Gas Prices Are Down So How Is Exxon Gouging?
Oct 26, 2006 Uncategorized
When gas prices were at all time highs (for the US) and Exxon made 11 billion dollars in profit we were inundated with complaints of price gouging. Democrats in Congress rode two blocks in gas guzzling cars to a gas station, got out leaving the cars running to stay cool and went before the cameras to tell us how evil the oil companies are. We were exposed to these horrible stories of price gouging and calls for Congressional investigations as well as, guess what, taxes. Yes, there were some in Congress who wanted to slap windfall profit taxes on the oil companies.
Fast forward to now and gas prices are down. The hurricane season has been mild, or George Bush has not conjured up any like he did Katrina. The consumption of gasoline is down and the price of oil is falling. Welcome to Economics 101. Supply and demand is what regulates a market and its prices. Now though, we have a real conundrum and that is, Exxon has made a 10 billion third quarter profit and the price of gasoline is down. I paid $2.13 today and in some places I have seen it around $2.09. These prices are down and yet Exxon still made billions in profit. How can it be? They must still be gouging us.
Amazingly, we do not have politicians out in front of gas stations crying foul over these newest profit numbers. They would have a hard time convincing people they were being gouged on two dollar a gallon gas. So, the political opportunity is not there. The question still remains though and that is, how did Exxon make so much money if they are not gouging poor Joe six pack?
Perhaps it is because Exxon sells a lot of petroleum products that are not gas, on which it makes little profit. Perhaps it is because they are a strong company and have world wide entities. Whatever the reason, they are not gouging us and they were not gouging us when gas was over three dollars a gallon. If we had gone with the windfall taxes we would have forced the company to pay more money that it should and costs would have been passed on to consumers. If we had tried many of the other hair brained schemes that were proposed we would have artificially lowered the price without a commensurate increase in supply. People would have used more and depleted an already shallow supply.
Thank goodness that cooler heads prevailed and we are now able to pay lower prices. The time tested principles of economics work well when government does not interfere.
Source: My Way News
Tags: News
Smoking Emergency
Oct 22, 2006 Political
Seems to me that Omaha is not the most jumping place in the country. I have never heard anyone say they wanted to get out of their home town and make it big in, Omaha. With that in mind, why would Omaha do stupid things that might just make businesses pick up and leave? Omaha has a ban on smoking in about 97% of establishments there. People are encouraged to call 9-1-1 if they see someone light up where they shouldn’t. Imagine that, smoking in the wrong place is now an emergency crime. What next? Call 9-1-1 if someone speeds, if someone jaywalks, if your pizza is late?
Smoking is a disgusting habit, no doubt about it and even most smokers would admit to that. It is however, a legal habit. Tobacco is sold, and heavily taxed, in this country and people are allowed to use it. So why make a law that prohibits people from lighting up if they want to? Why should the government be able to tell a business what their customers may do so long as the activity is legal? Even if we concede that it was OK to make such a silly law, how is it justified to call 9-1-1?
It is amazing to me that more people do not protest the acts of the government. They ban a perfectly legal activity and ask everyone to be part of the nanny state and call in if they notice someone lighting up. This is a gross invasion and yet no one is speaking up. Those same people who fell that the government listening to phone calls is an intrusion see nothing wrong with this. Pretty soon, smokers will be hiding under covers in their houses sneaking cigarettes while child molesters walk the streets unmolested (pun intended).
If the government wants to make tobacco illegal, why don’t they just do it? They play these games and cause all kinds of unnecessary problems and force people to pay $100 fines for stupidity. Either ban smoking completely or allow businesses to decide what will occur on their property. Government will never ban smoking. It makes too much money in taxes from the sales. It would rather make it illegal in some places so that more money can be collected.
Big brother is watching you and it isn’t the Bush administration.
Dumbest Hoax Contest
Oct 21, 2006 Uncategorized
A grocery store clerk is being held on charges that he perpetrated the dirty bomb hoax involving seven NFL stadiums this coming Sunday. Twenty year old Jake Brahm of Wisconsin states that he was involved in a contest with another man to see who could circulate the scariest Internet rumor. While he is in jail he will learn what scary is when some guy named Bubba tries to make him a love slave.
This guy might have wanted to make the scariest threat but his efforts ended up being the dumbest. Brahm must not have been born with much common sense to believe he could post this kind of information and not attract attention. This guy is older but no brighter than the young girl in California who posted threats to the President on her My Space account. The major difference is, she is a young teen and should have parental supervision and he is 20 and is supposed to be an adult.
This guy is an idiot but I do not want to see him go to jail. I want the judge to say that this guy is not allowed to own a computer or to access the Internet for the next 10 years. If he breaks this he will have to go to jail for the amount of time left on the probation. This will give the idiot a bit of time to think about his stupidity.
Source:
The Smoking Gun
Tags: News
US Reaches 300 Million People
Oct 17, 2006 Immigration
A few seconds ago at 0746 EST, the population of the United States reached 300 million. This is, of course an estimate because we have no way of knowing just how many people sneak into this country each day.
Many in the world have opined that the US is growing and consuming more than its fair share (as if fair share can be determined). I have an idea. We can send the 11 million or so ILLEGALS back from whence they came and reduce our draw on the fair share of supplies in the world.
Maybe some of the countries who are complaining could take them off our hands.
Tags: News
North Korea Defies International Community
Oct 9, 2006 Political
North Korea is reporting that it conducted underground nuclear testing in defiance of the International Community. This is the second time in months that North Korea has thumbed its nose at the world. It would appear that the little tyrant is trying to provoke his neighbors into smacking him around.
Interestingly, North Korea is reporting that the nuke was made with items indigenous to the country.
“The nuclear test was conducted with indigenous wisdom and technology 100 percent,” North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency said.
“It marks a historic event as it greatly encouraged and pleased the KPA (Korean People’s Army) and people that have wished to have powerful self-reliant defense capability.” Jack Kim -Reuters
It is difficult to take that claim seriously given that over the years North Korea has been in bed with various countries willing to help them do things to antagonize the US. Unfortunately, the US is not blameless since the last administration provided North Korea with items to make reactors so long as they did not enrich weapons grade Uranium (smile, smile, wink, wink). The ink was not yet dry on the paper before the thugs in North Korea began developing nuclear weapons.
The Democrats like to blame this acquisition on George Bush because the “discovery” of nuclear weapons came on his watch but the fact is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) could not rule out nuclear weapons more than a decade ago. The blind eye was turned by the Clinton administration and then North Korea was given assistance in exchange for a promise not to build nukes.
It will not be long, I suppose, before a movie comes out depicting the path to nuclear North Korea in which all of this is laid out. It will be interesting to see the former president out trying to defend his legacy by poking his finger at reporters and denying that he had anything to do with it.
Of course, as with anything that goes wrong in the world, it is George Bush’s fault.
UPDATE: The explosion i might have touched off an Earthquake.
Others writing about this:
Stop the ACLU