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Greyparrot

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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@ILikePie5
I explained why they would be lower under Trump above. Your understanding of economics is telling.
The guy is a clueless Marxist. To a Marxist, everything grows on trees.
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Question for 2nd Amendment Advocates...
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@n8nrgim

Biden said, "You weren't allowed to own a cannon during the Revolutionary War as an individual."
The campaign was unable to come up with an example of a law banning private ownership of cannons, and historians of the period doubt that any existed. To the contrary, there are documented instances of privateers, or privately owned vessels, setting sail with cannons during the period.

The statement: False.
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Question for 2nd Amendment Advocates...
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@n8nrgim
You could own a cannon back then. 

Most people used them to protect their boats.
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Liberals, including me, got inflation wrong
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@coal
Today in stupid things I read . . . . 
An actual false meritocracy would be every government worker.
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@coal
I can try to address your points.

It turns out that the buck stops with the guy at the top.  So, the default assumption is that if you're in charge, you're responsible for what happens on your watch.  Your OP contends: (1) there are problems on Biden's watch, yet (2) the burden of proof for causation is somehow on those who claim he is responsible for things that occur on his watch.  Further, you OP inquires what Biden's alternative might have done, implicitly contending (3) these events were inevitable (i.e., not the result of Biden's doing).  
I like this train of thought. If there is nothing Biden's Democrats can do to advance the country in times of crisis, even a self inflicted crisis, then nobody will shed a tear when the Democrats lose power.

Responsibility is not that simple.  In a complex government, economy and public/private interplay, numerous stakeholders bear overlapping levels of responsibility for macro-level outcomes.  Lean into the complexity to understand causation, but realize the buck still stops with the guy in charge.  
Even if, as many people say, most Executive policies today are set by the Chief of Staff, Biden is still ultimately responsible for picking and retaining that cabinet member.

What happened on January 6th was regretful, but it is a far cry from the fiasco as portrayed in the media.  Assigning blame for the fiction created by democrats in the media is beneath futility. 
Many of the problems with our democracy are self-inflicted wounds. It's comically ironic that the highly exclusive commission to investigate the failure of Democracy was comprised solely by a political party with an approval rate in the 30's. (it's much lower than 30 if you include the Congress)


