Recession coming

[Freak Out]

They have been around for some time now.....great power train and good MPG (20-30). I thought about getting one but have held off because I don't need anything so large and would like better MPG.

[Freak Out]

This is as good as place as any to post this:
I like how our latest Governor as well as the legislature has started to play a little tougher with the industry as a whole. This lady has her faults like we all do but I can say it was the first Governor I rode next to in coach class on Alaska Airlines before. Pretty nice to look at as well.

Alaska's Palin, Miss Congeniality, Makes Exxon, Conoco Comply

By Joe Carroll and Sonja Franklin

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, a former beauty pageant winner, is succeeding where Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, a former paratrooper and military coup leader, so far has failed.

Palin threatened to evict Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's biggest oil company, and partners BP Plc, Chevron Corp. and ConocoPhillips from a state-owned gas field, winning their promise to increase Alaska's natural-gas output 17 percent. She raised taxes on oil profits by $1.5 billion a year and rejected industry ownership of a $25 billion pipeline.

Politicians and energy companies are haggling for revenue with oil around $100 a barrel. Exxon and partners say higher taxes may lead to fewer investments in Alaska, home to the second-largest U.S. reserves behind Texas. None has quit the state. Exxon and ConocoPhillips last year left Venezuela rather than accept lower profits when Chavez seized oil fields.

``We've got to play hardball,'' says Republican Palin, 44, in an interview. Alaska relies on the energy industry for 85 percent of tax revenue and 33 percent of jobs. ``The time is right to develop these resources because of the price of fuel.''

Palin's approach may backfire, prompting the largest energy companies to decide that Alaska is no longer profitable, says Ron Denhardt, an analyst at Strategic Energy & Economic Research Inc. in Winchester, Massachusetts. A pullout would leave the state to smaller companies lacking the skill to maximize oil output and tax receipts, he says.

``The economics of huge projects like these have got to look really good for a company to take on that kind of risk,'' Denhardt says. ``We don't know yet if she's asking for too much.''

Evicting Exxon

Exxon, BP, ConocoPhillips and Chevron may hear today whether Palin will stick to her threat to rescind the producers' leases covering the Point Thomson field, a site 50 miles (80 kilometers) east of Prudhoe Bay that's been dormant since its discovery in the 1970s. The companies are scheduled to present to a Department of Natural Resources hearing in Anchorage a six- year, $1.3 billion plan for starting gas production there.

Palin seeks to auction drilling rights for Point Thomson on Alaska's North Slope to accelerate development of gas reserves with a value of $71 billion at current prices. The state hasn't estimated tax revenue from the plan. Exxon and its partners, which won't disclose their return-on-investment requirements, say they are hamstrung by the lack of a pipeline.

``The state is taking a very aggressive stance,'' says James Bowles, president of ConocoPhillips's Alaska operations. ``We see it as a great risk to the investments we make.''

Miss Wasilla

ConocoPhillips, based in Houston, will scale back its $1 billion Alaska drilling plan for 2008 because of higher taxes, Bowles says.

Doug Suttles, president of BP's Alaska business, said his company is committed to working with the state as oil prices rise. Craig Haymes, the production manager who oversees Exxon's Alaskan operations, declined to be interviewed for this story.

Palin, a mother of four, graduated from high school in Wasilla, Alaska, a town of 6,700 that's 40 miles north of Anchorage. The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race starts there each March. She was named Miss Congeniality and Miss Wasilla in 1984, three years before graduating from the University of Idaho. Palin returned home and became mayor in 1996, her highest elected office until being sworn in as governor in December 2006.

Chavez, 53, was jailed in 1992 for leading an unsuccessful military coup and was elected president six years later. He forced six U.S. and European oil companies last year to surrender operating control and majority stakes in fields that pump about $365 million of crude a week.

Discarded Accord

ConocoPhillips and Exxon left the country. Chevron, based in San Ramon, California, BP of London, Norway's StatoilHydro ASA and France's Total SA accepted the arrangement.

Palin says there's a difference between her tactics and the strategy of Chavez, an admirer of Fidel Castro who says he wants to use Venezuela's oil wealth to usher in ``21st-century socialism.''

``We have a democratic government in Alaska, a representative form of government here in America, where we would never take over from industry,'' Palin says. ``But we have the right to demand that provisions in leases are adhered to.''

