What determines the price of gasoline is a question that for years I've been asking media representatives, public agencies, and government officials, including the Bush administration. I have yet to receive an answer or a show of interest.
I hope President Obama's policies of government transparency don't stop where the interests of energy profits begin.
If they don't, I will receive answers to the questions I asked of him today:
What and who determines oil prices?
How does lack of anti-trust-law enforcement affect those prices?
Who is in charge of setting prices at the pump?
What influences traders in the futures markets and who is guarding against price manipulation at that level?
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2009
Monday, June 23, 2008
Lets build a nuclear plant in Granville
Thanks to Gov. Strickland and state legislators, Ohio is facing the threat of more nuclear reactors.
Associated Press wrote a good summary of this situation. I didn't see it in print anywhere but located it instead via Google. Here's the link.
Congratulations to Ohio government for this decision, and to the media for alerting us after the fact. Well, no, media haven't really done that yet.
Property owners will have no voice in where these things go. Could be Granville, for all we know. And how about stockpiling the nuclear waste out on West Main Street?
Whether it works out that way or not, you can bet the bureaucrats and energy companies are going to destroy the safety, security and property values of some nice neighborhoods.
They will, that is, unless Ohio citizens intervene.
Associated Press wrote a good summary of this situation. I didn't see it in print anywhere but located it instead via Google. Here's the link.
Congratulations to Ohio government for this decision, and to the media for alerting us after the fact. Well, no, media haven't really done that yet.
Property owners will have no voice in where these things go. Could be Granville, for all we know. And how about stockpiling the nuclear waste out on West Main Street?
Whether it works out that way or not, you can bet the bureaucrats and energy companies are going to destroy the safety, security and property values of some nice neighborhoods.
They will, that is, unless Ohio citizens intervene.
Friday, June 20, 2008
So the war isn't about oil?
If you think the Bush Government War isn't about oil, you might want to read "Big Oil Firms Ready to Sign Agreements With Iraq" in a report yesterday by the Washington Post.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
A lesson from 1973, but Big Oil owns the government
If you think $4 a gallon is anything but a full-court press by Big Oil and Big Government to get America to agree to off-shore drilling, then you're too young or too historically lame to know how the game was played in 1973. That's when Nixon, Agnew, OPEC and Big Oil conspired to force the building of the Alaska Pipeline over objections of environmentalists.
I saw it coming early in May when I wrote here to watch for Bush to seal some Big Oil/Energy deals because it became evident to me that we were into a replay of the 1973 shafting.
May 2 was when Pat Tiberi, (the Republican representing the western part of Licking County in the U.S. House) revealed the Bush Government's plan to "reduce energy costs in the near term" - and put the blame on Democrats. I wrote then that "This is the Bush Empire's first move in a final drive to seal some deals for the oil/energy brethren before he departs. Watch it unfold."
Since then the drumbeat has grown louder. Yesterday, no less than Senator McCain joined up. According to today's Washington Post, he called "for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, offering an aggressive response to high gasoline prices ..."
Oh, yes, John. Like this isn't an exact replay of Big Oil/Big Government conspiracy of 1973?
First, a little tussle between the Jews and Arabs October 6, which gave OPEC an excuse to impose an oil embargo 11 days later. According to a report by PBS: "Overnight, the price of a barrel of oil rises from $3 to over $5. Gas at the pumps will soon rise from 30 cents per gallon to $1.20, and drivers will wait in long lines to fill up their tanks."
Then on Nov. 16, the report continues: In direct response to the oil crisis, President Nixon signs the Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law. Nixon introduces "Project Independence" in a televised speech: "Throughout history, America has made great sacrifices of blood and also treasure to achieve and maintain its independence. In the last third of this century, our independence will depend on maintaining and achieving self-sufficiency in energy."
By December oil was at $11.65 and January 3, 1974 a federal permit was issued that allowed construction to start.
So watch the Bush-McCain Government at work. And if you don't think its owned by Big Oil, you will before this is over.
I saw it coming early in May when I wrote here to watch for Bush to seal some Big Oil/Energy deals because it became evident to me that we were into a replay of the 1973 shafting.
May 2 was when Pat Tiberi, (the Republican representing the western part of Licking County in the U.S. House) revealed the Bush Government's plan to "reduce energy costs in the near term" - and put the blame on Democrats. I wrote then that "This is the Bush Empire's first move in a final drive to seal some deals for the oil/energy brethren before he departs. Watch it unfold."
Since then the drumbeat has grown louder. Yesterday, no less than Senator McCain joined up. According to today's Washington Post, he called "for an end to the federal ban on offshore oil drilling, offering an aggressive response to high gasoline prices ..."
