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Gov Sarah Palin - just another dirty politician  Barbarians for Sarah Palin (front center)!                                               The top 11 things you should know about Sarah Palin:         1) She is presently under investigation http://www.ktva.com/ci_10026165 in Alaska for abuse of power http://voices.washingtonpost.com/washingtonpostinvestigations/2008/08/mccains_vp_pick_palin_facing_e.html        2) She strongly supports big oil (her husband works for oil company BP)        3) She believes creationism should be taught in public schools        4) She is opposed to abortion even in cases of rape and incest        5) She has no federal or international experience.  Prior to being governor (for less than two years) she was only the mayor of a small Alaskan town...

An excerpt from Rush Limbaugh dot com, paid subscriber's side:Rush speaks: But the interview with Charles Gibson on ABC, and they write this up at the ABC website: "ExxonMobil CEO and chairman Rex Tillerson defended his company's staggering $11.7 billion in profits for the second quarter, saying that the company's earnings reflected the magnitude of its business operation. 'I saw someone characterize our profits the other day in terms of $1,400 in profit per second. Well, they also need to understand we paid $4,000 a second in taxes, and we spent $15,000 a second in cost,' Tillerson told ABC News'...

As we close up a week wherein Sen. Barack Obama, D-Illinois, on the stump and in a TV ad accused rival Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., of being "in the pocket of big oil," and doing the industry's bidding -- not to mention a week during which the Democratic National Committee launched an Exxon-McCain '08 website to drive home this Democratic talking point -- the non-partisan Center for Responsive Politics points out that the issue is a bit more complicated than it first would appear. McCain has received three times more money from the oil industry in general -- $1.3 million...

Here's a little perspective on Big Oil's obscene profits. The first excerpt comes from left coast flagship Los Angeles Times, of all places. Their criticism of raising corporate taxes left me slack-jawed. They summed up the conservative position quite nicely:We hate spending $60 on a fill-up as much as the next person, but we don't think Exxon or its outsized profits should be the impetus for bad policy. As we've said before, it's a bad idea to pile more taxes onto oil companies for supposedly excessive profits. Exxon already faces a stiff tax bill -- nearly 50% of its...

The Democratic National Committee may be trying to get some mileage out of recent news about oil industry contributions to Republican Sen. John McCain, launching a web site spoofing the idea of McCain sharing his presidential ticket with Exxon. But they may have found an unwelcome surprise in a just-released analysis by the Center for Responsive Politics. Turns out, the biggest recipient of contributions from Exxon executives and employees during this campaign is not McCain. It's Obama. The non-partisan center writes: "Through June, Exxon employees have given Obama $42,100 to McCain's $35,166. Chevron favors Obama $35,157 to $28,500, and Obama...

There has been much discussion (and justifiably so) the last few days regarding the energy crisis, namely the efficacy of drilling versus tire inflation.Indeed, over-inflated tires do help with fuel economy (as McCain has noted on numerous occasions), however it is no substitute for an “all of the above,” cumulative energy agenda – one combining sensible off-shore drilling, nuclear power, clean coal, wind, etc.House Democrats, evidently, have even less to offer than Obama’s “tire gauge” approach. While Democrats remain on their five-week, tax-payer funded vacations, their Republican counterparts stayed on the House floor (in the dark, thanks to Madame Speaker)...

Hat tip bigtimer. Joe Scarborough has estimated that 95% of the elite media will pull the lever for Barack Obama. Even so, evidence continues to mount that the MSM is beginning to view the Dem candidate with a more discerning eye. The latest example comes from an unexpected corner, that occupied by NBC correspondent Martin Savidge. As NewsBusters has reported, on everything from climate change to Jesse Helms to the Jena Six, Savidge has consistently toed the liberal media line. But on MSNBC this afternoon, interviewing an Obama supporter, Savidge surprisingly suggested that Obama was "a bit of a liar"...

For the last several months, the price of oil has been at record highs. Over those months, the companies that sell oil have made record profits. Barack Obama sees that as evil. The rest of us see it as cause and effect. If you drill, pump and sell oil, and your overhead has remained fairly constant, and the price of your product has skyrocketed on the world market, you flunk Econ 101 if you’re mystified by the boatloads of money you’re making. But you’re top of the class in Pandering 101 if you point to those profits and ignite and...

Barack Obama has branded John McCain a stooge of profit-soaked US oil giants, as the White House rivals duelled on high gasoline prices and energy policy exactly three months from election day. Celebrating his 47th birthday, the Democrat launched a stinging counter-attack after the Republican McCain had last week cast him as a vacuous celebrity unfit to lead at a time of gathering crisis. Unveiling a new energy plan, Obama promised a 10-year, $US150 billion ($A161.43 billion) drive to cut US "addiction" to oil from global hotspots like the Middle East and Venezuela. "Breaking our oil addiction is one of...

