BREAKING: Oil Addicted Economy Is In The Breakdown Lane

Tips for "teh economy." (4.00 / 14)

Thanks for reading.

Visit The Dream Antilles, a Lit Blog.

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by: davidseth @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 14:19:38 PM CDT

Get a horse! (4.00 / 9)

Or a bicycle.

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by: chesapeake @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 14:45:47 PM CDT

Jerome a Paris has a diary up (4.00 / 8)

at dKos that I think is germane to this (and since it's quickly sliding down the "Recent Diaries" I wanted to link it here):

http://www.dailykos.com/story/...

Hope I'm not overstepping here...just thought it deserved a wider readership than it seems to be getting.

One function of the income gap is that the people at the top of the heap have a hard time even seeing those at the bottom. They practically need a telescope.--Molly Ivins

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by: Youffraita @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 15:53:15 PM CDT

watch out (4.00 / 5)

when they think the game is up, WHAM they will lower prices just in time for McCain to say it is a nonissue. ANd for alternative energy to get whacked so it can't compete economically at $45 a barrel. Lots of things that make money when oil is $95 a barrel go under water when oil is $45... this market is manipulated from huge hedge funds, pension funds, and sovereign wealth funds.

Spoon or no spoon, you still have to fight Agent Smith.

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by: spoon or no spoon @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 21:35:36 PM CDT

And as Senate hearings in the last week have shown........ (4.00 / 5)

about 60% of these huge prices these funds are manipulating are futures market profits.

visualize: the act of the mind using spiritual energy to manifest in the physical realm  

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by: crystaljim @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 22:53:38 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

None of this is by any means an accident, davidseth! (4.00 / 3)

When the "sub-prime" crisis occurred (because of Bush's re-enactment of an 1876 law (sorry too tired to look it up) -- wherein the state laws regarding mortgages were, essentially, sold out!  That law took away any recourse of the states to act on their own, and, at the same time, deprived homeowners any recourse -- in the circumstance!  Thus, ultimately, the "sub-prime" crises occurred.  Bush assured it's outcome.

Then, he collected a "package of mortgages" (American homes) in an attempt to sell them off for "debt repayment" -- but they were valued at a market value far higher than reality -- thus, the value of the dollar fell!  The so-called recipients of repayment of our debt saw the erroneous value of those "unpaid mortgages" and thus, lost faith in the American dollar and, hence, it became debased in value.

When Bush visited King Abdullah, in January of 2008, he sought an "infusion" of monies into the Treasury, Merrill-Lynch and Citicorp (owned by the nephew of King Abdullah).  As he sought this "infusion," Bush, more or leas "assured" King Abdullah that he could charge whatever amount for oil he chose, as recompense.  Thus, the American people were, once again, sold out, at the hand of Bush!    

Say "YES" to Generation We  Go there, read the Petition and sign, if you agree!   Say "YES" to GENERAL STRIKE

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by: tahoebasha3 @ Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 23:18:16 PM CDT

Here's the link in interest of last statement above: (0.00 / 0)

George of Arabia: . . .

. . . Now, Bush, our Debt Junkie-in-Chief, needs another fix. The US Treasury, Citibank, Merrill-Lynch and other financial desperados need another hand-out from Abdullah's stash. Abdullah, in turn, gets this financial juice by pumping it out of our pockets at nearly $100 a barrel for his crude.

Bush needs the Saudis to charge us big bucks for oil. The Saudis can't lend the US Treasury and Citibank hundreds of billions of US dollars unless they first get these US dollars from the US. The high price of oil is, in effect, a tax levied by Bush but collected by the oil industry and the Gulf kingdoms to fund our multi-trillion dollar governmental and private debt-load. . . .

It's the price paid to buy back our money from abroad that's killing us. Despite the Koranic prohibition on charging interest, the Gulf princes demand their pound of flesh, exacting a 7% payment from Citibank and 9% from Merrill. That hefty interest bill then pushes adjustable rate mortgages into the stratosphere and pushes manufacturing into China by making borrowing and energy costs impossible to overcome. Forget the cost of health care: General Motors' interest burden quintupled in just two years.

and here is another reason

. . . The speculation now doing so much damage at America's gas pumps comes mostly out of hedge funds, those shadowy mutual funds on steroids open only to the deepest of deep-pocket investors. This special status largely frees hedge funds from any federal financial oversight and regulation.

Hedge funds can essentially do whatever they choose. They typically make their money playing games with money. In the oil market, for instance, they have no interest in ever using the oil they sign "futures" contracts to buy. Instead, they buy and sell the futures contracts - with borrowed money.

That can be risky. But the rewards can be staggeringly huge. A sweet deal for sweet crude can stuff hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars, into hedge fund manager pockets. . . .

and, the price of oil is likely to go up even higher

. . . . If you thought things were bad, with a barrel of crude oil at $136 and the oil heartlands of our planet verging on chaos, don't be surprised, but you may still have something to look forward to. Alexei Miller, chairman of Russia's vast state-owned energy monopoly, Gazprom, just suggested that, within 18 months, that same barrel could be selling for a nifty $250. Put that in your tank and ... well, don't drive it. It will be far too valuable. . . . .

Say "YES" to Generation We  Go there, read the Petition and sign, if you agree!   Say "YES" to GENERAL STRIKE

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by: tahoebasha3 @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 12:28:16 PM CDT

[ Parent ]

I have a solution. So do you.... (4.00 / 2)

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by: Edger @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 04:57:48 AM CDT

Samuel W. Bodman III is a real sweetheart, btw.... (4.00 / 3)

He is also the richest of all Bush appointees.

Don't let him near your children.

Last year, a devastating report by the world's leading climate scientists warned  that global warming is no longer a threat, but is a manmade disaster that has  already impacted the environment.

The report confirmed that man-made  emissions of greenhouse gases were to blame for severe heat waves, floods and an  increase in more-intense hurricanes and tropical storms. Climatologists predict  the temperature will rise by two to 11.5 degrees Fahrenheit, and sea levels are  expected to increase by seven to 23 inches by the year 2100.

Yet, hours  after the report was released, Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman said the Bush  administration would continue to oppose mandatory reductions in greenhouse gases  in the form of CO2 caps. Mandatory caps could financially ruin some of the  energy companies responsible for polluting the air, he said.

[snip]

Bodman is a Bush appointee who for a dozen years ran a Texas-based chemical company that spent years on the top five lists of the country's worst polluters.

It's not just a few clouds of smoke emanating from an oil refinery or a power plant that got Bodman's old company, Boston-based Cabot Corporation, those accolades. It was the 54,000 tons of toxic emissions that his company's refineries released into the air in the Lone Star state in 1997 alone that made Cabot the fourth-largest source of toxic emissions in Texas. Cabot is the world's largest producer of industrial carbon black, a byproduct of the oil refinery process.

Bodman personally contributed $1,000 to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and $20,000 to Republican committees in the 1999-2000 election. Bodman is the wealthiest member of the Bush administration. His net worth is estimated to be between $42 million and $164 million, the bulk of it in Cabot stock, deferred compensation and other benefits.

--US Energy Secretary Profits From Global Warming

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by: Edger @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 05:55:42 AM CDT

Saudi Arabia (4.00 / 1)

is the ONE country I can totally justify a war against.

You f*ck with American politics, you deserve to PAY PAY PAY.

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by: Ally McRepuke @ Fri Jun 13, 2008 at 13:32:46 PM CDT