425 thoughts on “My PUMA is flummoxed by Palin.”

1. well said “not a democrat”. as reg. abortion i don’t know who the hell goes and have sex without condoms in this modern age in a developed country ? as reg. the other category of people who get pregnant due to other circumstances; not all of them need individual choice option. some restrictions on abortion itself can act as a disincentive to free wheeling unsafeguarded premature sex. but even most democrats agree to this position. even obama i think made a similar statement in his convention speech. the republicans sometime take it to extreme and want a blanket ban on abortion.

2. Roe v. Wade is never going to be changed. I know the liberals keep bringing this issue whenever there is a ‘Pro-lifer’ on the ticket. It’s an issue that has been already decided, and no judiciary is going to touch that volatile issue again. Being a ‘Pro-choice’ or a ‘pro-life’ candidate is merely about which block of voters you want to appeal to. Most desis are fiscally conservative and socially liberal, and it seems in most elections this group is ignored.

3. 149 · NotADemocrat said

   She said no to that ridiculous Bridge to Nowhere. She has gone toe to toe with big Oil, raising oil taxes higher than they have ever been to get Alaskans their constitutionally mandated piece of the pie.

   what like windfall profits? When did raising taxes become a ‘good’ reformation of a component of the Republican platform? And she was very much for the bridge to nowhere when it was Federally funded–when that source of funding was cut off, she very conveniently declared her opposition to it. Leaving the town of Wasila with $20M in ‘growth debt’ wasn’t that smart either.

4. That’s why the important point about Palin’s lack of experience isn’t about Palin. It’s about McCain. And the question is not how his choice of Palin might complicate his ability to use the “experience” issue, or whether he will have to drop experience as an issue. It’s not even about the proper role of experience as an issue. In fact, it’s not about experience at all. It’s about honesty. The question should be whether McCain—and all the other Republicans who have been going on for months about Obama’s dangerous lack of foreign policy experience—ever meant a word of it. And the answer is apparently not. Many conservative pundits woke up this very morning fully prepared to harp on Obama’s alleged lack of experience for months more. Now they face the choice of either executing a Communist-style U-turn (“Experience? Feh! Who needs it?”) or trying to keep a straight face while touting the importance of having been mayor of a town of 9,000 if you later find yourself president of a nation of 300 million. How Sarah Palin made the GOP change its mind about presidential qualifications. Slate.com

5. what like windfall profits? When did raising taxes become a ‘good’ reformation of a component of the Republican platform?

   Nayagan, you’re right that raising taxes is generally not the way Republicans like to do things, and I don’t like the demonization of oil companies who already have slim profit margins. However, this election is quickly turning into a debate over both energy and who can be the best populist. This means Palin needs to have a handle on energy issues AND be dedicated to the people she represents. I see Palin doing both.

   I’ll concede the Bridge thing, but who is going to bring that up? Maybe the media, but then it’d be easy to say Obama voted for it instead of taking the chance to show he could be the CHANGE Americans can believe in.

   As for dilettante’s article… I am still amazed at how many people want to belittle the experience she has had in elected office. 13 years IIRC. Republicans will quickly add the more precise word, “accomplishments,” to the topic of “experience.”

   I wouldn’t be so concerned about Obama’s lake of political experience if he could actually point to clear accomplishments that went with his change message. It isn’t enough to use being a community organizer as a plus if, and he admits, you didn’t really do much to help change people’s lives. Or if you used your time as senator to vote present over 100 times and initiated no major piece of legislation. Many Republicans aren’t concerned as much with length of time in office as they are with accomplishments for American people… of which Obama seems to have none.

6. Initial reaction, but women are more opposed to Palin than men. I wonder if it’s because they’re not dumb and realize that she’s clearly a token and thoroughly unqualified like my mom did. And that’s probably before they found out that she opposes abortion even in cases of rape.

   See you at the Obama inaugural.

