Quote:
Originally Posted by Silveredwings
If we can't stop subsidizing the oil giants with $billions, then we should just raise the stinking tax on their products to make up for it. Further, if we continue to provide military security for their international ventures, then we should charge the costs back to them.
Nawwww! What was I thinking? We have the best government money can buy.  |
. . .?
If its an industry in the US its subsidized. Ethanol and biofuels are heavily subsidized to make them somewhat close to viable market products.
The problem is not just with one group or another being subsidized. . .the idea of subsidizing any of them is ignorant. Why would you do it?
"I am going to pay you because you can't make money."
Which means, because your process and your techniques are so terrible, I will give you money to make it possible for you to stay crappy and survive.
Opposed to. . .letting the crappy ones die off and the survivors are much much more effective companies with a cheaper product thats superior.
Henry Ford said that Industrialism was "to produce the best product, for the lowest price and to pay the highest wages possible."
None of those things will ever happen on a subsidy. "Bureacracy is hauling the status quo when the status has lost its quo."
If farmers weren't subsidized. . .then the US would produce enough food to feed the entire world. True farmers would make alot less per acre, but instead of only exporting a small amount of product
no one in any country could compete with our low prices and superior goods. Whats also lost there is that food stuffs wouldn't cost virtually anything to the domestic populace.
People need to stop whining about big oil being subsidized. The "big oil" companies make 2% profit on a gallon of gas. so 4 cents a gallon right now. The government taxes the gas for at least 30 cents for most of us. So "Big oil" makes less than 1/6 what government makes per gallon of gas right now. At the peak of summer oil prices government still made 3x what "Big oil" did on gas. So if you have a complaint about the cost of fuel and that big oil ought to have to pay for it. . .the government decided you should and taxes you. Also "Big oil" spent more in 2007 and 2008 on solar panel research, GTL, and natural gas ice harvesting than the government did when they only profited 8 cents a gallon and the us government profited 30-40 cents per gallon.
I'll say this again as many times as it needs to be said, taxes and government legislation(and subsidies and grants and. . .anything government provided) is always the worst possible option.