Message: 5 Date: Sat, 11 Jan 2003 21:43:03 -0000 From: "malcolm.scott" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: Public Money in the Pipeline <snip>
> >The Baku pipeline is hardly an isolated example. Under the energy > >plan developed by Vice President Dick Cheney, the Bush administration > >is financing a growing number of overseas projects for private oil > >companies. In theory, the money provided by two U.S. agencies -- the > >Export-Import Bank (Ex-Im) and the Overseas Private Investment > >Corporation (OPIC) -- is supposed to boost trade and create jobs. But > >in practice, say critics across the political spectrum, the agencies > >enrich a handful of well-connected oil companies. "The majority of > >Ex-Im Bank funding benefits large, politically powerful > >corporations," says Rep. Ron Paul, a Republican from Texas. > > This is all sickening. I wonder what percentage of these loans are > repaid. It isn't that I expected anything other than a corrupt view > of US energy policy on the part of the Bush Administration, I just > never expected it to be so blatant. E-M, C-T, et. al. have bought 6 > out of the last 14 years of U.S. Presidencies and are basically > dictating, in some respects U.S. foreign policy. > > Ron Paul used to be a Libertarian, the only one in Congress. I'm not > saying that's "great" but that's sort of why he ends up being the > "Republican" in-house critic. >-US politicians know that Americans just love their cheap gasoline. Financing >-pipelines for cheap foreign oil keeps it coming. I don't think an American >-would vote for anyone who didn't do everything possible to maintain that >-cheap oil flow. Politicians know that. ------- Here is where I get confused on the 'oil conspiracy'. These companies are paying for contracts to build oil rigs and equipment and processing. Aren't they *paying* for the oil they take up? This is what I dont understand. All the oil conspiracies keep sounding like these companies are 'taking' the oil. Aren't they just drilling it. Paying X dollars for it, and processing it for X+1 dollars? I dont understand how guaranteeing loans is a bad thing, in that it allows more countries to play in the 'oil supply game'. More players means that individual countries have less leverage on the price of oil. This in and of itself may be worth the price of the loans to secure that the pipeline is built. help me out. Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Biofuels list archives: http://archive.nnytech.net/ Please do NOT send Unsubscribe messages to the list address. To unsubscribe, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
