Taxation -/+ Consumption

http://www.andrewclem.com/Politics.shtml

Andrew Clem presented some interesting ideas about President Bush’s “investment in research in alternative energy sources” in his letter to the NewsLeader editor. His idea is to raise the cost of oil products by taxation resulting in development of renewable energy resources and conservation which is somewhat low priority with our present “Low” cost of petroleum products. Also the extra tax money collected would be used to develop better forms of energy including renewable sources of energy…

http://newsleader.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060209/OPINION03/602090318/1014/OPINION

Know as much as I am against more or additional taxes, Andrew makes a great point that this problem will best be solved by the free market system. In the majority of examples it is the free market, not the government, that creates solutions to many of our problems. My fear is where that additional tax money will really show up and in what form. Many times Profit\loss statements are the most efficient guides to getting the job done.

It is apparent that we are using more energy now then we ever used before. This is possible for the simple reason that energy produced by petroleum products are relatively cheap to us in the United States. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but little change will happen until the cost rises to a point where the “Market” dictates a change.

Look at the recent $3 a gallon effects of Hurricane Katrina. People started to think twice before taking that extra trip or how they could save and consolidate these trips. Around here the average gallon price is about $2.20 and people have forgotten already the pain of $3+ a gallon. Interestingly people are talking more about the obscene, (term used by mainstream media and politicians looking for airtime) profits made by the oil companies. I agree the profits are high as compared in the past but history shows oil companies average about 10% in profits when all is said and done. McDonalds averages 24.4% profits… Go figure… The thing is that the oil companies spend much of their “profit” money on exploration and development of more sources of petroleum to remain competitive. If we tax petroleum products to raise the cost and promote conservation and development of other forms of energy, how can we be sure this money will be used wisely?

After watching the recent hearings to confirm Justice Alito, I do not feel very comfortable with those politicians with more of our tax money…

Hillary and those eyes...

It seems many people tuned in to watch the Super Bowl especially to see the new commercials. I watched the President’s State of the Union speech last week and have to admit that I looked forward to see how the Democrats would react to the President’s speech.

In the past we have seen Democrat members of Congress push their way to center aisle so to get that photo-op of shaking hands with the President. The same President that they had been bashing at every opportunity all during the year prior to the speech. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas) is always sure to be there in her bright red dress to get that photo op and then attack the President at the next possible opportunity. “Nothing personal, just politics. Smile for the camera please”.

It is also interesting to see what issues the Democrats refuse to applaud on while the Republican side of the aisle is roaring with applause. This has happened with most any of the administrations but the democrats now seem to bring it to a whole new level. The President described the importance of continuing a strong stance on terrorism and taking the fight to those who have attacked us and continue to plot to attack freedom no matter where it is. This brought a strong response from the Republicans but the democrats were almost silent. The next sentence the President spoke of the brave troops fighting the war on terrorism and the democrats could not get out of their chairs fast enough to be seen applauding.

It was also interesting to watchat times to see several democrats look towards each other to see who was going to clap or not and if enough fellow members got up they all got up. Not to applaud a statement but to appear unified.

Then there was Hillary with the eye’s rolling…

Peggy Noonan (Wall Street Journal) had a great quote in this weeks article. "It seemed a metaphor for the Democratic Party: We don't know where to stand or what to stand for, and in fact we're not good at standing for anything anyway, but at least we know we can't stand Republicans..."