The Right State

I like Thomas Sowell.  He is straight to point and does not seem to have time to put up with nonsense.  He is one of the few who seem to understand the issue of the high gas prices.  Debra Saunders on the other hand, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, bemoans the fact that oil companies are making too much money.

Bush picked up congressional leaders’ call for an FTC investigation into gouging. (Like that will help.) He also called on Congress to revoke tax breaks for Big Oil to the tune of $2 billion over 10 years — when Americans know that if Bush were serious, he would have called oil company executives into the White House and told them to cut prices — or lose the tax breaks tomorrow.

But Sowell goes straight to the point about why gas prices are so high.

Is it rocket science that, when oil prices hit new highs, gasoline prices also hit new highs? Do you think the price of wheat could double without the price of bread going up? Would we have politicians running around spouting off about “gouging” by Big Wheat?

Is it rocket science that, when huge countries like India and China have rapidly growing economies, their demand for oil goes up by leaps and bounds? Is it rocket science that, when demand shoots up but supply doesn’t go up as much, prices rise?

It is all politics.  People are complaining because gas prices are so high.  It is one of the few things people buy all by itself.  The price of gas can be seen as people fill their cars.  If consumers had to go to one store and buy sugar and another to buy bread, then they would be complaining about those prices.  When consumers complain, politicians listen, especially when their future employment might hinge on how they respond to the growing clamor to ‘do something.’

Something should have already been done.  Drilling in ANWR when the issue was first brought up would have gone a long way towards shoring up some of our oil supplies.  These same people do not want any more refineries built.  They do not want any more drilling done in the US.  They do want more renewable energy sources built like the wind turbines, but they do not want them my backyard (i.e. Senator Kennedy D-MA).

And now the Republicans have decided to join the chorus of angry (fake) Democrats who are demanding an investigation into price gouging by the oil companies.  As it is now, the oil companies are making approximately nine cents a gallon on gas sold in the US.  Where is the gouging there?

Conversely, the federal and state governments are making between thirty-five and sixty cents per gallon.  I think you could call that price gouging.  The gas tax is what needs to be reduced which would lower prices at the pump.  Right now the President is being blamed for something he can not control.  He is even blamed for the tax breaks the oil companies receive.  Even though the President signed the bill, it was a bipartisan Congress who gave the tax breaks.

Tags: Politics by Chuck
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Quote of the Day from the Kos kids.  Apparently the ultra-liberal Sierra Club is sponsoring Lincoln Chaffee, R-RI.  (To me that is scarey.  In the South, an endorsement by the Sierra Club would signal a death knell for any candidate.) When asked why, the Sierra Club responded that Chaffee scored 100% on environmental issues.  Then this statement is added.

I wish conservative issue groups were this stupid. And I wish ours were as smart as theirs.

Tags: Culture, Politics by Chuck
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It is a well known and established fact that Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, has its flaws and is sometimes incorrect.  The problem is anyone can make a correction to the site.  Wikipedia has been used by politicians in the past to either bolster their own credentials or slam their opponents.

Enter the gubernatorial Democratic primary election in Georgia.  The winner of this election will face off against Republican Sonny Purdue, the current governor.  According to CNN the campaign manager for candidate Cathy Cox, Morton Brilliant, added an entry into the online encyclopedia about the family of her opponent, Lt. Governor Mark Taylor.

“Taylor’s son Fletcher recently was involved in an alcohol-related car accident. The passenger in his car, whom Fletcher identified as his best friend, was killed. Currently, Fletcher is in an alcohol treatment facility awaiting trial.”

Cox has repeatedly indicated to her staff that the family of her opponents is off limits.  Brilliant on the other hand has resigned his position in the wake of this current flap.

But what I want to know is why it always seems to be the Democrats who use these kinds of shenanigans.

Remember this:

A former Democratic operative will plead guilty to a federal charge of illegally obtaining Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael S. Steele’s credit report, the woman’s attorney said yesterday.

