Jump to content

Obama Faces Challenging Re-Election Climate


Mike

Recommended Posts

  • Replies 244
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

^^exactly ;)

It's a very unusual high here too, but prices around 1.50€/l ($7.50 / gallon) aren't really. And if course people aren't happy with it, but if you have to use a car you have to use a car.

But yeah, in the cities you usually have lots of alternatives; bus, tram, subway, S-Bahn (urban trains), the main train network... stuff like that

Link to comment
Share on other sites

According to a report I read in the WSJ, Exon makes about 4 cents on every gallon sold in the USA. The federal government makes on average 65 cents per gallon. As a an aggressive hunting shark, I would expect a lamprey eel of that nature stuck to my side to help subsidize for the ride, as well.

I'd expect the taxes to be that high considering the amount of polluting the underground gasoline storage tanks have done to the soil and the groundwater from which cities (and private bottled water companies) draw the drinking water from. I wouldn't trust private industry to give people safe drinking water for nuthin' - or else U.S. cities would have a quality of life similar to some 3rd world dump with no proper water treatment and environmental remediation (Brasilian favelas, for example) :beatnik:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You getting gasoline in your tap water at home? Wow!

From what I was told several years ago by a sanitation worker in Dayton, Ohio, public water purification plants must adhere to a higher standard of codified pollutant restrictions than private bottled water companies. Have never verified the law on that point, however. But with corporate lobbies being what they are and government regs what they are, I could see the value in his statement.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

But yeah, in the cities you usually have lots of alternatives; bus, tram, subway, S-Bahn (urban trains), the main train network... stuff like that

Correct me if I'm wrong, my German is a little dusty, but the S-Bahn is the Strassebahn which is like an above ground train and the U-Bahn is the subways right?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think at this point, considering who the GOP are throwing up (I mean that literally, these people are vomit) against him, Obama is in live boy/dead girl territory. The economy is recovering, albeit slowly, but it's still ticking upward.

Then you have the fact he's not actively waging war against every woman in the country by trying to deny them access to abortions and birth control, thereby stating that they're nothing more than brood mares for the state who have no right to control their reproductive health/freedoms.

You know, stuff like that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strawman, Pinkstones. You will not be able to credibly cite one live quote from any GOP candidate saying that they are in favor of denying contraception or legal abortion to women. The only thing you can quote is innuendo translated by political opponents. You know, the ones on the "non-vitriolic rhetoric" side of the aisle. I think we will be hearing a lot of wild accusations, meant to scare the population, like this "women in danger crap" from the left, during this campaign year. And then probably answered in like fashion from the right, who will say America is doomed without them. Ah, the beauty of party politics ....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Correct me if I'm wrong, my German is a little dusty, but the S-Bahn is the Strassebahn which is like an above ground train and the U-Bahn is the subways right?

No, actually S-Bahn and Straßenbahn are two different things. The 'S' in S-Bahn stands for "Stadt" = city ("Straße" = street). The Straßenbahn is a tram, also known as streetcars in NA, I guess. The S-Bahn is a full train with lines from the most outlining suburbs to the city centres.

The U-Bahn ("underground") is the subway,yes , even though they sometimes drive above ground as well.

confused enough? :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In California, the government charges higher taxes on gasoline because it goes into a general fund to cover the remediation of polluted groundwater (where we draw our drinking water from) and soil (for commercial and residential purposes). We don't want an Exxon-induced Love Canal situation. Anyone can check this on GeoTracker and EnviroStor to keep track of cases near where they live. Believe me, it takes a lot of money to get this thing going... because nobody else wants to do it, as it is mostly not for profit; although effective and efficient remediation technologies that take half as long with less money would be good ideas.

I recall reading years ago that in Mexico, gasoline is still leaded... nothing is regulated there, so lead is laced on everything: from their paints to children's candies. Of course, there is no government regulation there, so corporations are allowed to run amuck with people's lives. This is outright criminal. Yeah, I might give them a pass if they were Haiti, Belize, or Bolivia, but Mexico is one of the richest countries in the Western Hemisphere and they can't even protect their own citizens by assuring them safe/potable water and breathable air. That "government" is a joke. At that point, who gives a s*** about cheap gasoline? Actually, 4 cents for some gasoline magnate is rather lucrative. I've never seen middle-class oil execs or oil speculators (i.e., the people responsible for high gasoline prices) :beatnik:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't begrudge the oil companies their 4 cents/gal. profit. It is the price of continuity in a volatile market. If you owned a high demand energy-based company, how would you like to deal on a day to day basis with primarily Muslim executives who call their stranglehold on supply a "cartel?" How much do you think you might lose on an exploratory dry bore, when trying to avoid these cartels? Showing regular profits might seem a bit precarious should they actually be your responsibility.

