The O'Reilly Factor: The Oil Companies Owe Us, Just Don't Call It Taxes
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Download | play (h/t Heather)
The cognitive dissonance involved in being Bill O'Reilly is truly stunning. Take, for example, the latest edition of his Talking Points Memo, in which he castigates Obama for saying that he would give an $1000 energy rebate check to American families derived from windfall profit taxes of the oil companies.
Oh noes! Obama is talking about taxes, that liberal! Doesn't he realize that we have a HUGE deficit??? That we can't afford to keep spending money frivolously? Of course the fact that Billo's been cheerleading and apologizing for this deficit every dime along the way is conveniently swept under the rug. Because damnit, we're on the edge of a collapse! We can't tax oil companies, silly Obama.
Bill's solution: ask the oil companies to volunteer 2% of their record-breaking profits. That's fair, and since it's voluntary, we don't have to use the dreaded T-word. Of course, when Billo sent his minions to approach the oil companies, they were less than receptive. Quelle surprise! But it's unacceptable to think that Americans will go cold this winter, and since the oil companies so far are not interested in helping their fellow Americans (a surprisingly *gasp* socialist notion coming from O'Reilly), so what's a presidential candidate to do? Maybe not giving them tax breaks would be a good first start, right, Bill?
Full and ridiculously circular logic of the transcripts available below the fold
Should the oil companies help out the folks? That is the subject of this evening’s Talking Points Memo. Understanding that many Americans are furious with the oil companies, Barack Obama is trying to tie John McCain in with them and putting forth this:
OBAMA: I believe we should give every working family in America a $1,000 energy rebate and we should pay for it with part of the record profits the oil companies are making right now.
Taxing windfall profits, how exactly would that work? Would that be constitutional, selecting a single industry for advance taxation? That’s not going to get done, for a variety of reasons. Also giving the folks another rebate is a bad idea. The government must get out of the giveaway business, this country is now running a half-trillion dollar deficit. All together, we owe about ten trillion dollars. That’s why the U.S. dollar is a disaster. If the USA continues to spend more than it takes in, we will have a complete economic collapse. Does Obama or McCain want to be the next Herbert Hoover? If so, continue to run up those deficits.
The United States simply must stop its massive spending, must begin to balance the budget and must return to the value of the US Dollar to its once elite status. We’re all in big trouble if that doesn’t happen. But — and this is an important but – many Americans are getting hammered by energy prices. Some will have trouble heating their homes next winter. That is completely unacceptable.
So here is my proposal: I am asking the five major American oil companies, Chevron, Occidental, Conoco Phillips, Exxon Mobil and Hess, to donate 2% of their profits for the last four quarters to a fund that would help struggling Americans pay their heating bills. That way, the oil companies could pay back their country. A nation that has allowed them to prosper more than any other concern in the history of civilization. A 2% charitable disbursement would alleviate the suffering of tens of millions of Americans and not hurt the oil companies much at all. Last year, they made a combined $80 billion in profit, a record amount for any industry at any time.
Now we contacted the five big oil corporations and to say the response to my idea was lukewarm is to be kind. Exxon and Chevron pointed out they pay huge amount of taxes to the government, which is true. But what about directly helping those in need? Not much enthusiasm so far. If just one of the oil companies would establish such a charitable fund, the goodwill that corporation would receive would more than make up for the money spent, as millions of Americans would buy that company’s oil over the others. So we encourage the oil companies to directly help out their fellow Americans who are struggling. No one – no one -- in this country should be cold this winter. But it is going to happen.
Hang on, if it's a "charitable donation", doesn't that make it tax-deductable then?
And so have a zero-sum effect?
GO BILL-O!
The man is a total fake... 2% of profit going to a 'FUND"... what a crock.. IT's A TAX you animated poster boy for erectile dysfunction... man does O'Reilly get me miffy
i tried watching this, and my head *a-splode*
You guys are giving him the attention he wants.
Let the old folks enjoy being told what to think.
I will be the independent free thinker. Bill-O wish's he could have the younger demographic.
**** it, we'll do it live! This creature would not have his own teevee show in a civilized country. I felafel.
Why does C&L waste space on this waste of space.
