Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Economics 101: The Price of Gas

Daily Article | Posted on 4/22/2008 by

Gas prices are up and oil executives are once again testifying before Congress. Clearly, many politicians, pundits, and consumers lament the rising cost of gas. Before we join them in their chorus, let us take a step back and ask this question: Are gas prices really all that high?

A change in price can be a result of inflation, taxes, changes in supply and demand, or any combination of the three.

First, we need to take into account inflation. The result of the Federal Reserve printing too much money is a loss of purchasing power of the dollar: something that cost $1.00 in 1950 would cost about $8.78 today. As for gas prices, in 1950 the price of gas was approximately 30 cents per gallon. Adjusted for inflation, a gallon of gas today should cost right at $2.64, assuming taxes are the same.

But taxes have not stayed the same. The tax per gallon of gas in 1950 was roughly 1.5% of the price. Today, federal, state, and local taxes account for approximately 20% of gas's posted price. Taking inflation and the increase in taxes into account (assuming no change in supply or demand) the same gallon of gas that cost 30 cents in 1950 should today cost about $3.13.

Neither have supply or demand remained constant. The world economy is growing. China and India are obvious examples. At the same time, Americans continue to love driving SUVs and trucks. As for supply, we are prohibited (whatever the reasons may be) from using many of the known oil reserves in our own country. Furthermore, due to government regulation, the last oil refinery built in the United States was completed in 1976. In addition, the Middle East is politically unstable which leads to a risk premium on the world's major source of oil. It is obvious that the demand for oil has grown while supplies have been restricted.

The average price of gas in the United States today is approximately $3.25. The question is, why are gas prices not higher than they are?

Blaming greedy oil companies on the rising price of gas is simply irresponsible. The profit margins of a few selected industries are as follows:

Periodical Publishing 24.9%
Shipping 18.8%
Application Software 22.5%
Tobacco 19%
Water Utilities 10.2%
Major Integrated Oil and Gas 9.5%
Hospitals 1.4%
Drugstores 2.8%

The water utility industry has higher profit margins than major oil and gas firms! Why isn't every CEO with profit margins above that of the oil companies made to testify before Congress for "price gouging"? Clearly, greedy corporate profits are not the issue.

Again, while just over nine percent of the price of a gallon of gas goes to oil company profits, approximately twenty percent of the price of a gallon of gas is composed of federal, state, and local taxes.

Those who want the government to step in and do something about the high price of gas are either forgetful of recent history or too young to remember the oil crisis of 1979. During that time, restrictions on the price of gasoline led to the inability of some to find gas at all. Price ceilings always lead to shortages. The only thing worse than having to pay "too much" for gas is not being able to find gas at any price.

Let us not be swayed by politicians out for power or by reporters out to create news where none exists. Facts and economic logic should prevail rather than rhetoric.


Sterling T. Terrell is a Ph.D. candidate in the department of agricultural and applied economics at Texas Tech University.


47 comments:

IrOnY RaGeD said...

You may have noticed that I added a couple of new features to the blog.

At the top left is the new "Ruffian Chat". If the lights green, I'm signed into AIM and you can talk to me in real time. (if you really care to... no vanity here)
I'd like to eventually have it light up whenever a poster here is online, FF, TT, whomever but I don't know IF or how to do that yet...

Also, it occurred to me that some important posts were slowly slipping to far into the past. SO, I linked some that I felt were important on the right side just below the two great symbols of our country, the flag and the eagle...
(FF feel free to add to them if you think of any that should be included...)

IrOnY RaGeD said...

RE: GLOBAL WARMING
(the two old posts I dug up reminded me...)

Sorry to go Cliffy or Larry on you but I felt this was important to note...

Sorry to ruin the fun, but an ice age cometh
Phil Chapman | April 23, 2008

THE scariest photo I have seen on the internet is www.spaceweather.com, where you will find a real-time image of the sun from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, located in deep space at the equilibrium point between solar and terrestrial gravity.