Oh, yes, John. Like this isn't an exact replay of Big Oil/Big Government conspiracy of 1973?
First, a little tussle between the Jews and Arabs October 6, which gave OPEC an excuse to impose an oil embargo 11 days later. According to a report by PBS: "Overnight, the price of a barrel of oil rises from $3 to over $5. Gas at the pumps will soon rise from 30 cents per gallon to $1.20, and drivers will wait in long lines to fill up their tanks."
Then on Nov. 16, the report continues: In direct response to the oil crisis, President Nixon signs the Trans Alaska Pipeline Authorization Act into law. Nixon introduces "Project Independence" in a televised speech: "Throughout history, America has made great sacrifices of blood and also treasure to achieve and maintain its independence. In the last third of this century, our independence will depend on maintaining and achieving self-sufficiency in energy."
By December oil was at $11.65 and January 3, 1974 a federal permit was issued that allowed construction to start.
So watch the Bush-McCain Government at work. And if you don't think its owned by Big Oil, you will before this is over.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
We need tight regulation of futures markets
I've insisted in many journal entries that rules of supply and demand cannot be driving the price of gasoline. I've urged that competition be restored among energy producers and that big media would get over their stupid resistance to digging out the story, such as the con job presented by Associated Press 5/25/08. Look up my references to these observations by entering "energy" and "gasoline" in the search box at the top of the page.
Among ways the federal government is manipulating this market and others is by allowing the giant casino called "futures market" to continue unchecked - where trillion-dollar hedge funds cause prices to rise and fall at the behest of the trillionaires who are calling the shots for profit and more profit.
That such markets should be allowed to dictate prices I pay for gasoline, bread, and other essentials is nothing short of criminal. That these economic forces are not being fully regulated and/or secretly regulated is even more criminal.
On 5/29/08 the Huston Chronicle wrote about the fact that the regulators of oil traders had told the public about an investigation into the cause of abnormal oil prices. Read it here.
And yesterday, 6/6/08, the Washington Post wrote about that subject again at this link.
Citizens interested in regaining the advantages of a free marketplace - meaning, for example, affordable gasoline - should demand reform and tight regulation of futures markets from Washington.
Among ways the federal government is manipulating this market and others is by allowing the giant casino called "futures market" to continue unchecked - where trillion-dollar hedge funds cause prices to rise and fall at the behest of the trillionaires who are calling the shots for profit and more profit.
That such markets should be allowed to dictate prices I pay for gasoline, bread, and other essentials is nothing short of criminal. That these economic forces are not being fully regulated and/or secretly regulated is even more criminal.
On 5/29/08 the Huston Chronicle wrote about the fact that the regulators of oil traders had told the public about an investigation into the cause of abnormal oil prices. Read it here.
And yesterday, 6/6/08, the Washington Post wrote about that subject again at this link.
Citizens interested in regaining the advantages of a free marketplace - meaning, for example, affordable gasoline - should demand reform and tight regulation of futures markets from Washington.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
We must require oil/energy competition
If you've wondered, as I have, where all the money goes when you pay nearly $4 for a gallon of gas, the answer is given - at least in part - by an article in the New York Times Business section.
Entitled "Exxon's Texas-size war chest," it tells how this company is hoarding its money, while preventing the value of its stock to rise much and avoiding the need to share most of the loot with its own shareholders.
It does this, in part, by buying back its own stock and has amassed a quarter-trillion-dollar war chest with which it is expected to swallow up other companies when the time is right.
All of which again points to the burning need to bust up this giant robber and others like it, to begin enforcing anti-trust laws, and to require competitive practices in multinational companies, especially those selling oil and energy.
Entitled "Exxon's Texas-size war chest," it tells how this company is hoarding its money, while preventing the value of its stock to rise much and avoiding the need to share most of the loot with its own shareholders.
It does this, in part, by buying back its own stock and has amassed a quarter-trillion-dollar war chest with which it is expected to swallow up other companies when the time is right.
All of which again points to the burning need to bust up this giant robber and others like it, to begin enforcing anti-trust laws, and to require competitive practices in multinational companies, especially those selling oil and energy.
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Another con job on the price of gasoline
It was almost as though Associated Press set out to answer "Big Media and Big Oil - are they one and the same?" which was my question here 5/20/08.
AP wrote, and the Advocate reproduced 5/25/08, an article under the headline "What makes up the price of gas?"
