Kerry and Gas

[ShortStrokeTX]

So Kerry wants to stop diverting oil to the National Reserve and use up the reserve to help lower gas costs. Personally I think that's freaking asinine. I wouldn't mind lower gas costs, I mean I end up paying 30+ to not even fill it up all the way, but eating into the reserve is just retarded. That puts us at the absolutely mercy of everybody we import our oil from. This would turn into a major problem because if they don't like something we do, bam,they shut off the oil. The reserve is there to protect us from that, and when everybody else runs out of oil, we'll still have some. Anyhow, I personally think that's a rediculous proposition and just another reason why not to vote for Kerry.

[PyRo]

I think I should be president. I would deport all the illigle immigrants, allow people to shoot anyone attempting to cross the border. And declare an official make fun of France day.
I think I would have half on AO's vote :)

[ShortStrokeTX]

I'm getting really tired of illegal immigrants, but that's a whole other issue.

[nippinout]

The reserves are not meant for controlling the domestic prices.

Kerry is a buffoon if he thinks we should tap into the reserves. I don't like high gas prices, but the reserves are their as insurance, not rainy days.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by PyRo
I think I should be president. I would deport all the illigle immigrants, allow people to shoot anyone attempting to cross the border. And declare an official make fun of France day.
I think I would have half on AO's vote :)

It pains me to say it, but you would get mine.

As for Kerry, leave the reserves alone. They are for emergencies, not price control!!!

[Kevmaster]

jeez...the reserves hes talking about have what...one...two days oil stored in them?

[Crime Dog]

Reason #1234290493 not to vote for John Kerry for President. And if he was really that interested in lowering gas costs, he'd quit voting for every stinkin' gas tax that comes along.

Kerry will tax us back into a recession. Get your grubby lil' hands off my hard earned money Kerry. Your policies don't work. Go away.

[RoadDawg]

We have higher prices cause OPEC hasn't refined as much due to loss of money last year. The fact that gas is over $2 for the cheap stuff here is insane. Dip into the reserves to ease the price and allow the people to save some money. We have over 50 years of Oil reserved in the US alone. If the prices keep soaring I will be forced to leave my job due to the traveling it requires and I don't get reimbursed til the end of the year.

[nospmas311]

President Bush hasn't really done well for the economy either.

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by RoadDawg
We have higher prices cause OPEC hasn't refined as much due to loss of money last year. The fact that gas is over $2 for the cheap stuff here is insane. Dip into the reserves to ease the price and allow the people to save some money. We have over 50 years of Oil reserved in the US alone. If the prices keep soaring I will be forced to leave my job due to the traveling it requires and I don't get reimbursed til the end of the year.


Another short sighted example of selfishness.

Not to mention the fact that you haven't got a clue as to why prices are high.:rolleyes:

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by nospmas311
President Bush hasn't really done well for the economy either.

When did this recession begin? When did the stock market collapse? When did Enron, Tyco, Worldcom, and Adelphia commit all of their corporate fraud? Oh yeah, that's right it all happened before Bush entered office under Clinton's watch!!!

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by nospmas311
President Bush hasn't really done well for the economy either.


Oh? And exactly what would YOU have done differently?

[RoadDawg]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife



Another short sighted example of selfishness.

Not to mention the fact that you haven't got a clue as to why prices are high.:rolleyes:

LET me guess... it's the Liberals fault? :rolleyes: I read more then one side to news stories. Ya selfishness that's it. I'm selfish. How bout I get canned from my job and you can pay my wages. :rolleyes: I'm trying to earn a decent responsible living. If I can't get to the several locations I drive to in a day due to ungodly high gas prices. I'm on the working side and this is how it affects me. Pipe up and sit down.

[1stdeadeye]

Want to lower Gas Prices today?

Tell Congress (both sides) to suspend their precious Gas tax for 30 days until supplies catch back up to demand.

Prices are high for many reasond RoadDawg. Cut back supply being one. Another big one is refineries being down for seasonal maintainence. There are even more reasons to numerous to count.

[RoadDawg]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye
Want to lower Gas Prices today?

Tell Congress (both sides) to suspend their precious Gas tax for 30 days until supplies catch back up to demand.

Prices are high for many reasond RoadDawg. Cut back supply being one. Another big one is refineries being down for seasonal maintainence. There are even more reasons to numerous to count.
I knew there were different reasons. My response earlier was ONE of many things. FOL seems to blame the liberals for anything and everything so I through that out for him. It is both sides that run things in this country and more often the not this board blames the "liberal" side of it. Just sickens me to think that people only look one way.

[PyRo]

You pay some middle eastern country per barrel
You pay to ship it to the US
You pay to refine in and add detergents (thats why california gas is more expensive, they require a certain addative to reduce polution)
You pay for shipping again
You pay the guy standing at the pump
You pay taxes on gas
Your paying for all the tankers, land and equipment used along the way, and your paying for everyone along the way to make a profit.