What is scary about the picture is that there is only one tiny sunspot.

Disconcerting as it may be to true believers in global warming, the average temperature on Earth has remained steady or slowly declined during the past decade, despite the continued increase in the atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, and now the global temperature is falling precipitously.

All four agencies that track Earth's temperature (the Hadley Climate Research Unit in Britain, the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies in New York, the Christy group at the University of Alabama, and Remote Sensing Systems Inc in California) report that it cooled by about 0.7C in 2007. This is the fastest temperature change in the instrumental record and it puts us back where we were in 1930. If the temperature does not soon recover, we will have to conclude that global warming is over.

There is also plenty of anecdotal evidence that 2007 was exceptionally cold. It snowed in Baghdad for the first time in centuries, the winter in China was simply terrible and the extent of Antarctic sea ice in the austral winter was the greatest on record since James Cook discovered the place in 1770.

It is generally not possible to draw conclusions about climatic trends from events in a single year, so I would normally dismiss this cold snap as transient, pending what happens in the next few years.

This is where SOHO comes in. The sunspot number follows a cycle of somewhat variable length, averaging 11 years. The most recent minimum was in March last year. The new cycle, No.24, was supposed to start soon after that, with a gradual build-up in sunspot numbers.

It didn't happen. The first sunspot appeared in January this year and lasted only two days. A tiny spot appeared last Monday but vanished within 24 hours. Another little spot appeared this Monday. Pray that there will be many more, and soon.

The reason this matters is that there is a close correlation between variations in the sunspot cycle and Earth's climate. The previous time a cycle was delayed like this was in the Dalton Minimum, an especially cold period that lasted several decades from 1790.

Northern winters became ferocious: in particular, the rout of Napoleon's Grand Army during the retreat from Moscow in 1812 was at least partly due to the lack of sunspots.

That the rapid temperature decline in 2007 coincided with the failure of cycle No.24 to begin on schedule is not proof of a causal connection but it is cause for concern.

It is time to put aside the global warming dogma, at least to begin contingency planning about what to do if we are moving into another little ice age, similar to the one that lasted from 1100 to 1850.

There is no doubt that the next little ice age would be much worse than the previous one and much more harmful than anything warming may do. There are many more people now and we have become dependent on a few temperate agricultural areas, especially in the US and Canada. Global warming would increase agricultural output, but global cooling will decrease it.

Millions will starve if we do nothing to prepare for it (such as planning changes in agriculture to compensate), and millions more will die from cold-related diseases.

There is also another possibility, remote but much more serious. The Greenland and Antarctic ice cores and other evidence show that for the past several million years, severe glaciation has almost always afflicted our planet.

The bleak truth is that, under normal conditions, most of North America and Europe are buried under about 1.5km of ice. This bitterly frigid climate is interrupted occasionally by brief warm interglacials, typically lasting less than 10,000 years.

The interglacial we have enjoyed throughout recorded human history, called the Holocene, began 11,000 years ago, so the ice is overdue. We also know that glaciation can occur quickly: the required decline in global temperature is about 12C and it can happen in 20 years.

The next descent into an ice age is inevitable but may not happen for another 1000 years. On the other hand, it must be noted that the cooling in 2007 was even faster than in typical glacial transitions. If it continued for 20 years, the temperature would be 14C cooler in 2027.

By then, most of the advanced nations would have ceased to exist, vanishing under the ice, and the rest of the world would be faced with a catastrophe beyond imagining.

Australia may escape total annihilation but would surely be overrun by millions of refugees. Once the glaciation starts, it will last 1000 centuries, an incomprehensible stretch of time.

If the ice age is coming, there is a small chance that we could prevent or at least delay the transition, if we are prepared to take action soon enough and on a large enough scale.

For example: We could gather all the bulldozers in the world and use them to dirty the snow in Canada and Siberia in the hope of reducing the reflectance so as to absorb more warmth from the sun.