  • Domestic policy.  Biden is singularly responsible for setting the legislative agenda, as the head of his political party (or figurehead, as it may be). 
    • "Green New Deal."  The legislative agenda's top priority is a so called "Green New Deal."  Numerous aspects of the so called "Green New Deal" impact gas prices, directly and indirectly. 
      • Directly, the "Green New Deal" reduces supply.  For example, when Biden delayed decisions on new oil and gas drilling on federal land and other energy-related actions, including indefinitely delaying planned oil and gas lease sales on public lands in a half-dozen states in the West, including Wyoming, Montana and Utah, that clearly signaled to the market that less oil would be domestically produced.  Biden has done the same thing for offshore drilling.  And that is one example of many such actions that have acutely undermined the domestic supply, and anticipated future supply, of petrochemical resources (e.g., Biden's idiocy over Keystone). 
      • Indirectly, the "Green New Deal" signals the end of robust federal support for domestic drilling.  The American oil industry is very heavily subsidized, often to the extent that most investment in expanded drilling capacity amounts to a low or no-risk proposition.  The Green New Deal guts the support the oil industry has received since forever, that it has always relied on.  With these developments, expanded oil production capacity is almost totally off the table.  Even if expansion was possible, capital markets are a disaster right now and no one can get financing. 
        • So, even if a company wanted to bet against political trends and expand, for example, offshore drilling in Alaska, managed somehow (despite the Biden Administration's best efforts) to secure new leases on federal lands and actually managed approval through the process despite the Green New Deal's new regulatory throttling, they still probably couldn't even get funding at rates that are commercially acceptable.
        • You've got to consider this five, ten or twenty years down the road.  There is a concept called "peak oil."  "Peak oil" is when we have produced the most oil we ever will.  After that time, oil production declines as the world transitions to an alternative energy replacement (whatever that might be, remains to be seen).  We probably hit peak oil in 2019, assuming Biden's "green" bullshit isn't reversed by the next administration, because of how prematurely Biden's incompetent advisors moved.  
      • Often, these harms manifest in other bizarre ways.  For example, Biden's Department of the Interior continues to "reform" oil and gas leases throughout the United States, based on its purported commitment to "ensure" that such leases "account for climate impacts."  Basically, interior is trying to strap a present-day excise on drilling rights (i.e., money that has to be paid to pump oil out of the ground, because of the hypothesized "climate impact" of doing so).  This is the stupidest thing any administration has ever done, and even Obama opposed it because he, aside from recognizing its stupidity, realized the harm it would cause as those costs radiated throughout the economy as a whole.  Despite this known risks, the Biden Administration and congressional democrats have pushed through this ridiculous excise policy that is going to artificially increase the cost of oil production.  Wanna guess who will pay for it?  Consumers, of course.  All of this tells speculators that the domestic supply of oil is going to be acutely reduced, yet we have not and will not in any near term move to a world where there's something like any kind of viable alternative.  Demand is going to remain. That just means everything --- and I mean literally, everything --- is going to cost more to produce, because oil prices are at the bottom of all of it. 
    • Economic policy.  Biden is responsible for the country's economic policy.  Period.  There are so many aspects to this I don't have time to list them all in appropriate detail.  But here's something to keep in mind . . . . 
      • Oil is --- or was, before Joe Biden --- bought and sold only in United States Dollars.  The dollar is a commodity-backed fiat currency, more or less.  This means that the United States has a competitive advantage in purchasing oil internationally, to the extent it cannot meet its domestic needs (however close we got under Obama and Trump).  
      • However, that competitive advantage is lost when the dollar's strength relative to other global currencies declines.  As you may be aware, the dollar's purchasing power relative to other currencies --- even to the extent inflated by global COVID idiocy --- has declined acutely.  We are talking like 7% inflation, which is mortifying.  And it's probably worse than that.  So, when oil is bought on international markets, all of that means it costs more American currency than it did before.  That means consumers pay a higher price at the pump.
  • Foreign policy.  Biden is singularly responsible for setting American foreign policy, as the "sole organ" thereof, commander in chief and all that jazz.  Biden's foreign policy has been catastrophic for oil at numerous levels, a handful of which I'll discuss below.
    • Ukraine.  With the possible exception of the OPEC embargo in the 1970s, Ukraine has been the most singularly catastrophic geopolitical development for world energy markets.  The reasons why are obvious.  Russia is one of the world's largest oil exporters, and it exercises control over numerous major stakeholders which themselves have tremendous market influence.  Iran is the figure that you should be thinking about, there.   Together, they can drive the global price of oil to a very considerable extent --- and they have, with incredible force since Biden failed to prevent Putin's invasion of that country.  
      • To be clear, Biden is not the only president who failed to check Russian aggression.  Fault for that predates him by multiple administrations, from Bush, to Obama to Trump, and now Biden.  But Biden made the same mistake as his three recent predecessors, albeit to an even more egregious degree.  When Russia stacked 100k and then nearly 200k troops on Ukraine's border on all sides, the best he could do is send Antony Blinken to threaten economic sanctions.  Mark Milley was too busy being a pathetic gimp.
      • Biden's failure to defend Ukraine militarily was a green light to invasion.  Which is exactly what happened.  That alone would have been sufficient to disrupt global oil supply, and acutely drive up gas prices.  But instead, Biden had the brilliant idea to kick Russia off of SWIFT, and otherwise segregate that country from the world financial system.  Turns out that when you kick one of the world's largest oil producers off the world's banking regime, that disrupts oil markets, resulting in higher prices.  Shocker.
      • But the harm to American gas prices did not end there.  When Biden sanctioned Russia, Russia and other countries started trading in currencies that were NOT THE DOLLAR, which further (and will continue to erode) the United States' advantage in global energy markets overall.  For some reason, Biden's people missed that elephant in the room.
    • Saudi Arabia.  When Obama played economic warfare on Iran, Venezuela and Russia by flooding global markets with American domestically produced crude, at the same time he sweet-talked the Saudis into a race to the bottom.  It was brilliant.  Knee-capped Iran, Venezuela and Russia, all at once.  The Saudis ramped up production, American drillers were fracking like never before and oil flowed from Canada's tar sands like water over Niagara Falls.  Good.  Times.  That destroyed the economies of Iran, Venezuela and Russia, because the per-barrel price bottomed out to such an extent that those countries could not even make a profit pumping it out of the ground.  Biden did basically the opposite.  He passed a so called "Green New Deal," while allowing a war to foment in Iran and managing to piss off the Saudis whose response to Biden's current efforts to increase global supplies amount to no more than "Get fucked."  So we're not getting any help there.