In other words it costs what about three times as much to get the oil from the barrel to your car as the oil itself actually does. I forget what the tax on gas is, but the tax our government charges for gas isn't cheap, the tax itself is probably close to what they are getting paid for the oil in the first place. So there is more than one place to whine too :)

As far as reserves go, we don't have 50 years of oil stored up, don't know where you heard that one. We need the reserves to be there. What happens if OPEC decides for some reason to outright stop selling us oil, people are going to freeze to death, we are going to be volnerable to attack, so that you could drive to work. Personally I would rather stop driving then have the Mexican army marching down the street. If we become in a large schale war and there is a shortage of oil we need the reserves, they are also a deterant to OPEC from doing some really not nice things with oil prices, even more than now.

If its that big of a deal to you, get a more fuel efficant car, deisel volkswagons get great milage and are nice cars. Deisel Mercedes get decent milage, and are also good cars, and they are completly differant from the Diesels of 10 years ago, they are much cleaner, and sound like a normal car. Then there are the hybrid cars which get comprable gas milage to the diesels. I drive a car that eats alot of gas, and have a driving style that uses alot of gas, ive got the money so I keep that can and keep driving like that, if I didn't I would be in one of those diesel volkswagons.

I remember about 2 years ago when prices went up to about $2.20 for regular, one guy pulls into the gas station I worked at, asks how much for regular. I tell him $2.20 a gallon. Guess what he says? "Wow thats cheap", he wasn't joking either he just came here from England, turns out they're paying a heck of alot more than us over there.

[Lohman446]

Originally posted by ShortStrokeTX
So Kerry wants to stop diverting oil to the National Reserve and use up the reserve to help lower gas costs. Personally I think that's freaking asinine. I wouldn't mind lower gas costs, I mean I end up paying 30+ to not even fill it up all the way, but eating into the reserve is just retarded. That puts us at the absolutely mercy of everybody we import our oil from. This would turn into a major problem because if they don't like something we do, bam,they shut off the oil. The reserve is there to protect us from that, and when everybody else runs out of oil, we'll still have some. Anyhow, I personally think that's a rediculous proposition and just another reason why not to vote for Kerry.

Didn't Bush do this early in his term and the Republicans loved it and the democrats hated it...

[PyRo]

We have a way to go before I pay $30 to fill up my car, 15 gallon tank that I never let down more than 2/3, seems cheaper to pay $20 three times a week to fill up than $60 once :)

[RoadDawg]

First off I drive a Chevy Cavalier. IT gets decent mileage. But in my job field I have to drive 50+ miles one way almost everyday. Unfortunatly I'm not in a financial situation where I can say I quit and find something closer. I have bills I need to pay. I'd go for a new car but the fact is I owe to much on my car already that no dealer would take it. I've been looking at the Honda Hybrid since it's release. The air quality is horrible down here even with all those detergents. The fact that it's around 2.20 here for the cheapy stuff (ARCO/AmPm type places) which is equivalent to most places mid grade stuff.

[1stdeadeye]

I'm paying $1.58 and that ticks me off!

[PyRo]

I would go diesel over hybrid, you can get ones a few years old to get out of buying a new car. 100 miles isn't all that much, your cavilier probably gets 20-30mph, thats roughly 3-5 galons or $6-$10 a day, not go bad. Just make sure your car is running right, and you keep up the maintenance, clean oil, airfilter, o2 sensor, spark plugs and wires, cap and rotor, maintence pays for itself in reliability and better gas milage.

My camaro got about 16 highway when I bought it as opposed to about 26 now :)

[PyRo]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye
I'm paying $1.58 and that ticks me off!
What????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[RoadDawg]

I get an average of 300+ miles between fills. I keep my car in as good as shape as I can afford. Unfortunatly with the cost of living soaring WAY to high this way, it's getting tougher.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by PyRo

What????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey I am from Jersey land of Cheap Gas and they pump it for you too!:D

It should still be cheaper though!!!!:mad:

RoadDawg,

Maybe it is time to look elsewhere and move. I did. I moved from Bethesda, MD to NJ. The cost of living here is far less then the DC metro area. My house here costs less then my condo in Bethesda did!

If the cost of living is too high, do something about it! Search the net for jobs and then move!

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by RoadDawg


LET me guess... it's the Liberals fault? :rolleyes: I read more then one side to news stories. Ya selfishness that's it. I'm selfish. How bout I get canned from my job and you can pay my wages. :rolleyes: I'm trying to earn a decent responsible living. If I can't get to the several locations I drive to in a day due to ungodly high gas prices. I'm on the working side and this is how it affects me. Pipe up and sit down.

