Are low oil prices helping or hurting you?

[Nraman]

Here is something else the .gov can do.

We are sitting on 700 million barrels of oil in the SPR.
We should sell it all and use the money to reduce the deficit.
Cushing is overflowing with crude oil and the SPR is full.
The problem is that there just isn't enough drilling on federal land.

And billions on land and offshore that we are not allowed to touch.
Newt Gingrich during the last Presidential election said that he had the numbers to prove that if oil production was free, he could pay of the debt and balance the budget.
He said he had it all figured out and had the numbers to prove it.
Not a single reporter said two simple words, SHOW ME.
I suppose his ex wife issues were more important.

 

[Hobbes]

And billions on land and offshore that we are not allowed to touch.
Newt Gingrich during the last Presidential election said that he had the numbers to prove that if oil production was free, he could pay of the debt and balance the budget.
He said he had it all figured out and had the numbers to prove it.
Not a single reporter said two simple words, SHOW ME.
I suppose his ex wife issues were more important.

I don't quite know how to tell you this. Up until now I have employed sarcasm but it seems to have gone over your head so I will be more direct.

Energy companies are laying people off left and right because the worldwide production of crude oil exceeds the worldwide consumption of crude oil.
There's a glut of crude oil in the market and that's why oil is half of what it was a year ago.

If we were to open up ANWR, for example, to oil production it would exacerbate the imbalance of oil supply and drive the cost down even further.

As for Gingrich, he's the speaker admitted he shut down the government because Clinton made him exit the rear of AF1 instead of the front.

 

[Nraman]

Sure thing Hobbs, this is the first time I have ever read your posts.
In the mean time you might want to consider this, Newt, liked by some hated by others, was running for office, he claims to have an economic solution, the Press completely ignores him and you think that's normal.
Whatever.

 

[dennishoddy]

We have something else, the farm bill that pays farmers not to grow and subsidizes everything to keep the farmers well fed, no free enterprise there.

I didn't say I want it, just pointing at the obvious.
ADM, a multibillion dollar corporation is a farmer, they get billions of tax dollars.

I can't speak for the corporate farmers, but family farms are in dire shape. I don't take nor will I take gov subsidies in my farming business. Even the family farms that do are not living high on the hog like you think they are.

Family farms are going belly up on a regular basis. The LOW PRICES of commodities even with gov assistance can't keep up with fuel, seed and fertilizer prices. The Gov Assistance is the ONLY thing keeping most family farms solvent which in turn keeps them competing in the market against the corporate farms to keep the price of bread affordable. The cost of equipment to maintain a profitable business farming can run up to a million dollars, yet the farmer can't afford to take a vacation or take his family out for dinner.
Factor in drought, floods, or insect infestations that require spray applications cut into the bottom line.

Imagine yourself in your 8-5 job. When you make a mistake, the company covers it, and you take your salary home. Farmers don't have that. Screw something up, and it comes from your back pocket.

Have engine problems with the tractor? That's a $25 grand repair at the minimum for a rebuild. Combines running $250,000 are out of the range of family farms, so they have to rely on custom cutters that cost up to 1/3 of what the grain brings in at the elevator. Got weeds in the field because you didn't spray? The elevator takes a sample of each truck load and samples it for foreign seeds, and docks the farmer for the amount they determine.
Price to low to sell at harvest? The elevator charges you to store your grain. After paying 6 months storage gambling that the price might or might not go higher, you have to sell.

Just trying to help you understand that farming even with Gov assistance is not a lucrative business for most, and if it were not for the Price support, the family farm would not exist and your loaf of bread would likely cost double or more what it does now once all farming went corporate.

 

[Shadowrider]

I can't speak for the corporate farmers, but family farms are in dire shape. I don't take nor will I take gov subsidies in my farming business. Even the family farms that do are not living high on the hog like you think they are.

Family farms are going belly up on a regular basis. The LOW PRICES of commodities even with gov assistance can't keep up with fuel, seed and fertilizer prices. The Gov Assistance is the ONLY thing keeping most family farms solvent which in turn keeps them competing in the market against the corporate farms to keep the price of bread affordable. The cost of equipment to maintain a profitable business farming can run up to a million dollars, yet the farmer can't afford to take a vacation or take his family out for dinner.
Factor in drought, floods, or insect infestations that require spray applications cut into the bottom line.

Imagine yourself in your 8-5 job. When you make a mistake, the company covers it, and you take your salary home. Farmers don't have that. Screw something up, and it comes from your back pocket.