A few rebuttals. You did not address Biden's hardcore stance on unreasonable NEPA permits which stop almost all of new US oil from being produced. You didn't note that gas in Russia is now around 3 US dollars so it's proof Biden is the best thing to happen to Russia ever.

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@ILikePie5
Oil prices would not be high under Trump
Trump was a supporter of drilling, and most drilling is actually not done by "big oil." Most oil comes from small private drilling firms collectively working to produce supply.

Refining is another story though.
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@secularmerlin
Correct. I would rather talk about ideas. The ones Milton Friedman built his life teaching.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@secularmerlin
Let me know when you are interested in enriching yourself instead of gossiping about people.
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@secularmerlin
The only thing absurd is your unwillingness to look at my source of thought.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@secularmerlin
Go watch some Milton Friedman videos instead. You can thank me later.
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@secularmerlin
 It isn't because they need the implicit threat of police violence in order to exist and so are willing to pay handsomely for it... is it?
Close, they just need to use government to force competition to be completely unable to drill oil for a profit.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@secularmerlin
corporate overlords of wrongdoing 
The only thing they are doing wrong is trusting government to stay bought.
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@secularmerlin
You used the word force. That word implies price controls. Or do you have another definition of force? Something along the lines of slavery perhaps?

Forcing the oil companies to drill more at a loss perhaps? Capping oil profits at a time where many companies were in serious debt from when there was a shortage of oil without the proper corresponding price level? That would be an equally fun circus.
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@secularmerlin
History shows that corporations only adopt ethical buisness practices when they are forced too.
Fine, impose Carter era price controls on fuel and watch the circus. That would be hilarious to watch that history repeat.
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@ILikePie5
Funny how he’s the only present to go down in net worth
You only make money as a president when you are doing illegal things.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@FLRW
Make FLRW great again.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@FLRW
When I was in Graduate School taking a course in Quantum Mechanics, our group was broken down into groups of 5 for the final exam. We had to solve a very complex problem (I don't remember what is was, as it was 47 years ago). Myself and 3 others had no ideea how to solve the problem. The 5th member was Chinese
and said he could write a paper solving the problem for us. We said great. He was correct and we all got an A , thanks to him.

Congrats on being an academic liability with stolen honors.

I remember long ago doing a group project where I did all the work, I ratted out everyone on my team in private to the professor.

I got an A while the other 3 got a C. I lied and told them I got a C too.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@FLRW
Build China Better.
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@FLRW
When China buys the USA after it goes into bankruptcy, I hope China will make me one of the rulers of it's new Provinces.
Only if you supported China Joe.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@FLRW
China accounts for 60% of global EV production, and is emerging as the world's factory for EVs having already secured the same position in digital product manufacturing. 

Most of which (about 99%) are traded to other nations in exchange for Coal and Oil. I think the latest statistic cited 5 million Chinese drive eclectic cars out of 1.6 Billion (0.8% of the population).

What a scam if you bought one.
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@RationalMadman
Lol, he is agreeing with me. There is no one-up. An energy deregulated nation like China which burns more coal than any nation on the planet can only prosper.

Fun fact, USA is the only nation in the Paris accords to meet the restrictions on energy production. What a scam.
USA clearly lost the energy wars.

China pollutes more than many countries put together and treats its poor like dirt making them drink from polluted wells and suffer radiation with zero compensation.
This is true.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@FLRW
Well, at least in China it will.
That's because China won the war with Global Warming and they have no restrictions on energy production from any source.
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@ILikePie5
Why would they. Democrat party is the party of the ultra rich, and inflation is helping them build a caste nation.

Gas for me but not for thee.
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@zedvictor4
Everything we do is for profit. From the first teat suckle to the final coffin nail.