MoveOn.org, the liberal grassroots group, has unveiled a television ad campaign on energy that is an attack on presumptive Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain and his support for offshore drilling. But free-market critics say the ad reflects more about MoveOn’s ignorance of economics than it does politics. The ad features an older “ordinary Joe,” sitting in a chair, facing the camera, talking about how he used to trust McCain. “Our energy crisis is causing Americans real pain,” the ad’s tag line says. “But instead of solutions, John McCain is offering gimmicks. Americans deserve better.” Ira Pariser, executive director of...

This is from Carpe Diem: Professor Mark J. Perry's Blog for Economics and Finance's blog... CNN's headline: "Exxon posts record $11.68 billion profit." According to CNN, Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter. That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. Buried in the story we also find that "In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income taxes in the second quarter, $9.5 billion in sales...

Just heard Mark Levin mention this point on his show tonight. The item he referred to is from Mark Perry at istockanalyst.com, who commented on CNNMoney.com's coverage of Exxon Mobil's profit report today: According to CNN, Exxon Mobil once again reported the largest quarterly profit in U.S. history Thursday, posting net income of $11.68 billion on revenue of $138 billion in the second quarter.That profit works out to $1,485.55 a second. Buried in the story we also find that "In addition to making hefty profits, Exxon also had a hefty tax bill. Worldwide, the company paid $10.5 billion in income...

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Friday announced an “Emergency Economic Plan” that would give families a stimulus check of $1,000 each, funded in part by what his presidential campaign calls “windfall profits from Big Oil.” Details are in this six-page policy paper. The first part of Obama’s plan is an emergency energy rebate ($500 to individual workers, $1,000 to families) as soon as this fall. “This rebate will be enough to offset the increased cost of gas for a working family over the next four months,” Obama said. “Or, if you live in a state where it gets very cold...

Petróleos Mexicanos will pay $484,000 a day to Noble Corp. for an oil rig that will allow the company to drill in waters up to 7,000 feet deep for the first time. Pemex, as Mexico's state oil company is known, will take delivery of the Noble Max Smith rig in August under a three-year contract, Noble Corp. said in a statement. The rig is being moved to Mexico from the U.S. Gulf of Mexico following upgrades and maintenance

Energy: Big Oil is easy to kick around — just ask any Democrat in Congress. But China's threats to Exxon Mobil are in another league. Its bid to use Exxon Mobil as a wedge against its rival Vietnam is a case in point.What China's doing in the South China Sea these days is not trade, but blackmail to assert regional dominance. On Sunday, the South China Morning Post reported Chinese officials are threatening to exclude Exxon Mobil from doing business in China if it doesn't pull out of an exploration deal with Vietnam's state oil company, PetroVietnam. The region in...

ARCTIC NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Alaska | This place is a Zen thing. The only way to tell you’ve wandered in is the absence of anything saying so. No signs. No road to get here. No advice from government stewards about what to seek out or what to avoid. No entrance fees and no officially licensed T-shirt. This isn’t just wilderness, contend those who want to keep it pristine, but a sanctuary for wildness. It is also oil country. With just the last half of the last year of the petroleum-friendly Bush administration remaining, the window for opening the land to...

NOTWITHSTANDING a shift by big business to become more socially responsible, Big Oil prides itself in being an island of bullheadedness and smugness. In a capitalist system, rewards of success go to shareholders. But Big Oil has virtually ignored an equally important constituency - the citizens of the United States - who have granted Big Oil the right to extract the nation's most strategic natural resources. In return, they expect them to act as responsible fiduciaries. ... Read the rest of this drivel at the link...

Bill Phillips spent nearly 50 years in the US oil and gas industry; most of his career was with the Phillips Petroleum Company. Bill is a descendant of Frank Phillips. Frank Phillips, along with his brother Lee Eldas (L.E.) Phillips, Sr., founded the original Phillips Petroleum Company in 1917 in Bartlesville, OK. Do you remember Phillips 66 gas stations? Phillips Petroleum Company merged with Conoco, Inc. in 2002 to form the current ConocoPhillips oil company. As you prepare to cast your crucial ballots this Fall, please think long and hard about the far-reaching, cumulative effects of the US political philosophies,...