We also may be able to release enormous floods of methane (a potent greenhouse gas) from the hydrates under the Arctic permafrost and on the continental shelves, perhaps using nuclear weapons to destabilise the deposits.

We cannot really know, but my guess is that the odds are at least 50-50 that we will see significant cooling rather than warming in coming decades.

The probability that we are witnessing the onset of a real ice age is much less, perhaps one in 500, but not totally negligible.

All those urging action to curb global warming need to take off the blinkers and give some thought to what we should do if we are facing global cooling instead.

It will be difficult for people to face the truth when their reputations, careers, government grants or hopes for social change depend on global warming, but the fate of civilisation may be at stake.

In the famous words of Oliver Cromwell, "I beseech you, in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken."

Phil Chapman is a geophysicist and astronautical engineer who lives in San Francisco. He was the first Australian to become a NASA astronaut.

Rustyridesagain said...

Oh for christ sake you guys have morfed into Clif (a.k.a.Col.Klink)
Please no cut and paste.You're morphing into Clif and Larry.Not one original thought between you.

Rustyridesagain said...

Have you ever seen anyone who hates America more then Larry does?

Rustyridesagain said...

I mean this guy must have stuck his hand out to stop the american dream and it just cruised right by him.Now he wants anyone with money to share it with him,forget that he never worked to accomplish anything he just feels its his right to share the wealth with anyone who worked hard to accumulate anything.Come on....lets send some to Larry.

Rustyridesagain said...

Yes Larry is a true Patriot.....he's here holding down the home front,keeping us safe from.....oh yea the Islamic terrorist.That Larry is rerally something to be respected.He's a man among men...why between him and Clf I cant think of any other two patriot's I'd rather have defending the shores of the goog old U.S.of A..

Rustyridesagain said...

My goodness if it were'nt for the likes of Larry and Clif how would the true message get out?
These are two of america's finest,yes they may only cut and paste,but who beside them would live a life as mundane as they seem to do in order to supply the world with meeningly usless information? I say lets celebrate Larry and Clif,the two undisputed kings of cut and paste.Here,here,here.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Voltron, get this. Tomcat (basically an affable guy, though, yes, partisan as hell), in an effort to somehow prove that McCain "spilled the beans" as a POW, has taken to quoting NewsMax, one of the most CONSERVATIVE sites around. I don't know, I guess if you hate a candidate bad enough, you'll basically go anywhere to try and find shit on 'em, even over to the "enemy's" side. Very interesting, I thought.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hi Will.

Theres something odd at Newsmax.

Last I was reading their not all "conservative" and are changing or making crap up to discredit conservatives...


I'm currently having a debate over at the peace and love blog, enjoy...lol

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I'm not trying to cowtow to you, bro, but that was one of the most one-sided debates ever. You hit him (Bartlebee, he might be the worst of the bunch) with facts. He hit you with epithets. Oh, and my comment at the end, which basically pointed that out (that, and the fact that these people see only black and white), you got it, WAS DELETED!!

Mike said...

Hey Volty..........since you are such a staunch supporter of facts and truth i just thought you might want to update the blog so that it is ACTUALLY truthful and factual.........see the average price for a gallon of gas is $3.75 NOT $3.25 anymore.........so much for your making the case that gas prices rising are just normal inflation and tax increases.........its inflated WAY more than the normal rate of inflation in just the short amount of time this post has been up and adjusted for inflation gas and oil prices are much higher than the previous peak of 1980-1981.

That said you are factually correct that goverments do profit more than oil companies during high prices.

I also actually agree with you that we need to stop subsidizing unviable technologies like Ethanol.

Where I think we may differ is the fact that i think we NEED to end the welfare to oil and energy companies that DONT invest in increased production and/or viable alternate technologies like natural gas, wind, solar, clean coal, nuclear, etc.........in addition we need to build MORE nLNG terminals and refineries and give tax bbreaks to consumers and auto companies for designing and purchasing more fuel efficient cars, air conditioners heaters, refrigerators etc...

