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justice Department to sue OPEC.

post #1 of 28
5/20/08 at 7:26pm
Thread Starter 
OMG.
And if OPEC won't pay damages, Congress is going to hold their breath and kick their feet until they do.

God This country is getting stupider.
Someone explain to me why these people got elected in the first place.

http://www.reuters.com/article/polit...19767120070620
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post #2 of 28
5/20/08 at 9:14pm
They're going to sue sovereign foreign nations in U.S. courts?!?! Surely these guys know how that works. It must be a re-election thing. Sen. So-and-so can claim how he fought OPEC for price fixing. "I'm working tirelessly night and day for lower gas prices!!" He doesn't mention the huge campaign contributions he got from big oil companies. He doesn't mention that their "NOPEC" bill got OPEC riled up and they shut off the oil flow. And that's why oil is now $250 a barrel and gas is $6.50 a gallon. Nooooooo......just do something the voters can see.

Why don't these guys get off their butts and do two things: more domestic drilling (interim measure) and alternate energy (permanent measure) so Saudi Arabia & co. can go back to the sand dunes they came from.
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post #3 of 28
5/21/08 at 7:17am
Ya gotta love Congress.
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post #4 of 28
5/21/08 at 7:21am
Quote:
Originally Posted by coaster View Post
They're going to sue sovereign foreign nations in U.S. courts?!?! Surely these guys know how that works. It must be a re-election thing. Sen. So-and-so can claim how he fought OPEC for price fixing. "I'm working tirelessly night and day for lower gas prices!!" He doesn't mention the huge campaign contributions he got from big oil companies. He doesn't mention that their "NOPEC" bill got OPEC riled up and they shut off the oil flow. And that's why oil is now $250 a barrel and gas is $6.50 a gallon. Nooooooo......just do something the voters can see.

Why don't these guys get off their butts and do two things: more domestic drilling (interim measure) and alternate energy (permanent measure) so Saudi Arabia & co. can go back to the sand dunes they came from.
You forgot the part about the oil companies not wanting new/more refineries. Producing more gasoline and diesel would cut into those record profits.
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post #5 of 28
5/21/08 at 7:48am
I say we start drilling in ANWR and to heck with OPEC.
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post #6 of 28
5/21/08 at 9:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
You forgot the part about the oil companies not wanting new/more refineries. Producing more gasoline and diesel would cut into those record profits.
Right on. And building refineries costs a lot of money.
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post #7 of 28
5/21/08 at 1:08pm
I Just saw it on CNN Headline news. The House passed a bill allowing OPEC to be sued under anti trust laws. No one has been sued yet.
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post #8 of 28
5/21/08 at 1:29pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by eburgess View Post
I Just saw it on CNN Headline news. The House passed a bill allowing OPEC to be sued under anti trust laws. No one has been sued yet.
Expect Bush to veto it. Even if he doesn't I don't see this being anything more than the typical lip service our reps continually give us.

How do anti trust laws affect a foreign entity?
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post #9 of 28
5/21/08 at 2:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
How do anti trust laws affect a foreign entity?
Ask Microsoft: http://www.spiegel.de/international/...538219,00.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7392949.stm

Granted, Microsoft isn't a sovereign country, so the cases are dissimilar in many ways.
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post #10 of 28
5/21/08 at 2:30pm
Interesting reads, thanks.

Are EU and US anti trust laws similar? I take it there are internantional laws regarding anti trust?
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post #11 of 28
5/21/08 at 2:48pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
Interesting reads, thanks.