 If we could get milk and coffin nails directly from the sun, people would find a way to make a living off of it.

Or, we can use common sense and go back to slicing whales open to provide light in the dark.
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coal - ama
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@coal
I like Tom Clancy. Might look at Flynn's books.
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coal - ama
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@coal
I'm just imagining all the things a constitutional lawyer would define as "government intrusion"
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coal - ama
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@coal
You of course realize what that would do to what 90% of what the government presently does? You would have to have a serious insurrection to get that implemented.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@CoolApe
Do you think oil producers are speculating right now on oil prices? 
You have this concept backwards. Oil pricers are speculating right now on oil producers.
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coal - ama
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@coal
Bold. A right to privacy would have serious ramifications past a simple check on the government playing politics with the economy.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
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@ILikePie5
I am still willing to bet Double R knows more about Oil Futures than Biden.
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@CoolApe
Only a miraculous technological breakthrough in clean energy will allow us to do that.
The same forces that hinder fossil energy will inevitably also hinder clean energy. Government has no clue how to create clean energy.
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@ILikePie5
You clearly don’t know how the oil market works. It runs on futures.
Dammit, too many finance nerds in this thread.
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@ILikePie5
Pipelines do make a difference. Oil suppliers can take advantage of more efficient infrastructure to transport oil. However, I concede that the immediate inflation is not caused by Biden's policies. 
Energy is a speculative market, not a linear market. Immediate Prices reflect future supply uncertainty, not present stockpiles.
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WSOP Mafia sign-ups
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@ILikePie5
I am already registered as an indigenous indigent indian.
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@ILikePie5
You should’ve helped me lynch Barney smh
I really tried, even after they killed you obviously.
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@Danielle
I mean it's pretty silly to single me out for how badly I played
I am not. Just saying I expected better, You didn't play like shit.
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@Danielle
 We should've gone for Speed. 
Why didn't you? I asked for your read on Speed and all i got was a word salad...
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WSOP Mafia sign-ups
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@ILikePie5
plus I live in mass
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WSOP Mafia sign-ups
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@ILikePie5
no!
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WSOP Mafia sign-ups
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@ILikePie5
i dont wanna 
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@badger
Not to mention, I was just like wtf people I was townreading thought it was a great idea to lynch me cause yeah, so obvious Scum would claim hated on DP1. That happens ALL the time...
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@badger

GP had the mafia called the entire game. Like hard reads. I'm not sure how difficult it was tbh, but he still nailed it. 
I am terrible at explaining my oldman's intuition. I got zero traction on my speed read and everyone dismissed my earlier read on wylted.
Had it called on DP2 with post 237 and 247, but nobody is going to listen to a guy everyone thinks is scum. I guess I really messed up bad to make so many people think I was scum.

I kind of just gave up at the point you told me to hammer earth.

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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@ILikePie5
whatevs.. I knew wylted and speed were scum, I am just bad at convincing, especially when people like Danielle are convinced I am scum all the time.
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@Speedrace
Lol, she read you as town the whole game.
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NFL Mafia [Endgame]
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@Speedrace
Have to say this is probably the worst I have EVER seen Danielle play as town.
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@ILikePie5
Lol wtf Danielle.
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@coal
Is this seriously the best argument you can make?  Should the focus really be one of incessant excuses for why the world is burning on Biden's watch, and there's just nothing he could do?  
Biden did promise that he could do something about oil, namely phase it out. Either DoubleR thinks Biden is lying or DoubleR is lying.
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Gasp Prices and Inflation
I guess Double R thinks Biden was an idiot for doing this too.


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@Double_R
Can you provide some actual evidence that any of the things you listed made a noticable difference? Cause it sounds like you are just parroting talking points you heard on Fox news with no idea what you're talking about.
Sounds like you are accusing Biden of not knowing what he was talking about when he promised to lower the supply of oil, phase it out, and make it expensive. It was a literal campaign promise.

Then:

And Now: "a planned incredible transition"
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@Double_R
Keystone is a transfer pipeline, not a means of production and it wasn't even set to be completed till 2023.
And this is why we are in an age of BareshelvesBiden because retards think available supply can exist without feasible low-cost distribution.
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