See the way I see it Conservatives Hate welfare for the working class and poor but absolutely love welfare for the wealthy and corporate elite.

The oil companies and their CEO's are getting tax breaks for doing nothing productive like increasing production or investing in terminals and refineries or alternate forms of energy and renewables............and thats FAR worse than any Welfare queen Reagan shrieked and wailed about.

Mike said...

BTW Volt, i'm gonna work on getting a pic up some time next week............maybe you can help me if I have any trouble.

I'm gonna get a few pics scanned this weekend.

Mike said...

Volt I posted this the other night, I think it CLEARLY shows that the increases we have seen over the last decade in oil and gasoline are FAR more than NORMAL inflation and tax increases:

Let me put this in perspective 10 years ago, 2 years before GWB came to power, gasoline was about 88 cents a gallon and oil was about $10 a barrel now gas has gone up roughly 425% and oil roughly 1200% , if we were to see those same increases over the next decade, gasoline would be $16.20 a gallon and oil would be rougly $1440 a barrel..........you wanna see those kind of increases or worse all you gotta do is vote repug........the angry old man not only understands the economy even less but wants to start MORE wars rather than make peace.

Mike said...

But at least I know you are no fan of the angry old man either!

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hi Mike,

Actually the article is not mine.
It's by Sterling T. Terrell a fellow Texan of yours.
He's a PHD candidate at Texas Tech.

And the point he was trying to make was that due to economic forces and taxes alone gas prices SHOULD be much higher.

There is some evidence that the major oil companies have chosen to eat some costs or have lowered their margins. However you can't expect them to lower their prices BELOW what they have to pay for crude. (see California's ongoing problem with electric utilities for a good comparison)

Which dovetails with my larger point that speculation in the commodity market is the driving factor of rising gas prices, NOT the oil companies.




Also, I think we may have some common ground, although not total agreement over subsidies to companies making a huge profit.

They certainly aren't LOSING money, and I don't think they should be subsidized, not even to explore alternative energies which are in their future best interests.

That said, if we HAD to give money to one source or the other, oil companies or the welfare queen for instance, consider this:

There is NO long term benefit to money given to an impoverished individual who has no inclination to work. It doesn't benefit their self esteem or motivation in the long term, and only provides them with increased dependence.

The oil companies on the other hand, provide a needed service and product, pay corporate taxes and provide jobs for thousands who must pay taxes on their salaries.
The workers spend their money in the communities in which they live which helps make those communities better places to live.

Note that I'm NOT saying we shouldn't help those who truly need it at least temporarily until they get on their feet, or that we should be shoveling money at a profitable corporation for whatever purpose.
Just that money spent on an industry benefits many more than money spent on an individual alone.


And I'm not against alternative fuels or energy sources. In fact I think the development of such is necessary. But I think the free market takes care of those things too. I'm sure you've noted that with the increase in crude prices have come renewed interest in and the development of alternative energy sources as well.

Energy companies will investigate and bring those on line when it is profitable to do so, and with the higher gas prices they are becoming more and more attractive choices.

And our oil dependence is wide spread and intertwined with many products and industries. We cannot end that overnight. Oil is STILL going to be needed for many years to come as we slowly transition to newer and renewable sources.


On McCain, I don't know if I can state it more plainly than I have.
He is no friend of conservatives. He may be singing a tune right now that he believes is politically expedient, but I have no doubt that if elected he'll go right back to his old ways. He's WORSE than a Democrat because he is a traitor to his own party. And I will not vote for him.

Obama used to worry me because of his charismatic charm. Much bad can be done politically with that, especially by a member of a party that is becoming more and more socialist.
Now that the luster is coming off of him, it seems that he's simply using that to gloss over the fact that he's a typical politician.
Either way, I can't vote for him either.

Hillary to me is the devil herself, but she's a KNOWN devil. We can mount an effective fight against her agenda and not be taken to task by our own party for it.
She is the only one running who I could vote for.


And yes I will help you post a picture if I can and if needed.

Freedom Fan said...