7. 86 · louiecypher said

   I’ve yet to hear any PUMA articulate a sensible policy based reason for this hatred. There are plenty of legitimate differences of opinion which might lead someone to choose McCain over Obama, but I think we all know what’s driving PUMAs. Visiting troops in Germany is pretty meaningless if you were pro-Iraq war. It’s like pushing someone in front of a car and then pretending to care by candystriping

   But, but he supposedly played a MISOGYNIST rap song during one of his rallies. AND he brushed dust off his shoulders! Jigga, what? How sexist. Womyn power. Or something

   These PUMAtards will be very annoying during the Obama Administration. I will have to learn to laugh them off.

8. Where is Bill Frist, he can tell from the pics which one is pregnant.

9. As for dilettante’s article… I am still amazed at how many people want to belittle the experience she has had in elected office. …Many Republicans aren’t concerned as much with length of time in office as they

   And yet , If you turn back the clock one week that was the main concern of Republicans, Independents, some Democrats etc; the lack of expierence, what with a reemergent Russia and all the other dangers the next POTUS will face. But maybe that wasn’t polling so well.

   .. are with accomplishments for American people… of which Obama seems to have none.

   True- nothing an elitist like Ivy league graduate Obama has done is going to compete with glass ceiling shattering, working mother Palin. That’s who the American people 😉 will identify with. It’s all about credentials, experience , merit etc, until its not.

10. And yet , If you turn back the clock one week that was the main concern of Republicans, Independents, some Democrats etc; the lack of expierence, what with a reemergent Russia and all the other dangers the next POTUS will face. But maybe that wasn’t polling so well.

    I’ve been following this election for a very long time and I have heard many arguments from the right… and the vast majority have been concerned with him offering little substance, a growing list of questionable associations, his naive approach to foreign affairs, his rather extreme position on abortion, and his extraordinarily liberal voting streak despite all his talk of reaching across the aisle. I think people on the left have focused far more heavily on the experience thing because they recognize that as a real weakness in Obama. A weakness that is so obviously validated by the choice of Biden as V.P.

    Honestly, I don’t think very many on the right have been talking too much about length of time as much as number of accomplishments. Ponnuru’s article about Obama’s weak track record, written BEFORE the Palin was revealed, is a more accurate representation of what many Republicans mean when they talk “experience.”

    Spin it how you want.

    True- nothing an elitist like Ivy league graduate Obama has done is going to compete with glass ceiling shattering, working mother Palin. That’s who the American people 😉 will identify with

    I don’t even know what this is supposed to mean. I’m Ivy educated.. many conservatives and Republicans are as well. Obama set himself up with his gun-clinging, bible thumping, xenophobes rhetoric.

11. N-A-D, what are examples of this judgment that McCain has that Obama is so sorely lacking? Are you referring to his decision to ditch his injured first wife who would have been a liability, and pick a blond haired blue eyed 20-something heiress to bankroll him, after playing the field?

12. A weakness that is so obviously validated by the choice of Biden as V.P.

    What weakness, in your view does Palin validate? , As to your other concerns,I could post counterpoints, esp. the extreme views on abortion, but to what end? If people really are undecided, not clear on where someone stands-(or prays) if its a sincere desire to know more, they’ll make the effort. If not…

    May the best ticket win, based proposed solutions to the issues ,not empty symbols,flag pins, suits or skirts.

13. is a more accurate representation of what many Republicans mean when they talk “experience.”

    The real story on Obama’s record and legislative experience.

    his extraordinarily liberal voting streak despite all his talk of reaching across the aisle.

    The real story on Obama’s reaching across the aisle.

14. his naive approach to foreign affairs

    are you talking about obama’s support for bombing tribal areas of pakistan if needed, a position opposed by john mccain, and one that even the bush government has come around to?

    are you talking about obama’s insistence on a definitive timetable (or do you prefer horizon – the always visible, but never quite there, apparition) for withdrawal from iraq, a position opposed by john mccain, and one that even the bush government has come around to?

    are you talking about obama’s belief in tough negotiations with iran and north korea, a position that john mccain has often mocked, and one that even the bush government has come around to, as the only way to limit these countries’ accumulating nuclear arsenals?

    his rather extreme position on abortion

    i am very eager to hear about this. can you accurately characterize his position on abortion so we can understand how extreme it is?

