[Rhodes22-list] Weekend reading, not sailing, some might call it political, just educational

[Brad Haslett]

Rik,

Going "John Galt" is working for me, I've got new struts on the Lexus
and the front-end re-built on the truck - I'm good to go for the next
four years, transportation wise.  I spent four hours on the phone
Thurs-Fri trying to meet the insurance and bonding requirements for
one of the cities on the MS Coast for a customer's demo job and when I
finally thought I had everything in place the city engineer wanted a
copy of our mold containment plan.  "Uh, knock it down with a trackhoe
and haul it to the landfill?"  Nope, not good enough!  I called the
customer and told him to find another contractor, or better yet, burn
it down and call the city to put the fire out - takes care of the mold
and the demo all at once.

People get the 'gubment' they deserve, and we've got a doozy on the way!

Brad

On Sun, Dec 14, 2008 at 8:39 AM, Rik Sandberg <sanderico1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Brad,
>
> Who was John Galt, eh.
>
> Rik
>
> Will Rogers often said, "There's nothing quite like money in the bank." He went on to say, "I'm not so concerned about the return on my money as I am about the return of my money."
>
>
>
> Brad Haslett wrote:
>> Ed,
>>
>> Here's something else to add to your weekend reading.  Expect more of
>> this to follow - capital gets to vote as well. BTW, I read a good
>> retort to the UAW's willingness to compromise in 2011 but not in 2009,
>> "fine, we'll make you the loan in 2011".
>>
>> Brad
>>
>> ------------------------
>>
>> Oil Companies Voting With Their Feet
>>
>> By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Friday, December 12, 2008 4:20 PM PT
>>
>> Energy: Another day, another oil company fleeing the country. No, this
>> isn't Ecuador, the banana republic that just defaulted on its debt
>> after chasing out investors. It's the United States, and what we're
>> seeing is self-defense.
>>
>> Much political hay has been made in Congress about "unpatriotic"
>> corporations that move operations abroad. Weatherford International is
>> the latest, taking its headquarters from Houston to Switzerland. The
>> oil services company said that it wants to be closer to its markets.
>> But what it really meant was that it no longer saw the future in the
>> U.S.
>>
>> In a political atmosphere of blaming corporations, it's no wonder.
>> Halliburton fled to Dubai in 2007. Tyco International, Foster Wheeler
>> and Transocean International all went to Switzerland. As a pattern
>> emerges, America's global standing diminishes, in part because it's
>> based on the willingness of companies to invest. It's an especially
>> bad sign when domestic companies flee.
>>
>> "The U.S. is an important market," Weatherford CEO Bernard J.
>> Duroc-Danner told the Houston Chronicle Thursday. But, "it's just a
>> market. It's not the primary market."
>>
>> How does that sound for a loss of global leadership? If that's not
>> clear enough, try this: "In the hierarchical pecking order,
>> (Houston's) not going to be Rome anymore."
>>
>> What accounts for this vote of no confidence in the U.S.?
>>
>> Start with the demonization of oil companies. Executives have been
>> hauled before Congressional star chambers, held up to abuse and
>> ridicule, and then blamed for high oil prices as if they wanted to
>> kill their markets. Rising global demand, nationalizations and
>> Congress' failure to open the country to drilling go ignored.
>>
>> Huge companies such as Exxon Mobil, whose market cap exceeds the GDP
>> of most countries, create $100 billion in earnings in quarters when
>> oil prices soar. It looks high, but over the years, the industry's
>> average returns, at 9%, are less than other industries.
>>
>> Nevertheless, Exxon's profits are evidence of its success at
>> extracting oil from miles below the earth's surface, even underwater,
>> and from unbelievably hostile environments, such as the Arctic.
>> Instead of being objects of national pride for their productivity and
>> efficiency, and subjects of heroic Hollywood movies, their success is
>> considered to be dishonest.
>>
>> Congressional hostility affects oil companies' operations abroad, too:
>> Exxon, remember, noted that Congress' animus toward oil profits
>> directly encouraged Hugo Chavez's uncompensated expropriations of $1
>> billion of Exxon's assets in Venezuela, which drove oil prices higher.
>>
>> With an expanded Democratic Congress and an incoming Democratic
>> president determined to create "patriot corporations," it's no
>> surprise to see companies try to get out while they can. Make no
>> mistake — it's investment fleeing the country. As this goes, foreign
>> capital could flee next.
>>
>> Congress' abuse sets the political tone for the worst to come.
>>
>> First, oil companies, like all corporations, endure the second-highest
>> taxation in the developed world (39.25% of their income), which
>> dampens their competitiveness. The 2007 OECD average is 27.6% and
>> falling. Worse still, U.S. firms are taxed on operations around the
>> world, unlike the global standard, making a move of headquarters a
>> defensive move.
>>
>> Meanwhile, politicians openly say they want to hike taxes on oil
>> firms. President-elect Obama seems to have backed off, but questions
>> remain as to whether he can stand up to a rapacious and economically
>> ignorant Congress that hasn't.
>>
>> Second, Big Labor is feeling its oats, swaggering confidently with
>> newfound political power. United Steelworkers approved a "national oil
>> bargaining policy" for higher wages and beefed up its "strike defense
>> fund," both of which point to plans to squeeze oil companies, if not
>> launch strikes.
>>
>> "You have to prepare your membership for 2009," according to USW
>> International Vice President Gary Beevers on a union Web site. "The
>> oil companies are ready for us; we have to be ready for them." With
>> Congress at their back, oil companies are unlikely to lose.
>>
>> None of this portends well for the U.S. business environment. That's
>> why top-performing firms, such as Weatherford, are exiting. Until
>> Congress learns to appreciate and value oil firms, this will continue,
>> leading to less U.S. investment and influence as more competitive
>> climes beckon.
>>
>> On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 7:35 AM, Tootle <ekroposki at charter.net> wrote:
>>
>>> I get all sorts of emails, this web site was contained in one:
>>>
>>> http://www.alipac.us/article3815.html
>>>
>>> And some so called political rhetoric:  "Let's switch gears here for a
>>> second. Apparently Dick Cheney, in a closed door Senate GOP lunch on
>>> Wednesday, warned the GOP, quote, that it will be Herbert Hoover time if aid
>>> to the industry was rejected for the bailout of the big three. This is
>>> exactly the same kind of stuff that they were saying about the bank bailout,
>>> but now they're saying it about GM. What do you think about what's going on
>>> right now,?' [Glen Beck]
>>>
>>> Reply to question: "Well, I think there's no end to this bailout. It's
>>> bailout without end. We need to find a way to bailout from the bailout and
>>> actually, with respect to Dick Cheney, I think he's got it actually wrong
>>> here. You know, it's very interesting to me, speaking as a foreigner, but
>>> the Americans always talk about the great depression. In other countries,
>>> they talk about it as a depression. It started in 1929, the worst was over
>>> in three or four years. What prolonged it in the United States was both
>>> Herbert Hoover and FDR over in overinterfering in the economy to impede
>>> recovery. That's why it's a great depression in the United States and it's
>>> just a depression everywhere else." Mark Steyn
>>>
>>> Ed K
>>> addendum:  "Sextant: an entertaining, albeit expensive, device, which,
>>> together with a good atlas, is of use in introducing the boatman to many
>>> interesting areas on the earth's surface which he and his craft are not
>>> within 1,000 nautical miles of." Beard and McKie
>>>
>>> --
>>> View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/Weekend-reading%2C-not-sailing%2C-some-might-call-it-political%2C-just-educational-tp20990243p20990243.html
>>> Sent from the Rhodes 22 mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>>>
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