Volt,

Interesting that the ones who scream loudest about gas prices are ... yes the 'no blood for oil' gang of brain-dead Libs.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hi FF!

Ain't it the truth!

You should have woken me up with a ping on AIM.

You like the improvements blogwise?

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Oh you should check out Lydia's latest thread.

The drama queen, (Bart/Worf) is leaving again. This'll be the how many'th time?

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Voltron, Governore Murkhowski (spelling?) of Alaska makes a good point. Alaska has the most stringent environmental regulations in the world. If we don't drill up there, the world will dig elsewhere. And, yes, that elsewhere WON'T have these stringent regs.. Something for the far-left to think about. Agree?

Freedom Fan said...

Yeah Volt,

The blog looks suhweet. Kudos.

Rustyridesagain said...

I peeked at LC,looks like worf got his knickers in a knot again.He got booted off some other left wing loonie blog about three months ago.
He really blasted into his nuttybuddy mike,I guess that love affair is finished,
These idiots bitch and moan about oil company profits but are dead set against drilling in Anwar,nuclear power,drilling off the coast of Florida or Ca..All they want to say is alternate sources.....what the hell is an alternate source?

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hi Rusty,

Naw, that affair isn't over. It's just a family squabble. You know what they say about spats, the best part is making up.

As far as alternative sources, I have nothing against that and think it's a good idea. That said, they certainly have to be economically viable.

What these idiots don't get is that petroleum is heavily intertwined with many other industries which use it in production of their products. Plastic is only one example I can think of. We couldn't get off oil overnight without a MAJOR disruption to our economy.



FF,

Thanks!

If you can think of anything else that might be helpful, I'll implement it if I can. Also, if you can think of any old posts or sites deserving of a link feel free to add it yourself or let me know.



Hi Will,

I think you already know how I feel about increasing our domestic oil production. The things they claim about ANWAR are the same things they said about the original pipeline. It was the caribou this or the caribou that. Fact is, the caribou population has THRIVED in the shadow of the original pipeline. If they really cared about the caribou, they'd let us build and drill in ANWAR too.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Oh, and just to be snarky...LOL

You know how Worf/Bart has always criticized my appearance in my profile photo, well did any of you see his pic when he posted it?

I wonder what the truck looks like?
GEEEEEZ!

He must have fell through the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down...

Mike said...

Rustyridesagain said...
I peeked at LC,looks like worf got his knickers in a knot again.He got booted off some other left wing loonie blog about three months ago.
He really blasted into his nuttybuddy mike,I guess that love affair is finished,
These idiots bitch and moan about oil company profits but are dead set against drilling in Anwar,nuclear power,drilling off the coast of Florida or Ca..All they want to say is alternate sources.....what the hell is an alternate source?

Hey Jackass........dont construct my arguments for me, I NEVER stated I was against nuclear power infact I stated on at least 20 occasions most recently about 7 posts above your assine blithering ignorance and outright lies that i am strongly for nuclear, clean coal, building LNG terninals etc............so learn how to read and stop the lying you stupid little jackass!

Mike said...

Freedom Fan said...
Volt,

Interesting that the ones who scream loudest about gas prices are ... yes the 'no blood for oil' gang of brain-dead Libs."

And you clowns call US the "elitists"...........BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

You ever think the working class who cant afford or have to choose between: medical insurance, gas, to heat and cool their homes, to eat are the ones screaming about the outragious prices.

Mike said...

Volt I will admit you do raise valid points that speculators are driving up the prices probably like $20 or so, you are also essentially correct that governments benefit far more from high oil prices than the oil companies........but there are a great many things you fail to address read my above post for starters......also there is a ar premium because there is fear these loons might attack Iran and further disrupt supplies.