The most interesting thing about this piece are the sources used by AP: There was Jim Ritterbusch, whose firm does consulting for oil companies; there was "the federal government;" and there was the American Petroleum Institute and that's all.
The article took up most of a full page and all it said was, in effect, prices are a function of the open market. What else might one expect from AP?
As though the "open market" can operate freely when a few gigantic, multinational corporations own the Bush Administration and its rule-making machinery, just as farmers own the agriculture regulators, and the drug companies own the FDA.
Instead of settling any question about whether Big Oil and Big Media are one and the same, AP wrote yet another con job on oil prices, and it served only to make my question more relevant.
AP wrote, and the Advocate reproduced 5/25/08, an article under the headline "What makes up the price of gas?"
The most interesting thing about this piece are the sources used by AP: There was Jim Ritterbusch, whose firm does consulting for oil companies; there was "the federal government;" and there was the American Petroleum Institute and that's all.
The article took up most of a full page and all it said was, in effect, prices are a function of the open market. What else might one expect from AP?
As though the "open market" can operate freely when a few gigantic, multinational corporations own the Bush Administration and its rule-making machinery, just as farmers own the agriculture regulators, and the drug companies own the FDA.
Instead of settling any question about whether Big Oil and Big Media are one and the same, AP wrote yet another con job on oil prices, and it served only to make my question more relevant.
Zack Space votes for consumers
Thanks to Zack Space, our U.S. Representative, for his affirmative vote on HR6074 that amends the Sherman Act to make oil-producing and exporting cartels illegal. It authorizes the Justice Department to pursue enenrgy antitrust and price-fixing cases. John Beohner and Jean Schmidt were the only two Ohio Congressmen to vote against this measure. You can read more here.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Big Media and Big Oil - are they one and the same?
The Greatest Story Never Written is what's going on with gasoline prices and what's causing it. That, aside from Big Media's failings on wars and their causes, is their greatest and most costly failing in my memory. Big Media simply will not address the hidden story of manipulation of world energy supplies and the power and riches resulting therefrom.
I have maintained throughout the years that the laws of supply and demand do not freely operate in energy markets (and many others controlled by government). Because of that, as I said here 5/2/08, Bush and the oil companies are eating America alive and mass media can't see that the Energy Empire - using front men like Pat Tiberi - is in a final drive to seal some deals before Bush departs. Read it here.
Breitbart reported 5/17/08that Bush said "Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy and continue our strategy for the advancing of alternative energies as well as conservation."
Was my prediction on target?
Two days later Cal Thomas, who sometimes seems half-bright, wrote an Advocate column that had what he wants us to believe is the answer to our problems. He quoted an expert on why repeal of the $17 billion in tax breaks to oil companies would be wrong and why oil companies should be allowed to defy environmentalist concerns about off-shore drilling. His source? That would be Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron.
Brilliant journalist, that Cal Thomas.
The fact is that Americans and the rest of the world are under attack by oil companies, politicians, speculators, and most of all the President of the United States.
The oil swindle started with President George H. W. Bush and helped propel George W. into office. You can read how this occurred in a report by Samuel A. Stanson, entitled Did former President George H. W. Bush create an oil crisis in order to get his son elected?
Then read another well-researched piece by Emanuel A. Winston at Israelenews.com:"The Oil Swindle Never Stopped"
All Big Media need to do is to pick up on this research. They haven't and likely they won't. They will keep publishing rehashes of oil company propaganda written by hopeless hacks like Cal Thomas.
Is it because Big Media are too lazy and/or too stupid? Or is it rather because - somewhere up the feeding chain - Big Media and Big Oil are one and the same?
I have maintained throughout the years that the laws of supply and demand do not freely operate in energy markets (and many others controlled by government). Because of that, as I said here 5/2/08, Bush and the oil companies are eating America alive and mass media can't see that the Energy Empire - using front men like Pat Tiberi - is in a final drive to seal some deals before Bush departs. Read it here.
Breitbart reported 5/17/08that Bush said "Our problem in America gets solved when we aggressively go for domestic exploration. Our problem in America gets solved if we expand our refining capacity, promote nuclear energy and continue our strategy for the advancing of alternative energies as well as conservation."
Was my prediction on target?
Two days later Cal Thomas, who sometimes seems half-bright, wrote an Advocate column that had what he wants us to believe is the answer to our problems. He quoted an expert on why repeal of the $17 billion in tax breaks to oil companies would be wrong and why oil companies should be allowed to defy environmentalist concerns about off-shore drilling. His source? That would be Peter Robertson, vice chairman of Chevron.
Brilliant journalist, that Cal Thomas.