Yes, SELFISH.

And SHORTSIGHTED.

I guess no one else in the country has your problems right? It's all about you.

[RoadDawg]

I've thought about it. I'm waiting to see if this new job comes about. Cost of living is way too high here. Can we say $500,000 for a starter home. Now how on Earth is someone making 30k a year gonna afford something like that. Anyways. I'd move but my fiance is bent on staying close to her family. That and we both love the weather and other things that SoCal is known for.

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by RoadDawg

I knew there were different reasons. My response earlier was ONE of many things. FOL seems to blame the liberals for anything and everything so I through that out for him. It is both sides that run things in this country and more often the not this board blames the "liberal" side of it. Just sickens me to think that people only look one way.

Where did I say it was the liberals fault?

I said you didn't have a clue as to where the price increases came from.

YOU assumed I was talking about libs when I wasn't.

[spyder_strypes]

Guys--
Kerry doesn't want to use up the reserve, he just wants to stop pumping more gas into it untill the prices fall. I think a lot of you missed that.

From the AP
SAN DIEGO (AP) - Democratic candidate John Kerry said Tuesday that as president he would stop pumping oil into the nation's emergency stockpile until prices fell and would pursue new energy policies because ``no young American in uniform ought to ever be held hostage to America's dependence on oil from the Middle East.''

And RoadDawg's comment isn't selfish at all...sure, he may be not be the only one with the problem, but have you ever been in a similar situation?

[ShortStrokeTX]

But we all know it's the liberals fault.

[PyRo]

But if you cannot get anywhere in the area that your in its time to forget about being close to family and go somwhere else :)

[ShortStrokeTX]

Ah, I misread what it was saying, sounds like most things that happens in politics anyways. So we'll just say this was a lesson in politics, things get misread hehe :D

[logamus]

well the libs did block drilling in anwar. now that diane feinstein has to pay over 2 bucks a gallon, maybe 2 bucks standing next to an oil well doesnt look that bad. but what does she care, she doesnt have to work for a living.

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by spyder_strypes
And RoadDawg's comment isn't selfish at all...sure, he may be not be the only one with the problem, but have you ever been in a similar situation?


Yeah it is selfish. And everyone else that wants to tap into the reserves to lower short term prices is selfish and shortsighted.

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by logamus
well the libs did block drilling in anwar. now that diane feinstein has to pay over 2 bucks a gallon, maybe 2 bucks standing next to an oil well doesnt look that bad. but what does she care, she doesnt have to work for a living.


Well said.

We need to get off this foreign oil dependency we're hooked on. We have the resources in our posession to do so.

Oil shale, Anwar, offshore, there are NUMEROUS ways to make us independent. But God forbid we disturb some friggin caribou.:rolleyes:

[logamus]

Originally posted by PyRo
As far as reserves go, we don't have 50 years of oil stored up, don't know where you heard that one. We need the reserves to be there. What happens if OPEC decides for some reason to outright stop selling us oil, people are going to freeze to death, we are going to be volnerable to attack, so that you could drive to work. Personally I would rather stop driving then have the Mexican army marching down the street. If we become in a large schale war and there is a shortage of oil we need the reserves, they are also a deterant to OPEC from doing some really not nice things with oil prices, even more than now.

well according to the world factbook (http://www.bartleby.com/151/us.html#Economy) and assuming my math is correct we have a tad over 3 years in proved reserves. now that is not just the strategic petroleum reserves, but all the oil in the us. not bad but if someone was to turn off the tap then sever rationing would have to take place. but i dont think people would be freezing. opec shut off the tap before and we didnt go to war and the much feared mexican army wasnt marching down the street either.

[HoppysMag]

my thought on this is we give opec a last chance to cut the ****, because we all know they are just screwing us on purpose. then after that we take what we need. blood for oil? hell yes. im 17 now will be 18 in june. and wether or not you think my ideas are valid, wether or not u think im some arrogant punk. id be the one with a rifle in the sands of arabia. "I'm fed up to the ears with old men dreaming up wars for young men to die in." -George McGovern ( EDIT using this quote to point out how WE the youth are the majority of soldiers yet our opinions arnt respected because we are "too young", and giving us no respect for what we say. when it comes down to the time, give me a rifle and a plane ticket, il fill my tank, provide heat for my family, and fuel for our military.

[logamus]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife



Well said.

We need to get off this foreign oil dependency we're hooked on. We have the resources in our posession to do so.

Oil shale, Anwar, offshore, there are NUMEROUS ways to make us independent. But God forbid we disturb some friggin caribou.:rolleyes:
in Texas oil wells are all over the countryside. cows, horses, deer, goats, sheep, bunny rabbits, lizards, etc all seem to get along just fine with the wells. the last thing i think about when filling my tank is how offended a herd of cattle might be at the site of an oil well. total oil independance is something i doubt we will ever see, but it pains me that we import more than half our oil.