Also you nor ANY of your associates have addressed ANWR Clif and I have stated on Numerous occasions that it there is only about 1 years worth of USA consumption or several months worth of world oil consumption there, it would take roughly 10 years to see ANY meaningful production and roughly 15 years for production to peak, then you would have to spend billions to build a pipeline to transport the oil because the current pipeline is operating near peak capacity.........so first of all ANWR is a spit in the bucket when you look at world demand, secondly it would not have any meaningful effect for a decade or two, and if we dont takre any meaningful steps to diversify away from our oil dependency and develop renewable alternate sources by then it will be game over for us.

So like We've been saying ANWR is moot.

Rustyridesagain said...

My goodness Mike,did worf run you off LC? I'm surprised to see you here,considering you dont have a delete button.
I see you hav'nt grown up much,always with the name calling.When you're wrong talking louder does'nt make you right...it just makes you appear ignorant.

Rustyridesagain said...

You lefties have been against Anwar for 15 years,if you had gotten on board back then the oil would be flowing by now.Your statment that Anwar is only a years supply of oil is stupid,do you realize just how much a total years worth of oil is in the U.S.?
Is you messiah Obama in favor of nuclear power?
A year ago you were screeching that ethanol was our saving grace,now that producing ethanol has proven to be a waste in time,money and corn you dont even mention it.
BTW,how much has the price of a gallon of gas risen since the Dumbs took control of congress?

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Hi Mike. Remember me? Wow,it seems that a lot of people are getting deleted over there at the echo chamber. What in the hell is up with that, I'm wondering. Seriously, you're lucky I don't do my Al Pacino tirade from Glengarry Glen Ross, you blanety blank.

Rustyridesagain said...

Dont hold your breath waiting for Mike to respond,the only place he is comfortable is on LC where him worf and clif can have a chat room.
Mike is a typical left wing loon,he can spout off all kinds of meaningless crap until someone hits back then he runs and hides.There's a great story about Mike when he last had a girlfriend....about five years ago,they were in Las Vegas,some comedian in a lounge made a crack about Mike's girlfriend,Mike just sat there,she got pissed because he was such a pussy,got up and left poor Mike sitting there with his thumb up his ass.That's the last date Mike has had.

Mike said...

Rustyridesagain said...
"My goodness Mike,did worf run you off LC? I'm surprised to see you here,considering you dont have a delete button.
I see you hav'nt grown up much,always with the name calling."


Typical little inbred Conservotard hippocrite whines about namecalling while calling names like this in the very same blog thread.

Rustyridesagain said "These idiots bitch and moan about oil company profits but are dead set against drilling in Anwar,nuclear power,drilling off the coast of Florida or Ca..All they want to say is alternate sources.....what the hell is an alternate source?"

And for the record you gutless punk, i'm not afraid to go toe to toe with you in a blog or in real life so dont start something you cant finish little man.

maybe you should go douche and change your tampon then have yourself a good cry and eat some bon bons if you aint man enough to take what you dish out namely getting called a few names after YOU start the name calling yourself.

And like I said yesterday dont lie and assign me positions you little bitch, I NEVER said I was against Nuclear power and I NEVER once said I supported Ethanol, in fact I stated my opposition to Ethanol very clearely at least 20-30 times. As for Alternate sources I have quite clearly on many occasions stated what alternate sources i support .........so all you are is a lying little pun of a troll that even your fellow conservatives see as a little punk.

Mike said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Mike said...

Rustyrides again said "BTW,how much has the price of a gallon of gas risen since the Dumbs took control of congress?"

A LOT less than it has over the last decade with the treasonous Bush Admin in power.

Here i'll repost what has occured over the last decade for you.

Let me put this in perspective 10 years ago, 2 years before GWB came to power, gasoline was about 88 cents a gallon and oil was about $10 a barrel now gas has gone up roughly 425% and oil roughly 1200% , if we were to see those same increases over the next decade, gasoline would be $16.20 a gallon and oil would be rougly $1440 a barrel..........you wanna see those kind of increases or worse all you gotta do is vote repug........the angry old man not only understands the economy even less but wants to start MORE wars rather than make peace.

Mike said...