She was part of Charles Schumer’s DSCC who was trying to find some dirt on Steele.  This operative had to steal Steele’s SSN# and then illegally obtain the report.  They will stop at nothing to win an election. Hat tip to Delmarva Dealings

Remember how in each election the Democrats sue to keep the polls open longer.  I guess that way, they can slash more tires of the Republican vans bringing people to the polls while having road worthy vans themselves to carry their supporters to the polls. (Hat tip to Culture of Corruption)

Remember how Al Gore went to the Courts to try to win the election in 2000.  And even went so far as to disallow votes from our men and women in uniform who are protecting, fighting and dying for us, just because the military does not always place a stamp on their mail.

According to the New York Times there was voter intimidation at the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004.  (The article can found here)

The Justice Department has opened a criminal investigation and is demanding records regarding Internet postings by critics of the Bush administration that list the names of Republican delegates and urge protesters to give them an unwelcome reception in New York City.
Federal prosecutors said in a grand jury subpoena that the information was needed as part of an investigation into possible voter intimidation.

Remember the bait-and-switch of Jean Carnahan in Missouri with her deceased husband in the election of 2000 and Frank Lautenberg in New Jersey after Robert Torricelli resigned after a corruption scandal.  Hat tip to Cynical Nation.

The problem is that I could go on and on and on. The Democrats talk about a “Culture of Corruption” in the Republican ranks, but I think they should look at home first.  Even now the Democrats have their own problem with Alan Mollohan. (Hat tip to EyeHackerBlog)

And who can ever forget the scandal ridden Clinton administration where there was one REAL scandal after another.  And I will not even attempt to list those.

Then there is the story of Alan Mollohan the top Democrat on the House Ethic Committee who had to step down because of his scandel.

The top Democrat on the House ethics committee, Alan Mollohan, will leave the panel _ at least temporarily while he defends his own financial conduct, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi said Friday.

Mollohan’s decision comes in an election year when his party is accusing majority Republicans of allowing a “culture of corruption” in Congress.

The Wall Street Journal reported two weeks ago that Mollohan steered millions of dollars to nonprofit groups in his district _ with much of the money going to organizations run by people who contribute to the lawmaker’s campaigns.

So the Republicans are not the only ones with a problem.  Political corruption has always been with us. Splinter’s Blog has a good rundown on why we have so much scandal in Congress and why it runs so deep.

Congress has always been corrupted by the almighty Dollar. Those that have loads of money to spend on paid lobbyists tend to get their way when there’s legislation that’s favorable to their clients’ interest at the expense of others.

The Founding Fathers wanted a transparant government due to what His Majesty, George VI, put them through when petitions being turned away and our complaints being turned aside until we couldn’t take it anymore. One of the things that they guarenteed Americans is that if we needed to petition for a redress of grievances, that, we’d be heard. This was supposed to level the playing field to some extant.

The point is that the Democrats are just pointing fingers and hoping some of their mud throwing will stick.  And I have to give them credit.  The Dems are doing a good job of deflecting much of the public’s attention on to the Republican Party.  Of course the Democrats also have a willing accomplices in the MSM who report on every hiccup of the Republicans.  If only they were as willing to treat both sides of the political spectrum equally.  Maybe that is too much to ask.

The Wikipedia scandal is just one more to stack on all the other scandels shared by the corrupt Democratic Party.  The Dems will point out Tom Delay, money laundering, and George Bush, he lied, but both are false.  The charges against Delay were brought about by a partisan hack in Travis County prosecutor, Ronnie Earl.  After a two year investigation and numerous leaks to the media, this is all he could come up with?  And President Bush did not lie any more than President Clinton or the members of Congress lied.  This is nothing more than partisan politics.  The Democrats on the other hand have REAL scandals.  (For more of the Democrats scandals go to The Culture of Corruption)

Tags: Bias, Culture, Politics by Chuck
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