Congressional Democrats now have their unified response to increasing calls for oil exploration in Alaska and in the waters off our shores: The energy companies, they say, are already sitting on plenty of oil, refusing to recover it. But is that true? “Energy companies are not producing oil or gas on 68 million acres of federal land under their control,” claims Congressman Maurice Hinchey, a New York Democrat. “The fact of the matter is Congress has already allowed oil companies to drill, but those companies are refusing to drill because they want to lock up as much federal land as...

*** National Day of Action for an Oil-Free President Wednesday June 9 5:00PM Kwik Trip Station, Corner of Civic Center Drive and 11th Ave NW (in Rochester) Sponsored by Moveon.org This Wednesday, we're pushing back with our National Day of Action for an Oil-Free President. We'll be gathering at gas stations around the country to reach out to voters and make sure they know John McCain is Big Oil's candidate and that he won't solve our energy crisis. Can you join the event in Rochester? Host: Lyle A.—fellow MoveOn member Where: Kwik Trip Station, Corner of Civic Center Drive and...

You would think that this story is right out of science fiction. But the facts appear to be that the US Democrat-controlled Congress intends to destroy the Republican middle class with $11 per gallon gasoline. The Democrats’ base -- wealthy white “limousine liberals”, and very poor people -- won’t be harmed, but the families who live in suburbia will be devastated. The multi-millionaires like billionaire Senators John Kerry & Jay Rockefeller, financial speculator George Soros, filmmaker Michael Moore, and actors George Clooney & Meg Ryan can easily pay for their auto and private jet fuel. Poor people are forced to...

"I want you to think about this," Barack Obama said in Las Vegas last week. "The oil companies have already been given 68 million acres of federal land, both onshore and offshore, to drill. They're allowed to drill it, and yet they haven't touched it – 68 million acres that have the potential to nearly double America's total oil production." Wow, how come the oil companies didn't think of that? Perhaps because the notion is obviously false – at least to anyone who knows how oil and gas exploration actually works. Predictably, however, Mr. Obama's claim is also the mantra...

To their everlasting horror, the global-warming alarmists have discovered that ExxonMobil advertises with the Washington Nationals. This act of free enterprise cannot go unpunished, so the global-warming alarmists have initiated a campaign to educate the Lerner family and baseball-supporting public in the hope the Nationals will end their relationship with ExxonMobil. It is unclear whether the global-warming alarmists walked to the ballpark from their homes, took mass transportation or drove there in an automobile. That, of course, is often the rub with the global-warming zealots. They talk a good game if it concerns you, your neighbor and the person down...

Didn't you just know this was coming? A consortium of Western oil companies — the very definition of Big Oil — is on the verge of receiving no-bid contracts in Iraq, giving them access to one of the most sought-after prizes in the petroleum industry, according to The New York Times. Can it be mere coincidence that the leading companies in the deal — ExxonMobil, Shell, BP and Total — are the very same companies that Saddam Hussein threw out when he nationalized the Iraqi oil industry more than three decades ago? The American public has been reassured, repeatedly, that...

The Texas oil man discusses the oil-futures market investigation, Yahoo, the presidential election and his wind investments.

So, you hate "big oil" and the soaring gasoline prices they are forcing on you? You've bought into the Democrats and Republicrats rhetoric about greed and "unjustified" profits, and you can't wait for someone to be elected president and get even with those evil corporate robber barons that are profiting at your expense. Well before you get all excited about tearing down the energy industry, stop and think for a moment about what makes your comfortable life possible. Your heat and most of your electricity are provided through the burning of oil and natural gas. The thousands of plastic items...

Recent huge spikes in oil prices are "crazy" and unrelated to supply and demand fundamentals as world markets are adequately supplied with crude, the United Arab Emirates energy minister said on Tuesday. Still, the OPEC member would be pleased to join in a meeting with oil-consuming countries to discuss runaway prices because they are hurting economies, Mohammed al-Hamli said. Saudi Arabia will host such a gathering later this month. "There is no shortage of crude oil in the market. Inventory levels are huge," Hamli said after speaking at a conference in Canada. On Friday, US crude jumped $10.75 to a...

If you’re wondering who owns “Big Oil,” chances are good the answer is “you do.” If you have a mutual fund account, and 55 million U.S. households do, there’s a good chance it invests in oil and natural gas stocks. If you have an IRA or personal retirement account, and 45 million U.S households do, there’s a good chance it invests in energy stocks. It’s a common misperception that oil executives are the only benefactors of industry success. Instead, the bulk of ‘Big Oil’ benefactors are hardworking men and women across America who boost their retirement portfolios through oil and...