The fact is that Americans and the rest of the world are under attack by oil companies, politicians, speculators, and most of all the President of the United States.
The oil swindle started with President George H. W. Bush and helped propel George W. into office. You can read how this occurred in a report by Samuel A. Stanson, entitled Did former President George H. W. Bush create an oil crisis in order to get his son elected?
Then read another well-researched piece by Emanuel A. Winston at Israelenews.com:"The Oil Swindle Never Stopped"
All Big Media need to do is to pick up on this research. They haven't and likely they won't. They will keep publishing rehashes of oil company propaganda written by hopeless hacks like Cal Thomas.
Is it because Big Media are too lazy and/or too stupid? Or is it rather because - somewhere up the feeding chain - Big Media and Big Oil are one and the same?
Friday, May 2, 2008
Watch for Bush to seal some Big Oil/Energy deals
In all this time since Bush took office and oil companies have been eating America alive, mass media still can't figure out how it's being done or by whom. America's representatives in government - local, state, federal - pretend they can't figure it out and/or refuse to acknowledge the reality of it.
Mass media stupidly continue quoting "energy experts" who stupidly persist in "supply and demand" theories that work only in a free market, to which oil and other forms of energy haven't belonged for decades simply because government interference and refusal to enforce anti-trust laws negates free-market principles.
Any big news machine could get to the bottom of all this in a hurry. But none of them have - not once that I remember - nor do I expect them to.
What's going to happen instead of that is a new push for oil/energy-friendly legislation. Not free market legislation. Not anti-trust law enforcement. No. What we're going to get is more oil/energy-friendly legislation.
And right now - today - you can go to the WCLT website and read "A Local Congressman Talks About the Current Energy Problems" and see how Pat Tiberi (Republican) would give us "relief" - not by enforcement of anti-trust laws but by freeing up energy reserves in Alaska and the Dakotas and goosing up nuclear energy. Exactly the things Big Oil/Energy has been wanting.
This is the Bush Empire's first move in a final drive to seal some deals for the oil/energy brethren before he departs. Watch it unfold.
Mass media stupidly continue quoting "energy experts" who stupidly persist in "supply and demand" theories that work only in a free market, to which oil and other forms of energy haven't belonged for decades simply because government interference and refusal to enforce anti-trust laws negates free-market principles.
Any big news machine could get to the bottom of all this in a hurry. But none of them have - not once that I remember - nor do I expect them to.
What's going to happen instead of that is a new push for oil/energy-friendly legislation. Not free market legislation. Not anti-trust law enforcement. No. What we're going to get is more oil/energy-friendly legislation.
And right now - today - you can go to the WCLT website and read "A Local Congressman Talks About the Current Energy Problems" and see how Pat Tiberi (Republican) would give us "relief" - not by enforcement of anti-trust laws but by freeing up energy reserves in Alaska and the Dakotas and goosing up nuclear energy. Exactly the things Big Oil/Energy has been wanting.
This is the Bush Empire's first move in a final drive to seal some deals for the oil/energy brethren before he departs. Watch it unfold.
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Dispatch reader explains high gasoline prices
"It really steams me that not one presidential candidate has addressed the price of gasoline." So begins a letter to the editor of today's Columbus Dispatch, written by Jack Crowley of Nelsonville, OH.
Crowley has hit our country's economic problems head-on by enumerating the ways in which the United States government, at the behest of President Bush, is screwing Americans in the pocketbooks and in the comfort zones because he holds this magic wand over gasoline prices. It is universally explained away as the effect of "supply and demand," though such principles can apply only to an open, unfettered and unregulated marketplace.
It is astonishing that the Presidential candidates never mention the price of gasoline and diesel fuel as the basis of our economy's present catastrophe; nor does Congress; nor do mainstream media; nor are there demands for reform from citizens.
This sham operates from behind the smoke and mirrors called "supply and demand." That it goes unchallenged demonstrates the incredible degree of incompetency of our society. (For a plethora of thoughts on this theme, go to the search box above and type in "gasoline.")
We are simply eating the Big Weenie of Bush and his buddies - as though it's to be expected with an oil-rich President and as though nobody can reign him in.
Only one other person in the entire U.S. seems to understand that, and his name is Jack Crowley. Go read his letter.
Crowley has hit our country's economic problems head-on by enumerating the ways in which the United States government, at the behest of President Bush, is screwing Americans in the pocketbooks and in the comfort zones because he holds this magic wand over gasoline prices. It is universally explained away as the effect of "supply and demand," though such principles can apply only to an open, unfettered and unregulated marketplace.