I can't watch this, I have an upset stomach
George Bush could crap on his living room floor and he would call it carpet fresh.
Now let me see...Bush is in Asia..the Congress is on vacation..mmuummm..anyone know where Chaney is????something smells...
Olbermann says good luck and good bye to Dana Milbank
http://www.americablog.com/2008/08/olbermann-says-good-luck-and-good-bye...
The only thing orly has against the oil barron war profiteers is that he isn't one of them.
In other FOX news, American rights are safe as the President promises to only target terrorists, public defenders are not needed as defendents are guilty anyway, environmental protection is not needed as industry promises to be careful, and no regulation is needed as financial institutions, police departments, hospitals, etc. etc. etc. all promise to regulate themselves.
Bill has just taken his first step on the slippery slope to liberalism. The simple fact that he recognizes the oil companies have made their money on the backs of the people and therefore "owe" the people a little something back shows he's softening up. Before you know it, he'll be writing books titled, "I was a misguided Culture Warrior and I'm sorry."
The only way bill stays on the air is by trying to make himself part of every story.
Didn't a certain leader of a certain South American country offer to help poor Americans with their heating problems some time back? Maybe bill could call him and see if he's still up to being charitable to Americans this winter.
clown.
Mr. Celebrity
John McCain is attacking Barack Obama for being a celebrity. But take a look at 2005’s Wedding Crashers. It stars Vince Vaughn, Owen Wilson, Jane Seymour, Christopher Walken, Rachel McAdams and yes John McCain!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Myu9USHP61o
http://archive.newsmax.com/arc.....0255.shtml
Unreal.
Andrea who?
See, Billy really cares about the poor......I'm going to throw up.
I agree that asking the oil companies to just give away 2% to American's is pretty bogus and will never happen, but you can't just make them give away their profits through a tax targeted at a specific field. The only reason Barack Obama said this is because he is way behind on the oil issue, and he is just playing to waht American's want to hear (which is something that will never happen).
Like McLame, there are multiple layers of retardation. In his peanut brain, if you get 20mpg you have an official non-gas guzzler car. Yes he actually said something like that. Shooting for the stars, Pervo the Clown.
I smell a rat.
Fuck it! We'll do it live!
Oh, Bill-O. You are such a tool. I can't watch the above clip due to my recent breakfast that might come up at the sound of his voice, but it reads as if Bill wants to tax big oil companies. Hmmm...
Oh, wait a minute. He said it would be voluntary. Oh, I get it. Yes, that'll work. Sigh.
And just exactly how does O'Really think we're going to get rid of our deficit? Cutting spending? I'm afraid that's not going to cut it, so to speak. Maybe the money will fall from the sky like magic? And who exactly is responsible for our out of control deficit? That's right, the A-holes that he's been giving B-Jays to for the last 8 years. Are the wheels turning in Billiam's head? Is he putting 2 and 2 together? Maybe so, but it's too late for him to actually begin thinking and put blame where blame belongs: squarely on the head of the Republicans in Congress and the White House.
Refuting him is too easy. Especially on an anonymous board. I hate myself sometimes.
Hmmmmm...not a bad idea, Billo.
Let's see...a major oil company voluntarily provides discounted heating oil to struggling American families and is rewarded with good publicity and goodwill.
Reminds me of something, but I just can't put my finger on it.
Oh, yeah, this! And this.
Billo and Fox supported that generous oil company, right?
Idiots...there's no way for the government to overcome this deficit if the next 3 Administrations are 2-term reformers who drop everything else and just focus on the deficit. Fortunately, Europe has similiar budget issues, so we won't be alone when and if it all comes crashing down.
pissed off patricia @ 14:
Yeah...Chavez did. Quite a blow to mein American pride, that was.
Obama's attack ad and plan is working .
He should stay on the offense.
Ruthless People @ 15:
court jester!
Billo is the main reason Americans are stuck on stupid. That his show is so highly rated (lest the neocons forget to remind you of that every single day) is dumbfounding. That is why McCain will probably win in the fall unless Obama steps up his campaign. There are many more shows like Billo saying outragous things that people actually believe. We're in trouble!
the deficit?!? How would Obama's plan affect the deficit when he is providing exactly where the money is coming from? It would not add to the deficit at all. Now Bush's economic stimulus (payoff) package.. there was nowhere that he got the money for that, so it did add to the deficit. What was lufaman's opinion on that?
