Things to Think About

[rsterne]

This rather brilliantly cuts thru all the political doublespeak we get...........

Food for thought..... This puts it into a much better perspective and is the same for many countries in Europe ...

Why the U.S. was downgraded:

* U.S. Tax revenue: $2,170,000,000,000
* Fed budget: $3,820,000,000,000
* New debt: $ 1,650,000,000,000
* National debt: $14,271,000,000,000
* Recent budget cuts: $ 38,500,000,000

Let's now remove 8 zeros and pretend it's a household budget:

* Annual family income: $21,700
* Money the family spent: $38,200
* New debt on the credit card: $16,500
* Outstanding balance on the credit card: $142,710
* Total budget cuts: $385

Got It ?????

OK now Lesson # 2:
Here's another way to look at the Debt Ceiling:

Let's say, You come home from work and find there has been a sewer backup in your neighborhood....and your home has sewage all the way up
to your ceilings.

What do you think you should do ......

Raise the ceilings, or pump out the sh!t?

And while I'm at it.... what do you guys think of the USA cancelling the pipeline project to supply Canadian oil to the US refineries on the Gulf coast?.... I figure if our oil isn't needed/wanted "at home" we should just sell it to China.... I'm sure the USA won't mind buying all their oil from the Middle East....

Bob

[Gippeto]

To be honest Bob, I'm of the opinion we should pull a "Peter Lougheed" and turn the bloody taps off for a while. A taste of $10/gallon gasoline, add in the price increase associated with transporting consumer goods, and the fact that it's bloody WINTER will shut some idiots up and change their ideas about listening to popular media. Hell...it'll change the medias thinking too. lol

Most of the yanks I talk to don't know that they import more oil from Canada than from Saudi Arabia. Then there's Mexico...who ranks just below the Saudis. They complain without knowing bugger all about the long term effects if they get their way.

At the end of the day, we have a product that is in demand...if the US doesn't want it...Asia will make use of it.

[poil27]

ok meanwhile here in mtl we had 6 refinery 10 years ago and now we have onley one open. why ship our petrole to the us and buy it back refined why can we refine our own petrole ?

[AirGunEric]

ok meanwhile here in mtl we had 6 refinery 10 years ago and now we have onley one open. why ship our petrole to the us and buy it back refined why can we refine our own petrole ?

That is the case all across Canada- refinery capacity is essentially almost nothing. I think "we" only do it this way to justify why, as an oil producing nation, Canadians still pay one of the highest prices for oil/gasoline of anywhere on Earth (Europe and Japan are higher, but they don't produce any oil themselves). If we look at other oil-exporting countries (i.e. any of the OPEC nations) they buy fuel for a fraction of what Canadians pay - so the companies and the government need all the excuses they can come up with the 'justify' the situation- "oil price is high," "transportation and refining costs are high - especially sending it to Oklahoma and Texas," "oil sands costs alot more to produce oil" etc. etc.