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Pastimes : Clown-Free Zone... sorry, no clowns allowed -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (378840)	12/5/2008 12:36:49 PM
From: stan_hughes	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 436258

Get a Monaco passport and become a citizen of the world -- Message 24365313

To: Box-By-The-Riviera™ who wrote (378840)	12/5/2008 1:18:48 PM
From: Broken_Clock	Respond to of 436258

This is worth 2 pts on my score card. If you are keeping score at home Obama is down from 100 tom 96. -g- And I'm letting a lot of chit pass by. To: Jim McMannis who wrote (169294) 12/5/2008 1:01:54 PM From: Sr K of 169314 Opinion Journal DECEMBER 5, 2008 Barack's Windfall Reversal Here comes the 'change' part of his Administration. Throughout his run for President, Mr. Obama argued the industry deserved special taxation on its "excess" earnings. He planned to use the proceeds to fund an "emergency" round of $1,000 rebate checks for families. "It isn't right that oil companies are making record profits when ordinary Americans are going into debt trying to pay rising energy costs," he said. The sentiment featured in campaign ads and attacks on John McCain. Mr. Obama never did offer a good or even particular reason for the oil majors to face this Carter-era inspiration -- apart from appeasing the populist furies. And he couldn't, either, given that multiple other industries profit more both in absolute terms and in returns on equity or sales. Nor could he account for the fact the tax confiscation would merely be passed along to the public in forgone investment in new exploration and production (and thus higher prices at the pump) or lower dividends. Now with the election safely over, a transition spokesman explained this week that the drop in oil prices to $50 a barrel has made the windfall tax a dead letter. Left unexplained was why the oil companies suddenly decided to stop profiteering, or manipulating commodity prices, or whatever it was they were supposedly doing. But be thankful for small mercies. It is reassuring that Mr. Obama's calls to arbitrarily soak an unpopular business were merely rooted in political expediency, not some economic philosophy. online.wsj.com