15. If experience in government is so important then every President in this history of the USA would have been great. I am not going to lie and say I like Obama because he passed article so and so, I like him because he doesnt sound like an idiot. I also think the Republican party is out of touch with real people. An Alaskan with a NRA card can never relate to the fear people from poor areas in cities go through. The amount of selfishness and ignorance in the ways they speak to people against guns are stunning. It takes ball’s the size of hot air balloons to look at poor children in the street’s of Chicago and explain to them that the reason you dont want to ban AK-47’s is because you like to shoot moose with them at your secluded forest that doesnt have another human being around it for a 15 mile radius. The same party that likes to put an Halo around their head’s because they are against abortion wouldnt want to raise taxes so that the amount of unwanted babies that are born can be taken care of at state run facilities. This party goes on and on about how evil it would be if the Health insurance industry is relegated and how socialist that is, but then they cheer there asses of for a Governor of a state that is the most socialist in the Union.

16. Obama does sound like an idiot when not reading from a teleprompter. Every sentence has an errr or aaaa… pause in it and he has made ridiculous statements that the media ignores. Your perspective is colored by your bias (as is everyone elses).

17. his naive approach to foreign affairs are you talking about obama’s support for bombing tribal areas of pakistan if needed, a position opposed by john mccain, and one that even the bush government has come around to?

    No I am talking about his saying that he will talk to Ahmedinajad, Chavez etc..without predictions, about his statement that “Iran is a tiny country” never mind that they have vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

    are you talking about obama’s insistence on a definitive timetable (or do you prefer horizon – the always visible, but never quite there, apparition) for withdrawal from iraq, a position opposed by john mccain, and one that even the bush government has come around to?

    No I am talking about his flip-flopping more than a Chinese Gymnast at first opposing the war, opposing the surge, then agreeing to listening to the generals on the ground, then flip-flopping again. And its great to see an Obama supporter quote Bush in a positive way. So you agree with bush’s judgement when it suits you

18. An Alaskan with a NRA card can never relate to the fear people from poor areas in cities go through. The amount of selfishness and ignorance in the ways they speak to people against guns are stunning. It takes ball’s the size of hot air balloons to look at poor children in the street’s of Chicago and explain to them that the reason you dont want to ban AK-47’s is because you like to shoot moose with them at your secluded forest that doesnt have another human being around it for a 15 mile radius.

    By that yardstick of personal experience, Obama should never be the supreme commander of the US military as he’s never had any military or combat experience and so can never relate to such matters.

19. 167 · DesiDude said

    about his statement that “Iran is a tiny country” never mind that they have vowed to wipe Israel off the map.

    This statement that says that Iran is a tiny country compared to nuclear armed Russia? I know, it is SO incorrect!

    And its great to see an Obama supporter quote Bush in a positive way. So you agree with bush’s judgement when it suits you

    No, I agree with bush’s judgment when he finally comes around to doing the right thing.

    at first opposing the war, opposing the surge, then agreeing to listening to the generals on the ground, then flip-flopping again.

    Yes, how dare he adapt to changing facts? Much better to keep doubling down on the same wrong strategy.

    As both my previous quoted comments show, you seem to think that changing one’s opinion when facts change is a bad thing.

20. 166 · Vic said

    and he has made ridiculous statements that the media ignores.

    Examples please.

21. Also, why does God hate the republicans so much? Sending a hurricane to disrupt their party and their to-be-triumphant unveiling of that first among Christians, Sarah Palin?

    What am I to make of this? I thought Christ wanted me to vote for Cain.

22. 165 · ShallowThinker said

    I also think the Republican party is out of touch with real people. An Alaskan with a NRA card can never relate to the fear people from poor areas in cities go through. The amount of selfishness and ignorance in the ways they speak to people against guns are stunning. It takes ball’s the size of hot air balloons to look at poor children in the street’s of Chicago and explain to them that the reason you dont want to ban AK-47’s is because you like to shoot moose with them at your secluded forest that doesnt have another human being around it for a 15 mile radius.