Are EU and US anti trust laws similar? I take it there are international laws regarding anti trust?
There you've got me - I don't know enough about anti-trust laws, and will have to do some research when I have some time. My impression is that the EU is becoming stricter about monopolies than its individual member countries, in an attempt to justify its existence, but I'm cynical by nature. Lobbyists are as big a problem here as in the U.S., BTW.
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post #12 of 28
5/21/08 at 2:50pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcat View Post
There you've got me - I don't know enough about anti-trust laws, and will have to do some research when I have some time. My impression is that the EU is becoming stricter about monopolies than its individual member countries, in an attempt to justify its existence, but I'm cynical by nature. Lobbyists are as big a problem here as in the U.S., BTW.
I have no idea at all about anti-trust. I have to leave for work now or I'd start researching. At least it will give me something to do when I get home besides laundry.
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post #13 of 28
5/21/08 at 5:22pm
Thread Starter 
lol opec will jsut laugh at you and turn off the gas
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post #14 of 28
5/21/08 at 6:44pm
I'm embarrassed to learn that not only was this bill cosponsored by a Wisconsin Senator, in the House it was cosponsored by a Wisconsin congressman, and not only that, from a next-door district.
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post #15 of 28
5/21/08 at 8:37pm
Thread Starter 
dont worry about it.
the ones from ohio voted for it also.
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post #16 of 28
5/25/08 at 2:03pm
And some people say Bush is an embarrassment.
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post #17 of 28
5/25/08 at 2:45pm
I'd love for us to tell OPEC to shove it and stick up the proverbial middle finger at them while doing it.

Our elected criminals are gutless. We should be producing and refining our own oil. We should be making use of solar energy on a large scale. We should be growing switchgrass to use in biofuels rather than corn (switchgrass is native to the US and can grow in poor soils).
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post #18 of 28
5/25/08 at 4:07pm
I don't get it, would it turn the world economy on its nose if we weren't dependent on oil?

We need to start drilling in ANWR. Those OPEC members all know that the environmentalists that are keeping us from drilling in ANWR are holding the entire country hostage. OPEC LOVES our whacky environmentalists, I wouldn't doubt that they are bankrolling them.
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post #19 of 28
5/25/08 at 6:29pm
It would cause great economic dislocation if it were done overnight. With a high possibility of war in the Middle East. Fortunately, or unfortunately, whichever your viewpoint, that's not going to happen. There's too many interests with big money wanting to keep the status quo. Any changes are going to come slowly with a lot of foot-dragging.

I think instead of this silly posturing this country needs a crash program for energy independence on the same priority level as the moon program in the 1960's; perhaps even the Manhattan project in the 1940's. I think we can do it if we have the national will. That's the if part --- do we have the will? I think at $4 a gallon we've reached a point of pain where people are starting to dredge up the will to change. Watch and see if prices don't back off at this point to ease the pressure just under the point where people scream, "I've had enough and I'm not taking it any more!!"
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post #20 of 28
5/25/08 at 7:31pm
Thread Starter 
congress approvel rating is below 13%
and they say bush;s rating are bad, lol
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post #21 of 28
5/25/08 at 7:39pm
Quote:
I think we can do it if we have the national will. That's the if part --- do we have the will? I think at $4 a gallon we've reached a point of pain where people are starting to dredge up the will to change. Watch and see if prices don't back off at this point to ease the pressure just under the point where people scream, "I've had enough and I'm not taking it any more!!"




Having our government in charge of the oil companies is like placing the fox in charge of the hen house and make as much sense -
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post #22 of 28
5/25/08 at 7:51pm
I agree Coaster. I really wonder if this country has the "will" for anything anymore. I hate feeling like there is no turning around this downwards spiral.
I'm getting old.

BUT, on the upside I just got done watching the Memorial Day thing from the Capitol on PBS and it was very moving and made me realize I really do love my country with all her faults.

And I think McCain should ask Colin Powell to be his VP
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post #23 of 28
5/25/08 at 9:19pm
Do you think he'd accept? He didn't seem too interested before.
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post #24 of 28
5/25/08 at 9:26pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ckblv View Post
And I think McCain should ask Colin Powell to be his VP
Nope, Powell has said he does not want anything to do with
Politics. Which is to bad, I would like to see him give it a shot.
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post #25 of 28
5/26/08 at 1:01am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Essayons89 View Post
Expect Bush to veto it. Even if he doesn't I don't see this being anything more than the typical lip service our reps continually give us.

How do anti trust laws affect a foreign entity?
They can affect their branches in the US. It wouldn't be the company as a whole, but it can hurt them I guess.
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post #26 of 28
5/26/08 at 1:09am
This probably won't go anywhere, but it would be fascinating to see if any investigation led to more information about the connections between the Bush family and the Saud family oil interests.
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post #27 of 28
5/26/08 at 1:11am
Thread Starter 
lol i care more about clintons ties to chinese money
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post #28 of 28
5/26/08 at 1:33am
Are Clinton's ties to Chinese money related to the price of oil or gas?
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