Question is people...what can we do to stop O'Reilly and his ilk?
Calling and complaining to the companies who advertise on his show doesn't work. at least not fast enough for this guy...desperate times call for desperate measures.
Rendition his punk ass, along with Hannity, Limbaugh, Savage, and the other propangandists.
Waterboard them (since it's not REALLY torture) until they mess themselves.
[sarcasm]People, please. Bill's just standing up for the little guy. Like he always has.[/sarcasm]
I don't care who runs the oil companies. It could be Darth Vader for all I care; the last thing you want is to take profits away from one of America's booming industries, considering everything else in America is going down in flames. That's money they could invest in exploration, building new refineries, and developing alternative fuel sources.
I'm liberal on most things, but Obama is just insane if he thinks this is a good idea. I have the feeling he's just saying it to play the popularity contest though, and there's nothing wrong with that when you're running for office.
If O’Reilly thinks that taxing oil companies is unconstitutional then he must also think that giving them tax breaks is unconstitutional. But then again, we all know that "Fox Noise" anchors are all a bunch of OIL COMPANY MAN WHORES and since love is blind, they are all subservient to their "johns".
liberalTireGaugeOfJusticeNmoderation @ 30:
I've given up trying to talk to the true believer neocons. They got them an ideology - to hell with reality.
Talk to the undecideds; give them facts, website etc.
If we ask nicely, I'm sure they'd share. Wait, has anyone actually asked big oil to stop gouging us in the first place? I'll email 'em.
Dear Bill:
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
Love,
The Big Oil Companies
I am growing more and more weary with the American voter, McCain is out there beginning every speech with "we are not going to pay $4 a gallon for gas because we will drill off shore and in the Arctic. Obama wants you to inflate your tires" "ha ha ha ha" and this is a WINNING FORMULA?? This is moving the poles in McCain's direction?? I don't have to go into how stupid on so many levels this is. Every once in a while when I see something like this I wish I didn't pay attention so I could be blissfully ignorant.
Litabell @ 28:
The MSM monopoly and billionaire (corporate) $$$, vs. the intelligence of the average American voter?
Man, we are sooooooo screwed!
Oreilly: "If just one of the oil companies would establish such a charitable fund, the goodwill that corporation would receive would more than make up for the money spent, as millions of Americans would buy that company’s oil over the others."
Sure, Bill, when was the last time you went and bought Chevron oil? If you mean gasoline, most of the gasoline stations are franchises and the decision to buy from one or another is usually based on location and price.
Asiren @ 1:
Yeah, pretty much what I was thinking as well. Think of it, they give it away, get it back, then if McAttack wins, they get the bonus $4 billion. Hmmm....begins drilling in own backyard
which is booming by driving up gas prices which is a big factor in the crippling of other industries and especially small businesses.
but they don't. they got plenty of land, but instead of getting the oil that is there they try to grab more land.
but they don't
but they don't. They put in token effort then spend more in advertising that effort than they actually put to development of alternative fuels. Their cash cow is oil, and by controlling as much of it as they can and keeping us dependent on it we are at their mercy.
The oil companies explored, developed, and build plenty of refineries long before they got profits greater than any company in world history. Why would they suddenly be unable to do so if those outrageously huge profits are reduced by a little, but still greater than any other companies in history?
Agent13 @ 32:
Don't take money from them good guy oil companies, they won't be able to invest? Yeah, your a liberal alright. Moron.
Next troll please.
I'm sorrt folks, but energy corporations charging high prices for fuel is one hell of a tax on consumers. Why do the oil companies get a break. The problem is the tax doesn't go to the treasury, it goes to obscene profits for the energy corporations. The middle class are the ones that need a break, not to mention the poor.
Mick Piobr @ 34:
Yeah the hardcore believers are, in my eyes anyway truly, traitors and enemies to this nation, and should be dealt with accordingly.
The undecideds? I haven't met one of those in awhile...everyone I talk to now either is apathetic and doesn't give shit. Or they've already decided one way or the other.