[logamus]

hoppy, i sure hope it doesnt come to that.

[HoppysMag]

Originally posted by logamus
hoppy, i sure hope it doesnt come to that.
oh ya, dont get me wrong, im not a psycho war monger. obviously peacefull negotiations would be best but we have to do what we have to do to keep our country alive, stong, and independent.

[shartley]

Don’t forget that refineries are a key part of the process and we have been lacking the needed refineries to actually process the oil we ourselves drill. Take a look the outgoing oil (crude) VS incoming oil products some time….. I think folks would be very surprised to see how that all works.

[ShortStrokeTX]

But we've also been slowing down our own oil production so when everybody else runs out, we're still chuggin'. Plus we can just cut down the rockies for gas :D

[PyRo]

Originally posted by logamus

well according to the world factbook (http://www.bartleby.com/151/us.html#Economy) and assuming my math is correct we have a tad over 3 years in proved reserves. now that is not just the strategic petroleum reserves, but all the oil in the us. not bad but if someone was to turn off the tap then sever rationing would have to take place. but i dont think people would be freezing. opec shut off the tap before and we didnt go to war and the much feared mexican army wasnt marching down the street either.

Three years of what though? Three years of extreem rationing, not using oil like we are today. Ok, oil has been cut off before, but for how long? And when they cut off the oil, did we use our reserves?

[HoppysMag]

Originally posted by ShortStrokeTX
But we've also been slowing down our own oil production so when everybody else runs out, we're still chuggin'. Plus we can just cut down the rockies for gas :D

that can also solve the problem of all those old nukes we still have. although ski resorts wont be too happy with it, and im sure canada doesn want to get nuclear piss on them:D lol sorry had to say it

[PyRo]

Somhow I don't see destorying a mountain chain with nuclear weapons.

[RoadDawg]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife



Yeah it is selfish. And everyone else that wants to tap into the reserves to lower short term prices is selfish and shortsighted.

It's not selfish. Being selfish would be if I'm the only one and that's the only way it should be. I'm not the only one and I'll never be the only one. What would you do in my situation? I am spending almost $100 a month on gas to transport back and forth from work? I have a very fuel efficent car, I have bills to pay (not unnecessary bills either) such as rent, car insurance, car payment, & health bills. Those 4 things on top of the gas leave me with about $50 for food. If I can take that $50 and get it higher to $60 or $70 then hell I'm all for it. If it means that I can provide that much more for myself and future family then I'm all for it. I'm speaking of how this affects me and YOU call me selfish. :rolleyes:

[HoppysMag]

Originally posted by PyRo
Somhow I don't see destorying a mountain chain with nuclear weapons.

its a joke, your suposed to laugh...;)

[ShortStrokeTX]

Who said anything about chopping down the entire mountain chain? We can just take a little off the side as to not affect weather patterns :D

[MarkM]

Originally posted by PyRo
I remember about 2 years ago when prices went up to about $2.20 for regular, one guy pulls into the gas station I worked at, asks how much for regular. I tell him $2.20 a gallon. Guess what he says? "Wow thats cheap", he wasn't joking either he just came here from England, turns out they're paying a heck of alot more than us over there.

You gotta believe that IS cheap to me, it costs me approx $80 to fill my truck and I get around 300 miles for that tankful...ok that's isn't that economical but it is relative, if I was where you guys are I would love to pay your prices, I haven't had low prices like that since the mid 80's.
As far as this threads subject goes, if who ever gets to be President the other side's supporters will still round on that President or the previous ones to blame for the state the country is in...this is politics it doesn't matter which party you support they are all as bad as the last goverment, some things granted will change for select individuals but the country as a whole..nope not going to happen and it never will.
You are talking about recession looming, well guess what? Regardless of which Party gets to be President you are still going towards recession, have you seen the dollar exchange rate lately, the Canadian Dollar is stronger than yours. This trend will further begin to drop as foreign visitors will think twice about visiting even with a great exchange rate as you will see begining in October when your goverment on the strength of the Homeland Security Bill (or whatever it is called) start to implement visa charges of £50 per person ($87.50) currently it is free if you are on a flight but if you cross a land border by foot, rail, or vehicle then it is $6, this charge is going to apply across the board...alledgedly. Do you think the rest of the world are not going to retaliate with charges of their own...and who suffers? Not the goverment but the people.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by MarkM

Regardless of which Party gets to be President you are still going towards recession, have you seen the dollar exchange rate lately, the Canadian Dollar is stronger than yours.

Uhm no it isn't. Check your rates again buddy! $1 US=$1.30 Canadian, ergo the Canadian dollar is worth about $0.76 and thus weaker then the dollar!