It is astonishing that the Presidential candidates never mention the price of gasoline and diesel fuel as the basis of our economy's present catastrophe; nor does Congress; nor do mainstream media; nor are there demands for reform from citizens.
This sham operates from behind the smoke and mirrors called "supply and demand." That it goes unchallenged demonstrates the incredible degree of incompetency of our society. (For a plethora of thoughts on this theme, go to the search box above and type in "gasoline.")
We are simply eating the Big Weenie of Bush and his buddies - as though it's to be expected with an oil-rich President and as though nobody can reign him in.
Only one other person in the entire U.S. seems to understand that, and his name is Jack Crowley. Go read his letter.
Friday, January 25, 2008
Foreign aid for Newark Ohio
Makes me all warm and fuzzy because those crazy people in Washington are giving foreign aid to people in Newark Ohio like they give it to other countries.
We're going to get paid with tax money for being taxpayers and it's going to cost $150 billion.
They all know, of course, that there is nothing in their federal pants pockets; nothing but debt, meaning they are creating even more debt to "pay" us.
There they were, in that bill-signing photo yesterday, all those crazy congressional leaders, sitting there with the craziest among all crazies, our very own President Bush, smiling at each other and signing this boondoggle and proclaiming it as a fix.
And never once mentioning - nobody ever does - the price of oil which has, and is, devastating our economy to the point where we get foreign aid to survive in Newark Ohio until the election.
We're going to get paid with tax money for being taxpayers and it's going to cost $150 billion.
They all know, of course, that there is nothing in their federal pants pockets; nothing but debt, meaning they are creating even more debt to "pay" us.
There they were, in that bill-signing photo yesterday, all those crazy congressional leaders, sitting there with the craziest among all crazies, our very own President Bush, smiling at each other and signing this boondoggle and proclaiming it as a fix.
And never once mentioning - nobody ever does - the price of oil which has, and is, devastating our economy to the point where we get foreign aid to survive in Newark Ohio until the election.
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Looking for conspiracy? Check for media-government connections
Most baffling to me about my fellow citizens is their inability to make themselves heard about energy prices. It is not an issue among Presidential candidates; it is not a concern of Congress; newspapers lay it to "supply and demand." I say it's conspiracy.
If 81 percent of Americans believe it is "somewhat likely" or "very likely" that oil companies conspire to keep the price of gasoline high, (as has been determined by a Scripps Howard News Service/Ohio University poll and reported in the Columbus Dispatch this morning), why aren't they communicating about this to their government? And if they are communicating to their government about it, why isn't government investigating? And if they're not investigating, why isn't media investigating?
Here's my conspiracy theory: That not only are oil companies conspiring, but international governments are also conspiring, and our President is a ringleader. Not only is that conspiracy dogging us at the gas pump, but so is another: that big media is in on it too.
You'll wipe that snicker off your face if you'll go read the report on how the New York Times withheld a story about Pakistan for three years because Bush said so.
Now consider the biggest story ever about what I think is the biggest conspiracy of the Bush Administration, which is oil-price finagling, and guess why there are no meaningful media reports on why gasoline is $3+ per gallon.
If 81 percent of Americans believe it is "somewhat likely" or "very likely" that oil companies conspire to keep the price of gasoline high, (as has been determined by a Scripps Howard News Service/Ohio University poll and reported in the Columbus Dispatch this morning), why aren't they communicating about this to their government? And if they are communicating to their government about it, why isn't government investigating? And if they're not investigating, why isn't media investigating?
Here's my conspiracy theory: That not only are oil companies conspiring, but international governments are also conspiring, and our President is a ringleader. Not only is that conspiracy dogging us at the gas pump, but so is another: that big media is in on it too.
You'll wipe that snicker off your face if you'll go read the report on how the New York Times withheld a story about Pakistan for three years because Bush said so.
Now consider the biggest story ever about what I think is the biggest conspiracy of the Bush Administration, which is oil-price finagling, and guess why there are no meaningful media reports on why gasoline is $3+ per gallon.
Thursday, November 15, 2007
New lobby law, Hillary lies, more government intrusion, how did our mystery senator vote on screwing consumers?
New lobby law
Here's the link to a web site on which you will find a copy of the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007" and also wealth of information that relates to this subject.
Hillary can't quit lying because her last name is Clinton
No matter what kind of weaseling Hill attempts, she just can't hide the fact that she's a Clintonian liar. In the Des Moines forum where a question for her was planted she denied knowledge of it.
Sure.
