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Profits Of Doom?
IBD ^ | May 1, 2008

Posted on 05/01/2008 6:55:13 PM PDT by Kaslin

Profits: Exxon Mobil's first-quarter earnings of $10.9 billion, up 17% from a year earlier, are stirring outrage in Washington. Some are calling such profits "obscene." What a sad lack of understanding of economics.


Case in point: Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton. Like her rival, Barack Obama, she's pushing a massive "windfall profit" tax on those "greedy" oil companies. "There is something seriously wrong with our economy when Exxon's record $11 billion in quarterly profits are seen as a disappointment by Wall Street," Clinton said Thursday. "This is truly Dick Cheney's wonderland."

No, what's seriously wrong is that politicians such as Clinton can cynically manipulate public opinion to enact disastrous policies.

Indeed, rather than be upset at Exxon's profits, Americans should be thrilled — and angry at a Congress that doesn't seem to want to encourage the oil industry to make even more.

Our free-market economy is built on profit. Higher profits mean more jobs, higher incomes, more investment in equipment and people, higher standards of living. Yes, profits are the engine for all of this — and that includes the profits of "Big Oil."

By signaling that supply is scarce, higher profits encourage more production. Except, that is, when Congress through its inept lawmaking stands in the way. And that's the case now with the oil industry.

(Excerpt) Read more at ibdeditorials.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Editorial; Politics/Elections
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To: Kaslin
At least what ExxonMobil produces gets me from Point A to Point B.

All I get from what Her Royal Heinous produces is acid reflux.

21 posted on 05/01/2008 7:40:27 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (Could pacifists exist if there weren't people brave enough to go to war for their right to exist?)
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To: Recovering Ex-hippie

In what region? There are some areas that could see production in a few years.


22 posted on 05/01/2008 7:40:29 PM PDT by P-40 (Al Qaeda was working in Iraq. They were just undocumented.)
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To: Texas Eagle

Rather than attack each other,

How come as a country, we’re not doing something??


23 posted on 05/01/2008 7:40:42 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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To: Kaslin

I wonder what the profit margin was on her little cattle futures trading venture.


24 posted on 05/01/2008 7:45:14 PM PDT by tacticalogic ("Oh bother!" said Pooh, as he chambered his last round.)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network
Rather than attack each other, How come as a country, we’re not doing something??

Amen, Bro.

Start drilling in Alaska, North Dakota and Wyoming. That will cause prices to drop in a heartbeat.

25 posted on 05/01/2008 7:45:18 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (Could pacifists exist if there weren't people brave enough to go to war for their right to exist?)
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To: Texas Eagle

And then?...


26 posted on 05/01/2008 7:46:00 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

And then we have more control of our own destiny.


27 posted on 05/01/2008 7:47:42 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (Could pacifists exist if there weren't people brave enough to go to war for their right to exist?)
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To: Texas Eagle

And then?...


28 posted on 05/01/2008 7:48:00 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

What do we do with our destiny, when we gain more control of it?

Sell it to China again?...

What?

What are we as a nation, doing to become better? Stronger? More intelligent? More ... just about anything?

Seems we’re seriously losing control. We’re selling everything which isn’t bolted down - and even some of that.

We really need to start kicking *ss and taking names again.

We’re ... what was it Jimmy Carter said?

Malaise.

That’s what it is. We’re just that.


29 posted on 05/01/2008 7:51:38 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

And then we drill in The Gulf of Mexico.


30 posted on 05/01/2008 7:51:52 PM PDT by Texas Eagle (Could pacifists exist if there weren't people brave enough to go to war for their right to exist?)
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To: lesser_satan

They would be happiest if the oil industry operated like the airline industry — hasn’t made a nickel in profits since the Wright Flyer first took to the skies. Of course, that would stifle technical innovation, but who cares? They would be “punished.”


31 posted on 05/01/2008 7:52:01 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: Texas Eagle
This from a woman who made over 120 million dollars in the last seven years.

A windfall profit tax on her windbag husband would be a good start. Not to mention the financial relationships the bent one has with the Saudis. That could be quite a conflict of interest for the smartest woman.

32 posted on 05/01/2008 7:52:21 PM PDT by Myrddin
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

How dare you ask Oil Companies to put America before profits.

They are making a lot of money so you can have a job, if they have to give money to terrorists to keep their profits up, who are you to tell them otherwise.


33 posted on 05/01/2008 8:12:43 PM PDT by Philly Nomad
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To: Philly Nomad

I dunno about other FReepers, but I’m getting just sick, of this globalist cr*p.

I want to be in that circle of fired-up firemen rallying around President Bush, yelling in genuine, heartfelt enthusiastic pride in America:

“USA! USA! USA!”.

Instead, we get NAFTA. Chinese trade deficits. Jobs exported. No border. And it gets worse every day.

God help America.

Please.

What in the world happened to us?


34 posted on 05/01/2008 8:16:55 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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To: Kaslin
Hurricane? Record profits!

Dictator farts? Record profits!

Price per barrel goes down? Record profits?

Price goes up? Record profits!

Before China develops? Record profits!

China Developing? Record profits?

Shortage? Record profits!

War? Record profits!

Refinery fire or repairs? Record profits!

In the springtime, in between time? Record profits!

Price controlled by government? Of course not! But price by late October? Lower! But first have to increase, so it can be lowered!

Either way, record profits!

35 posted on 05/01/2008 8:21:18 PM PDT by purpleraine
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To: purpleraine

There are sure a lot of people running around, including on this board, without the least bit of understanding of economics.

Pitiful.


36 posted on 05/01/2008 8:41:48 PM PDT by bballbob
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To: bballbob

I’ll say. Some actually think that oil and gasoline are produced in a free, capitalistic market. There’s one born every day.


37 posted on 05/01/2008 8:43:03 PM PDT by purpleraine
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To: Cringing Negativism Network

“He could be out there, making the case for more drilling..”

You mean like he was doing within the past couple of days? Like he’s done a number of times over the past 7+ years?

Perhaps you haven’t heard him because you don’t listen to him. Who do you listen to?


38 posted on 05/01/2008 8:49:04 PM PDT by Rembrandt (We would have won Viet Nam w/o Dim interference.)
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To: Crawdad
Whatever “alternative fuel” is created to replace gasoline, if cheaper, will be taxed according to the price of gasoline prior to that replacement.

Kind of like how the price per Kwh mysteriously negates all those Energy Star "savings".

39 posted on 05/01/2008 8:49:54 PM PDT by Ezekiel
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To: Rembrandt

Oh I see.

I’m mad because nobody is doing anything to fix the problem, so ... my motives are questionable.

Is that it?


40 posted on 05/01/2008 8:50:33 PM PDT by Cringing Negativism Network (FLEX FUEL NOW! - send your fuel dollars to Kansas, not to Hugo Chavez)
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