Good read for all the "tax the oil company" people.

[Wagner]

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/06/news...ion=2008050609

[Quicksilver]

First of all.......

#1 A consumer rights group says that windfall taxes could actually raise gas prices as oil companies might attempt to squeeze refinery production to recoup their lost profit.

What consumer rights group said that????

#2 "If our profits are taxed, that means we'll have less capital to invest in new production" and it could raise gas prices, John Hofmeister, president of Shell U.S., recently told CNNMoney.com.

What new production?

The writer is correct when he say's "That argument is a little hard to swallow given the disparity between the huge amounts of money the big firms have been returning to shareholders versus the meager new oil discoveries."

All this talk about the issue of oil is nothing more than pandering from all sides. The fact is everybody who's anybody stands to gain from the high prices. The folks on the bottom? They will continue to support and line the pockets of those who profit from oil. The answer is; greed is finally going to bring the entire system down at some point.

Originally Posted by Wagner

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/06/news...ion=2008050609

[Wagner]

If you have a 401k, IRA, etc with investments in commodities...you're loving this.

I did like the comment about Google, how come they don't have a windfall profit tax? Bottom line, taking away a companies profits is nuts IMO. At that point, just go ahead and nationalize the oil production in the states and stop pretending it is a capitalist free-market, because at that point it isn't.

We need to refine more oil in the states but thanks to the EPA, we can't. Shell execs said point-blank, "if the US produced 2M more barrels a day, they would send shock waves to the middle-east about how serious the US really was". We use our own policies to hand-cuff the masses and then attempt to blame the companies involved.

1) Drill Alaska TODAY
2) Start building refineries (last estimate I heard was that the newest refinery was built in 1970's)

You can't have it both ways, be energy independent and save the environment simultaneously. You can be more efficient, but as Road & Track said: "You can move 4,000lbs of steel 20 miles for $3.75. Still the most efficient form of energy available"