Venezuela's seizure of property was democratically approved because ``a majority of our people voted for our constitution and our laws,'' Energy and Oil Minister Rafael Ramirez says.

Palin took on the energy industry right away, endorsing the Natural Resources department's Nov. 27, 2006, move to evict the four oil companies from Point Thomson after decades of inaction. She discarded a $25 billion pipeline agreement negotiated by her Republican predecessor, Frank Murkowski, calling it too generous.

The accord would have violated the state constitution by freezing corporate natural-gas taxes for more than three decades, says Jerry McBeath, co-author of ``The Political Economy of Oil in Alaska: Multinationals vs. the State,'' to be released this month by Lynne Reinner Publishers in Boulder, Colorado.

``She came into office on an insurgent campaign and took the ethical high road by saying there will be no secret deals,'' McBeath says. ``This is unusual in the history of this state.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Joe Carroll in Chicago at jcarroll8@bloomberg.net ; Sonja Franklin in Calgary at sfranklin6@bloomberg.net
Last Updated: March 3, 2008 00:01 EST

[Joemailman]

Hopefully Mr. Obama realizes that universal health care is a terrible idea and invests all that money into becoming energy independent in the form of phat cash rewards for innovation in the field.

Yes, what a travesty it would be if every American could afford to go to the doctor when they get sick.

Increasing energy independence will be one of the big issues in the general election campaign. It will be hard for either candidate to win without making a commitment to it.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Hopefully Mr. Obama realizes that universal health care is a terrible idea and invests all that money into becoming energy independent in the form of phat cash rewards for innovation in the field.

Yes, what a travesty it would be if every American could afford to go to the doctor when they get sick.

Increasing energy independence will be one of the big issues in the general election campaign. It will be hard for either candidate to win without making a commitment to it.

Yep, just 30 or so years after Jimmy Carter, Jerry Brown and then Tom Harkins first started talking about it. Sheesh.

[Freak Out]

Hopefully Mr. Obama realizes that universal health care is a terrible idea and invests all that money into becoming energy independent in the form of phat cash rewards for innovation in the field.

Yes, what a travesty it would be if every American could afford to go to the doctor when they get sick.

Increasing energy independence will be one of the big issues in the general election campaign. It will be hard for either candidate to win without making a commitment to it.

Hey you commie fucks! They can always go to the ER! Nothing like good reactive health care. That proactive shit is for the birds and would only save us money in the long run.

[Tyrone Bigguns]

Hopefully Mr. Obama realizes that universal health care is a terrible idea and invests all that money into becoming energy independent in the form of phat cash rewards for innovation in the field.

Yes, what a travesty it would be if every American could afford to go to the doctor when they get sick.

Increasing energy independence will be one of the big issues in the general election campaign. It will be hard for either candidate to win without making a commitment to it.

Hey you commie fucks! They can always go to the ER! Nothing like good reactive health care. That proactive shit is for the birds and would only save us money in the long run.

You ever been to the ER? I have. I enjoyed wailing in pain for two hours as a kidney stone the size of a golfball refused to pass.

Only when Tyrone started sweating profusely, turned an odd shade of gray, and started rocking like a developmentally challenged infant did i see some help.

But, i'm sure little john john with his earache was more deserving.

[MJZiggy]

Uh...Tyrone....I believe that was sarcasm, and yes, turning gray in the ER is about the only way to get attention there short of collapsing unconscious or screaming for an emesis basin (and if someone hears your plea, they hand you one and leave you alone for a few more hours).

If little Johnny was at the docs office with that earache instead of the ER, you'd have gotten treatment faster, no?

[Partial]

Hopefully Mr. Obama realizes that universal health care is a terrible idea and invests all that money into becoming energy independent in the form of phat cash rewards for innovation in the field.

Yes, what a travesty it would be if every American could afford to go to the doctor when they get sick.

Increasing energy independence will be one of the big issues in the general election campaign. It will be hard for either candidate to win without making a commitment to it.

It will be a HUGE travesty if they make those who earn "enough" money pay it and then pay for their own private care since they're above the threshold.

Why would I want to pay for J-bones' health care so he can sit on the couch with his cable and collect welfare checks? Fuck that. Doctors cannot refuse care. They already get treated for free. Why make me pay for them?