People seem to forget that executives of S. & P. companies live in a pressure cooker. What publicly traded company wants to show a quarterly loss to their stockholders or potential stockholders? Wouldn't it be to a company's advantage to consistently show a profit? If your 401k were vested in oil, would you wish for government intervention to limit that company's profits?

The answer to lower pump prices lies with creative sourcing, innovations that lead to market flooding - not more prohibitions placed on the free market.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The answer to lower gasoline prices is restrictions on the profits based on oil speculation. The answer to lower gasoline prices is to build more efficient engines. The answer to lower gasoline prices is to just trade with anyone who already has the running infrastructure to pump the raw product, including Iran. The notion of dividing oil trading partners based on how they pray to their fictitious god over how we pray to our fictitious god shouldn't play a role in drawing out a contract that is favourable to both parties.

"No prohibitions on the free market" have led to environmental disasters off the coasts of other nations (including our own). Again, what's the use of having cheap gas when one is constantly exposed to cancer-inducing chemicals as a result of no prohibitions on the free market? It'd be a cold day in hell before I choose money over quality of life. Maybe that's what those who propose no prohibitions on the free market choose for their lives and those of their loved ones - they don't mind reverting to the dark days of limits on work hours, child labour laws, legalised slavery, stock market crashes, women not being able to vote, and such. Conservativism is just that: people who want to conserve the status quo. Great. It's good to know where they stand. It's a free country and everyone can believe in whatever they want. I just hope people wake the f*** up and see how the progress we've managed to make in the past 100 years in terms of human rights and quality of life is being slowly taken away in the name of corporate interests/profits while using religion/fiction to divide people and back up irresponsible govt. decisions (e.g., pointing out this or that guy is a - gasp! - muslim) :beatnik:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No, actually S-Bahn and Straßenbahn are two different things. The 'S' in S-Bahn stands for "Stadt" = city ("Straße" = street). The Straßenbahn is a tram, also known as streetcars in NA, I guess. The S-Bahn is a full train with lines from the most outlining suburbs to the city centres.

The U-Bahn ("underground") is the subway,yes , even though they sometimes drive above ground as well.

confused enough? :)

Ah yes. I guess that makes sense. I never learned about S-Bahns then. Just the Strassebahns and the U-Bahns.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strawman, Pinkstones. You will not be able to credibly cite one live quote from any GOP candidate saying that they are in favor of denying contraception or legal abortion to women. The only thing you can quote is innuendo translated by political opponents. You know, the ones on the "non-vitriolic rhetoric" side of the aisle. I think we will be hearing a lot of wild accusations, meant to scare the population, like this "women in danger crap" from the left, during this campaign year. And then probably answered in like fashion from the right, who will say America is doomed without them. Ah, the beauty of party politics ....

Actually, you can watch a townhall meeting with Mitt Romney, where he discusses the fact he's for the personhood amendment, which will essentially outlaw most contraception. You can also watch interviews with Rick Santorum, where he discusses the freedom for employers to deny medical care to their employees based on "moral objections" - because he doesn't like the idea of separation of church and state. And, of course, none of them will speak out against Rush Limbaugh's ignorant tirade on contraception for the Georgetown students (probably because they're just as ignorant about the subject themselves). These ignorant brutes are the Christian Taliban personified :beatnik:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love to see how all of those people would react to a weekend in Canada! Gay marriage, abortion clinics, sex shops, a guy wearing a turban while in his police uniform standing guard next to the latino woman as they're busting two white guys for gun possession! :laughing:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love to see how all of those people would react to a weekend in Canada! Gay marriage, abortion clinics, sex shops, a guy wearing a turban while in his police uniform standing guard next to the latino woman as they're busting two white guys for gun possession! :laughing:

Ray, not sure how valid it is to compare Canada's social attitudes to America's. In any Democracy, the majority must be heard and to a large extent forms policy. I believe the Euro-centric lifestyle of Canada is somewhat removed from the average American's. I recall the first time I went to Canada and saw baby caskets sold in an appliance store. Yeah, it was a shock for me, but standard life for Canadians. But isn't it diversity that makes the world a great place to explore and expand one's thinking?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now

×
×
  • Create New...