:p

[MarkM]

Well for the rest of the world it is. You are looking at your local rate :) I get $1.75 per £1 and for the same amount I get $2.40 cdn and the cdn has been stable for ages (4 years) yours has dropped considerably since last year I got $1.40 now look at it.
Remember a lot of what you see is because you are on the inside looking out, I am outside looking in so I see things you don't.

[Rooster]

The answer is incredibly simple. Lower the gas tax.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by MarkM
Well for the rest of the world it is. You are looking at your local rate :) I get $1.75 per £1 and for the same amount I get $2.40 cdn and the cdn has been stable for ages (4 years) yours has dropped considerably since last year I got $1.40 now look at it.
Remember a lot of what you see is because you are on the inside looking out, I am outside looking in so I see things you don't.

Okay, so you get less American money for your Pound Sterling then you do Canadian money. Ergo American money is worth more then Canadian money. Not to hard to figure out eh?

By the way, I was pulling the New York International Exchange rates.

Also think about your statement. If Canadian Money was worth more then US money in England and not in the US, what would happen? Well smart traders like me would buy Canadian Money here at a "Discount" and re-sell it to you Brits over there and make a profit. How long would that market last before you Brits got wise to it? Not to long. Rates for exchange are very close to each other throughout the mjor markets of the world to reduce Currency Future Arbitage.;)

[Rooster]

"Regardless of which Party gets to be President you are still going towards recession, have you seen the dollar exchange rate lately, the Canadian Dollar is stronger than yours."

LOL! That is the effect of a past recession. Sorry to pee on the I hate America party (no, I'm really not sorry) but American goods are going to be going up in price again.

[MarkM]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye


Okay, so you get less American money for your Pound Sterling then you do Canadian money. Ergo American money is worth more then Canadian money. Not to hard to figure out eh?



Your currency is falling the Canadian is stable ergo Canadian is stronger, I knew using the CDN would get you hooked ;) but it was an easy example.
I am not on a hate america trip, just saying that things you see as bad aren't always what they seem and your political system is the same, yours is based in principle to the britsh system but unlike the british system you have a two party system not 3 like us. That aside all supporters of whatever political party try and do a number on their opponents...I have to say I love your political commercials, where you rip your opponent to shreds and drag up all the dirt...it is great, funny as well. But still fault will be found by both sides of the others results...go far enough back in any countrys (demorcratic that is not others ;)) political history and you can find when "your" party was doing well and the others wasn't, in some cases you don't need to go very far. The only winners are the politicans themselves who to generalise are self serving regardless of party affiliations..real great for a so called demorcratic system eh? We have the same issues here.

[MarkM]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye
Also think about your statement. If Canadian Money was worth more then US money in England and not in the US, what would happen? Well smart traders like me would buy Canadian Money here at a "Discount" and re-sell it to you Brits over there and make a profit. How long would that market last before you Brits got wise to it? Not to long. Rates for exchange are very close to each other throughout the mjor markets of the world to reduce Currency Future Arbitage.;)

To use what you have put above I do understand what you are trying to say but quite often that would be the smart thing to do, I was in Sault ste Marie and the american side of the town relied on the canadians to shop there and visit (steel town with a greatly reduced steel works) the canadian currency was on par in the bars but every week the americans would go to the bar and spend US dollars, me I would have gone to the bank every friday and exchanged my US dollars for Canadian and got every third drink free but what do I know I'm just a dumb brit ;)

[1stdeadeye]

Sorry MarkM,
I have to call you out. Stability does not equal stronger. Stronger equals purchasing power. If I offered you $1,000 US to do a job or $1,000 CAN to do a job, same job mind you, which would you take?

Thought so!:p

To be honest with you, I am a fan of the weaker dollar. Yes it makes imports more expensive, but it helps our export market tremendously! Also, it makes American made goods compete at price points for imported goods.

Buy American!!!:D

[spyder_strypes]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife
Yeah it is selfish. And everyone else that wants to tap into the reserves to lower short term prices is selfish and shortsighted. Once again, no one wants to tap into the reserves. The guy who made this thread didn't know what he was talking about. Kerry never said he wanted to tap into them, neither did RoadDawg.

[Zumina]

If Kerry does take office, oil prices will fall. Bush has intentionally kept the price of oil high for obvious reasons. Now that we pretty much own Iraq and their oil embargo has been lifted, the price of oil should fall even more.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by Zumina
If Kerry does take office, oil prices will fall. Bush has intentionally kept the price of oil high for obvious reasons. Now that we pretty much own Iraq and their oil embargo has been lifted, the price of oil should fall even more.

:confused:

What are you smoking? Bush doesn't control oil prices. Opec and the refineries have a lot more to do with it then Bush.

