy way to think about it...you bought 14 frames for $5 a pc.($70.00)...you sell 7 of them for say $20 a pair..when you go to reorder the frame company raised the price from $5 to $8...so you raise your price RIGHT NOW to $25 a pair...you get to sale the other 7 from the FIRST order at the new adjusted price.. there by socking away an XTRA $2 bucks profit on those first 7 BECAUSE of the future price..

NOW multiply that number out by the amount of gas we consume NATIONALLY and how raising gas .20 to .25 a gallon over the last few weeks to allow for the future price.. Want to bet the oil companies show a nice increase in profit this next time they have to post the numbers

Jeff "wish I could live MY life using these guys math" Trail

[SuziBlueEyes]

When you're Right, you're right...

You're absolutely right... the taxes have stabilized. For a history of State and Federal gasoline taxes, check out the websites listed below.


To access historical gasoline and diesel state tax rate information:

http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ohim/hs00/mf205.htm.

Another good source of info on this subject:

http://www.ott.doe.gov/facts/archives/fotw120.shtml

Ethanol, anyone??? ;-)

[hcjilson]

I hate to throw water on .....

I hate to throw water on such an eloquent post, but the fact of the matter is that the taxes on gasoline have NOT been raised. The price of gas has been raised. What is particularly galling is the fact that the gas we are using now is the same gas that was selling for 18 cents a gallon less a week and a half ago. That gas was refined a while back as well.Someone pointed out that the $35 per barrell price has remained constant throughout...fixed by OPEC.....If the cost hasn't risen......and the Taxes haven't risen...... and the retail price HAS risen........Who is making out on this deal?

If you suspect that its the OIL companies....I don't think thats far from the truth. If you take a close look at the leadership of this country....can you find anyone with ties to the oil industry?? What this all means is beyond me, but someone (not in the optical business) is getting rich!

[SuziBlueEyes]

Observations

During one of our discussions about the snow dump we had recently, a friend told me how she saw her neighbor trying to get her car out of the driveway. Seeing that her neighbor needed help, my friend went to help her push the car. While the two women were attempting to free the car, another neighbor (male) told my friend she needed to rock the car back and forth as she pushed, but did not offer to help push. My friend responded that she could do it by herself and he wasn't helping the situation.

The US has decided to help free the world from Saddam's tyranny and all we hear is advice on how we're doing it wrong AND we're not getting any help to do it "right." It's the easiest thing in the world to sit back, relax and criticize. "Not my problem"??? Terrorism has affected everyone and the US is the only country willing to do something about it?!

If the problem is Saddam - take him out, right? The U.S. can't do that because then we create a martyr out of him. Attempts to talk things out have obviously failed. Yet I have not heard of any other nation sitting down to have a heart-to-heart with Saddam or any other peace keeping mission to avert War.

The US is in a situation where we can't back down and have no support from our Allies.

Also, who is supporting the Iraqi Embargo? It's hard to keep track anymore.

Everyone else is willing to let Saddam be - until when? They recently had elections in Iraq (an opportunity to oust Saddam) and he won an overwhelming victory. It doesn't matter that their literacy rate is 60% (I'm sure India's is less and they're the largest democracy). We could wait until he dies a natural death (we've been doing that with Castro for over 40 years) only to be replaced by his son or other like minded person - and a new round of fun begins.

Funding of terrorism takes many forms and cannot always be traced directly to governments. We all know it happens. Monies are funneled through other groups. Anyone else remember the $300 toilet seat?!

Prices on gasoline have been going up ever since the Feds and local governments realized that there was no public outcry on raising gasoline taxes. Political suicide is telling the citizens of the US that their (income) taxes are going to be increased. Taxing gas, liquor/beer, cigarettes (aka luxury items) is a better way to raise revenue.

Personally, I'm glad the French are a people who prefer to make love and not war. Maybe we can learn from their example.

I would love to see what would happen if the US took a vacation from "defending the world" and focused on domestic economy issues and defending our borders. No more coming to the rescue of the International Community. We had Laissez-Faire government in the 80s, let's try Laissez-faire diplomacy.

How long would that last?

Imagine whirled peas...

[Jim Stone]

Wine drinkers! The French wine has really gone down hill. Try some alternatives.

[Jeff Trail]

Dale,


By FAR the most observant reason I have seen yet...:p

Jeff "my wife still don't get the three stooges" Trail

[BIG D]

THE FRENCH

LOOK, ANY PEOPLE THAT LIKE JERRY LEWIS THAT MUCH HAVE GOT
TO HAVE A PROBLEM.

DALE

[chm2023]

The discussion about the IRA is interesting and I think illustrates the long term solution to this whole issue of mid-east based terrorists against the west and the US specifically. What turned the tide against the IRA terrorists was primarily economic growth in Ireland--people with jobs and a stake in the society and economy are much less likely to resort to terrorism. That and some courageous leadership in Ireland, Britain and US. I cannot see any other outcome of bombing Iraz other than validating the very worst view of the US among the Arab/Muslim nations. And of course, the huge unanswered question remains, after Saddam is out of the picture, then what? I grow wearier each day of Bush, this guy has 2 answers to any question, bomb Iraq and cut taxes.

[Pete Hanlin]

However, I believe that if the terrorists in Iraq have weapons of mass destruction they must be taken out, by the UN.
Well, that's the problem... the only thing the UN seems capable of is empty posturing and toothless edicts.

Having shown some fervent nationalism, I will acknowledge that America doesn't have a particularly great record about choosing just when/if to get into a fight...

Maybe I'm the last person alive who thinks all this is about more than just oil, but I still believe Saddam's got something we haven't heard about yet (like an actual nuke). To those who argue that the U.S. doesn't have a right to choose who has and doesn't have nukes, that is a hard one to justify.

I would just hope that everyone could agree that Iraq is a country that doesn't really need to have them right at the moment.