If didn't know better, I would think the Democrats are really trying to lose this election. First they offered up the cap and trade global warming bill in the Senate that was quickly withdrawn when they realized what a debacle they were creating for themselves. Then this week they planned to use a windfall profits tax to vilify the oil companies and distract the public from their negligence and malfeasance for failing to enact laws and make policies to encourage the production and distribution of the life-blood of the nation- oil. Congress has repeatedly failed to produce legislation to that would lead to more meaningful energy...

Who owns 'Big Oil?' It's not who you think. A recent study finds that ownership of oil and natural gas company shares is made up of a broad cross section of Americans. "This study disproves the popular misconception that 'Big Oil' is owned by a small group of industry insiders. In reality, across the oil and natural gas industry only 1.5 percent of shares of public companies are owned by company executives," said study author Robert J. Shapiro, undersecretary of commerce for economic affairs under President Bill Clinton. "The data show that ownership of industry shares is broadly middle class,...

WASHINGTON - Record high prices for gasoline probably won't drop before the November election, Republican John McCain said Wednesday.

It’s pretty amazing how Sen. McCain has the ability to make me proud and drive me crazy, simultaneously. In this discussion with Matt Lauer, McCain talks about the necessity to explore and initiate the transition to alternative sources of energy. I wholeheartedly agree with the need to break free from the dependency on foreign oil, as many do, but still don’t buy the man made global warming thing. I’m beginning to get pretty uneasy about Sen. McCain’s rhetoric on the matter, in fact, but I’m still going to back him because handing our country over to Barack would be a...

July 4th is America’s Independence Day, yet we are grossly dependant on foreign oil because the “Environmentally Ill” say that oil harvesting is a danger to wildlife. However, other countries drill for oil and it’s apparently OK for us to purchase and consume their “blood” oil. Unless American wildlife and habitats are superior, then isn't it all the same? If habitats are being harmed because of drilling, why not keep it close to home, so we can monitor, lobby, legislate and otherwise regulate it to death. Oh... sorry, we already to that. But at least the United States ...

McCain in NC says that he would consider windfall profits for oil companies.

WASHINGTON (Map, News) - Saved by Senate Republicans, big oil companies dodged an attempt Tuesday to slap them with a windfall profits tax and take away billions of dollars in tax breaks in response to the record gasoline prices that have the nation fuming. GOP senators shoved aside the Democratic proposal, arguing that punishing Big Oil won't do a thing to lower the $4-a-gallon-price of gasoline that is sending economic waves across the country. High prices at the pump are threatening everything from summer vacations to Meals on Wheels deliveries to the elderly. The Democratic energy package would have imposed...

Home / Globe / Opinion / Op-ed Derrick Z. Jackson Getting Big Oil to feel our pain Email|Print|Single Page| Text size – + By Derrick Z. Jackson May 27, 2008 AGAIN, the oily executives of black gold told Congress it gouges Americans to the least extent possible. Again, senators and representatives wagged their fingers at them. Representative Maxine Waters of California told the executives to "share the pain." Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida told them, "I'm a mom of three young children who filled up her minivan the other day for $68 . . . Maybe that's not real...

... Democrat Representative Maxine Waters experienced a Freudian slip and uttered the secret fraternity password that identifies her Party. She spoke the word all members of her party know must be hidden from every rational thinking citizen. While addressing oil executives during a House hearing on May 22, 2008 Waters threatened to nationalize the oil industry if it failed to do something to stop the ever-escalating price of gasoline at the pumps. In a harsh exchange with Shell Oil President John Hofmeister, the California congresswoman demanded that oil companies guarantee consumer prices will fall if drilling is allowed off U.S....

Investor's Business Daily -- In 2006 alone, according to the American Petroleum Institute, U.S. oil companies paid some $138 billion in taxes to the IRS — and that doesn't include special oil severance, sales and use taxes companies also had to pay. Internal Revenue Service (Table 6, p. 41) -- In 2005 (the most recent year for which data are available), the bottom 75% of all individual taxpayers (about 100 million taxpayers out of 132 million total) paid about $130.9 billion in income taxes. Adjusting by the recent average of about $5 billion in annual increases in tax revenue from...

I was watching the Big Oil execs testifying before Congress. That was my first mistake. If memory serves, there was lesbian mud wrestling over on Channel 137, and on the whole that's less rigged. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz knew the routine: "I can't say that there is evidence that you are manipulating the price, but I believe that you probably are. So prove to me that you are not." Had I been in the hapless oil man's expensive shoes, I'd have answered, "Hey, you first. I can't say that there is evidence that you're sleeping with barnyard animals, but I...

"And guess what this member* would be all about? This member would be all about socializing — er, uh. [Pauses for several moments] …. would be about … [pause] … basically … taking over, and the government running all of your companies.” The brilliant leftist, Maxine Waters!

