War Profiteering

Discussion in 'Politics' started by OPTIONAL777, May 3, 2003.

  1. Did anyone else notice that the oil companies are reporting record profits, due to the spike in the price of oil due to fear of war?

    But where's the outrage? Where is the anger that while we all suffered in increased costs of fuel, where we were supposed to sacrifice for the common good of our country, oil companies just got fat. Have they offered to refund any of the profits?

    Where is the leader with the courage to say, as Franklin Roosevelt did during World War II, "I don't want to see a single war millionaire created in the United States as a result of this world disaster."

    Democrats in Congress--and Republicans who have not placed their conscience in a blind trust for the duration of the Bush/Cheney years, a group we hope still includes Arizona's John McCain in the Senate and Iowa's Jim Leach in the House--should borrow a page from past wars, when the nation's elected leaders knew what to call businessmen who used hostilities abroad as an excuse to raid the federal treasury.

    Senator Robert La Follette tagged them as "enemies of democracy in the homeland." During World War II Harry Truman referred to some forms of war profiteering as "treason."

    When he heard rumors of such profiteering, Truman got into his Dodge and, during a Congressional recess, drove 30,000 miles paying unannounced visits to corporate offices and worksites. The Senate committee he chaired launched aggressive investigations into shady wartime business practices and found "waste, inefficiency, mismanagement and profiteering," according to Truman, who argued that such behavior was unpatriotic. Urged on by Truman and others in Congress, President Roosevelt supported broad increases in the corporate income tax, raised the excess-profits tax to 90 percent and charged the Office of War Mobilization with the task of eliminating illegal profits. Truman, who became a national hero for his fight against the profiteers, was tapped to be FDR's running mate in 1944.
     
  2. Dude, this is why I'm becoming more anti-American everyday.
    Sick to see the Bush buddies profiting on the backs of soldiers.
    Sick to see Christians turn into warmongers when their savior Jesus Christ did NOT PREACH VIOLENCE!
    Sick to be an American.
     
  3. Get lost, you Evil Terrorist-Sympathising, Arab-Loving Traitor... you should be ashamed of yourself... God Bless America...

    To the victor go the spoils :D

    Let's get pumping that there oil!! We deserve the oil, cos no-one else wanted to liberate the oppressed Iraqi people from the Terrorist-Loving, Weapons-of-Mass-Destruction using, Evil Saddam... the Father of All Dictators... we sure there smoked em out and gave em justice... the world loves us now, for showing that Good can overcome Evil... Bush overcame Saddam...

    Now lets get the democratic ball rolling, by allowing those Iraqi scumbags to elect anyone they want to, as long as we agree with who they elect... if they elect anyone we dont like, we should smoke out those Evil Terrorists and give em justice, so that we can restart democratic elections till the Good Guys get elected... and I tell ya, if no Good Guys get elected, we should just nuke the cities of Iraq and take care of those cool oil reserves ourselves, if no-one is willing to take orders from us there...

    God Bless America... we're da best and the whole world LOVES us :cool:
     
  4. Hilarious. Oil companies make money due to a fluctuating geopolitical situation and they're damned by the resident ET hypocite.

    God forbid any other entities make money on the ups and downs of the world economy & markets.

    Such as, oh, the TRADING industry, perhaps?!?

    What's next, Op? Are you gonna label anyone who made money off WEL, for example, a war profiteer?

    Given these beliefs of yours it is apparent that you have chosen the wrong career.
     
  5. Well then, if the United States is making you so sick, carry your sick self on over to some other country and live healthy.....Sick to *be an American* can be made optional.
     
  6. America, love it or leave it?

    Whatever happened to: America, love it and change it for the better.
     
  7. Hard to change it for the better being a crybaby on a trading message board - wouldn't you think.
     
  8. That is your argument? Pointing out what is wrong with a system is being a crybaby?

    Folks who had thinking like that in the 1770 period would have wanted to stay with the status quo, no matter what the price. I am sure they said something to the effect that the colonists who opposed King George's madness of taxation without representation were crybabies. We would be drinking tea and "saving the Queen" right now if your type of thinking were the dominant brand.

    Try to make an argument to justify the war profiteering. We do have precedent in fighting it, and quotes from FDR denouncing it.

    You don't have to agree with it to be sure, that is your right, but what is the point beyond saying I don't agree with it?

    Yours is the typical response of a ditto head mentality, who lacks the foundation to construct their own arguments, and do nothing but regurgitate a party line.

    Bush and company began buying oil to fill the US oil reserves to the max, even before 911 (not saying they knew about 911 before the fact, but they did have an agenda concerning oil and energy). That buying of oil at the market had an impact on the price of oil, by raising the price of oil, which has the same effect of a tax hike on Americans. So, what happens, the reserves get filled (now we have full reserves---for what purpose? Was this debated in Congress? Were we told this was to happen, and the consequences on the price of oil?) and we pay more at the pump, and Texas oil producers make more money, big oil companies make more money, they donate more money to the campaigns of those who "greased" their profits, etc., etc., etc.

    You may not have a problem with this, I do.

    War profiteering is wrong, unpatriotic, and if supported in any way, either directly or indirectly, is indicative of the kind of people we have in the administration.

    Now that the war is over with, it is my hope that people put down the flags they have been waving and focus on what needs to get fixed here at home.
     
  9. Dude, this is why I'm becoming more anti-American everyday.
    Sick to see the Bush buddies profiting on the backs of soldiers.
    Sick to see Christians turn into warmongers when their savior Jesus Christ did NOT PREACH VIOLENCE!
    Sick to be an American.


    "Dude, this is why I'm becoming more anti-American everyday." *Waaaaaaaaaahh*

    "Sick to see the Bush buddies profiting on the backs of soldiers." *Waaaaaaaaaahh*

    "Sick to see Christians turn into warmongers when their savior Jesus Christ did NOT PREACH VIOLENCE!"
    *Waaaaaaaaahh*

    and last but not least:

    "Sick to be an American"
    *Waaaaaaaaaaahh*
     
  10. OPTIONAL777,

    And you say, "Did anyone else notice that the oil companies are reporting record profits, due to the spike in the price of oil due to fear of war? - But where's the outrage? Where is the anger that while we all suffered in increased costs of fuel, where we were supposed to sacrifice for the common good of our country, oil companies just got fat. Have they offered to refund any of the profits?"

    And BeastWithNoName says, "Sick to see the Bush buddies profiting on the backs of soldiers."

    Best I can remember the oil reserves were at very low levels just a month or 2 ago. Hence the higher prices.

    Opec was holding back production.

    Venezuela oil workers were on strike.

    Nigeria's oil production had slowed to a crawl.


    So if you want to talk about outrage, then let's talk about having some outrage about the high taxes imposed by the state and federal govt. on each gallon of gasoline that we buy.

    Otherwise I see this statement as a Bush cabinet bashing statement. "Sick to see the Bush buddies profiting on the backs of soldiers."

    Call me ditto head if you want to optional777, I've been around long enough to have been called much worse. Hell, I've even been called a crybaby myself a few times. Could happen again anytime.

    Yes, it would be nice for the oil companies to offer a refund in the way of reduced prices. I'm not expecting it though. I'm not outraged either that they went up on prices when the price of a barrel of crude spiked to 35 plus.

    plum-ditto-head-lazy
     
    #10     May 3, 2003