gdp's Comments

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 01:53:27 +0000

"blow up or burn to the ground any enterprise seized by government" Or let the government in question destroy the enterprise on its own. If the government liquidates the enterprise, the total exchange value of the components will be far less than that of the original amalgamation. And if the government chooses to operate the enterprise, it becomes a gigantic engine of wealth destruction like Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae have become.

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 01:39:20 +0000

"isn't living up to its contract. " Do you need a remedial reading class? The article states: "the US firm declined to negotiate a new service contract" What contract did it breach exactly? Are you saying it was contractualy obligated to enter into new contracts? Which court was it that found it guilty of breach of contract, and chose a just remedy?

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Thu, 1 Jul 2010 01:34:19 +0000

"Don't you believe in private companies living up to their contracts?" Of course. But the article states that the rigs were OWNED by a US company. Unless the rigs were seized through due judicial process as some kind of remedy, then the property was unjustly stolen. I don't see how someone who chooses to not enter a new contract deserves to have a bunch of thieves vote on which property they should steal from you.

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:39:44 +0000

"What I think the USA should to is confiscate $43 million (plus the additional worth of the oil rigs) of Citgo assets here and give them over to Helmrich and Payne. Then everything will be fair and square. " That will make Helmrich and Payne whole. But why is it Citgo's fault that Venezeula's government commits thefts? And if the Venezuelan politicians are willing to drive their own countrymen into poverty through socialism, I doubt they care much about Citgo's wealth. The pain needs to be brought to the Venezeulan government.

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:33:34 +0000

"Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan would have dispatched the appropriate number of navy vessels to protect our property and interests." Yes, the US government should step up to its responsibility to protect US residents against crimes like theft. Since we're forced to pay taxes, we should at least get some services back I'd hope. But remember, it is not "our" property that was stolen. It is the property of some specific group of US residents.

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:26:56 +0000

"What we are seeing is the typical progression of socialism... Venezuela will continue to feed on itself, and all of its resources, until it has used up all of the wealth created by others" Very apt description. I believe Mexico's nationalization of oil-producing capital was also a disaster per your description of the problem. Capital works poorly when run operated by socialists, who do not participate in the economic calculation made possible by market prices and the market signals of profit and loss. Capital works best when in the hands of the those entrepeneurs who avoid financial losses and prove that they can best satisfy the demands of consumers.

Breitbart.com : Venezuela govt to nationalize 11 US-owned oil rigs

Wed, 30 Jun 2010 19:20:27 +0000

"I think it was called national pride. Can't be sure cause it has been so long since I've seen it." You seem to worry a lot about national pride for someone who calls themselves "Libertarian". If it makes you proud that people from Alaska and Hawaii are connected by virtue of their subjugation under an overreaching government, then would you not also feel pride if they were freely acting people in voluntarily formed relationships? You can criticize and boycott the companies all you want, but as a "Libertarian" you should also fundamentally recognize their freedom to do business where they choose.

Breitbart.com : Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills

Mon, 24 May 2010 23:36:24 +0000

"The Tax should be $5 a barrel" So you are saying that if I want to buy a barrel of oil from Exxon Mobil, then we should each pay $2.50 in tax because of some reckless thing BP did? "you people are as stupid as they come - BP has already spread the cost to you - in lost jobs, lost seafood, lost revenue and lost environment." So you want to hurt people further by taxing them. Not only do we have to pay extra for non-oily shrimp, we have to pay extra to have it trucked to our communities too. Thanks a lot. I wish I was BP instead, then people would pay for my mistakes and I could continue to be reckless. Taxing poor people on the street is a brilliant solution to the monumental logical conundrum of how to stop oil companies from irresponsibly spilling oil everywhere.

Breitbart.com : Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills

Mon, 24 May 2010 22:53:11 +0000

Yes, you are technically right. It might be more like this. 10% of the tax will be paid by consumers of gasoline and plastic products. 10% by the gas station workers and truck drivers who are fired or who are forced to accept a pay cut. 10% will be paid by poor people who buy the food produce trucked in to their community. 10% will be paid by rich oil execs who act responsibly and do not work at BP. Etc. But does it really matter? It's still theft. It still hurts consumers. Apart from being harmful and immoral, the tax is stupid as well. If everyone chips in to pay for BP's irresponsibility, then it is guaranteed that BP will be irresponsible in the future.

Breitbart.com : Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills

Mon, 24 May 2010 22:30:08 +0000

"government taxes at the pump are 5-8X as high as what the oil oil company makes" But we need to punish the oil companies for being greedy.

Big Journalism : Must-Read Of the Day: The Times Discovers That European Socialism Sucks

Mon, 24 May 2010 22:07:34 +0000

We all know socialism is a failed experiment. That's why we have a unhampered free-market capitalist economy in USSA. Never mind that the government owns 50% of the mortgages in the country, and will soon own your healthcare plans too. Just don't make a purchase over $600 for your business or you will have to file form 1099 with the IRS (a new law that came with the healthcare bill). And don't take a dump bigger than 1.6 gallonshttp://mises.org/daily/3997 Try to pinch it off halfway through. They only hate us because of our freedoms.

