Morning Headlines:
- The Santorum Sweep. Rick Santorum wins the Colorado and Minnesota caucuses as well as the non-binding Missouri primary (CNN): http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/07/politics/gop-tuesday-contests/index.html?hpt=hp_c1
(Fox News): http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/02/07/santorum-romney-gingrich-paul-colorado-minnesota-missouri-republican/
- The payroll tax holiday fight is renewed. Democrats clash with republicans over paying for the tax break (Fox News): http://politics.blogs.foxnews.com/2012/02/07/payroll-tax-holiday-talks-stuck-again/?test=latestnews
- The U.S. is reviewing options for military action/intervention in Syria (CNN): http://security.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/07/us-military-beginning-review-of-syria-options/?hpt=hp_t2
- Retired Lt. General advises U.S. Military to get the Navy SEALS "the hell out of the media (ABC News): http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2012/02/navy-seal-commander-advised-to-get-the-hell-out-of-the-media/
"Retired Lt. General advises U.S. Military to get the Navy SEALS "the hell out of the media" - Amen is all I have to say to that!!!
ReplyDeleteOOORAH! ( I think that's the proper spelling, though I might be off being a Navy guy :-P )
DeleteHarry Reid (D-NV) said this yesterday on the floor of the Senate, "In exchange for extending this middle-class tax break, Republicans are insisting we pass unrelated, ideological legislation that will make our water less safe to drink. And they’re refusing to close tax loopholes, such as giveaways to oil companies making record profits. Instead they insist on more handouts to millionaires and billionaires before they’ll do anything to benefit the middle class."
ReplyDeleteI am so sick and tired of this kind of bull squeeze propaganda. Notice how when these despicable weasels make theses baseless claims they never give any specifics.
How effin stupid does one have to be to believe that drivel? (rhetorical....no need to answer)
C'mon Harry, please, give us a list of all the "giveaways" our government is "giving" to the oil industry. Could you humor us a little and show us a couple of cancelled checks as proof of your claim? Tell us Harry how much money did the government "give" big oil last month?
As far as American companies go, we "give" them nothing. What the significantly less than intelligent Senate leader is referring to is standard and ordinary tax deductions and credits that any and every manufacturing company in America can claim, not just big oil.
Another funny thing about these lying sacks of excrement (like that dunce Reid), ever notice how when they talk about our debt they rarely want to talk about the 16 TRILLION, they want to speak in terms as a percentage of GDP. Amazingly, when they talk about profits of evil corporations they use the dollar amount. They never elude to the fact that those horrible evil big oil companies are operating on a profit margin of 8% to 12%.
By chance, if oil were to lose the same deduction every other business gets for doing business, do you think they will just eat that cost or do you think that added cost might find it's way to the pump? It's going to the pump. When it goes to the pump everything you buy will get more expensive. If you bought it in the store, it came on a vehicle that uses gas or diesel. They aren't going to absorb that cost either, they will pass it on to us, the consumer.
32slim32 - I have to admit, that first paragraph by Harry Reid gets me, too. This "instead they insist on more handouts..." junk is truly sad. It's simply not true. But Harry Reid is a smart guy and he knows people will buy this stuff. There is one unfortunate part: both sides do this, though I think it is done more frequently and more severely by those on the left. I can't prove this, of course; it's just my opinion.
DeleteAs far as subsidies for oil companies, a few months before we started the blog I had actually researched this. If I remember correctly, (I would have to look it up, and it's tough to find a reputable source), it totaled $21,000,000,000 (yup, that's billion per year). It sounds like a lot, but the federal budget is $3,818,000,000,000 (yup, that's trillion). Got any guesses as to how much of the calendar year's budget is spent on these subsidies? Well, if we spend $3.818 TRILLION a year, $21 billion accounts for the spending (assuming the year started at midnight on January 1st) until about just after the start of January 3. It would get us through 48 hours, 10 minutes and 32 seconds, or 12:10am on January 3rd. Frankly, oil subsidies are a drop in the bucket with regards to cost, but their effect is magnified by keeping our out-of-pocket gas budgets low. Should they repeal it? Well, if you take a look at all subsidies, maybe they should just repeal them all and save the taxpayer a lot of money. But, as you have pointed out, the part that disturbs me is the talking point this becomes. You hear this constantly, "stop the big oil subsidies!" In reality, the left makes a HUGE deal about something that's really not. Unfortunately, people use this information, just as they use the propaganda about middle-class tax rates, and they vote with it. It's sad, and I wish Americas would just start learning things for themselves.
Thank you for pointing this out.
LME, good morning.
DeleteSo the $21 Billion in subsidies, is it $21 Billion that the government "gave" them, or is it $21 Billion in tax deductions and tax credits?
I don't like the deceptive language they use. When the government writes a check, to me that is a subsidy. Allowing a company to merely keep more of the money they earn, is not a subsidy, in my opinion.
You know, I still have to find it. To me, it's not as much of a difference with regards to what form. I view it as 6 in one hand and a half-dozen in the other. But to clarify, I will definitely try to find the precise info again. It could be either, or a total of the two. The left throws around both: "tax credits for oil companies" and "subsidies for big oil."
Delete