Have engine problems with the tractor? That's a $25 grand repair at the minimum for a rebuild. Combines running $250,000 are out of the range of family farms, so they have to rely on custom cutters that cost up to 1/3 of what the grain brings in at the elevator. Got weeds in the field because you didn't spray? The elevator takes a sample of each truck load and samples it for foreign seeds, and docks the farmer for the amount they determine.
Price to low to sell at harvest? The elevator charges you to store your grain. After paying 6 months storage gambling that the price might or might not go higher, you have to sell.

Just trying to help you understand that farming even with Gov assistance is not a lucrative business for most, and if it were not for the Price support, the family farm would not exist and your loaf of bread would likely cost double or more what it does now once all farming went corporate.

There is basically no way to BECOME a farmer now unless you can pay cash for your land. Private farms are almost always on land that has been in the family and passed down. What needs to happen is get the .gov completely out of their affairs and let them price their crops how they see fit, the market(s) will take care of itself.

And if we don't get the estate tax repealed, it's only a matter of time before their isn't any private farms left. I saw an interview of a Wyoming cattle rancher a while back. He was on his grandfather's land and it comprised 1000's of acres and was valued at around $11,000,000. His net income was around $100,000 a year and sometimes less when things didn't go just perfect. He was nowhere near being a millionaire, not even close. But his land was worth millions and he had not a clue as to how his kids would be able keep it when he passed. They would have to sell their land that had been in the family for about 100 years to pay his estate taxes.

 

[Nraman]

I can't speak for the corporate farmers, but family farms are in dire shape. I don't take nor will I take gov subsidies in my farming business. Even the family farms that do are not living high on the hog like you think they are.

Family farms are going belly up on a regular basis. The LOW PRICES of commodities even with gov assistance can't keep up with fuel, seed and fertilizer prices. The Gov Assistance is the ONLY thing keeping most family farms solvent which in turn keeps them competing in the market against the corporate farms to keep the price of bread affordable. The cost of equipment to maintain a profitable business farming can run up to a million dollars, yet the farmer can't afford to take a vacation or take his family out for dinner.
Factor in drought, floods, or insect infestations that require spray applications cut into the bottom line.

Imagine yourself in your 8-5 job. When you make a mistake, the company covers it, and you take your salary home. Farmers don't have that. Screw something up, and it comes from your back pocket.

Have engine problems with the tractor? That's a $25 grand repair at the minimum for a rebuild. Combines running $250,000 are out of the range of family farms, so they have to rely on custom cutters that cost up to 1/3 of what the grain brings in at the elevator. Got weeds in the field because you didn't spray? The elevator takes a sample of each truck load and samples it for foreign seeds, and docks the farmer for the amount they determine.
Price to low to sell at harvest? The elevator charges you to store your grain. After paying 6 months storage gambling that the price might or might not go higher, you have to sell.

Just trying to help you understand that farming even with Gov assistance is not a lucrative business for most, and if it were not for the Price support, the family farm would not exist and your loaf of bread would likely cost double or more what it does now once all farming went corporate.

A friend of mine is a family farmer, he grows Bermuda grass, he gets all kinds of freebies. He says that he can't make it without them.
A google search on subsidies, family farming, corporate farming etc shows a big mess, billions of wasted money mostly. The ethanol we are forced to put in our car is part of it, even in OK where we produce oil we are forced to use ethanol so that some corporation can make billions in subsidies growing corn and paying lobbyists (google Bob Dole and ADM).
I know that government control can be nice, I work for the airline industry and when the industry was regulated we did really well, after deregulation many companies went under, merged, pensions lost, jobs lost, outsourcing, a real mess.
At the end the flying public benefited with dirt cheap tickets. I hate it but support it because it is good for the country. Except for the outsourcing part, that part stinks.

 

[twoguns?]

Filled up my truck yesterday....30 gals...$56,
That leaves a little for other businesses, food and medical
It always hurts, but less if its spread around

 

[Nraman]

The airlines are making a killing. Fuel is one of their biggest expenses.

 

[shotty]

Oil prices are hurting my tree business. I knew they would, they have before. Discretionary income starts to dry up, commercial accounts start pulling back. Being prepared, low overhead and very little debt helps me sleep at night. That being said, I'm still going to have to let go some help next month.

 

[Nraman]

There is a chance that the government will allow oil exports.
That will help oil producers and hurt the consumers but, I think that the overall effect will be good for us.