Big Journalism : Must-Read Of the Day: The Times Discovers That European Socialism Sucks

Mon, 24 May 2010 22:00:09 +0000

Socialism stops working when you run out of other people's money. A group of vampires can't survive by stealing each other's blood.

Breitbart.com : Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills

Mon, 24 May 2010 21:54:32 +0000

"We are stupid enough to allow the gov't to sell leases to the oil companies" Socialism is defined as government owning the means of production. Reservoirs of oil are a factor in the production of oil, so when government owns them it is acting in a socialist way. The best thing to do is to sell off the property to private entrepeneurs. Let them make the best use of the land. If our courts are run propertly, it will be seen that it's not the best use to have the property leak oil over and destroy thousands of people's lives. As it is, BP will get barely a slap on the wrist for the damage caused. They government's interventions mean BP will have every motivation to be sloppy in the future. You'll see.

Breitbart.com : Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills

Mon, 24 May 2010 21:47:04 +0000

"The dept of energy is a friggin joke, their mission statement is to get us off foreign oil." If foreigners provide us cheap oil, so much the better. Breaking our "addiction" to foreign oil is as dumb as me trying to break my "addiction" to Safeway. Like, I'm going to raise gardens and livestock in my apartment and spend hours every day tending to it and investing in my own farming capital. All because I don't want to be "addicted" to cheaply supplied groceries. If there really is a problem where oil does get too scarce, then its price will rise. Likewise, the price of commuting and manufacturing of plastic goods will rise. Money will motivate shoppers to switch to cloth bags and workers will move closer to their jobs. They will bike instead of driving. Product packaging will change based on increased plastic costs. People will be paid for recyclable materials and be motivated to collect and sell them instead of giving them up freely "for the Earth", whatever that means. The free market will work things out, as long as it's not hampered by DOE and red tape.

Breitbart.com : Oil tax increase would help pay to clean up spills

Mon, 24 May 2010 21:32:12 +0000

The proper role of government is to protect property rights. For example, if fisherman's livelyhoods are ruined, then the government should uphold their right to sue BP to obtain just compensation. The only regulation BP needs is the threat of lawsuits from thousands of people whose lives are ruined. The threat of reducing BP to insolvency is more than enough motivation. Instead, the govenrment has a law with a $75 million cap on any compensation BP must pay. And they provide the oil execs with the "corporation" legal fiction as a shield. This way irresponsible execs can't get tossed out of their mansions and onto the pavement. And the government wants to tax everyone equally, both responsible oil producers and irresponsible ones. If I was an oil exec I would be totally reckless too, because I'm already being taxed a fixed amount and the compensation I must pay in an accident is limited. And if I happened to be totally a responsible oil exec then I still have to suffer the government stealing money from me (taxation). The government is explicitly violating property rights through its tax. And its short-sighted interventions are only motivating people to be more irresponsible. EPIC FAIL

Breitbart.com : Reveler dies at giant cocktail party in France

Fri, 14 May 2010 00:35:37 +0000

You have roughly about 20,000 days (54 years) left to live. If you track 20,000 random people for a day, there's a good chance one of them will die for some reason, e.g. a heart attack or a meteor falling on their head. If you have 20,000 people imbibing copious quantities of poison, there's still a good chance one of them will die. That's why this "news" story is basically pointless. >those organizing such a large gathering without a permit risk a six-month prison sentence Because it's dangerous when slaves assemble without the master's permission.

Breitbart.com : Pope blasts gay marriage as \'insidious and dangerous\'

Thu, 13 May 2010 17:01:44 +0000

Ya, gay marriage will destroy the entire Earth. It's better to touch little boys with the hand of God.

Breitbart.com : Archie Comics introduces first gay character

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 21:57:07 +0000

It's called "Archie Comics". Not "Blowing Up Pregnant Iraqi Women: My Invisible Sky Daddy is Better Than Yours".

Breitbart.com : Archie Comics introduces first gay character

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:21:20 +0000

"A person with traditional values is like a Jew living in a Nazi country." So, they are seizing your estate and then gassing or incinerating you? That must suck. "When even Archie Comics goes bad, we might as well jump in the ocean and swim away to a desert island. " There are other options, too: 1. Raise enough money to buy Archie Comics, and then write it how you want 2. Create your own Comic book 3. Go read some other kind of fiction, for example you can read about the invisible sky daddy and zombies rising from the dead 4. Don't be a bigot. Try to think using truth and logic, rather than emotion.

Breitbart.com : Archie Comics introduces first gay character

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:01:44 +0000

Don't like a gay character - something based on reality and scientific fact? Then go read about the invisible sky daddy and zombies rising from the dead instead. There is plenty of fiction available to satisfy everyone.