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Audacity of Truth
"Change" You Can Believe In:
"Nixon didn’t try to do that. They couldn't control (the media). They didn’t try. [...] What the hell do they think we are, puppets?"
- Liberal opinion writer Helen Thomas, describing the Obama admin's penchant for heavily scripting public appearances & press conferences - 7/1/09
The President’s call for investigation into possible oil price gouging
Here’s the story, via AP:
WASHINGTON – President Bush, under pressure to do something about gasoline prices that are expected to stay high through the summer, has ordered an investigation into possible cheating in the markets.
During the last few days, Bush asked his Energy and Justice departments to open inquiries into whether the price of gasoline has been illegally manipulated, said White House press secretary Scott McClellan. Bush planned to announce the action Tuesday during a speech in Washington.
It’s unclear what impact, if any, Bush’s investigation would have on prices that are near $3 a gallon. Asked if Bush had any reason to suspect market manipulation, McClellan responded, “Well, gas prices are high right now, and that’s why you want to make sure there’s not.”
Republicans who control Congress have become concerned that the high cost of filling up could become a problem for them in the November elections. Polls suggest that voters favor Democrats over Republicans on the issue, and Bush gets low marks for handling gasoline prices.
House Speaker Dennis Hastert, R-Ill., and Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., urged Bush in a letter Monday to order a federal investigation into any gasoline price gouging or market speculation.
“There is no silver bullet,” Frist said Tuesday on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” but “we need to make sure that any efforts at price-gouging be addressed and addressed aggressively.” Meanwhile, Frist said, consumers should take steps to conserve gasoline — drive at slower speeds, tune up car engines for maximum efficiency and carpool.
McClellan said Bush had already ordered investigations into market pricing.
“We share a commitment with congressional leaders to make sure that we’re acting to ensure that there is no price gouging,” McClellan said.
I’m with Tigerhawk on this one.
Read more via Jason Smith, Anchoress, Moderate Voice, Cold Fury
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severian…from what I’ve read, even corn-based ethanol does have a net energy gain, albeit a fairly small one (about 130% of the energy used to produce it becomes useful output energy) Sugarcane, though, has a much higher gain. It’s true that we are limited in how much we can grow in the US, but I bet it could be considerably more than the current crop. And there’s also a lot of potential in the Caribbean nations, most of which badly need the money.
Benning, I couldn’t agree with you more “Price Gouging” is just another buzz word to increase the Imperial Federal Governments controls over private industry. When you have politicians calling for windfall profits taxes and the ignorant yelling that’s it tax those evil rich oil companies. The problem is that some people can’t get past their government school education which didn’t teach even simple economics supply and demand profits and profit margins.
After the breakup of the Soviet Union the Communists/Socialists in this country had to go somewhere and the environmental groups provided good cover to continue their crusade to bring this country down. By stopping or putting severe restrictions on industry after all everyone wants clean air to breath and clean water to drink. The gas prices and our dependence on foreign oil can be totally blamed on the environmentalists for stopping drilling in this country or building refineries and nuclear power plants. Too many whackos running around yelling the sky is falling all based on junk science.
John Stossel has a great article on “Greed” not kindness gets things done once again he makes perfect sense.
“from what I’ve read, even corn-based ethanol does have a net energy gain, albeit a fairly small one”
Interesting, I’d heard that recently a report was supposedly released stating that there was a small net plus for ethanol, but haven’t heard more. I’d like to see more details, not that I’m trying to be too cynical, but claims from “scientists” lately need to be taken with a large salt lick when they relate to any environmental issues, I’ve seen too much data falsification. I can believe that with better processing you should be able to get a net plus, so I’m inclined to take this at face value.
Farm subsidies and import tariffs designed with protectionism in mind are major barriers to ethanol, and we need to straighten out that mess and let more corn/sugar cane be grown for ethanol, and also as you say more imports of either ethanol or corn and sugar cane. You make a great point about there being lots of Carribean and Latin American countries that would love to have another product to export to the US in quantity, heck, maybe if prices were good enough and their governments backed it you could convince some farmers to drop coca for sugar cane.
I’m not opposed to the idea of ethanol at all. While it’s true that a tank of ethanol doesn’t have as much energy as gasoline, and will not take you as far (which is something to consider when you figure out the price per gallon comparisons, it has to be a price per mile), you certainly can get performance out of ethanol. There are a number of race classes that get stunning amounts of horsepower out of ethanol fueled cars.