    That’s a pretty one-sided view of the gun-control issue. Contrary to popular belief, many, MANY black people agree with the NRA on people’s right to bear arms. There is a very strong historical argument for African Americans to support the 2nd amendment. Furthermore, in many of these neighborhoods “by the time they arrive, all the dirt done been done.” “They” being the police of course. So there are people who maybe don’t have as much of a voice who feel more vulnerable because they are being denied their right to protect themselves. Let’s not pretend only one side has a heart in this argument.

    What weakness, in your view does Palin validate?

    Dilettante, Palin represents McCain’s weakness with the conservative base, but I agree, let the best ticket win.

    i am very eager to hear about this. can you accurately characterize his position on abortion so we can understand how extreme it is?

    Doctor, his decision to vote ‘Present’ twice and ‘No’ once on several Born Alive acts is generally considered extreme even by members of his own party.

23. It takes ball’s the size of hot air balloons to look at poor children in the street’s of Chicago and explain to them that the reason you dont want to ban AK-47’s is because you like to shoot moose with them at your secluded forest that doesnt have another human being around it for a 15 mile radius. The same party that likes to put an Halo around their head’s because they are against abortion wouldnt want to raise taxes so that the amount of unwanted babies that are born can be taken care of at state run facilities.

    shallowthinker makes some deeppoints… but all logic fails against faith and myth.

24. 172 · NotADemocrat said

    Doctor, his decision to vote ‘Present’ twice and ‘No’ once on several Born Alive acts is generally considered extreme even by members of his own party.

    Here’s the real story on the born alive acts, which were repeatedly introduced with the proponents refusing to add language reaffirming Roe v Wade. All they had to do was to say yes to language on this front for the bill to pass.

    Also, how about a complete accounting of his record on abortion rights?

    Look, I know some people believe that there should be no constitutional right to abortion, and that there should be a blanket ban on women’s rights to have an abortion. If that is the issue you want to vote on, McCain’s your guy. He’s party line on that issue, and has even gone past the usual pretence of judicial qualifications to say that he will appoint judges who will overturn Roe v Wade to the Supreme Court. And Palin is even further conservative than him on that issue, so you can trust the

    But unless you believe that an opposition to the ban automatically implies a free-for-all abortion party, I don’t see how Obama’s position can be characterized as extreme. This is true for most Dems, ans specifically for Obama, I don’t see how a full examination of his record, which I have linked to above, paints him as extreme.

25. <i>and he has made ridiculous statements that the media ignores.</i>
    

    Examples please.

    Just a few

26. 149 · NotADemocrat said

    Contrary to popular belief, many of us don’t feel we have to wait for government in order to either help ourselves OR help other people. We’re self-starters regardless of who gets elected.

    To talk about self-starters in the US is close to delusional. From the founding, the US has always been an example of the beneficial power of enlightened and accountable government. As for Palin you are so off the facts that you are anything but non-partisan. The Bridge-to-Nowhere story has already been dissected in the last 24 hours. And being a conservative and Republican there is no way you can be bi/non-partisan. This is a base election not because it is a desperation gambit because McSame has tried to buck the Republican machine and proven utterly incapable. The Republicans laid the foundations of pandering to the base starting with Nixon’s Southern Strategy, followed by Reagan’s notorious concession to “states’ rights” aka license to be racist in Philadelhia, Ms, in 1980. The Republicans find their greatest traction form an utterly loyal and unthinking base on the far right where no amount of pander is unacceptable. The Democrats cannot run a base election by going to the extreme left because the loons on that side do not believe in voting. This election was always about Obama’s race, and the Republican machine has spared no effort to push its message of hate through. Isn’t it funny that all the epithets hurled at Obama were hurled at Dr. King too in his day? Communist, leftist. elitist, socialist, big governmentist etc? And Ramesh Ponnuru on Obama? What a joke! That’s coming from the same stable where Jonah Goldberg in Reaganian fashion dubs FDR a fascist! And if this is about having a woman for veep, and a smart one at that, why not Condoleeza Rice?

    As for abortion there are quite a few of us who don’t get our “news” from bilge soaked rags like NRO. The US has a disproportionately high incidence of teen pregnancy which correlates very strongly with its dismal record of sex education.