Next spectacular lie is the waitress tip bugger-up. Someone forgot to tip a waitress during a "Middle-Class Express" pit stop in Iowa. Think about it. That's no big deal. It surely was a mistake and all they had to do was admit it. Not the Clinton way. Next day's report by AP declared that Hill's people did leave a tip with the manager who took the fall for the Senator, saying it was his fault the waitress didn't get the tip. The controversy and the weaseling continued in an NPR report, the most significant statement of which came from the waitress who said, "Why would I lie about not getting a tip?" And why would Hillary lie? Because that's the Clinton way to do things.
So, when Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland endorsed her and put out a feeler for becoming her VP, he didn't exactly collect voters' points. But the veracity of the both of them came through quite well in this USA Today report:
Asked if she would consider Strickland as a running mate, Clinton said such talk was "premature." For his part, Strickland made a strong and Sherman-esque statement – he is not interested in being the running mate to Clinton or anyone else.
Pffft
Vaccination or jail
Go read this report if you want to get pissed off about government intrusion into lives of citizens. Bureaucrats in Prince George's County VA, (bordering Washington DC) are threatening to jail parents of school children who have not gotten vaccinations as required by the state.
Electric customers shafted by Ohio Senate
An AP report in the Advocate a few days ago begins:
"COLUMBUS (AP) — Subtle changes buried in an energy bill plotting the future of Ohioans’ electricity rates guarantee that today’s prices will never fall and make it nearly impossible for producers of green power to gain a foothold in the state, [the Plain Dealer] reported Monday.
"The amendments were added by the Ohio Senate to Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed energy bill, which the Ohio House has scheduled to debate at the leisurely pace of one hearing per week into the new year."
The bill also continued deep discounts for big industrial users, weakened the muscle originally given to PUCO, and other stuff.
I attempted to learn on-line if our state senator (can you name him?) (whose name is Tim Schaffer and who lives in Lancaster and who replaced Jay Hottinger last election and whose e-mail address is SD31@mailr.sen.state.oh.us) had voted for this senate Bill.
Getting this info on-line seems impossible. I can't find the source if there is one. Of course neither the Dispatch nor the Advocate think it important enough to report. Which is exactly why Tim and Jay do whatever they damned well want. Nobody knows.
So I wrote an e-mail to Tim three days ago and I politely asked if he voted for this bill and he didn't answer. Which means, I'm pretty sure, that he's not proud of his vote.
We really should know more about this man. In fact, it would be nice to know anything at all about our mystery senator of whom we've heard nothing since his election.
Here's the link to a web site on which you will find a copy of the "Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007" and also wealth of information that relates to this subject.
Hillary can't quit lying because her last name is Clinton
No matter what kind of weaseling Hill attempts, she just can't hide the fact that she's a Clintonian liar. In the Des Moines forum where a question for her was planted she denied knowledge of it.
Sure.
Next spectacular lie is the waitress tip bugger-up. Someone forgot to tip a waitress during a "Middle-Class Express" pit stop in Iowa. Think about it. That's no big deal. It surely was a mistake and all they had to do was admit it. Not the Clinton way. Next day's report by AP declared that Hill's people did leave a tip with the manager who took the fall for the Senator, saying it was his fault the waitress didn't get the tip. The controversy and the weaseling continued in an NPR report, the most significant statement of which came from the waitress who said, "Why would I lie about not getting a tip?" And why would Hillary lie? Because that's the Clinton way to do things.
So, when Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland endorsed her and put out a feeler for becoming her VP, he didn't exactly collect voters' points. But the veracity of the both of them came through quite well in this USA Today report:
Asked if she would consider Strickland as a running mate, Clinton said such talk was "premature." For his part, Strickland made a strong and Sherman-esque statement – he is not interested in being the running mate to Clinton or anyone else.
Pffft
Vaccination or jail
Go read this report if you want to get pissed off about government intrusion into lives of citizens. Bureaucrats in Prince George's County VA, (bordering Washington DC) are threatening to jail parents of school children who have not gotten vaccinations as required by the state.
Electric customers shafted by Ohio Senate
An AP report in the Advocate a few days ago begins:
"COLUMBUS (AP) — Subtle changes buried in an energy bill plotting the future of Ohioans’ electricity rates guarantee that today’s prices will never fall and make it nearly impossible for producers of green power to gain a foothold in the state, [the Plain Dealer] reported Monday.
"The amendments were added by the Ohio Senate to Gov. Ted Strickland’s proposed energy bill, which the Ohio House has scheduled to debate at the leisurely pace of one hearing per week into the new year."
The bill also continued deep discounts for big industrial users, weakened the muscle originally given to PUCO, and other stuff.