Unfortunately I think a large number of our politicians want to demonize the oil industry while doing nothing to upset the farm lobby, so this will probably be tough to implement.
Until the 1930’s hemp oil powered all kinds of farm equipment for next to zero(0), cost. Then the federal government said it was against the law and everybody had better be using BIG oil products only, to run their vehicles and equipment. If anyone believes that this or any other country, has to run on fossile fuels, they are just buying the BIG oil propaganda message. Peace
Tom?
Steve(FN), the majority of hemp advocacy is to make hemp legal for personal drug consumption, not for the enumerated purposes the advocates say. Tommy from NYC was an admitted pot head, are you coming out of the canabis buying club now, steve(FN)?
Bush knows how to lose money in the oil industry.
BDS
One thing that is worrisome about ethanol is that it apparently cannot be transported via today’s pipelines (damages the seals) so it must go by rail, ship, or barge. There’s already a serious congestion problem being caused on some railroads by the combination of coal shipments and ethanol shipments.
I wonder how much extra energy is used to ship ethanol via rail vs what would have been used to ship equivalent oil via pipeline. Rail is 3-4 times more energy efficient than truck, but IIRC it’s still considerably worse than pipeline.
I also wonder how much time Congress spent considering this issue before making the ethanol vs MTBE decision…..
“I also wonder how much time Congress spent considering this issue before making the ethanol vs MTBE decision…..”
Hmmm…let me guess, absolutely none? It’s more important to appear to be doing something than to actually think it thru and do something useful and correct. Such is the nature of politics, particularly today.
There definitely is a need for serious changes to the infrastructure to accomodate ethanol, something it’s most ardent supporters seem to overlook, but it’s something that should be analyzed and planned for, and then implemented.
Ethanol vs. MTBE is in large part responsible for the gas shortages and the attendent surge in prices in some areas where they are above the national average. The recent energy bill forces the use of ethanol over MTBE, and there is a shortage of ethanol for this purpose. So, since the refineries/oil companies can’t make up the difference with MTBE, they can’t make enough of the special blend fuels, and prices go up and there are shortages (supply and demand). Bush’s relaxing of these requirements had an immediate effect, lowering gas prices and gas and oil futures, illustrating once again, for anyone with an ounce of common sense, where much of the oil crisis/price hike comes from, government intervention in the free market.
Your last paragraph hit the nail on the head. With no new refineries due to environmentalists and operating at near capacity supply is tighter than demand. And when the economy is good the demand is stronger for energy.
Special belnds is ridiculous and Bush’s call to ease those guidelines is righ ton. IN CA we have a special blend. In Ohio they do. It’s all about the do-gooders affects on the market. They “care” but their “caring” is driving up prices (which they use as a see Bush doesn’t “care” tool).
I lived in Nome for a while and always thought how peculiar it was when winter fuel costs went up. The fuel is bought and barged in, in early spring (after break up). It’s stored all year in a few massive tanks. As soon as winter hits prices begin to climb. The product was purchased at a fixed price at least six months in advance, I presume. Why then would they raise the cost over the frozen months? The fuel demand will not change, so why is what ought to be a constant factor not?
Forest – they have to “make up” for that reverse tax payoff they give everyone in the State of Alaska, from the oil profits. Might be one of the little secret ways they do it without actually costing them anything. The Alaskans pay a higher price than it was purchased at, so their “payback” is partially out of their own pockets. Who knows. stranger things have happened.
- Whenever the gov. gets involved in anything it turns into a fiasco. Back in the 90’s we were put on water conservation, because of a severe draught and the projections for years to come. Everyone cut back severely as asked, in fact the plan was outreageous;y successful, cutting consumption by greater than 65%.
- Then in the late 90’s it started to reverse, with record seasonal rains. Imagine everyones surprise when in the midst of rainfall so heavy it was causing statewide flooding it was announced that water prices would need to be raised. Everyboidy wondered what the hell was going on. The then Gov, Davis attended a “water conservation” conference in LA, (He was late due to flooding), and at a news conference explained that because everyone had done such a good job of conservation and used so much less water, the district was losing money because it was selling water fast enough and was forced to raise prices. I’ll never forget that picture of him standing there in that rain-soaked, flooded out parking lot, explaining how we were up to our asses in water, so naturally it was going to cost more.