26% of my paycheck already goes to the man. The Dems will increase taxes a few %, and then with UHC on top of that? We're talking 50% of your check you're never seeing.

I realize you don't care though since government employees will all get a nice raise to compensate for the added cost of UHC, which leads to more money out of my pocket.

[BallHawk]

The world according to Partial.....

[Joemailman]

I've got news for you Partial. Many, if not most of the people without health insurance in this country are working people whose job does not provide health care benefits. If you are on welfare, there is a good chance you qualify for medicaid. Following the Welfare reform legislation of 1996, there were many cases of people losing health care benefits because they got a job that did not provide benefits, but because they were working no longer qualified for medicaid. Great system, isn't it?

By the way, my salary is determined by a contract between my union and the Postal Service which runs for another 4 years. My salary won't change if a Democrat wins the White House.

[MJZiggy]

Like Joe said, after welfare reform, welfare is pretty hard to get and if you do get it, it sure doesn't pay you enough to have a couch, much less cable. And you're not paying for them, you dolt. It goes into a fund that pays for everyone--including you. I believe (could be wrong) that it means no more insurance deductions coming out of YOUR precious paycheck which is obviously so much more important than making sure all of the kids in this country have access to the same healthcare as you because of course it's their fault they were born to people without your resources.

And remember Mr. Computer Programmer, that the Federal govt. is a HUGE employer of programmers so we'll see if your tune changes should you be up for one of those civil service jobs, though I can tell you, the security's great, but you likely won't make as much as in the private sector.

[Partial]

Ummm... You're kidding me, one of my best friends dad is a social worker for the government (6 weeks paid vacation annually, mind you). He says that the vast majority of the people that he sees in the ghetto don't wake up before noon unless its the first of the month (when they're camped out for their check). They have cable, they just don't pay it.

Kind of a funny story from the Sears day, but Black Friday this year and the weekend following Sears had an issue with their credit card sign-up where anyone who signed up automatically was improved. Well, let me tell you word of mouth spread like wildfire among the poor folk, and I was asked for credit cards by no less than 120 people in three days. That's just me, one person, I know some people were getting over 100 apps per day on the weekend. I'm not trying to stereotype at all, but before that weekend I was asked maybe once or twice by customers if they could sign up, and the rest of the time I did the asking. No, it was not typical in correlation to the volume of people in the store. At any rate, for the following weeks, I still had people coming up to me asking for cards left and right, but by that time they were denied.

I guarantee you those poor assholes are never going to pay a dime of that back. They are essentially stealing, and we're all footing the bills in the form of increased rates, etc. I can't even imagine how many cards are out there from my store alone, let alone every store across the country.

Sadly, the people applying for these cards were living up to the stereotype. Not a single person was white, and not a single one was wearing inexpensive clothes or didn't have their hair and makeup done. For people that can't even pay their bills, they sure managed to come in dressed to impress.

[BallHawk]

Ummm... You're kidding me, one of my best friends dad is a social worker for the government (6 weeks paid vacation annually, mind you). He says that the vast majority of the people that he sees in the ghetto don't wake up before noon unless its the first of the month (when they're camped out for their check). They have cable, they just don't pay it.

Well, if Partial's best friends' dad says it then it must be true!

[Partial]

Ummm... You're kidding me, one of my best friends dad is a social worker for the government (6 weeks paid vacation annually, mind you). He says that the vast majority of the people that he sees in the ghetto don't wake up before noon unless its the first of the month (when they're camped out for their check). They have cable, they just don't pay it.

Well, if Partial's best friends' dad says it then it must be true!

You have a lot to learn. Maybe you should go start chasing some girls instead of acting like a 13 year old know it all.

Instead of being a little 13 year old bitch, I suggest you take some time to view each and every episode of Hood 2 Hood online and then come back and talk to me.

[Partial]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT7BVyZPATw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT7BVyZPATw

I could go on and on and on.

The scariest part about Barack Obama is he worked as a social worker, he knows exactly how big of worthless assholes most of these people are, and he still wants to pump a ton of money into the ghettos.

Good thing you can't vote Ballhawk. You should wait until you grow up, have to get a job, buy yourself a car, and take a cruise through the ghetto before you speak on which you know not of.