BTW Rusty.............for a guy that has attacked the Clinton's relentlessly over the last several years i find it hippocritical and very telling that you clowns are NOW supporting Hillary.............but hippocritical and repug goes together just like dishonesty does you clowns only support Hillary because you would MUCH rather run against her because Obama scare the crap out of dishonest little punks like you.

Mike said...

Rustyridesagain said...
Dont hold your breath waiting for Mike to respond,the only place he is comfortable is on LC where him worf and clif can have a chat room.
Mike is a typical left wing loon,he can spout off all kinds of meaningless crap until someone hits back then he runs and hides.There's a great story about Mike when he last had a girlfriend....about five years ago,they were in Las Vegas,some comedian in a lounge made a crack about Mike's girlfriend,Mike just sat there,she got pissed because he was such a pussy,got up and left poor Mike sitting there with his thumb up his ass.That's the last date Mike has had."

On my worst day punk i could crush you verbally or physically...........some gutless idiot hiding behind a keyboard CLAIMing to be a tough guy is beyond absurd.

I seem to remember you saying you would be in Vegas and Saying you would be in Kentucky and you were NO WHERE to be found at either place I anounced when I was going to both places and where i would be and even offered to have us lock ourselves in room (gym dojo whatever) and only one of us would make it out and you were no where to be found.......in fact i was just in Kentucky for the Derby and so was Clif and i didnt hear a damn peep out of you.

As for You being wiith a woman or even a little girl for that matter or living in Vegas...........all you are is a inbred retarded little punk living in Mom's basement in Seattle and asking how high when Eric tells you too jump.............if your the best the GOP has I actually feel sorry for you losers because I wouldnt wish YOUR level of pathetic on ANYONE!

Mike said...

Rustyridesagain said...
You lefties have been against Anwar for 15 years,if you had gotten on board back then the oil would be flowing by now.Your statment that Anwar is only a years supply of oil is stupid,do you realize just how much a total years worth of oil is in the U.S.?"

Once again you havent addressed a single point.........just retarded grade school BS.

As for your asking how much a years worth of oil is little troll the answer is a years worth of oil or roughly 3 months of global oil demand.........thats like asking how much a pound of feathers weighs little troll.


BTW Rusty you retard, hows the stock market been to ya.......werent you the inbred idiot that said interest rates were at 40 year lows lat year when they had risen 500% over the last 2 1/2 years kinda hard to be at 40 year lows when they have just risen 500% but that just shows how damn stupid and ignorant you really are you stupid troll.

Why dont you go long the S&P or Nasdaq if you feel so confident about the market because the market is as rotten as you and your criminal idiols like Bush and Cheney that should have been charged with treason and war crimes a LONG time ago.

Adjusted for inflation the Dow is WAY below the high reached 8 years ago which means we have been in a Bear Market for almost a decade.

Mike said...

You wouldnt even know what to do with a woman.............arent most repugs into little boys?

Mike said...

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...
Hi Mike. Remember me? Wow,it seems that a lot of people are getting deleted over there at the echo chamber. What in the hell is up with that, I'm wondering. Seriously, you're lucky I don't do my Al Pacino tirade from Glengarry Glen Ross, you blanety blank."

You seem confused Will.........I thought your place was the echo chamber!

Rustyridesagain said...

Poor deluded Mike.Here's I guy that's almost 40 and is still living with his parents and his fantasy world.
Him and Clif at the Derby...my ass,the closest Mike has ever gotten to Churchill Downs is seeing it on T.V..This is the "man about town" who thought Lydia's 20 year old show was the best entertainment ever...right up there alongside Hamlet.This is the guy who has'nt had a date with a live women in four years.
Him,Clif and Worf...the true definition of losers.

Mike said...

Rustyridesagain said...
Poor deluded Mike.Here's I guy that's almost 40 and is still living with his parents and his fantasy world.
Him and Clif at the Derby...my ass,the closest Mike has ever gotten to Churchill Downs is seeing it on T.V..This is the "man about town" who thought Lydia's 20 year old show was the best entertainment ever...right up there alongside Hamlet.This is the guy who has'nt had a date with a live women in four years.
Him,Clif and Worf...the true definition of losers."

