dsrtwriter

Is Valero a Better Buy than Exxon Mobil?

Clearly one of the issues is that the global warming religion crowd in this country also combines their fervor with a "punish America" fervor.
Rationality or reason is not tolerated.

The reality is that petroleum and other fossil-based fuels are plentiful in this country if we have the will to use them.Unlike ethanol, these fossil fuels represent organic energy already created millions of years ago, requiring no fertilizer inputs, no irrigation water, and no competitive use of our food producing land.

Today's cars need to work on better mileage, which is certainly achievable.The emission standards today have resulted in actually very clean emissions from the tailpipes of modern vehicles.

But for the environmental fanatics,oil is bad, no matter what the facts. Sure, lets grow corn,dump the phosphate fertilizers on the land, kill the undersea life in the Gulf, etc. to get the massively subsidized ethanol.

Electric cars- a great idea. When will we hear Al Gore and his flock demanding the construction of the nuclear reactors we need to create the electricity for these cars? Never.

And of course it is ok for China to pollute the skies for some time in the future, after all it is "their turn".For a country that has overpopulated itself to the point of requiring a "one child per family" rule,private auto transport should not even be in the cards. They should focus on public transportation.

Sorry, that is politically incorrect judgementalism, I know. We certainly can't have that.

Oil, Iraq and U.S. Foreign Policy: A Way Forward (Part II)

I will overlook the general ad hominum attack on the administration, straight out of the Democratic playbook, although as a true conservative I have many problems with administration policies, from the Dem/Republicans both ignoring the wishes of the people for a secure southern border,etc.

In fact, I applaud Democratic Senator Carl Levin's statements yesterday during the hearings with Defense Secretary Gates.Senator Levin properly points out that the Iraqi government is spending only about four percent of its multibillion dollar budget on reconstruction; it is hoarding the rest.

Iraqi oil facilities are now producing about 200 million dollars worth of oil every five days.

They are spending none of that money on infrastructure.

Instead, the U.S. continues to spend to build their schools, police stations, etc., plus paying Iraqi citizens "walking around money" to do jobs so they won't hang around street corners and shoot our soldiers.

You state that the "U.S.created this mess".

Oh I see. Under Saddam, and his wonderful sons, the people were free to experience various forms of torture such as being pushed off buildings for the amusement of Uday and Kusay.Women were free to be stoned to death in the street.

Sure, those were the good old days!

Well we did step in. I agree that we did not count on the Iraqis to be so "helpless" in helping themselves once freed, and the old rivalries came to the fore.

We have poured billions into that country to build an infrastructure (not rebuild, since Saddam did not provide the level of public facilities for his people that we are attempting).

It is however, testament to all those politicians, so fearful of leftist wackos' cries of "it's all about oil", that our administration has failed to tally an "oil bill" in oil value equivalents, to pay for the infrastructure money we have spent on this country which stands to be vastly wealthy from its oil.

How about paying back the loan,Iraq? Don't say that we caused the problem and we have to clean it up. You don't want to go back to a Saddam world,you enjoyed being liberated. It is just that you now do not want to pay up.

Sure, now it is all about oil. Even with conservation and alternate energy sources (such as ethanol which is pushing food and fertilizer costs through the roof).,we will need oil for years to come. Why should Iraqis be paying five cents a gallon for gasoline?

I agree with Senator Levin. No more money for building infrastructure.As far as I am concerned, forget about the U.N.,which did nothing except shake its finger at
Saddam for 17 ignored resolutions. We are entitled to value payment in oil for the value we have invested in that country.

It is just that the Iraqis are so lacking in character that they are banking the money and feel no obligation to repay us. As Senator Levin stated, one Iraqi general told our forces that as long as we keep paying for the rebuilding, they will take it.

Senator McCain is right. We may not be in Iraq for one hundred years, but unless we are willing to cede region to those nice regimes in China and Russia, we are going to be hopefully a resident gorilla in the region for many decades.