All_Pro_Bills

How? Pledge NATO will not extend membership to Ukraine.

Very well articulated. I see you as somebody that's willing to reason and compromise on almost every topic but that's a hard thing to do when you're mostly engaging in debate and discussion with absolute idealists that are completely invested in their views and aren't willing to alter their position or yield an inch of ground on anything no matter what facts or views you might bring to them. Call me cynical, but I'd also propose that when it comes to the critical issues and actions there's about a 95% consistency in policy and governance between the two major political parties and no matter which party is in charge there's maybe a 5% disagreement on things the power don't really care about. I'd argue the people we elect don't run anything. And their decisions generally are provided to them by the permanent bureaucracy and the powers bankrolling both political parties that call the shots from the background. And nobody dares to shine a light on these characters to expose exactly who's calling the shots and how they benefit at the expense of everyone else. While I support the concepts of democracy I see much of it beyond the ability to elect the candidate of your choice as somewhat of an illusion. Few members of Congress serve the actual interests of their constituents and the citizens they represent and if they do they are most certainly ridiculed and marginalized in some respect by agents in the media and the lapdog political class.

Biden asked the Saudi's to hold off on production cuts until after the mid-terms in order to help the Democrats retain control of Congress in exchange for not pursuing detrimental actions against the Kingdom. MBS said no to the threats. So now there is action to legislate punishment. A quid pro quo deal. Something I recall Trump was impeached by the House for allegedly pursuing. Of course Biden's cast of boot lickers here will not recognize or admit to the comparison.

This time is different. It really is. Because those outsized gains over the past few decades with periodic corrections over the course of time have been driven by consistently lower rates. Rates peaked in the early 1980's at about 20% and have been steadily falling. Supporting higher stock and bond prices. That trend is over. And inflation is not being contained by Fed rate hikes. What will they do? Go to 10 or 11 percent? The way our economy is structured and financialized it can't function at those levels. Time to buy "real" assets.

Gabbard doing the bidding of Putin? Predictable horseshit. That's just the way all the dimwits that can't form a rational argument dismiss any dissent to the government which some of you here have a perpetual hard-on for regardless of how dysfunctional it all is at this point. You're idiots. You know who you are.

So today you're going to lecture us on the virtues capitalism while supporting all of Biden's market interference initiatives?

Reminds me of a 60's comedy movie The Fortune Cookie with Jack Lemon as a cameraman at a Browns game that got plowed into on the sidelines.

One thing I find ironic about Hollywood is that the overwhelming majority advocate and support all kinds of gun control and social justice causes but still work and earn a living in movies that are full of gratuitous gun violence, lots of killings, and blowing stuff up.

OPEC understands that Uncle Joe is no more making Presidential decisions than I am. As such they aren't so much disrespecting him as they are ignoring him and sending the message they prefer to deal directly with whomever it is that the DNC appointed as President rather than the guy elected by the voters.

All sides are spewing propaganda. It's the nature of warfare.

That's a good question. For starters, I don't think the people running the Empire are concerned about how much you or I have to pay for anything unless it threatens their power. And the Saudi's regardless of production levels still adhere to the petrodollar system established under Nixon. Because of this they recycle a lot of US dollars into Treasuries and help fund all the deficit spending while keeping rates fairly low. If the US made a move to end the protection racket I expect China and/or Russia would swoop in and assume that role. The other thing is that military power has its limits and is only one aspect of the Empire's control. The bigger one is financial. Specifically, the US dollar's status as reserve and trade settlement currency. Which facilitates control over the value of money. Control the value of money and you control the price of everything. This has helped plunder third world resource rich countries of their assets while keeping prices "cheap" in dollar terms.

You just need to remember that Biden's policy failures are going to hurt everyone. Fate and karma don't discriminate between political ideologies when it comes to handing out punishment for bad decisions. Consequences are not going to skip liberal or conservative households on your street. From statements today the administration is preparing some sort of response to the OPEC+ decision to cut 2M/bbl per day and I expect all options are on the table but one, which is to increase domestic production. The single option where we control all the factors. The single option that requires no coercion or support from anyone else. The single option where you can solve your problem directly where you have the ability but not the will to solve it yourself. But this administration is so hung up on destroying the conventional energy market that they're willing to destroy our economy to do it.

More like participating in a crisis. Handling it? Not so much.

This action seems reasonable especially since government is joining the pot business. What I find most interesting is how all the legal and moral arguments to prohibit things seem to disappear into thin air when tax revenue generation opportunities present themselves.