I attempted to learn on-line if our state senator (can you name him?) (whose name is Tim Schaffer and who lives in Lancaster and who replaced Jay Hottinger last election and whose e-mail address is SD31@mailr.sen.state.oh.us) had voted for this senate Bill.
Getting this info on-line seems impossible. I can't find the source if there is one. Of course neither the Dispatch nor the Advocate think it important enough to report. Which is exactly why Tim and Jay do whatever they damned well want. Nobody knows.
So I wrote an e-mail to Tim three days ago and I politely asked if he voted for this bill and he didn't answer. Which means, I'm pretty sure, that he's not proud of his vote.
We really should know more about this man. In fact, it would be nice to know anything at all about our mystery senator of whom we've heard nothing since his election.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
AEP executives show their magnificent balls
Earlier this week it was reported here that American Electric Power teamed with Ohio Environmental Protection Agency and others to boost Ohio to Number One in the nation for toxic air emissions. (Also see Ohio ranks No. 1 in air pollution, thanks to Ohio legislators
This least-reported-of-all-major-news-stories last week mentioned that AEP will pay a $4.6 billion settlement to eight neighboring states, plus $15 million in civil penalties and another $60 million in cleanup and mitigation costs.
Then, guess what I get in the mail a day or so later? I get AEP's electric bill.
On the outside of the envelope it says: "Help protect the environment. Recycle." Further down: "Go paperless: Get your bill online."
Inside: "You can support renewable energy ... The new Green Pricing Option program helps customers make a difference in the environment by supporting the Company's purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates ..."
It tells how customers can spend a minimum of $1.40 a month to support things like wind-power generators.
God, what magnificent balls are required of AEP executives.
This least-reported-of-all-major-news-stories last week mentioned that AEP will pay a $4.6 billion settlement to eight neighboring states, plus $15 million in civil penalties and another $60 million in cleanup and mitigation costs.
Then, guess what I get in the mail a day or so later? I get AEP's electric bill.
On the outside of the envelope it says: "Help protect the environment. Recycle." Further down: "Go paperless: Get your bill online."
Inside: "You can support renewable energy ... The new Green Pricing Option program helps customers make a difference in the environment by supporting the Company's purchase of Renewable Energy Certificates ..."
It tells how customers can spend a minimum of $1.40 a month to support things like wind-power generators.
God, what magnificent balls are required of AEP executives.
Wednesday, August 22, 2007
Zack needs to address the cause, not the effect, of high gasoline prices
Zack Space may have his heart in the right place when he proposed legislation for tax credits to counteract over-priced gasoline. Thing is, even if it becomes law, which it shouldn't, it won't do anything but cost more tax dollars.
You can read about his proposal for legislation in an Advocate report here.
What must happen to solve the problem is to root out the cause behind the high prices - and that would be monopolization of the market with the blessings of our government.
I have written about it here, and Zack needs to read it, pass it around Congress, and try to attack the problem's cause, not its effect.
You can read about his proposal for legislation in an Advocate report here.
What must happen to solve the problem is to root out the cause behind the high prices - and that would be monopolization of the market with the blessings of our government.
I have written about it here, and Zack needs to read it, pass it around Congress, and try to attack the problem's cause, not its effect.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Your tax dollars at work ... for ethanol
What exactly is E85 and what is the federal government saying is so good about it? Read it here.
Though the federal push for ethanol gets all the publicity, your Ohio taxes are being used in a big way too.
And you'll be amazed at how public money is being spent from Washington to make this feel-good boondoggle pay off for businesses. Read it here.
More funding opportunities for E85 opportunists here.
Just so ya know where your money is going.
Though the federal push for ethanol gets all the publicity, your Ohio taxes are being used in a big way too.
And you'll be amazed at how public money is being spent from Washington to make this feel-good boondoggle pay off for businesses. Read it here.
More funding opportunities for E85 opportunists here.
Just so ya know where your money is going.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
New ethanol pollution rule: A kiss of death?
Congratulations ethanol factories, thanks to the evermore nutty Bush Administration, you'll be able to stink up the world even more than before. Starting in July, the EPA's new rule will allow you to pollute the air 150 percent more than you already pollute.
This could be the kiss of death for the ethanol project of Newark.
Surely nobody who cares about health or stink will now argue that an ethanol plant is welcome here. Here's a report by CNSNews.
This could be the kiss of death for the ethanol project of Newark.
Surely nobody who cares about health or stink will now argue that an ethanol plant is welcome here. Here's a report by CNSNews.
Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Rest easy Bunky, the FTC is watching Google
The Federal Trade Commission is poking around in Google's affairs on the fear that this company may be cornering the market on personal data collection. It's called an "anti-trust review" in a news article today. So have no fear.
Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union reports that four beef packers dominate 83.5 percent of that business, four pork packers control 66 percent of that market, and the top four poultry companies process 58.5 percent of this country's broilers. Also, five companies control 48 percent of U.S. food retailing, compared to 25 percent a decade ago.
But where the FTC really shines forth in true colors is in its attention to the oil industry.
A letter to the FTC by Senators Feingold and Feinstein in October 2005 criticized regulators who permit consolidation of oil refineries, such as Valero Energy and Premcor, giving it a 13-percent market share.
"In 1993, the five largest oil companies operating in the U.S. controlled 34.5 percent of domestic oil refinery capacity; the top ten companies controlled 55.6 percent," the letter said. "By 2004, the top five controlled 56.3 percent and the top ten refiners controlled 83 percent. As a result of the FTC’s policies, the largest five oil refiners today control more capacity than the largest ten did a decade ago. ... We request that the FTC explain how the mergers the agency has allowed have not harmed consumers, and, contrary to GAO findings, have not decreased competition."
That, apparently, ended the senators' responsibility to American consumers. This fine display of PR news-making notwithstanding, we are still getting screwed at the gas pump, the grocery store, the meat market, and everywhere else government regulators permit unbridled non-competitive business practices.
Rest easy, Bunky. The FTC is right on Google's case for hoarding information. That'll help.
Meanwhile, the National Farmers Union reports that four beef packers dominate 83.5 percent of that business, four pork packers control 66 percent of that market, and the top four poultry companies process 58.5 percent of this country's broilers. Also, five companies control 48 percent of U.S. food retailing, compared to 25 percent a decade ago.
But where the FTC really shines forth in true colors is in its attention to the oil industry.
A letter to the FTC by Senators Feingold and Feinstein in October 2005 criticized regulators who permit consolidation of oil refineries, such as Valero Energy and Premcor, giving it a 13-percent market share.
"In 1993, the five largest oil companies operating in the U.S. controlled 34.5 percent of domestic oil refinery capacity; the top ten companies controlled 55.6 percent," the letter said. "By 2004, the top five controlled 56.3 percent and the top ten refiners controlled 83 percent. As a result of the FTC’s policies, the largest five oil refiners today control more capacity than the largest ten did a decade ago. ... We request that the FTC explain how the mergers the agency has allowed have not harmed consumers, and, contrary to GAO findings, have not decreased competition."
That, apparently, ended the senators' responsibility to American consumers. This fine display of PR news-making notwithstanding, we are still getting screwed at the gas pump, the grocery store, the meat market, and everywhere else government regulators permit unbridled non-competitive business practices.
Rest easy, Bunky. The FTC is right on Google's case for hoarding information. That'll help.
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Gasoline prices are coming home to roost
The really scary thing about the current price of fuel is that we will pay even more dearly when those high costs are fully charged back to the marketplace, to retailers and grocers for instance.
As has happened in every other case of runaway energy prices within my memory, this is sure to inspire a new level of inflation. There are signs that it's happening. Wholesale prices increased by 1 percent in March and by .7 percent in April - which included wholesale food costs that jumped .4 percent
The former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, has warned us twice about a possible recession. There are already signs of this, too. Sales of autos, hardware, specialty clothing, and department stores are off.
Read a news report on how gas prices are draining consumer dollars.
Meanwhile, we citizens - because of a lazy, do-less media - are still ignorant about the causes of high fuel prices, about who pulls the strings to this non-competitive market force.
I wrote about the way big media reports on energy prices last 9/25/06 and everything I said then (except references to current prices) is still true and still point to mainstream media at its laziest. Read it here.
As has happened in every other case of runaway energy prices within my memory, this is sure to inspire a new level of inflation. There are signs that it's happening. Wholesale prices increased by 1 percent in March and by .7 percent in April - which included wholesale food costs that jumped .4 percent
The former Fed Chairman, Alan Greenspan, has warned us twice about a possible recession. There are already signs of this, too. Sales of autos, hardware, specialty clothing, and department stores are off.
Read a news report on how gas prices are draining consumer dollars.
Meanwhile, we citizens - because of a lazy, do-less media - are still ignorant about the causes of high fuel prices, about who pulls the strings to this non-competitive market force.
I wrote about the way big media reports on energy prices last 9/25/06 and everything I said then (except references to current prices) is still true and still point to mainstream media at its laziest. Read it here.
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