It was nice to watch Tim Russert actually spend some time focusing on real issues this morning, as opposed to asking Barack Obama an endless number of questions about Jeremiah Wright. During a portion of the full hour on Meet the Press, they discussed the proposed gas tax holiday. Obama explained that a short-term repeal of the gas tax would only cause demand to go up, meaning that the price would go up anyway and offset any money that consumers save. And as demand increases, that leads to shortages and long lines. Also, the gas tax takes money away from highway construction, which would lead to job loss.
Our economy is in the tank. Gas prices are at an all-time high. think that gas might reach $10 a gallon in the near future, boosted by a declining dollar and an uncontrollable spike in demand. Consumer confidence is at a . This is the second recession under President Bush, yet all the 43rd president can do is . And this is just on the domestic front. Don't even get me started on our mess abroad.
With all this happening, we are perhaps in the middle of the most important presidential campaign in a generation. There are issues to be discussed. Yet, all the media seems to be focused on now is Reverend Wright. The Obama Campaign is stuck in a corner. Today on the campaign trail, Obama yet another big press conference on Reverend Wright, following his former pastor's address on Sunday in front of the NAACP.
Why can't all this stop? The media does a great job of putting candidates into a box. They have with John McCain as well -- portraying him as an old, angry man. Or Obama, a fringe liberal who attended an anti-American church. So the media finds any evidence to back up their preexisting view of a candidate and reports it. Hardly do they report contradicting stories, as if to tell the American public, "I know you can't handle nuance, so let's make this easy for you by reporting only one side of the story." Like today, the media is ignoring the fact that Barack Obama called for non-violence in New York City, which angered Reverend Al Sharpton. Sharpton went on to accuse Obama of trying to "." But that does not fit the media's perception of the anti-American, pro-Black Panther -- otherwise known as Barack Obama. So they won't report it.
This campaign is now nothing but a circus, and the media has complete control over it. No wonder it has lasted this long. Cable news doesn't want it to end. It's their soap opera. It's their excuse for not reporting actual news. The Clintons love drama. As long as the media reports on the tactics, which the Clintons are good at, and not real issues, this contest will continue all the way to the convention.
The global-warming skeptics at the launched a today targeting — who else? — former Vice President Al Gore.
The $30,000 buy is small as far as national-ad campaigns go, but itwill run on cable over the next two weeks in Boston, Phoenix, Orlando,Pittsburgh, and Washington, D.C.
Fine. It's a waste of money. Clearly, this is a right-wing think-tank dedicated to protecting the oil industry. It proves that Al Gore represents a legitimate threat to polluters, therefore he has accomplished a lot already.
And welcome back from your Memorial Day weekend! If you spent two minutes complaining about high gas prices with your friends and family this weekend, I’m really very glad to hear it. And I challenge anyone to describe a more exciting scenario for the progressive movement than rising gas prices. And not just rising prices, ! I do have a hard time expressing just how happy this makes me. Here’s why:
The crippled the US economy in the short term because the US government had left us unprepared to handle a scenario in which oil was not readily available. Today, aside from the fact that we import a whole lot more oil than we did back in 1973, we stand in the exact same position: same automobile engines, same mileages standards, same archaic mindset, same pathetic politicians who can’t seem to bring themselves to change society from walking toward the same cliff we were warned about over 30 years ago. For example, politician Chuck Schumer (D-NY) decided to a few weeks ago by calling out the oil industry:
The looming question is, are they putting money into maintenance and keeping up refineries as they should? Or are they happier with lower production and higher prices?
What is he talking about? Schumer, clearly not a true problem solver, is thinking backwards suggesting that the oil industry should solve our long term oil crisis by...producing more oil. The fact that higher oil prices matter to us is not Exxon’s fault (see the laws of supply and demand). And it’s not Saudi Arabia’s fault. And it’s not Al Qaeda’s fault either. It’s our fault. And it’s our responsibility to change. This is why higher gas prices are great - because they force change. Out of necessity comes invention, right? It's either that or 1973 all over again one day, and when it happens it will be far worse and will probably be permanent.