Once again Crusty you show what a pathetic bitter little troll you are........instead of responding to any of the real issues I raised or YOUR lies I called you on all you do is resort to personal attacks, insults, lies and name calling like a retarded 8 year old.........then whine and cry like a slimy repug hippocrite when someone responds in kind with insults or name calling.

Kinda like The Delusional Angry Old Man you support who "PRETENDS" to be some kind of honorable Maverick while lying and resorting to lies and smears of Obama dishonestly CLAIMING he is Hamas's candidate..........typical slimy repug troll lying, smearing and calling names then crying and whining like a little bitch that your opponent is doing the same to you!

Mike said...

See You stupid little troll while people like myself, Worf, Clif, volt may throw an insult of two our posts pretty much always have a point while your are just personal attacks, name calling, smears, lies and retared 8 vyear old like talk.

BTW jackass you STILL didnt answer on How interest rates could be at 40 year lows when they had risen 500%.........by your reckoning now that the Fed cut interest rates more than in half are we at 2000 year lows little troll??

Are You Elmer J Fudd Rusty do you own a ansion and a yacht................BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Mike, I criticize both Democrats AND Republicans. And I never delete anything (contrast this with Lydia's site). If you want to call that an echo-chamber, I guess that's up to you, me-bucko. Just seems kind of silly to me.

Mike said...

I criticize both Democrats and repugs as well Will, I have viciously criticized Hillary Clinton, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reed............and have strongly defended Mitt Romney from left wing partisan loons on a left wong blog as Volt can attest......so thats neither here nor there because I am no blindly loyal partisan fanatic either, in fact i'm not even a registered Democrat and NEVER have been.

You Know something Will if you had come on to Lydia's blog in a less insulting and antagonistic manner i would have agreed with much of what you had to say.......much but not all.

Now as for the Echo chamber thing...........an echo chamber is a place where there are no comments and someone just talks to themself.

As for your blog if you hadnt come onto Lydia's blog like a ball of fire flinging insults, lies and sweeping false generalizations i might have popped into your blog fairly regularly.

Sure that article had a questionable source but instead of challenging it with evidence and asking how many regulars felt about it you just assigned the regulars a strawman position and started attacking said straw man with no basis in facts at all just like O'reilly would, also just like O'reilly you started crying you were being attacked by all these people when the truth was only one guy actually attacked you after you started sliming people on Lydia's site first.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

My "evidence"....was pointing out that the source (some loser working out of his basement, I gather)was bogus. I'm sorry, but when people (even those who I don't support) get swift-boated, I tend to get a little berserk. Actually, I thought I was funny (using her sit-com as a means to torture, saying that rather than watching said sit-com, I'd prefer to stare at a chalk-outline of Sal Mineo, etc.). And, just for the record, I went equally ballistic when Kerry got swift-boated in '04. As for the way I came across, insults, sure, but what lies and generalizations did I make? Christ, I was the one who was unfairly/prematurely characterized as a McCain operative. And, bro, I NEVER see any dissent on the Lydia Cornell site. That's MY definition of an echo chamber; everybody reading off the same play-book. Whatever. P.S. Come and visit some time. If you're as nonpartisan as you say you are, you might even like it.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Man! Ya go away for a day or two and the kids throw a party...

Oh well, I hope you all had fun.

Rustyridesagain said...

Where oh where is that rascal Mike?You know the economic wizard,the knower of all things economic,the renowned critic of T.V. sitcoms,the man about town,the Hugh Hefner of his cubical,the apple of his mom's eye and last but least the all time biggest fan of Lydia Cornell.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Voltron, Mike here claims that he, too, criticizes Democrats. I don't know, perhaps he does. My feeling, though, is that, when he does criticize them, it's only because they aren't being liberal enough....and not because the moderates and conservatives might be offering up something better. Is that true? You know these folks better than I do.