The McBain people are truly ignorant and mean spirited people...nothin nice about them, racist, sexist, and totally don't give a damn about the environment!
Ron @ 43:
Bush/McCain and rest of the GOP to the American people; "let them eat shit!"
And 50% of the population (morons) are standing in line with a bowl and a spoon waiting to get some.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 42:
Yeah no shit...nice try there Agent13...what a total load of bovine feces!
Oil companies are truly evil.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 45:
With a big dumb grin, and thankin them for being so generous!
Idiots!
does anyone in california really wanna wake up and look at this guy's face? the guy's an idiot, and everyone knows it.
i think we lefties really need to start criticizing intelligent people with intelligent ideas.
this stuff just makes my life sad and pathetic.
i mean, how difficult is it (really) to criticize o'reilly?
Hmm...no spin here. Nope. Perfectly "fair and balanced". You crazy liberals are blinded by you "Obamania". Oil companies making billions of dollars, gauging the unwashed masses? That's the American Way! We must protect America's wealthy elites, lest you be labeled an elitist.
;)
Yes I am bitter and I own guns, a bible and I use a tire gage.
But he MUST be right, because he is so loud and insistent, and when you disagree with him, he becomes irate!
Ron @ 50:
Don't forget the bong.
Leave it to o'really to make mcgramps look sane.
Truthseeker @ 49:
That's gouging; you seem to have tire gauges in the head-goo.
BUZZFLASH
"Another Bombshell That Should Lead to Impeachment but Won't: In New Book, Ron Suskind Says CIA Forged Letter, at the Request of the Bush White House, to Falsely Link Saddam to Al Qaeda. The Phony Letter Was Trumpeted by the Likes of Bill O'Reilly."
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0808/12308.html
I believe DRUG TESTING should be MUST for billo and all those that work for FIX news
I went to the the dentist the other day
And as soon as he started drill he put an oil rig in my mouth.
how liberal of you Bill, ya fake fuck
let them all burn in Hell, that's what I'm sayin'
Cognitive Dissonance is Bill O'Rielly's trade.
Here's a man that tells us all how horrible Islamic fundamentalists are, and then says the greatest threat at home are the "secular progressives". You know, the people that don't let religion dominate their world-view.
The "propaganda clown". What a jerk off.
Wouldn't it be cool if we dudes wore those bloomers Elizabethan men wore with the little bag/wallet that fit over the crotch?
You could imagine people's reaction when it came time to pay for something in cash.
So... if I call Bill a "Hole strategically located between two Butt Cheeks" does that still make him an asshole?
In this video clip - O'Reilly said emphatically ,"No one ! No one !! should be cold this winter."
O'Reilly is the one who implied that it was acceptable that some vets live under bridges and I think he was saying that around winter time (when he was bad-mouthing Edwards)
32 Agent13
It's the price-gouging by the energy companies that's CAUSING other companies to fail. They can't afford shipping, they can't afford heat/air-conditioning/electricity/rents. They can't afford to pass them on to consumers who can afford the expense even less.
Another big problem is the credit collapse, but when consumers are forced to choose between their mortgage, and their energy bills, what do you suppose happens?
Don Rumsfeld hater @ 64:
Isn't that because of "Global-Warming?"
ThunderMonkey @ 63:
It's the difference between a time table and a time horizon.
So, instead of a concrete procedure that would create what's known as a "program" to address the issue, we rely on Big Oil's kind heart to toss a a few coins to help appease the victims of their profiteering? Why not make it 3% in exchange for Big Oil having Executive Privileges? Oh, wait a minute, they already have that.
right on! @ 27:
Village idiot.
The dollar is at an all time low and people are surprised that there are "record profits?" Of course there's gonna be record profits but it doesn't mean anything when purchasing power has diminished! People who are selling food are making "record profits" in Zimbabwe since its I think 10 billion zimbabwe dollars to buy a loaf of bread due to the inflation. But obviously they are not rich because its their currency's value that has dropped. If the dollar lost 90% of its value then Oil companies would make even larger "profits" - but they are phony because their purchasing power is diminished- and continues to fall since oil is traded in US dollars.