Remember if Bush got his way and drilled in Anwar, oil prices would most likely be lower now! Bigger supply equals lower prices! So there!:p

[ShortStrokeTX]

I don't see why people think that the president is in direct control of the economy...

[PyRo]

$100 a month is gas? I fill up my tank at $20 a shot 2-3 times a week when i'm not in school. Your getting off easy :)

[Zumina]

Airplanes, tanks, and Hum Vs all consume fuel at alarming rates. When there's thousands of them driving around Iraq, Afghanistan, and every where in between, the amount of oil the goverment needs sky rockets.

[HoppysMag]

Originally posted by MarkM


political system is the same, yours is based in principle to the britsh system but unlike the british system you have a two party system not 3 like us.

am i the only one who finds dificulty believeing our democratic system is based on englands system... when englands MONARCHY was what we escaped.

maybe i missread or missed some wording.

[Zumina]

England "isn't" a monarchy.

[logamus]

well england is not governed by a monarch these days. they do have a bicameral legislature, but they lack the third branch that the american system has. the english(and many other countries for that matter) elect a prime minister from within the legislature as opposed to a president that is elected outside of the legislature. doesnt mean one type is better than another but the american system adds a third branch (the executive branch) for the purpose of maintaining checks and balances.

the original pilgrims left england for religious freedom, not because they hated being ruled by a king. although i bet they wernt the kings biggest fans either. after the revolutionary war ended there was some calling for george washington to be named the king. he turned it down basing his decision on the fact that we just fought a war to get away from a king. man that gw is was a smart feller.

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by RoadDawg
I'm speaking of how this affects me and YOU call me selfish. :rolleyes:


Oye vey...:rolleyes:


Anyone else see the lovely irony here?

Anyone?

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by Zumina
England "isn't" a monarchy.

Correct, it is a constitutional monarchy. It just so happens that the royal family are strictly figureheads now.:p

[logamus]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye


Correct, it is a constitutional monarchy. It just so happens that the royal family are strictly figureheads now.:p
and rich ones too!

[HoppysMag]

i know its not a monarchy now, but it was when we developed our democracy

[Albinonewt]

I have to leave and didn't read the whole thread, but some food for thought.

We fill the strategic reserve with 150,000 barrels a day
86,000,000 barrels a day flow through tht world.

The strategic reserve is .17% of that. Does it really matter?

[Rooster]

Our system of government was based very closely on the English system. We just refined it and made it work without birth titles and nobilities.

[TransMan]

Well I say we just buy Greenland pay the higher taxes for it and only pay a few cents for a gallon of gas.

[MarkM]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye
Sorry MarkM,
I have to call you out. Stability does not equal stronger. Stronger equals purchasing power. If I offered you $1,000 US to do a job or $1,000 CAN to do a job, same job mind you, which would you take?

Thought so!:p

To be honest with you, I am a fan of the weaker dollar. Yes it makes imports more expensive, but it helps our export market tremendously! Also, it makes American made goods compete at price points for imported goods.

Buy American!!!:D

In line with your question my answer would be niether I would do the Job for £1000 however I see the point you were making, and now that I have had some sleep I can understand the confusion I created. At the moment the American dollar IS stronger in moneytary terms compared to the CDN however with the shift in the economy the CDN is performing better than the USD, the net result will be that as America contunues towards recession then then it's dollar will further weaken, think of it is stock market terms, which company would you buy stock in, the stable one or the one that's stock value is falling?

Rooster understands the parallels with our two goverment setups, I would argue the refined part but then I would wouldn't I? Something that has confused me since forever is that given the american two party system how can the President be say a Demorcrat and yet the main house is Republican, or have I missed something. Our Prime Minster (effectively the same title as President) is the leader of whichever party has won the election, he is in turn selected from within the party to lead them, we as a people don't choose out Prime minister the winning party do. We have a House of Commons, regular people who gain office by the peoples vote and a House of Lords, this was exclusively hereditry Peers but that has now been taken away now and the numbers limited but the House of Lords have to ratifiy anything that needs to be written into our laws and can be forced through or debunked due to procedure of the number of readings any new legislation requires prior to something being allowed, though it can be reinstated at anytime and re-voted on (this is the same case in the House of Commons, so it cuts both ways) Partly this is due to ancient laws and partly from common sense as the House of Lords is not directly connected to the Political Party system and even those Lords that are connected cannot be expulsed for not following the "party line". I think I have given a basic enough explination of our political system. Oh and yes our Monarch is purely a figurehead, and her speech each year is written for her by the ruling goverment, but then you would need to study our history to realise and understand why this is the case. There are some powers she still has but they are very very limited.