- It just seems anything the gov. touches turns into a clown car.
- Bang
- make that “wasn’t selling water fast enough….”
- Bang
Bang, I forgot about the natives getting paid just for being there. There were/are people that provide an Alaskan address solely for that purpose, even though they spend more time elsewhere. I could’ve easily done the same thing, having family and friends there.
Sort of reminds me of PCD’s buddy, Senator Harkin.
Bang, I was in SoCal for Davis’ folly about the water. I thought he should have had his head held in one of the puddles until all the crap was flushed from his head.
Forest, Harkin ain’t my buddy. That lying sob needs a pork chop around his neck for a dog to like him.
Speaking of Donkeycrat demagogues, Dodd and Byron Dorgan of North Dakota introduced an amendment to the emergency supplemental spending bill now in the Senate that would impose a 50 percent windfall profits tax on oil company revenue derived from sales of oil at more than $40 per barrel. See Iowa Voice for that story.
Yeh that will really punch a elephant sized hole in that (now averaging $3.30/gallon and up) price at the pump. These chuckle heads will probably end up spending untold millions of dollars in Congressional hours, investigations, useless “enforcement”, and you might see the price get driven down a penny or two – next year.
- All the while they’ll go on pandering to their base by killing every refinery/exploration/drilling bill in sight.
- Our “caring” Democraps in government in action.
- Bang
Bang, we won’t see a penny. Gas prices will really skyrocket and any windfall tax will be paid by the consumer. We get a double whammy. Maybe if we see any politicians who support this stupidity, we should punch them in the nose or mouth.
Bang, you are so right about government mucking things up when they get involved in all aspects. It was private industry that was the first in to help (Walmart and Home Depot) after hurricane Katrina. Private industry can do almost everything faster, better and less costly than our over bloated Federal Government. I was working in a gas station (Before convenience stores) in the early 70s when we had gas rationing and was threatened with bodily harm by some people if they couldn’t get more than 3 gallons. Once again are we doom to repeat history; in the early 70s U.S. oil production was down our dependency on foreign oil was at 36% with growing tension between the U.S. and Arab countries and flawed energy policies (Government).
PCD, I was just jerkin’ your chain. Your love for Harkin runs about as deep as mine for the nimrods out here, like big D two tt’s.
This was part of a Yahoo News story on this topic TODAY:
- Of course we’re all going to take that C note and march down to our local car dealers and order a $45,000 hybrid, most of which will probably shoot up to $65,000, as soon as demand starts to rise.
- Course what the “other” 260 million Americans that have to work for a living are going to do is still a little up in the air, but we can all rest easy with our elected officials on the job. We citizens just have to be patient and wait till all the partisan opportunism and political jockeying is finished.
- After all, thats what we send them to Washington to do right?
- Bang
- FOX just did a report that makes the whole oil fiasco even worse if thats possible. Turns out that several countries, France, China, Spain, and Cuba are already drilling off the florida coast. In other words taking our oil that we’re not allowed to drill for.
- Does this idiocy in Washington never end?
- Bang
Outside of 12 miles or inside?
- Its right on the 50 mile line Bak, but the industry guy being interviewed said that they could easily “slant” drill right into the heart of the Florida “straights”, which is apparently the massive deposite between there and the Florida shoreline.
- In any event if we don’t stop being hussled by the greenpeacers, pretty soon you’re going to have a crisus on your hands if we don’t already.
- BTW in another piece today a Cal legislator went on FOX and talked about something I mentioned in an earlier post last week concerning the real “problems” behind the immigration mess. He said everyone is pretending the financial burden caused by the large number of illegals doesn’t exist, when in fact its already bancrupted the state twice to the point of requiring long term bond loans in massive amounts with interest.
- I know this is true, Arnold is going to float yet another record multi billions bond this fall, which is the direct result of undocumented aliens on the public health, welfare, housing, and school systems.
- Bang
Yeppers. Yet taxes are high here (for the legal citizens) to the point of driving businesses away to booming economically neighboring states.
I did not realize there had ensued such a lively discussion, led mostly by Big Bang Hunter. #1. This is Eddie’s Computer, not Eddie, so please reserve your attacks for me. #2. Bush’s poor job performance? Don’t less than 40% of the American public now approve of President Bush’s job performance? Big Bang Hunter must ally himself with that minority.