These profits don't mean anything and should be expected as the US dollar plunges- all that matters is PURCHASING POWER. Taxing the oil companies "windfall profits" has been tried before by Jimmy Carter and its really pointless- all this is going to do is make people say "Hey look he has an idea!" But it doesn't address the FUNDAMENTAL Problem with our monetary policy. That $1000 energy rebate check won't mean much when the dollar is continuing to collapese in value.
ysbaddaden @ 65:
That's easy, you foreclose on the mortgage and evict their asses to the curb. Now they don't have to choose which bill to pay (although we still need to go after them for their past due bills so they can enter the indentured servitude offered by our revised bankruptcy laws).
It's win/win!
It must be difficult, being Bill O'Riley. Living in a reality so warped, twisted and spun, that you can no longer tell fact from fiction, lie from truth, or right from wrong. I hope someday he can get proper medical treatment for his mental condition.
ysbaddaden @ 67:
That's the problem liberals and progressives have... we're looking for solutions to problems and the conservatives keep trying to reinvent the English language to avoid solutions and make up non-existent problems.
I can haz 1.6 bilyunz? Giv plz!
Where did he get 2% from? Oh, I remember, his ass; like where all his profound thinking comes from.
Even Billo can't avoid the truth. Hannity went socialist on Friday when he suggested that new refineries would be needed in a comprehensive energy plan. Big Oil spending their own money to make their own product cheaper for hardworking Americans? I'm sure they'll go for that.
Liberal AND Proud @ 6:
Check the name of the site. Showing these guys is the purpose of the site.
Hey, there's always Youtube..
Billo thinks oil companies should help out needy Americans? For God's sake Bill, I just tore down my Billo shrine that I housed in my sock drawer, because I thought that you were an egotistical, arrogant, self-serving, disgusting son of a bitch. So who are you going to be . . . an asshole or Mother Teresa? I haven't thrown out the stuff yet that I ripped out of my sock drawer.
Wow. That's awfully socialistic of Bill-O
Musk @ 79:
No more sock puppet shows?
Not even Antigone nor Lysistrata?
oil companies could be helpful and set up a grant to help
needy this winter. oil companies should also be held responsible to pay their lease royalties which i've read some have not paid.
pissed off patricia @ 14:
Wouldn't surprise me at all if this is BO's way of trying to upstage Hugo Chavez.
I picture a bunch of oil execs in a plastic-lined room, guzzling beer, and pissing all over pics of O'really while laughing hysterically.
Zenrage @ 70:
Murdoch's best whore.
Merkin @ 78:
Bill-O is too stupid to be a crook, and as far as being a liar...he actually BELIEVES the shit he spews. That is why he gets so pissed off when he's confronted. It isn't that he was caught in a lie, it's that his view of the world has been disrupted.
So...he's neither a crook nor a liar. He's simply...a waste of space.
[sarcasm]Bill's suggestion sounds very Marxist/Christian to me[/sarcasm]
Socialism? Heh.
That's precisely what I thought too, Nicole.
Communities banding together to survive harsh winters? That's a very Canadian concept, I have no shame in telling you. Our founding literature is often about small communities as opposed to the single action heroes like John Wayne. That's not taking a shot at American historical propaganda versus Canadian propaganda, of course; it's just interesting.
Liberal AND Proud @ 85:
I disagree completely...Billo is truly a piece of dried up dog squeezins...but he's far from stupid. He knows what he's doin, and while I agree he believes SOME of the BS he spews forth, most if what he says is carefully scripted propaganda handed down from the WH.
And he just reads it to his adoring, and stupid viewers.
Look, Bill-o is an alumnus of the P.T.Barnum University, School of Social Comment. Therefore it's obviously certain that if he knows (and he always does) what he"s about to say on the air will cause an uproar, then he's damn sure gonna say it.
That being said, we all know Bill-O spews B.S., we've all known that for a while now.
So I have to agree with 6 above. This horse has not only been beaten, it's long since dried to bone and blown away as dust. Enough already.
right on! @ 28:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Da3__AOG12o
ysbaddaden @ 55:
I was employing a literary devise called sarcasm. Sorry, next time I'll just use profanity and tell everyone why the Republicans are stinky-pants.