    It is a grim reminder of how outside the enlightened mid-Atlantic, New England, the West Coast and the large urban centers the US entertains some very regressive and ill-informed notons, harboring a very strong contempt for intellect and caliber. It is also no coincidence that it is the progressive regions of the US that offer all the best that this country has to offer.

27. Is it just me, or does any one else wonder why “new user” handle’s pop up more on some comment threads vs others. In my next comment , when I wan’t to post batshyte crazy stuff, I’m gonna be somebody else.

    Contrary to popular belief, many, MANY black people agree with the NRA on people’s right to bear arms.

    Let’s see, I could be Huey (but that handles taken), or Angela but I don’t want to co-opt the New Yorker or give credence to the equation that afro=not ready for the white house.

28. 175 · Vic said

    Just a few

    Apart from obvious slips of the tongue like 10000/57 states/sioux city, do you have something substantive?

    To help you, here are some examples of clear scary failures to understand basics.

29. She overcame the corrupt REPUBLICANS in her state in order to get government to start working for the people she served.

    Too bad Palin’s already under investigation for ethics violations after less than 2 years on the job.

    She took the private jet from the previous administration and put it on ebay, giving the profits to native Alaskans.

    Maybe she should have given the profits to the 8,000 people in her hometown, considering she mismanaged Wasilla so badly it ended up $20 million in debt.

    She said no to that ridiculous Bridge to Nowhere.

    After supporting it during her 2006 gubernatorial campaign.

    I don’t think McCain ever vetted her. If it comes down to judgment, he is an IDIOT.

30. Vikram by my yardstick I ask people to be as in touch as possible. If I see Obama saying things like “bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran” and putting on army fatigues while saying he is going to kick the worlds ass, I too would say he is out of touch. Why is this out of touch? Because he is showing disrespect to soldiers who have to carry these things out and he is pretending to be a “know it all.” On the other hand the Governor of Alaska is putting out video’s of herself smiling while shooting automatic rifles at a shooting range while a crowad cheer’s her on, while in real life automatic rifles are killing kids and teenagers and oldmen in the streets of cities everyday sending people running is all direction’s crying and screaming. That to me is disrespectful to these people and that show’s me that you dont really know the damage these things are doing to people’s lives.

    I believe that Obama can relate to more segments of America then the other canidate’s can, much like a well traveled person can relate to the world better then a not so well traveled person and that is all I need in a President.

31. Is history siding with Obama’s economic plan? IHT

    …The table also shows that families at the 95th percentile fared almost as well under Republican presidents as under Democrats (1.90 percent growth per year, versus 2.12 percent), giving them little stake, economically, in election outcomes. But the stakes were enormous for the less well-to-do. Families at the 20th percentile fared much worse under Republicans than under Democrats (0.43 percent versus 2.64 percent). Eight years of growth at an annual rate of 0.43 percent increases a family’s income by just 3.5 percent, while eight years of growth at 2.64 percent raises it by 23.2 percent.

    I want a president who can pronounce “nuclear”, who knows that Czechoslovakia is no more, that won’t rationlize every decision based on groupthink developed in solitary confinement 35 years ago, who is confident but not certain in supranatural ways.

    Palin represents McCain’s weakness with the conservative base

    Gotcha,a moose hunter will not in any way signal appeasement

    I don’t think McCain ever vetted her. If it comes down to judgment, he is an IDIOT.

    I think you’re right.

32. To talk about self-starters in the US is close to delusional. From the founding, the US has always been an example of the beneficial power of enlightened and accountable government.

    Jyotsana, I know many people think they are being helpful with their “government must help” outlook… and in many cases, I agree that the government should be able to provide people with very basic help provided they cannot get it elsewhere. But does anyone else see how incredibly depressing this outlook can be? What if Obama doesn’t get elected? What if a democrat isn’t elected for another 4 to 8 years? What if a Dem is elected, but they can’t agree on a good government solution? What if they come up with a solution, but it’s a miserable failure that is hard to amend coughnclbcough? The idea that government is the only solution is scary for someone like me, because it means that the communities I feel closest to (black and latino) are pretty much screwed if the stars don’t line up for the democrats.