Oh yeah, side note here: in the process of decreasing our oil consumption we can contribute to solving a long list of environmental problems and health problems. And we can stop our economy from depending on enemy nations. Does this appeal to anyone?
As gasoline reached yet another , even when , here are some of the statistics to keep in mind:
This is the that gas prices have reached an all-time high.
Prices have gone up .
The highest gas prices in the country are in , where a gallon of regular costs $3.59. But that was according to the Lundberg Survey taken Sunday -- so things could have changed since then.
The GAO reports that gasoline price increases have drained out of the pockets of American taxpayers so far this year.
Unless prices fall suddenly, will mark the longest stretch of $3.00 gasoline since AAA began keeping track. Again, these stats are inflation-adjusted.
High gas prices are having an impact on the retail industry. According to the , 74% of consumers say the spike in gas prices has impacted their spending habits. Also, 40% say they are taking fewer shopping trips.
AAA, which also monitors travel trends, says they are expecting a decrease in travel on .
are asking Congress to investigate allegations of gouging on the part of the oil industry.
The average gallon of gasoline in the United States is now up to $3.07 -- a in just the last two weeks. Just last month, Exxon reported that were up 10% in the first quarter of 2007.
So what is going on? has his own opinion:
"It's outrageous ...Isn't it interesting every year about this time,a refinery goes down for repairs," said Senate Democratic Leader HarryReid of Nevada.
Actually, it is quite puzzling. Why would oil companies conduct refinery maintenance at this time of the year, just weeks before Memorial Day weekend, when millions of families across the country will take to the roads?
This kind of maintenance limits supply and helps drive up prices. Could that be why the last September, just two months before the election, to delay all refinery maintenance? It really makes you think.
right off the Florida coast will no longer be protected from drilling once the Senate passes a measure today. The Senate is expected to back a bill that would continue the line of thinking that we can drill our way out of high gas prices. Yesterday the Senate to abruptly cut off debate on the measure.
Last week everyone that this bill was a trick:
"This bill is not going to fix America's energy needs and it's not going to solve America's energy crisis," Reid said. "This bill will do nothing to bring down gasoline or diesel prices."
Granted the Senate version is better than the , which would have allowed oil companies to drill as close as 50 miles from the Florida shore. But this is not a long-term solution. Want to know a real long-term solution? Try for example.
Once the Senate bill passes, the House and Senate will have to work out a compromise. Harry Reid and fellow Democrats have promised to filibuster the House's version. ---------------------------------------------------- Other blogs writing about this issue: .
Congress will soon begin debating two major energy proposals. These proposals perfectly underscore the difference of opinion between the Democrats and Republicans for how to solve our energy crisis.
Funding alternative fuels does not mean buying into the same old-school line of thinking that we can drill our way out of our current energy crisis. The definition of the word means "a chance to choose between two or more possibilities." So when you propose an energy package that does not change the status quo of our unstable petroleum-based economy, you are offering anything but an alternative. That is exactly the currently before the House. The bill would allow drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
As usual, conservative pundits will snap back at any challenge to their proposal, claiming that the Democrats never offer an alternative of their own. Sometimes they are right about that. But not this time.
Democratic House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer is unveiling a major ten-year energy proposal. , it would bring "government, business, and the science and environmental communities tothe table to promote and expand alternative energy sources and makemore efficient vehicles that burn cleaner fuels."
Okay, great. So what does this really mean? are the details:
The Democratic bill, sponsored by Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, wouldprovide billions to develop cellulosic ethanol and a national ethanoldistribution system, make improvements to municipal mass transit andgive grants to automakers to develop more fuel-efficient vehicles...