That will be two shots of delusion and a chaser of idealism.

I think its just business. Putting on the business hat I believe what the Saudi's and OPEC+ are saying to the Fed and the US is that they're not going to allow the transfer of the consequences of irresponsible US fiscal and monetary policy to be transferred to them. Sure the US could threaten the Saudi's with removing the protection racket we provide the kingdom if they don't cooperate. But that void would be quickly filled by either Russia or China or both. And one consequence might be the end of the Petrodollar system which provides a quid pro quo arrangement in exchange for US protection. And if anyone thinks inflation is high now just think how high it might go when around an annualized $25 trillion used in oil trade and settlement needs to find a new home and place to park itself.

There's no plan. That's pretty much it. When you intend to embark on a "transformation" whether its a simple or complex process or system you need to do a few things. First, clearly articulate and understand the current state, and then clearly articulate and define the desired future state. And in between, comes a transition plan which identifies the steps, resources, time, cost, and other such necessities of producing a valid and credible plan to get from point A to point B. Another important task is to truthfully and realistically determine your capability of successfully completing the plan. Which might be called risk management. You need a master plan so to speak for US energy production and consumption. But we have no such thing. All we have are a series of seemly unrelated legislative actions along with attempts to provide incentives and disincentives in the market with the hope it will all work out. And so far its pretty clear it isn't. So the first impulse from our leadership is what is called doing more of what's not working until it works. Which is typically a road to failure. What's more troubling is the goal of not disrupting or destroying current society while performing the transition is absent or ignored.

Not to worry. After OPEC+'s middle finger gesture yesterday, Joe has gone begging to Maduro in Venezuela offering some easing in sanctions and other financial incentives in exchange for allowing Chevron to assist in pumping more oil out of the countries fields. My guess is that any increase out of Venezuela will be met with OPEC+ telegraphing an equivalent output cut but the idiots running US policy likely haven't even considered that as its clear they are desperate and have no plan.

Does it really come as a surprise that some kind of legal filing would be coming here? Many years ago, I think it was Mike Curtis of the Colts that laid out the perp with a much more intense hit in another such incident.

Earlier I read an interesting analysis which concluded the primary target of the Fed is high energy prices, which is the primary driver of inflation, and they're committed to bringing them down via higher interest rates at the expense of everything else. Essentially they're at war with OPEC+ which is in a unique position to defend their interests by raising or lowering output as needed. OPEC+ is intent not to let the consequences of the Feds policy fall on them but rather back at the US which is generating the fallout.

On a unit for unit basis its too expensive and inefficient. One gallon of gasoline produces 44 KW of energy. An average solar panel produces 1.5 KW. The US consumes about 9M barrels of gasoline per day. That's about 16 billion KW of energy. You need 29.3 solar panels to replace the output of one gallon of gas. Multiply that out at 9M barrels at 42 gallons per barrel at 44 KW vs. a panel producing 1.5 KW and how many solar panels do you need to replace one days output of gasoline consumption? Check my math but I get 11 billion solar panels. Double or triple or quadruple the panel output. Its still a very big number.

The reason for the sanctions doesn't change the consequences and our current energy policy is in conflict with reality. Pushing "green" solutions that cannot replace current conventional energy sources at this point in time. But the fundamental problem is this administration operates like an 800 pound Gorilla. Rather than promote cooperation and mutually beneficial relationships our foreign policy is based on threats, sanctions, and force. What exactly gives our country the "right" to dictate to sovereign and independent nations, mostly democracies, who they can and can not conduct business and trade? Countries such as India. Talk about interference, the US is King of foreign interference. Biden isn't isolating Russia, he's isolating us. And we're all going to suffer as a result.

All the sanctions and poor domestic energy policy led to higher prices.

Another casualty in the neo-liberal oppressors ongoing war against truth and reality. Obey and believe 2 plus 2 equals 5.

The swamp is the DC establishment that is a single political entity comprised of both political parties and the embedded bureaucracy that runs Washington. They operate as they wish regardless of the desires of the voters. Trump is an outsider and was treated as such from day one. Democrats and Republicans alike that belong to the uni-party sabotaged and obstructed his administration while leaking sensitive information both true and false. The swamp uses State power against its enemies. And maybe I'm missing something but for all the talk of Trump victimizing everyone, everywhere, I'd welcome anyone to specifically name anyone that was targeted, harmed, persecuted, harassed, arrested, or imprisoned by the administration's use of State power?