    Also, I’ve never said I was non-partisan, but I have tried to be fairly objective in this thread since it seemed like the Republican spin was almost completely missing, accurate or not.

33. Is it just me, or does any one else wonder why “new user” handle’s pop up more on some comment threads vs others. In my next comment , when I wan’t to post batshyte crazy stuff, I’m gonna be somebody else. Let’s see, I could be Huey (but that handles taken), or Angela but I don’t want to co-opt the New Yorker or give credence to the equation that afro=not ready for the white house.

    So is this a new SM rule that says the only people who can comment are regulars? I’ve actually been reading and commenting at SM for several years now, but I don’t use my old handle. Largely because I no longer have time to be a regular participant (hence the Sunday commenting boom), but also because my views are so different now that I’m older. I don’t think there is anything “batshyte crazy” about saying there are black people who strongly value their 2nd amendment rights. I may be giving away too much about who I am here, but a large part of the reason why my family is in the north now is because they lived in the area of NC that the book Negroes with Guns takes place in. My family fled to the north because of the KKK, and those stories about how black people had to bear arms to protect themselves have been passed down. What’s crazy to me is how easily you dismiss an argument without bothering to learn any of the history behind it.

    And btw, I have an afro. If I weren’t convinced government was the roundabout way towards change, I’d happily wear it on my way to elected office. And I’m sure I’d make sure I was ready to lead.

34. Since i have a reputation for being disingenuous, and therefore Machiavellian, I would like to proffer my prescient advice to the candidates:

    A. Obama 1. Reserve Judgment on Palin, saying you don’t know too much about her and would like to review her record first. This make you look fair and considerate, while slyly advancing the meme that she’s radically off the radar and inexperienced. 2. Attack her attackers as misogynist, including your own party. There’s plenty out there: she’s a beauty queen, she’s anti-woman, her kid is not hers, how can she run for VP when she has a down syndrome kid to take care off. This makes you look generous, chivalrous even, helps you with genuine PUMA’s upset that you didn’t speak up for HIll, and bolsters your bipartisan change image.

    B. McCain 1. Bypass 60 minutes and have you first joint appearance with Palin on Oprah. Makes Obama/Biden appearance look elitist. You look ballsy for going into enemy territory. That’s where the real power is amway.

35. So is this a new SM rule that says the only people who can comment are regulars? I’ve actually been reading and commenting at SM for several years now, but I don’t use my old handle.

    Was your old handle that incendiary?

    the views expressed by ‘dillettante’, are not approved or endorsed by SM. I was just curious about the distrubtion of comments on certain threads and the one off handles associated with them. Kinda like single issue handles.

    And btw, I have an afro.I’d happily wear it on my way to elected office. And I’m sure I’d make sure I was ready to lead.

    Would you wear it to shatter glass ceilings into 18 million pieces? What would the conservative base think? As I indicated above, we (I do at least) know how liberals view Afro’s

    laters

36. On the other hand the Governor of Alaska is putting out video’s of herself smiling while shooting automatic rifles at a shooting range while a crowad cheer’s her on, while in real life automatic rifles are killing kids and teenagers and oldmen in the streets of cities everyday sending people running is all direction’s crying and screaming. That to me is disrespectful to these people and that show’s me that you dont really know the damage these things are doing to people’s lives.

    Um ok… I think you miss the context here. She was at a legal range, firing a legal weapon. Not as if she was walking through the streets of inner-city Chicago shooting up people or supporting such an act. When you consider the fact that all of the people running for office are surrounded by heavily armed security details to protect their lives and their family members’ lives 24/7 , when people in the gang violence prone areas complain about being unable to get police to help them, doesn’t that seem hypocritical & elitist to you too ? So what’s your point ?

    And how is it that you don’t seem to call out Biden on his hypocrisy when he’s sponsored a draconian bill that predates the Patriot Act by 6 years ? And his support of privacy invading laws, the very things that Democrats have assailed the Republicans on ?

37. And btw, I have an afro.I’d happily wear it on my way to elected office. And I’m sure I’d make sure I was ready to lead.

    you’re amy holmes!

38. Was your old handle that incendiary?

    Doubtful. More me avoiding the questions of didn’t you say this or that.

    you’re amy holmes!

