Posted on 08/05/2012 2:47:11 PM PDT by bayouranger
American gasoline is cheap at the pump because consumers pay only for the oil, refining, and transportation to market -- plus tax. What we don't calculate is what the United States spends to defend the oil in the ground or the sea lanes that allow it to be shipped from the Middle East. We don't calculate the perversion of American principles as we coddle dictators to ensure they don't turn off the taps. Factoring those in makes the use of imported oil for transportation fuel much more expensive and distasteful.
The Middle East accounts for about 30% of the world's oil supply (North Africa, mainly Libya and Algeria, is another 6%), with 20% of the supply passing through the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. is the primary defender of the sea lanes, beginning with the Strait and extending through the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. Along this route, oil is delivered to India, Japan, China, and South Korea, among others. It is an enormous undertaking, costing the U.S. billions of dollars annually and having a heavy political and military impact.
Politically, it requires a potent relationship with Saudi Arabia. The Saudi government is discriminatory toward Jews, Christians, women, and foreigners. It was the original funder of al-Qaeda and continues to export an extremist ideology. But it pumps a reliable 9+ million barrels a day, which appears to balance the scales.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
“You are half right about the cure. Taxing imported energy is a job killer. Cheaper energy, even from imports, will make you stronger.”
I understand your point, but in the broader sense, you are wrong for the reason that we are paying billions for military forces via the Treasury, which is funded by borrowing and inflating the currency. It is only honest accounting to reallocate that cost more directly on the consumers in the US who trigger that expense. It is not only more honest, it is more transparent and it will help them decide (through the political system) if the true full cost is worth it.
On your point about costs, since the median household income in the US is $52,026, then for every $1 million in unnecessary expense, we destroy the jobs held by about 20 median households. By our restrictions on domestic drilling we cause tens of thousands of jobs to be exported to countries that are not our friends, and we have to borrow from these same countries to fund 99 weeks of unemployment insurance payments for the unemployed American workers that result.
Dense, I guess. Or being funny. Ever heard of that? Or are you dense too?
;^)
Yes, FDR made an agreement but it shouldn’t be honored at all. The filthy saudis are not an honorable lot.
Sleeping with the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude (2003)
“Saudi Arabia is more and more an irrational state—a place that spawns global terrorism even as it succumbs to an ancient and deeply seated isolationism, a kingdom led by a royal family that can’t get out of the way of its own greed. Is this the fulcrum we want the global economy to balance on?”
In his explosive New York Times bestseller, See No Evil, former CIA operative Robert Baer exposed how Washington politics drastically compromised the CIA’s efforts to fight global terrorism.
According to Robert Baer, the center of the global economy is a “kingdom built on thievery, one that nurtures terrorism, destroys any possibility of a middle class based on property rights, and promotes slavery and prostitution.” This kingdom also sits on one quarter of the world’s oil reserves, thus ensuring that it receives the full support and protection of the U.S. government. Sleeping With the Devil details the hypocritical and corrupt relationship between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia and the potentially calamitous economic consequences of maintaining this Faustian bargain.
As Baer makes clear, the U.S. has been aware of problems within the bitterly divided Al Sa’ud family for years, but has ignored the facts in order to keep lucrative business deals afloat. (The amount of money the royal family spends to influence powerful American politicians and lobbyists is staggering.) Particularly damning are his details regarding Saudi Arabia’s support of militant Islamic groups, including al Qaeda. The ruling family funnels millions of dollars to such groups in order to dissuade them from overthrowing the monarchy
Then you acknowledge that an HBomb is not an example of controlled fusion for energy harnessing.
Basically, if you really did think it was such an example then you’re pretty dense. If you didn’t think it then it was funny. You gave no indication either way. Since there are some freepers who are that dense, and you issued no sarcasm tag, there’s no indicator you were being funny.
Actually, that would be rare humor indeed, seeing an Hbomb as funny. I’m glad someone can joke about such a thing.
Of course I do. And, I think H-Bombs are fun to watch. Remind me not to ever come to crack wise on one of your threads again.
Obviously, If I tell what I think is a funny joke, and you're not laughing, then I'm doing it wrong. Bye.
That reminds me...”Happy Hiroshima Day!”
Remind me not to ever come to crack wise on one of your threads again.
***This wasn’t one of ‘my’ threads. There have actually been freepers who forwarded the HBomb as evidence of controlled fusion for energy harvesting on some of those LENR threads, so it wasn’t really all that easy to tell that it was a joke.
But again, as I said, it’s intriguing that you are able to joke about the HBomb. That’s gotta be rare.
I would not be here at all but for the appropriate used of a couple of A-bombs (one 67 years ago today), so I’m indeed strange that way. It’s also true more people died in Ted Kennedy’s car than were killed in all the H-bomb explosions lit off by the US. Can’t speak for the Russians.
I did not know people were using the H-bomb as an example of controlled fusion. That’s just plain silly. I was just making a non-joke. I was doing it wrong to boot.
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