[Sgt_Schultze]

You're right, but to be fair, world oil is heavily subsidized by the American taxpayer. Remember an important use of the US navy is protecting the shipping lanes from pirates. Without generous funding from your neighbors, the distributors' costs for moving their products would be substantially higher - even in insurance premiums protecting against loss.

I'm pretty tired of the rest of the world transporting all manners of products around the globe with the satisfied assurance that the US taxpayer is protecting their investment. It's well past time that the US government began assessing other nations for the services of protecting their exports in transit.

[Publius6961]

You're right, but to be fair, world oil is heavily subsidized by the American taxpayer. Remember an important use of the US navy is protecting the shipping lanes from pirates.

You mean the Navy hasn't gone solar and wind power yet?

They could mount lots of windmills on those big suckers! and do you realize how many solar cells they could glue onto those aircraft carrier decks?

< /sarc >

[ROCKLOBSTER]

Without generous funding from your neighbors, the distributors' costs for moving their products would be substantially higher - even in insurance premiums protecting against loss. I'm pretty tired of the rest of the world transporting all manners of products around the globe with the satisfied assurance that the US taxpayer is protecting their investment. It's well past time that the US government began assessing other nations for the services of protecting their exports in transit.

How about; it's well past time we stop doing it?