In the past, has Congress voted corporate tax breaks without adding the proviso that a company only gets the break if it uses the money to create new jobs? If not, I don't understand why Congress would EVER give a company a break on its corporate taxes, unless it had to use the money for a larger good, like providing jobs that put money in people's pockets so they can stimulate the larger, overall economy.
Truthseeker @ 91:
Oh well, in that case next time mcgramps gaffes
He can say he was being sarcastic.
When comedians have sex, do they sarcasm?
How did "taxes" become such an obscene word? George Carlin should have updated his "Seven Words You Can't Say on Radio" with the word "tax." Next thing you know, 12 year olds will be telling each other, "Go tax yourself." Toddlers will be calling each other "big, dumb taxheads."
Taxes are the association dues we pay for belonging to the United States.
ysbaddaden @ 94:
HA!!!
Now that's funny!
The oil companies may not "volunteer" or "donate" any of their profits. These profits belong to their shareholders. Period. End of argument.
OIL
Anne Korin Global Security Analysis,
(Institute for the Analysis of Global Security)
Conservative or Liberal she explains it in plain language
anybody can understand.
This is must see
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=7MVwL2PcCG8
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=I8WRq2C31ao
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=efW_IR-SYJ8
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Ud_E-o2voUE
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=qfSbkiCwv-I
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=s9ua3C0e6Lk
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=HxZzLyV3Cwg
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=Pt7D-3Za-HE
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=6bYFC50hM2M
Bill-O has lost it. He attacks Obama because Obama uses the word "tax" instead" of "charitably donate"? Is he for real?
But maybe Bill-O has something. Half of American voted for Bush in 2004 and 40% or so now favor Bush's water-carrying boy, McCain. Bill-O knows that these same Americans are too stupid to see through rightwing propaganda and will lemming-like vote for McCain because he is a Republican and actually thinking for themselves will make their brains hurt.
Zenrage @ 70:
Stephen Colbert is a court jester. A court jester would pantomine the king and queen and their entourage, making a career out of dancing on the fine line between 'making the king laugh' and 'having the king order your execution.'
O'Reilly? He's just an idiot.
Given that the American people have voted for GOP corruption the last 8 years, maybe $1000.00 a month heating bills are exactly what they deserve. Besides, isn't charity close to communism for these people?
The executives at the oil companies ARE helping their fellow Americans. Their fellow Americans in board rooms everywhere.
Does he actually think that most of those oil companies are acutally RUN by AMERICANS? The foreing investors are NOT giving a damn about "fellow Americans", and neither are the American investors.
What a stupid ass.
NoGWBpolicyleftinplace @ 43:
Oh yeah, it's us against them. I forgot that I'm a liberal therefore I should be paranoid of everything associated with the Republicans or the conservatives and box my thinking into a narrow little space.
Try thinking from the other point of view on occasion Aristotle.
Nationalize Healthcare
Nationalize Oil.
Marc @ 42:
They haven't had any incentive to explore new oil, build new refineries or alternative fuel sources, so why should they? Whose fault is that? Ours! Gas prices surged early in the decade and what did the American public do? We kept paying for it. Now that we've stopped and demand is sinking, prices are going down. That's supply and demand.
We have no one to blame but ourselves. We could have had this a long time ago.
Now with everyone crying "Global Warming" and less people driving, gas companies will start to explore more and expand their energy products to include oil-free options. Trust me; if there is a demand for it, someone will supply it. That's money in their pocket.
i think bill may have accidentally bumped into a conclusion. just now what in f's he going to do?
What a pussy. "Pwease, mista oil executive, can we have a widdwe bit of heat for the cold nights?"
Fuck that. We the people, not we the shareholders. Oil companies should operate at our discretion, not theirs. These monsters are about a hundred years and fifty years overdue being put in check. At the very least, the excesses natural to conglomeration in combination with an exclusive profit motive need to be regulated down to something saner and more just.
Can BillO say R-O-Y-A-L-T-I-E-S? You know, the ones the oil companies were supposed to be paying the U.S. for extracting our natural resources from our land?
Now he talks about unconstitutional...
This O'Reilly fella is a full blown case of mental illness. He has a major personality disorder that needs to be treated. Please seek help, for the sake of all of us!
Stop the Psychosis!
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