DC Tom Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I've tried to be friendly. I've tried to learn the culture. That's a compliment around here, right? Depends on the context. In this case, no. You really are an idiot. You're an idiot too, buddy. No, he's not. I think I know everything, and even I defer to him on the oil industry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 You guys know of Ben Domenech, right? I happen to believe he is a top shelf conservative critical thinker/communicator. Here is a great article on what has been discussed. http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/21/are-republicans-for-freedom-or-white-identity-politics/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 You guys know of Ben Domenech, right? I happen to believe he is a top shelf conservative critical thinker/communicator. Here is a great article on what has been discussed. http://thefederalist.com/2015/08/21/are-republicans-for-freedom-or-white-identity-politics/ Another great read.....Thanks Magox Towards the end of the piece, Mr. Domenech suggests that we also read a piece by Yural Levin, it is very good also. There is a slim possibility that what’s happening in the GOP primary campaign this summer is actually healthy and salutary, as conservative intellectual Yuval Levin argues here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Another great read.....Thanks Magox Towards the end of the piece, Mr. Domenech suggests that we also read a piece by Yural Levin, it is very good also. Yeah,I read that. I like Yuval Levin, another good mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiberius Posted August 23, 2015 Author Share Posted August 23, 2015 Part of me just can't help but think Trump just hates Republicans and is in the race to screw them over. Or maybe I've just read too many books on Nixon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Miner Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Tell me how CEO pay and oil subsidies factor into the price of oil? A lot of CEO pay for oil companies relies heavily on stock price. CEO's aren't digging $40 oil and a 50% drop in stock price this year. Giving CEO's of oil companies no money at all wouldn't affect the price of gas at the pump one cent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Two points, first to Gator's: If you were to draw up a way in how a plant could come in to the party and tear it apart, I couldn't have dreamt or concocted a better way than what is happening right now with Trump. For the record, I don't believe he is a plant, I just think he is an egomaniacal authoritarian that is doing this to conquer one last thing he'd like to achieve in his life, which is the ultimate goal for some once they become this wealthy, power. There is nothing more powerful than being president of the U.S. If you think Obama was bad with executive orders, that would be nothing compared to the power grabs Trump would do. Here you have an insurgent candidate, a populist who is turning his supporters into devoted cultists. Slowly but surely, his supporters are abandoning their conservative principles into this nationalistic, protectionist form. Free market capitalists? No, if Trump believes that the government should confiscate your land, he will he has stated as such , for the " greater good". If he believes that in order to balance trade with other countries, or they won't build his wall or whatever he deems unfair, he will simply impose tariffs. Of course actions like this would begin trade wars and the consequences would be disastrous as any economist would tell you. He believes in crony capitalism, he has fooled his gullible supporters withe ridiculous line that since he doesn't need money from Donors that the rest of the other candidates can be bought off. Sounds nice and appealing, except we know that he has been one of these corrupt people who has actually bought off politicians and at times has attempted to leverage his wealth against private citizens. So he wants us to believe, that he will be the agent of change when he was a serial habitual offender himself. Ha The best candidates are those that can meld the base of the party with the more moderate establishment types, who can draw some appeal to people who are not aligned with either party. His supporters will claim that is Trump. No, it is not Trump and the numbers consistently bare that. He is one of the most unlikable politicians. He has more negative favor ability ratings than any one in the GOP, even more so than Hillary. When the question is polled, would you vote for Trump or someone else (meaning a hypothetical two person race), he consistently loses by a wide margin. also, if you were to tell me that you can get a candidate who could simultaneously have a candidate who could deeply offend the Latino community with nativist, white only identity politics and be taken seriously, I would have never believed it. Well, congratulations Trump has pulled it off in spectacular fashion.. We have to look no further than our resident self-admitted xenophobe in Ozy to see that he is a product/reflection of this sentiment. In other words, he has managed to split the GOP, someone like me and I know that there would be many others would never pull the lever for this toxic candidate. He has managed to turn off the vast majority of Latinos. And there are tons of moderate tempered folks that would never vote for him and that is reflected in the polls. Right now, for the most part the media is taking it easy on him, sure there are plenty of mainstream detractors, but they are relishing in the higher TV ratings and want to see the Trump train blast on through. If he were to be nominated, which he won't but if he were, the coverage would turn so decisively against him once it became a two person race. Just imagine all the things he has said and did in his life that would be blasted on the airwaves. He says he likes to whine when he doesn't get his way, not only would he whine, he'd squeal like a stuck pig. To the second point of Joe Minor's: Yep, wouldn't affect the prices one iota. What does the CEO of Exxon make? $40 million? Exxon produced nearly 2 billion barrels of oil last year. At nearly $90 a barrel, that is $180 billion dollars in revenues. Anyone want to venture a guess what 40 million represents out of that total? Minuscule. Same goes with subsidies. Bottom line, the prices are determined by an actual market of buyers and sellers. Most of it is driven by commercial producers who hedge their costs along with speculators. And before anyone wants to delve into the issue of speculation and how it drives up the price. Don't, because you will lose that argument. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-Man Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 The issue that could break the trance Trump has on some conservatives. by Ann Althouse Eminent domain. by David Boaz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azalin Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Do you wear a trilby? I bet you wear a trilby. I had to look that up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 The issue that could break the trance Trump has on some conservatives. by Ann Althouse Eminent domain. by David Boaz Yeah, I posted the David Boaz article earlier. That alone should send alarm bells to Conservatives who are considering this guy as president. The fact that he is in favor of evicting private citizens off of property for the "greater good" is a nonstarter. What's even worse is that it wasn't even for the greater good it was so that he could build a parking lot for limousines to enrich himself, and he only offered 1/4 of the price that was offered on that same property a year older. I know there is a reactive nature among many people that any time that some of these folks can be considered nativists or xenophobes that this is some sort of race baiting issue that is propagated by liberals or mainstream media. But if you look at the preponderance of evidence there is reasonable