I am off to the airport to catch my plane to Phoenix. If you are familiar with the area, let me know what I should see or do.
I will be attending the Mets-Diamondbacks game on Friday. Let's go A's. (Maybe I will try a superfan podcast.)
I wanted to opine on this silly temporary repeal of the federal gas tax idea that is being sold by Hillary Clinton and John McCain. It makes little to no sense. In fact, it will end up being detrimental to our economy. It is quite the opposite of taxpayer relief.
Clinton and McCain suggest that the temporary repeal of the federal gas tax will help regular taxpayers at the pump, relieving them of the high price of gas. I call "bullshit" on that nonsense.
The federal tax is currently 18.4 cents per gallon. The gas outside my neighborhood -- as of today -- costs $3.87 per gallon on unleaded regular. With the supposed temporary repeal, that would bring the cost of gas to a little under $3.69 per gallon. Thank the lord almighty, I can live again.
For example, if I buy 100 gallons of gas over a period of one month (which is a hell of a lot of gas), the Clinton-McCain gas tax repeal would save me $18.40. It's time for a down-payment on a foreclosed home with that extra dough.
But the idea that the price of gas will reduce by the amount of the federal gas tax is ridiculous in itself. The price of gas is based on supply-and-demand. Given the repeal, the price of gas may lower a little, stay the same, or even go up. The laws of our economic system will not be dismissed upon the exaction of the repeal. The price of gas is not fixed.
And lastly, the detrimental lasting effect. The federal gas tax -- the 18 cents per gallon -- goes to the already depleted funding of infrastructure projects across the county, projects that we have all realized -- some more recently than others -- are wholly underfunded and in need of much larger investment. Temporarily repealing the gas tax, or scheduling a gas tax "holiday," is not only bad economics and bad contemporaneous policy, it will also result in higher taxes in the future to pay for the damage to the roads and bridges.
A better idea to high gas prices... invest in rail transportation. That will have long-term positive effects on our economy and our environment.
Hillary is playing catch-up to Obama, and the gas tax holiday is a clear sign of a desperate campaign. McCain... he's just an idiot.
- Listening to Bush, McCain and the republican talk machine, the surge is "working," however April has been "the deadliest month [for U.S. forces] since September."
- The president has received a stay-of-execution (of sorts) with the report that the economy grew at 0.6% in the first quarter, and did not contract.
- And the inventor of LSD, or "acid," has died at age 102. "I produced the substance as a medicine. ... It's not my fault if people abused it."
Keith Olbermann covered the Fox News flap showing Frederick Douglass instead of Stephen Douglas when discussing the famed debates...
8:08am
Intents.
8:09am
I thought this was supposed to be about the economy. Hamas?
8:11am
Bush: "One hundred eight is one hundred eight." Despite recession economics, Bush will not extend unemployment benefits.
8:12am
Bush: "John McCain will not neglect the war on terror." An endorsement the McCain campaign isn't looking for.
8:16am
Bush: "Looking good in yellow." Followed by an odd back-and-forth about the reporter's baby.
8:17am
Bush: "These are very difficult economic times." The definition of recession hasn't been met, but these are very difficult economic times.
8:18am
Bush gives a shout-out to my representative in Congress, George Miller (D-CA).
An interesting article in the San Francisco Chronicle today lists the top five superhero films ever made, and to no surprise, Batman Begins finds it rightful place at number one. This article does not do justice to the film however, since Batman Begins may be the best film ever, period.
This is a really bad film. It pokes fun at the Ray Charles and Johnny Cash biopics, but there are only a very few laugh-out-loud scenes, and that is being generous.
(Returned 04/28/08.)
I am at the Apple Store in Emeryville while my wife does some weekend shopping. This is officially the first day of summer in the Bay Area -- eighty degrees and sunny; the grasses are now becoming a burnt brown, and will be a major fire hazard later in the year.
I am considering -- I guess it is a perpetual thought at this point -- purchasing a MacBook. I am not too interested in the MacBook Air; I would like a little more power and a little less reliance on a second computer.
Here is a general question I have for Mac users: Does the "control" button do anything? I am so familiar with the ctrl-c and ctrl-v keystrokes, shifting my thumb over to the right to hit the Apple key requires that additional thought process. I guess that would fade with time.
Note: I am using the black 2.4GHz MacBook, starting at $1499.
Another election year, another attempt by the religious right to ban a woman's right to choose. South Dakota voters will vote on a law that will place "the strictest limits on abortion in the country," and will directly challenge the rights protected by the Roe v. Wade 1973 Supreme Court decision. Montana, Colorado and Missouri (again) are also looking for voter approval of similar efforts.
Next week may be a short blog-week for me since I will be in Phoenix for a large portion of it, so I wanted to get the jump on my predictions just in case they came true during the week, say, next Thursday morning or Friday afternoon...
- ESPN will continue to refuse to show highlights of the NHL playoffs, but will spend an hour showing video of the first overall pick posing for photographs while holding up a Miami Dolphins jersey.
- Hillary Clinton, in response to tough questions on the matter, will declare that she will drop-out of the race if she loses Indiana.
- The U.S. will commence bombing Iran. Bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb-bomb-Iran.