    LOL. Good guess considering. She’s actually pro-choice, and she’s pretty much cut all her hair off. I’m no one famous, I just don’t like leaving really personal details on the internet like that.

39. Roe v. Wade is never going to be changed. I know the liberals keep bringing this issue whenever there is a ‘Pro-lifer’ on the ticket. It’s an issue that has been already decided, and no judiciary is going to touch that volatile issue again.

    Who are you kidding? The agenda of the Republican core constituency is precisely that. And they are very outspoken about that.

    Why do you think Bush tried to appoint the laughably unqualified Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court? McCain picking Sarah Palin is more of the same.

40. NotADemocrat:

    I don’t like the demonization of oil companies who already have slim profit margins.

    Wow. This is such a stupidly brazen falsehood. Anyone with a clue knows that oil companies are among the most profitable businesses of all and that they are enjoying record profits in recent times:

    http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2008-08-01-big-oil-company-earnings_N.htm

    “Big Oil’s most profitable quarter ever: $51.5 billion………Chevron and Total wrapped up a string of gargantuan, record-breaking earnings reports from oil companies on Friday, a stretch in which six of the major international oil companies topped $50 billion in combined profit for the first time. While the profits of unparalleled size have brought withering criticism from Washington and disgust from consumers across the country, very few were surprised.”

41. Valmiki, read carefully: Profit margins, not profits. I’ll give you that they are profitable, though I’m not sure they should be punished for that when profits go to their shareholders. Shareholders many of whom happen to be ordinary, middle class Americans hoping to make money off a sound investment.

    Oil companies aren’t as profitable as you think I sometimes get the impression that people think oil executives hold clandestine meetings where they unilaterally decide to set the price of oil and gas in order to maximize their profits. After maniacally laughing about how they are gouging the American public, they then go swimming in pools of gold ala Scrooge McDuck. But there’s a problem with that theory. Even though many oil companies are reporting record profits, many people forget just how expensive it is for energy companies to engage in the oil business. The average net profit margin for the S&P Energy sector, according to figures from Thomson Baseline, is 9.7%. The average for the S&P 500 is 8.5%. So yes, energy companies are more profitable than many others…but not by an inordinate amount. Google, for example, reported a net profit margin of 25% in its most recent quarter. Should we have an online advertising windfall profit tax?

42. 189 · Valmiki said

    Roe v. Wade is never going to be changed. I know the liberals keep bringing this issue whenever there is a ‘Pro-lifer’ on the ticket. It’s an issue that has been already decided, and no judiciary is going to touch that volatile issue again.

    Who are you kidding? The agenda of the Republican core constituency is precisely that. And they are very outspoken about that. Why do you think Bush tried to appoint the laughably unqualified Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court? McCain picking Sarah Palin is more of the same. Since you bring up Harriet Meiers, this is what Harry Ried, who suggested her name had to say about her, “”I continue to believe that Harriet Miers received a raw deal. She is an accomplished lawyer, a trailblazer for women and a strong advocate of legal services for the poor. Not only was she denied the up-down vote that my Republican colleagues say every nominee deserves, but she was never even afforded the chance to make her case to the Judiciary Committee.” Harry Reid is no Republican…and there is no way Roe Vs. Wade will be overturned. Its been settled and no judiciary wants to visit that question again.

43. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/13001.html

    “John McCain was aiming to make history with his pick of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, and historians say he succeeded. Presidential scholars say she appears to be the least experienced, least credentialed person to join a major-party ticket in the modern era. So unconventional was McCain’s choice that it left students of the presidency literally “stunned,” in the words of Joel Goldstein, a St. Louis University law professor and scholar of the vice presidency. “Being governor of a small state for less than two years is not consistent with the normal criteria for determining who’s of presidential caliber,” said Goldstein. “I think she is the most inexperienced person on a major-party ticket in modern history,” said presidential historian Matthew Dallek.