justification to say that what is motivating these folks to follow Trump are two things, his nationalistic view that we should protect American interests via punishing the Chinese, Mexicans, Koreans and whoever through protectionist policies and his harsh rhetoric and policy proposals on illegal immigrants. I would argue that his supporters really aren't so much true blue conservatives but more so are singular issued voters, which is nativistic in nature. As Domenech noted, there seems to be a strain within the GOP that endangers the future relevance of the party. It is true, you can draw some parallels of what has happened to Europe and what could be happening to here, in that there use to be more European center right governments and with the rise of anti immigrant sentiment, came a more nationalistic sentiment with a segment of its voters. The end result is it transformed the center right parties into an unrecognizable political apparatus. They essentially are those groups that you here referred to as the "far right" parties. They hardly ever win, have virtually no clout and are seen as anethma in their society. Younger people tend to like people that are inclusive, that bares true in all the polling. I do as well, you can find the right balance of enforcing the rule of law while being inclusive. It's not a zero sum game that Trump or Obama make it out to be. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Yeah, I posted the David Boaz article earlier. That alone should send alarm bells to Conservatives who are considering this guy as president. The fact that he is in favor of evicting private citizens off of property for the "greater good" is a nonstarter. What's even worse is that it wasn't even for the greater good it was so that he could build a parking lot for limousines to enrich himself, and he only offered 1/4 of the price that was offered on that same property a year older. I've never heard anyone talk about the "greater good," without it being a justification for screwing over somebody else for their own benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I had to look that up. Whew. Thought I was the only one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who is Yuri? Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Bottom line, the prices are determined by an actual market of buyers and sellers. Most of it is driven by commercial producers who hedge their costs along with speculators. And before anyone wants to delve into the issue of speculation and how it drives up the price. Don't, because you will lose that argument. Word on the street is that you're the hombre to talk to about these oil spills. It's funny how nobody makes a stink about massive NG leaks. I'd imagine you have a thing or two to say about climate change. On that second point, do you see the oil companies re-branding as "energy providers?" Is there any impetus to move towards clean energy within the industry, or would that sort of change take government intervention in the current market? Your expertise, as it was advertised, is duly noted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magox Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Word on the street is that you're the hombre to talk to about these oil spills. It's funny how nobody makes a stink about massive NG leaks. I'd imagine you have a thing or two to say about climate change. On that second point, do you see the oil companies re-branding as "energy providers?" Is there any impetus to move towards clean energy within the industry, or would that sort of change take government intervention in the current market? Your expertise, as it was advertised, is duly noted.Actually, oil spills isn't my area of better understanding, I just know what I read. Climate change, yeah it appears there is pretty strong evidence that it exists, I'm just a bit skeptical that it is caused by man as much as some would like you to believe. We have gone through many periods of climate change for a whole host of reasons and I don't see how this is much difference but I certainly could be wrong. I've mentioned this before, if policy makers hadn't of introduced additional forms of taxation, the demonization of fossil fuels and wealth distribution schemes as the thrust of their policy prescriptions as the panacea to help combat Climate Change I am positive that this wouldn't have become such a partisan issue. Conservatives, rightfully became suspicious of these policies as ways that liberals could advance their positions, However, with the visceral rejection of Climate change as a reactionary mechanism to oppose liberals, I think as a party they have boxed themselves into a corner appearing to fit neatly as the caricature of the anti science party. In a non polarized setting, if politicians were serious about combatting climate change, rather than punishing coal producers, adding taxes, anti drilling measures and wealth distribution schemes which are all punitive. They'd encourage investment, clean energy initiatives,research etc, They could try to deviate production of one sort of energy into another via incentives rather than punitive measures. What the Obama administration has done is unilaterally decided to become judge jury and executioner by literally decimating coal towns because of their beliefs. That is wrong. Yeah, the energy companies are wanting to rebrand themselves, they know they are in an industry that carries a stigma and that they know they are an easy target for criticism. How easy can it get? People are reminded every day that oil companies are charging the, what many feel is too high of a price every single time they fill up their tank. People, naturally believe like other products are arbitrarily determined, but their not. Companies will move to clean energies once it becomes financially viable and then will flood in that direction once its lucrative . Until then, rather than subsidizing projects that aren't viable without government assistance, they should spend their time and resources in R&D. Advances in technology will make clean energy more viable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who is Yuri? Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 Companies will move to clean energies once it becomes financially viable and then will flood in that direction once its lucrative . Until then, rather than subsidizing projects that aren't viable without government assistance, they should spend their time and resources in R&D. Advances in technology will make clean energy more viable. As good as advertised: I'm going to start deferring to you too. Personally, I don't think it's wise to call climate change human caused. A lot of the reactions that we are experiencing, like the melting of perma-frost in Siberia, etc, and release of methane are catalyzed by humans but not caused by humans. We're just a part of the reaction, not the sole cause, is how I read it. If we can provide strong incentives for energy companies to provide clean energy without demonizing the history that we all helped to create, of fossil fuel dependency, then we can move on in the quickest, most effective, and painless way imaginable. There doesn't need to be a massive purge of the existing energy providers to move forward, is what I'm saying, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 I had to look that up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 No. That's a fedora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Who is Yuri? Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 That's a Trilby. Any objections? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meazza Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 No. That's a fedora. Wanted an opportunity to post a balboa pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TakeYouToTasker Posted August 23, 2015 Share Posted August 23, 2015 That's a Trilby. Any objections? Major objections. Again, that's a fedora. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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