Tag Archive » john edwards
There is not another industry in the United States that has been more vilified in the past few years than the Oil Industry. To many Americans, these companies represent corporate greed and the stranglehold that “special interests” have on politics in Washington. Driven first by the populist message of John Edwards’ campaign, the Oil Industry, ExxonMobil specifically, has proven an easy and popular target for Democratic presidential hopefuls. Barack Obama often announces at large campaign stops:
I know that it won’t be easy to change our energy policy. ExxonMobil made $11 billion last quarter. They don’t want to give those profits up easily.
Hillary Clinton has been no more gentle, saying:
Now, ExxonMobil had, you know, the highest profits in corporate history. Yet when CEO Lee Raymond was asked about how much his company had invested in alternative energy over the last decade, his reply was, and I quote, “a negligible amount.” Well, that’s unexcusable. You know, the oil industry is making $300 million a day, not because they planned on it, not because of great managerial expertise, but because of escalating world demand and therefore increasing prices for this commodity that they didn’t create in the first place. I think it’s time that we made sure they put a fair share of their profits toward a sound energy future.
There is no shortage of criticism against the Oil Industry. What we don’t often hear, is a response. How does the Oil Industry justify such high profits? Given these profits, why are companies like ExxonMobil still receiving government subsidies? One of our users, who works for an oil company, forwarded me an email sent to company employees in response to these exact questions. Click here to continue reading…
Why Edwards Never Caught On
John Edwards is nothing if not dogged. It’s a quality that made him rich, and won him a seat in the U.S. Senate, and it’s what kept him on the campaign trail on the quest for the Democratic nomination for President for the better part of the last five years. But even Edwards’ boundless optimism and energy has his limits, and today he admitted what all the pundits and politicos have been saying for the past month: the Democratic contest is a two-person race, and Edwards is not one of them. Four days after coming in a disappointing third in his native state of South Carolina, Edwards told a crowd in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, where he launched his campaign more than a year ago, that he will “step aside so that history can blaze its path.”
Read the story from Time | No Comments | Posted January 30, 2008 at 6:01 PM by Sam Bear
Tax Rebate or Payment? A Policy Debate Begins
As President Bush and Congressional Democrats begin negotiations on a package of measures to stimulate the economy, the big fight will be over whether to put extra money in the hands of tens of millions of low-income families who paid little or no income tax last year. Nearly 40 percent of Americans owed no federal income tax last year, though even low-income workers paid taxes for Social Security and Medicare. While Mr. Bush has refused to disclose specifics of his $145 billion plan, administration officials and Republican lawmakers favor a proposal that would offer rebates of up to $800 for individuals and $1,600 for families — but only if they paid that much in taxes last year.
Read the story from NY Times | 1 comment | Posted January 20, 2008 at 4:57 PM by Sam Bear
