Via Malkin :Cartoon via Red Planet

The government is making a lot more off the gas than the gas companies.

Keep that in mind the next time some populist pinhead threatens to nationalize the petroleum industry.

(just sayin'.)

Given the need to transfer to alternate fuels because of well founded concerns about feeding jihadism petro dollars and the need to increase self sufficiency,  gas (or other carbon tax) is not something that I'm in principal opposed to....certainly less than other taxes.

The downside is that (as we are seeing now) gas prices have a sort of pachinko effect through the economy and expensive gas is just obnoxious.

A tax however is IMHO vastly preferable to the sort of byzantine cap and trade system favored by the greens which involve a sort of UN sponsored "indulgence" system and give tremendous power to governing bodies over the means of production....which has been the evil opposite of a good thing historically.

UPDATE:It should also be noted in passing that the price of oil has not risen in absolute terms quite as much as it seems from looking at its dollar price....The Dollar has actually gone down quite a bit in value. This is not to say that more rfineries or production would not help, but the Dollar is a big issue in and of itself.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 11:29 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Last week I did little but apply my right palm to my face when Obama's bizarre overreaction to an uncharacteristically good Bush speech. In the words of  The Instapundit ...

MEMO TO THE OBAMA CAMPAIGN: When somebody condemns appeasement, it doesn't help things to jump up and yell"Hey! He's talking about ME!"

Obama must have a guilt complex or something, how else can one explain how he sees this as a personal attack? Note, Hillary didn't react like a crying child, in fact she didn't react at all like Bush was talking about her. Why? Because no one in the world doubts she'll kick their ass, saw off their nuts, and mail them home to mommy. Everyone in the world but his supporters thinks Obama is weak, and it is why all the trash in the world love him. His reaction, and its associated pity party, only reinforces that perception of weakness.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:15 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Schadenfreude...

I actually liked Hillary up until a few months ago. Other bloggers used to tell me that Joe and I were too nice to Hillary. People just assumed that we were endorsing her. Now I actually loathe her. She makes me yell at the TV like she's George Bush, and no one other than George Bush makes me yell at the TV - until now. I actually can't stand her or her husband any more. I defended her. I defended her husband. And now I'm actually wondering if the Republicans weren't right about them.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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The Anchoress however, has not been so neglectful.

Read the whole thing. In fairness, it concerns some of his more fanatical backers rather than Huckabee himself but it is a reminder (as if one was needed) that the Jackasses don't have a lock on creepy messianic political campaigns in their primaries this cycle...just the successful one.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 09:15 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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Thoughtful analysis...with a Ghibli perspective.

Posted by: The Brickmuppet at 08:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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