    “Palin has no experience in national office. Before becoming governor in December 2006, she served as a council member and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, which had a population of slightly more than 5,000 during her time in office……….if elected vice president, Palin would appear to have the least amount of experience in federal office or as a governor since John W. Kern, Democrat William Jennings Bryan’s 1908 running mate, who had served for four years in the Indiana state Senate and then four more as city solicitor of Indianapolis”

44. Valmiki, N-A-D specifically said profit margins, not profits, and he/she is correct on that point. However, I really wish all those complaining about windfall taxes also lobby equally hard against all the giant subsidies given to various corporations and lobbies, the oil industry being one good example (defense and agriculture being others).

    Railing against government assistance to individuals while allowing government assistance to corporations and special interest groups to go on unchecked (look at pork barrel projects – republicans are as bad as, if not worse, than dems and the reality is that the only time the US has had a budget surplus in the last 28 years is under a democrat), is truly negligent. The reality is that repubs don’t do smaller government, they just have big government without asking people to pay for it directly, instead printing money, running up deficits in the process, with all its associated consequences.

    It beggars belief that repubs are considered the party of fiscal responsibility, in the face of such an abysmal track record.

45. 189 · Valmiki said

    Why do you think Bush tried to appoint the laughably unqualified Harriet Meiers to the Supreme Court?

    Because he wanted to reward her for her loyalty. In fact, the virulent opposition from the right wing opinion makers to Harriet Miers was primarily because she wasn’t seen to be a reliable champion for their causes because she might not have been conservative enough for their tastes on issues – be it pro-life or anti-aff action or gay rights and so on. It helped them that she was yet another monumentally unqualified appointee of Bush, but that wasn’t their problem with her, it was that she wouldn’t reliably do their bidding.

    I guess Bush thought that his 2004 victory had given him enough political capital to spend, but the evangelicals weren’t going to let him get away with somebody who might be only 80% loyal to them, not when they could get somebody like Alito.

46. 180 · ShallowThinker said

    On the other hand the Governor of Alaska is putting out video’s of herself smiling while shooting automatic rifles at a shooting range while a crowad cheer’s her on, while in real life automatic rifles are killing kids and teenagers and oldmen in the streets of cities everyday sending people running is all direction’s crying and screaming.

    Guns are not killing people, people are killing people. Sheesh. Making guns illegal will not eliminate guns, they will only eliminate law abiding people from having guns. Making anything illegal (drugs, guns, books, etc) does not eliminate them it only drives them underground. Criminals will still possess guns. You will also empower new criminal organizations that will sneak guns into this country. I suspect the “war on guns” will be similar to the “war on drugs”.

47. 180 · ShallowThinker said

    On the other hand the Governor of Alaska is putting out video’s of herself smiling while shooting automatic rifles at a shooting range while a crowad cheer’s her on

    think about it this way. this time, when the vice president shoots an 80 year man in the face, the old man won’t live through the humiliation of apologizing for being shot.

48. 190 · Valmiki said

    “Big Oil’s most profitable quarter ever: $51.5 billion………Chevron and Total wrapped up a string of gargantuan, record-breaking earnings reports from oil companies on Friday, a stretch in which six of the major international oil companies topped $50 billion in combined profit for the first time. While the profits of unparalleled size have brought withering criticism from Washington and disgust from consumers across the country, very few were surprised.”

    Yes those evil corporations are trying to make as much money as possible!!! What an outrage!!!

    This isn’t the worst of it. I suspect that their tens of thousands of corporations spread all over America trying to make as much money as possible!!!

    When will this stop?

    When will our corporations stop trying to maximize profits?

49. 198 · JGandhi said

    When will our corporations stop trying to maximize profits?

    Yes, and why doesn’t our government subsidize them even more than it does currently? After all, it might be taxpayer money, but what’s important is corporate bottomlines.

50. 196 · JGandhi said

    Guns are not killing people, people are killing people. Sheesh. Making guns illegal will not eliminate guns, they will only eliminate law abiding people from having guns. Making anything illegal (drugs, guns, books, etc) does not eliminate them it only drives them underground. Criminals will still possess guns. You will also empower new criminal organizations that will sneak guns into this country. I suspect the “war on guns” will be similar to the “war on drugs”.

    Tell me something I haven’t already read on a bumber sticker, thanks.