This bill, called the Progress Act, would also fund hydrogen research. This is extremely important because as it stands, hydrogen that is used for commercial purposes can only be recovered by using fossil fuels. In other words, hydrogen is produced through carbon dioxide pollution. But as the web site explains, some car companies like BMW are "exploring the process of electrolysis to extract unlimited amounts of hydrogen from ordinary water." So this bill will research new ways that we can naturalize the methods that are used to produce hydrogen. About time!
Like I said, Hoyer's proposal is a big one. So there is :
* Establishes a National Energy Security Commission
* Establishes a National Biofuels Infrastructure Development Program
* Promotes Transit Use & Develops a Rail Infrastructure Program
* Ensures Federal Government Leadership in the Use of Alternatives to Oil
Republicans will easily respond by saying that this is big government. Call it whatever you want. At least it means thinking outside of the very box that oil lobbyists have been forcing the GOP to abide by all these years. What it means is that we will start taking gas prices, global warming and our childrens' future seriously. And that means stepping up to the plate and offering a genuinely true alternative besides drilling into our habitat. Will it automatically cure global warming? Of course not. But it is a start. A start means acknowledging your mistakes and moving in the right direction. And when you move in the right direction, that is progress -- hence the name of the bill (Progress Act).
From a political strategy standpoint, the Republicans have a clear choice. They can vote for this bill, therefore admitting that it takes a Democratic author to fund a revolution in alternative energy. Their other option is to vote against it. If they do that, then the Democrats can come back and tell voters that if they want energy reform, then they need a majority in both the House and the Senate to make that happen. hinted at that strategy yesterday:
"The only way it (energy reform) will happen is to elect Democrats," Clinton said.
So there is your proposal. The Republicans can no longer say that the Democrats don't know how to lead. The Democrats offered a plan. Now it is up to voters to watch how the GOP votes on this bill, and then cast their ballots knowing who has the real forward-minded alternative.
Based on 51 leading economic analysts that were , you can expect that the economy will slow between now and the end of the year. Interest rates and gas prices are the culprit to blame, forcing consumers to spend less money:
Growth is moderating as fuel prices surge. The cost of abarrel of crude oil for August delivery on the New YorkMercantile Exchange jumped to a record $75.78 a barrel on July 7.The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline rose to $2.94on July 6, a 10-month high, according to figures from theAutomobile Association of America. The record, $3.06 a gallon,was set on Sept. 5 after Hurricane Katrina.
``We see energy prices continuing to stay high,'' DouglasSilver, chief executive Officer of International Royalty Corp.,which invests in mineral royalties, said in a July 10 interview.
Ironically, this report comes just one day after Henry Paulison was .
The online magazine Money Week also sees the .
When consumers are pinched by high gas prices, they have less money to spend, affecting businesses in just about every sector, especially the Airline Industry (high gas prices less people flying = bankruptcy). See, not everything is driven by top-down economics. There is a trickle-up effect, not just a trickle-down effect.
As we head back to work after the long Forth of July weekend, oil prices are at :
Oil prices jumped to a record above $75 abarrel on Wednesday, propelled by a rally in gasoline that analystssaid could send average U.S. pump prices past $3 a gallon by theweekend.
Recent snags in oil-shipping and refiningalong the Gulf Coast have raised traders' concerns about motor-fuelsupplies at a time when demand continues to rise in spite of soaringprices. The start of a new fiscal quarter also brought more speculativemoney into the market, brokers said.
"Everybody thought we'd hit a price that wouldcreate permanent demand destruction. But demand for gasoline isrising," said Alaron Trading Corp. analyst Phil Flynn.
Contrary to the oil shock of the 1970s, this is a demand-side problem. Demand is multiplying in places like China and India, meaning any inconsistency in supply whatsoever leads to higher gasoline costs. With the Gulf Coast hurricane season starting abnormally early this year, it is unlikely that prices will significantly drop this summer. ---------------------------------------------------------- Other blogs writing about this issue: , , , , , , , , , .
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