To swing things back to currency there is only one currency in the world for which £1 doesn't buy 1+ whatever, and also through the world 1 of the local currency usually will buy one (to use an example) loaf of bread where as here you can buy several loafs for £1 so if you were to make all currencys equal in exchange then you would need several £'s to buy a loaf of bread. Don't try and mangle what I have just written just try and understand what I am trying to say.
The country whose currency I get less than 1 unit for is Malta, but items for sale there I have to pay about 15-20% more than I would for the same product here, obviously there are exceptions but again in general terms.

*edited as I got my islands mixed up, easy to do when looking through beer googles as all Mediterranean Islands look the same*

[sneakyhacker420]

Originally posted by PyRo
I think I should be president. I would deport all the illigle immigrants, allow people to shoot anyone attempting to cross the border. And declare an official make fun of France day.
I think I would have half on AO's vote :) you have one vote here :Dhttp://www.automags.org/forums/images/icons/icon14.gif

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by MarkM


In line with your question my answer would be niether I would do the Job for £1000 however I see the point you were making, and now that I have had some sleep I can understand the confusion I created. At the moment the American dollar IS stronger in moneytary terms compared to the CDN however with the shift in the economy the CDN is performing better than the USD, the net result will be that as America contunues towards recession then then it's dollar will further weaken, think of it is stock market terms, which company would you buy stock in, the stable one or the one that's stock value is falling?

I understand the point you are tryig to make, but you are wrong...again!:p

The US economy is not headed toward recession. Do you know the technical definition of a recession? It is negative growth for consecutive quarters. We have been out of this recession for almost a year now. We are seeing some of the fastest growth in the last 20 years in our economy now. We are out of the recession and growing.

Further Canada's economy is so intertwined with ours that if we go down, they are along for the ride. You can thank NAFTA for that!;)

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by MarkM
Something that has confused me since forever is that given the american two party system how can the President be say a Demorcrat and yet the main house is Republican, or have I missed something.


2 major parties, 3 branches of government.

Executive is the President and his appointed cabinet.

Legislative is the elected representatives in the House and Senate.

Judicial are the judges in the Supreme court on down.

[MarkM]

Judicial counts as a third part of goverment? Oh well in that case we have 4 sections then as the High Court is higher than District/Crown and in turn can have decisions taken to the House of Lords on appeal. Cockeyed way of doing things on either side of the pond :confused:

[MarkM]

Originally posted by 1stdeadeye


I understand the point you are tryig to make, but you are wrong...again!:p

The US economy is not headed toward recession. Do you know the technical definition of a recession? It is negative growth for consecutive quarters. We have been out of this recession for almost a year now. We are seeing some of the fastest growth in the last 20 years in our economy now. We are out of the recession and growing.

Further Canada's economy is so intertwined with ours that if we go down, they are along for the ride. You can thank NAFTA for that!;)

Then why is it costing you more to import goods and you are also getting a lower return on exports...that sounds like recession to me. Internal growth figures can say what you want them to...are your employment figures rising or falling. The most obvious yardstick is that we see daily that we can get more USD to our Pound. This would indicate that our economy is the stronger - at present!

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by MarkM


Then why is it costing you more to import goods and you are also getting a lower return on exports...that sounds like recession to me. Internal growth figures can say what you want them to...are your employment figures rising or falling. The most obvious yardstick is that we see daily that we can get more USD to our Pound. This would indicate that our economy is the stronger - at present!

We are not getting a lower return. We are making our exports cheaper so that we can export more. Having imports more expensive makes domestic products more attractive.

Our Employment numbers are rising and have been for the past two quarters.

Finally you do not know what a recession is then. Growth and recession are measured by the expansion and contraction of the economy you are measuring. The US economy is growing faster now then it did in the 90's. Look at our stock market. It was up over 25% last year and is up this year. That is part of the growth.

I hate to say this to you, but please take and Economics class (and I don't mean Home Ec!:p ) before you argue Economics. I feel like I am having a battle of wits with an unarmed opponent!;) :p

[MarkM]

Unarmed!! damned cheek ;) :D Deliberately under valuing your products to get market share is one thing to artificially stimulate growth is like cooking the books (knew I could get a culinary reference in ;))
We had a success story here that would parallel your reasons for enconomic growth, The mighty Mini! Made lots of them! Sold lots of them! Employed lots of people to make them! Accounts made an error when they costed it and every single one was sold at a loss to the company, nearly put the company under (note this is back when the first models were made so any later parallels can't be drawn) But if you had looked at that companys books (audit) it would have shown all the signals of a healthy company to use the example you have given and so great things would be said and profits would come later on...didn't happen nor will it. I see quite often the people on here complaining about the amount of out sourced products that are connected with Paintball (we are still sort of on a paintball site) Where are JT products made?...parts may well be USA but assembled where? How does that help the American economy, there are others but to be honest any manufacturer is going to go where they can get the best deal for their product and in general terms it isn't within their own country, we have the same issues with the growth of the call centres in India. But I am getting away from the subject. I ain't bashing the US I think you realise that nor am I totally unswayed by your arguements however I don't agree with them thats all plain and simple. Despite I am A political in my outlook it would seem that one of us is a Demorcrat and one a Republican, though which is which I have never really understood in your system as to the outsider they appear identical :D :cool:

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by MarkM
Unarmed!! damned cheek ;) :D Deliberately under valuing your products to get market share is one thing to artificially stimulate growth is like cooking the books (knew I could get a culinary reference in ;))
We had a success story here that would parallel your reasons for enconomic growth, The mighty Mini! Made lots of them! Sold lots of them! Employed lots of people to make them! Accounts made an error when they costed it and every single one was sold at a loss to the company, nearly put the company under (note this is back when the first models were made so any later parallels can't be drawn) But if you had looked at that companys books (audit) it would have shown all the signals of a healthy company to use the example you have given and so great things would be said and profits would come later on...didn't happen nor will it. I see quite often the people on here complaining about the amount of out sourced products that are connected with Paintball (we are still sort of on a paintball site) Where are JT products made?...parts may well be USA but assembled where? How does that help the American economy, there are others but to be honest any manufacturer is going to go where they can get the best deal for their product and in general terms it isn't within their own country, we have the same issues with the growth of the call centres in India. But I am getting away from the subject. I ain't bashing the US I think you realise that nor am I totally unswayed by your arguements however I don't agree with them thats all plain and simple.

Ah yes, but by us undercutting our prices via the weak dollar, we are not cutting our own throat, we are making American Goods cheaper worldwide. basically we are doing to the world what they have done to us for years! Turn about is fair play!!;)

Yes I am cheeky!:p

[arsonpaintball06]

Originally posted by nospmas311
President Bush hasn't really done well for the economy either.

what the heck are you talking about. Bush is just starting to get the economy back into swing after all the crap clinton caused. Everyone thinks that clinton made the economy so good, but he was just riding on what reagan and bush sr. did. They got the economy good. many people dont realize that it takes years for the effects of wat a president does to the economy to take effect. Clinton screwed us, and bush got hit with wat he did. Kerry would just make everything worse. I think that if Kerry gets elected i might move outta the country.

[ShortStrokeTX]

Originally posted by arsonpaintball06
I think that if Kerry gets elected i might move outta the country.

I've been thinking that a lot lately too. Move down to Australia and have sheilas on the barbie and fosters, and take my girl to the opera house and then have more sheilas on the barbie. :D

[Zumina]

Sheilas are women.

[HoppysMag]

mmm bbq women... combinig the best of two worlds.

id move to mexico. ;) drinking margaritas,....... senoritas:D

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by arsonpaintball06
I think that if Kerry gets elected i might move outta the country.

Don't debase yourself with the tactics of Barbara Streisand and her ILK.

[1stdeadeye]

Originally posted by HoppysMag
id move to mexico. ;) drinking margaritas,....... senoritas:D

If things keep going, you won't need to move to be in Mexico!:eek:

[RoadDawg]

Originally posted by FactsOfLife



Oye vey...:rolleyes:


Anyone else see the lovely irony here?

Anyone?

That actually did sound selfish there... what I meant though was that I'm explaining mine, and others in my job fields possible harm. Then again screw the people and let's charge MORE so people can't buy food or pay for housing. YAY!! :rolleyes:


quote:Originally posted by HoppysMag
id move to mexico. drinking margaritas,....... senoritas



If things keep going, you won't need to move to be in Mexico!
Been to SoCal recently? Asians and Hispanics everywhere. Not that I complain being half Hispanic.

[FactsOfLife]

Originally posted by RoadDawg


That actually did sound selfish there... what I meant though was that I'm explaining mine, and others in my job fields possible harm. Then again screw the people and let's charge MORE so people can't buy food or pay for housing. YAY!! :rolleyes:




Yeah better that we use our strategic emergency supplies for some short term price relief.:rolleyes:

[RoadDawg]

Originally posted by RoadDawg
We have higher prices cause OPEC hasn't refined as much due to loss of money last year. The fact that gas is over $2 for the cheap stuff here is insane.

Just so people know what I'm refering too with this post.
Yahoo News article (http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&e=17&u=/ap/bush_oil_prices)

[RoadDawg]

http://us.news2.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/nm/20040331/mdf512267.jpg Just to show what I'm paying pretty much at the pump for the cheapy stuff.

[jesseyo13]

If you want to save money on your gas, do what I do. Go get your old moped, it gets 70 miles to that gallon.
If you think thats good check out this site:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2002/06/26_supermileage.html