http://news.yahoo.com/obama-seeks-halt-tax-subsidies-oil-industry-100325515.html
I am pretty sure that most people do not get $4 billion dollars in subsidies and for the amount of money that the oil industries bring in I don’t see why they get this “free” money! I know there are alot of people that would argue the point but I still do not understand it. People gripe about subsidies for farmers but those that are smaller family farmers that are trying to hold on to family farms I understand to a point BUT I do not understand why the huge “corporate” farms should be able to receive these also because they are not hurting for money.
The fact is that we are drilling more in the US then ever before, I know because I live in the boom area that just keeps growing further south and closer to where I live. There is a refinery in our town and yet we pay higher gas prices than those in Fargo most of the time, it seems weird but that is the way it has always been. The refinery here did not deliver to any of our areas stations but one for years and yes that station was cheaper but in a strange area for getting to easily and now more stations are selling fuel from this refinery but still even though we are a little below (not much) the national average it still bothers me that they charge what they do.
Oil prices cannot be changed just because the President says oh everyone thinks it is too high you have to lower it right now! DUH! If he could he would have a lock on the election no questions asked! It doesn’t work like that and the biggest problem is speculators who bring up the costs and the oil companies who buy refine ans inevitably sell that determines what is charged at the pump!
For me gas prices will never be the reason I do or do not vote for someone because I have common sense and know they can not just stand up and change it! There are things that can be done to help ease the prices and yes those are alternative fuels and cars that are built to get better mileage and it takes us to watch how we use our resources and hopefully putting those things together we would be able to change the way things are and how much they cost. Being “green” does cost a bit more in the beginning but over time is less expensive.I don’t expect people to be extreme but any little bit counts and less fossil fuels used.
Right now in certain areas around ND you will not just see drilling rigs but you also see hundreds of wind turbines and not one bit of that power is used here in this state, it is all transported to others. I think we should put it to use for our own citizens and sell off the excess but chnging the mindset of a very conservative republican state is a very, very slow process but maybe someday (we can only hope) that will change.
On another note, I have to laugh when I hear politicians say that the President did not do this or do that when there are things that were put forth to Congress but they did not pass it, did not even really attempt to act like they would try! Sometimes I think “Why do we even have a President at all?” I mean Congress is the ones who say we will pass or won’t and when you go in and try something too new you might as well expect to go nowhere! Most of Congress has been there so long they do not even know what their actual constituents need or want just that they like the status quo and they are not willing to change! Being in Congress should never be considered a career, yet many have been there 25 yrs or longer which is way too long and they end up with too much power! Term limits for every political position, NO EXCEPTIONS! Also you should not be able to vote on your own wage raise, period! If you all do a good job we the people will vote on a raise and you may or may not get it, and that will probably alone change how long people stay in politics even more than term limits, or they may actually accomplish something while they are there!
Sorry I know off topic but cannot help looking at what Republicans (for the most part) are complaining about and most of it is because Congress deadlocked or Republicans did not want any kind of change to happen so they went in with the attitude to stop whatever the Democrats threw at them. I am neither R or D but I will vote for the persons who have the most common sense approach even knowing that they probably will not get to do what they promise. Not that they do not try to do it but they get shut down by the other party (whomever that is). Yes when a President goes against Congress and does something anyway then they are definitely at fault because they did it without approval of Congress but when Congress shuts down everything a President tries to do (or adds so many ammendments you don’t even know what the bill was about to start with) they use that to say he hasn’t done anything! It is like a bunch of five yr olds fighting over a toy but I guarantee the five yr olds learn to share and cooperate alot faster and better than any politician I have ever seen or heard! Now if we could just get Congress to cooperate like 5 yr olds things would probably be going alot better in this country! Don’t hold your breath!!!!!!
