Tired
Posted on May 5th, 2008 by ecthompson
Man, I have been beaten like a rented mule at work- Tons of patients. Tons of sick patients.
I have a couple of items to mention before I pour myself into bed.
- Vote. If you live in Indiana or North Carolina - Vote.
- Howard Kurtz has a very interesting article in the Washington Post today. The title says it all: “Why the Press Turned on Obama.” I spoke with Eric Boehlert of Media Matters over a month ago on my radio show. We were talking about how Senator McCain gets a free pass on tons of misstatements and false statements. He said that Senator Barack Obama was riding a wave of good press but that me and my listeners should not to expect the good press to last. Eric was 100% Wright right.
- Polls reveal what I have known for some time. Senator Hillary Clinton is up in Indiana and Obama is up in North Carolina. With a ton of guess work, one can assume that by this time tomorrow Obama would have gained about three to five delegates and would have increased his lead in the popular vote by 60 thousand. This means nothing really. We are still locked in this cage match.
- The death of the D.C. Madam was really just too convenient. Several people had a lot to gain if she just disappeared. By the way, it is a little unusual for a woman to hang herself. Women tend to use pills or other less violent methods.
- First Lady Laura Bush (remember her?) held a news conference today. She was talking about Myanmar, which was it by a huge cyclone. I’m not sure why she decided to pick up this topic and run with it. If she is looking for causes to support, I have a suggestion. How about fixing New Orleans and the Gulf Coast!!!?!?!?!?
- Obama picked up two superdelegates from Maryland. I continue to wonder what the rest of the ’supers’ are waiting for. However, I can understand John Edwards. He wants a cabinet position. Personally, I would hold on to Edwards and elect him to the Supreme Court. Everyone else, what are you waiting for? Forty-one states have had their contests. What are you waiting for a sign from GOD? Decide already!
- A letter written by 230 economists, including four Nobel Prize winners, opposes Hillary Clinton’s gas-tax proposal. They state: “First, research shows that waiving the gas tax would generate major profits for oil companies rather than significantly lowering prices for consumers.” They go on to say, “Second, it would encourage people to keep buying costly imported oil and do nothing to encourage conservation. Third, a tax holiday would provide very little relief to families feeling squeezed.”
The 230 economists: “First, research shows that waiving the gas tax would generate major profits for oil companies rather than significantly lowering prices for consumers,”
This is a somewhat contradictory argument. The only way that the gas tax could increase oil company profits were if the tax lowered gas prices enough to change consumer behavior. If the gas prices went so low that consumers bought more gas, that would be a significant reduction and the increase revenue would increase profits. However, the experts argue that the gas holiday would not cause a significant lowering of prices for consumers so no increase spending and no increase revenue for oil companies.
The 230 economists “Second, it would encourage people to keep buying costly imported oil and do nothing to encourage conservation.”
Of course government taxes is one of the costs in the “costly imported oil.” It seems that the economist would prefer to keep cost high. Not exactly a winning position on the campaign circuit.
The 230 economists “Third, a tax holiday would provide very little relief to families feeling squeezed.”
A little relief is better than no relief when you are being squeezed.
Gas tax holiday? Not a crucial issue for me. I think that it would be helpful for truckers to see some decrease in diesel. What I find more interesting are the folks so adamantly opposed to the holiday.
I think the problem for Obama is that he can’t use high gas prices as an issue for “change” and not propose to do anything about it soon. When you are the candidate of CHANGE, you gotta deliver fast.
I’m not sure that $28 over 3 months is that much better than nothing. If you are arguing that a family of 4 will feel better with $28 over 3 months, then I’ll bow to your wisdom.
I must agree that change must happen fast. Yes, some change must happen fast but I don’t think that America believes that Obama will walk into the White House and wave his hand and magically everything is better. There will be some immediate changes. A repeal of some of George Bush’s tax cuts. A Middle East summitt to try to fix the mess and bring our troops home will happen early. NCLB in the toilet. Investment in our schools. Just a few of the changes.
Switching America from fossil fuels to something else, well, that will take some time. We have 27 years of inaction to reverse.
One thing was not mentioned. Where is the government going to get the money to replace the tax collected that is fixing the infrastructure? The jobs that are created on the money that is collected from the tax. Do we then lay off some workers to give a few dollars to other people? The bridges need desperate repair I would give up the tax credit to create more infrastructure jobs. So we don’t have anymore bridges collapse.
excellent point, M.
Thanks for your comments