Q:   Does the government really make more in taxes from the sale of a gallon of gasoline than the oil companies do? A: Possibly. Both taxes and profits account for a large share, but which is larger depends on too many unknown factors to allow for a clear answer. Let’s start with the basics. According to the Energy Information Administration, in February 2008 state and federal excise taxes accounted for 13 percent of the average price per gallon of regular gasoline sold in the U.S. That figures to just under 40 cents per gallon as a national average....

Energy: Senate Democrats, dragging executives from five major U.S. oil companies before them for a second day, say they're alarmed by our "failed" oil markets. What they should be is ashamed.After all, it's mostly the fault of the Congress that we're in this mess. True, the Big 5 announced profits of $36 billion in the first quarter, as oil breached $100 a barrel and just kept going. This prompted nothing but contempt from Illinois Sen. Richard Durbin this week: "Where is your corporate conscience?" he asked the oil executives, forced to sit and listen. Others concluded that this must be...

The Washington Post finds McCain adviser Charlie Black’s work lobbying for various third world governments and an anti-Communist rebel group from 1985 to 1994 worth a front page story. Also, starting today, MoveOn.org "will air a national advertisement on CNN urging McCain to fire Charlie Black, a top adviser who has been a longtime lobbyist; McCain and Black have said that Black retired from lobbying in March." Okay. Fine. I think it's stupid to try to purge every campaign of anyone who has ever lobbied, since most campaign and political professionals need work in non-campaign years, and one of the...

With gas prices topping four dollars a gallon in some regions of the country, now may not be the best time to say something positive about "big oil," but here goes anyway. Where is it written that the cost for a product or service should be frozen in place and in time, never to rise again, or to rise at a pace commensurate with our incomes? People who think this way know little to nothing about supply and demand and less than nothing about the profit motive. That's because at least three generations have been raised on the notion of...

For fear of oil spills, as of 2008, the U.S. federal government and various states ban drilling in thousands upon thousands of square miles off the U.S. coast. These areas, primarily on the outer Continental Shelf, hold an estimated 115 billion barrels of oil and 633 trillion cubic feet of natural gas. This leaves America's energy needs increasingly at the mercy of foreign autocrats, despots, and maniacs. All the while worldwide demand for oil ratchets ever and ever upward. At times you'd swear that Che Guevara's bloody lesson (not to mention Lenin, Mao, and Pol Pot's) has yet to sink...

Exxon Mobil recently posted the biggest-ever annual profit for a U.S. company at $40.6 billion dollars. Outrageous — they gasp — consumers are obviously being gouged by Big Oil. Let’s look at the facts. First of all, just who is “Big Oil?” Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP, Chevron Texaco, Conoco Phillips? Wrong! It’s the government-controlled national oil companies of Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Libya, Algeria, Nigeria, Russia, Brazil, China, etc. In fact, the privately held Western oil companies that most people associate with “Big Oil” control less than 6 percent of the world’s reserves. Do these companies set the price...

Press Release By John Foster - May 06, 2008 Walt Minnick today offered Idaho drivers low-cost gasoline to call attention to the abject failure of Washington, D.C. to address our nation’s energy crisis. He also slammed Bill Sali for his cozy relationship with “big oil.” “For one hour today, while I’m talking to Idahoans about the high cost of gasoline, Bill Sali will sit down to lunch at a fundraiser and ask for money from oil lobbyists,” Minnick said. “In 18 months he’s become a true Washington insider. What Idaho needs is a new approach and some simple fairness.” Oil...

...Mr. Obama supports most of those "no drilling" rules, but that hasn't stopped him from denouncing high gas prices on the campaign trail. He is running TV ads in North Carolina that show him walking through a gas station and declaring that he'll slap a tax on the $40 billion in "excess profits" of Exxon Mobil. ...Exxon's profits are soaring with the recent oil price spike, but the energy industry's earnings aren't as outsized as the politicians seem to think. Thomson Financial calculates that profits from the oil and natural gas industry over the past year were 8.3% of investment,...

In the first quarter, Exxon-Mobil earned $10.9 billion, but at the same time paid a total of $29.3 billion in taxes...

Stand Up to big Oil -- 04/30/2008 As energy prices soar and the middle-class continues to shrink, Exxon Mobil has made more profits in the past two years than any other corporation in the history of the world. Last year alone, Exxon Mobil made $40 billion in profits, and rewarded its CEO Rex Tillerson with $21 million in total compensation. (Several years ago they provided their outgoing CEO Lee Raymond with a $400 million retirement package). Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell and BP also have posted record profits. In fact, the five largest oil companies in this country have made $595 billion...