Why High Gas Prices? by Doug French

Doug asks if socialist Senators Schumer, Boxer and Reid, who all want to tap the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, would do the right thing and drop state taxes (they come from the high tax states of NY, CA, NV, respectively).

Of course, if the good Senator really wants to give Nevada drivers some relief, why not suspend gasoline taxes? The federal tax on gasoline is 18.4 cents per gallon. Then the State of Nevada, on top of that, levies another 33.7 cents. That’s 52.1 cents a gallon going to the government. Thus residents of the Silver State today pay the third highest gasoline tax in the nation – behind only New York and Hawaii. Of course, Californians pay nearly as much as Nevadans – over 50 cents per gallon. Interestingly, the three Senators looking to drain the SPR for their political gain are from states with the highest gasoline taxes, as well as the highest gas prices in the nation.

Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes Of All Time

Classic Material. Meant to blog this yesterday, but one day later it is still fantastic.

I liked this one....

#3: Instant Color TV
In 1962 there was only one tv channel in Sweden, and it broadcast in black and white. The station's technical expert, Kjell Stensson, appeared on the news to announce that thanks to a newly developed technology, all viewers could now quickly and easily convert their existing sets to display color reception. All they had to do was pull a nylon stocking over their tv screen, and they would begin to see their favorite shows in color. Stensson then proceeded to demonstrate the process. Reportedly, hundreds of thousands of people, out of the population of seven million, were taken in. Actual color tv transmission only commenced in Sweden on April 1, 1970.

Page 2 - Women should not be flying high

I couldn't belive it when I read that a female or chick, if you'd like, won the slam dunk contest at the McDonald's High School Classic. The only rational explination that jumped to my mind is that the men all missed their dunks and low and behold this was the answer. It is funny when a chick can win the high school all-star slam dunk contest doing dunks that my little brother, who hasn't played hoops competitively since high school (he just graduated from college), could do. Guess this is just one more reason to stick a fork in these contests. Jason Whitlock opines on the results in his espn page ii column today.


"No disrespect to Ms. Parker, but she was handed the title. Her dunks were unspectacular. She won because the boys in the contest failed to complete their dunks.

Her participation, in fact, undermined the credibility of the contest. Why take it seriously? The people running the all-star game didn't. Eventually, neither did the judges.

Hey, I don't want to sound as intolerant as Vijay Singh. But this is different than Annika Sorenstam visiting the PGA Tour. Sorenstam has the necessary skill to compete with the men on the PGA Tour. Parker has almost none of the skills it takes to compete with boys her age in a dunk contest. I'd rather see Parker compete in the men's game than the dunk contest. She'd have a better chance competing in a game than a dunk contest.

Seriously, Parker dunked as well as an old Larry Bird -- when he had a bad back."

His final line is great..

"Why can't we just celebrate Candace Parker's game? She has lots of game. She's not the best girls' prep basketball player because she can dunk. She has soft hands, quick feet, great vision, a nice shooting touch, good moves around the basket. That was good enough to make Larry Bird a superstar. It should be good enough for Candace Parker."

The Market Nugget

Offered up this statistic that I thought was worthy of note. What is amazing is how relectuant most Americans are to changing their behavior. Probably goes a long way to explaining why we continue to spend more than we earn.

The survey, the results of which were broadcast on CNBC, I found thought provoking, especially in light of all the complaining about high gasoline prices. It reported that not until the price per gallon averages $3.75 would a large number of Americans, 30%, consider changing the type of vehicle they drive or how they use their vehicle. It seems we Americans do not like high prices, but at the same time we are not willing to make any personal sacrifices to help our cause. Personally, I consider the purchase of a vehicle that guzzles gas to be a voluntary use tax.

March (Budget) Madness

Ron Paul serves up a nice opinion piece on the latest stealing of my money shenanigans in Washington. Will the voters ever do anything to stop the madness?

Like many of my Republican colleagues who curiously voted for the enormous budget resolution, I campaign on a simple promise that I will work to make government smaller. This means I cannot vote for any budget that increases spending over previous years. In fact, I would have a hard time voting for any budget that did not slash federal spending by at least 25%, especially when we remember that the federal budget in 1990 was less than half what it is today. Did anyone really think the federal government was uncomfortably small just 14 years ago? Hardly. It once took more than 100 years for the federal budget to double, now it takes less than a decade. We need to end the phony talk about “priorities” and recognize federal spending as the runaway freight train that it is. A federal government that spends 2.4 trillion dollars in one year and consumes roughly one-third of the nation’s GDP is far too large.

Interesting Interview with one of the Founders of the Marginal Revolution Blog, Alex Tabarrok

You have to like the fact that George Mason has so many libertarians on their staff. Some gems from the interview...

11: You've suggested what established adults should do to prepare themselves for the economic apocalypse (mortgage their houses, invest in art, get tenure). But what can/should those who are just finishing college or graduate school do to avoid being caught high-and-dry?

After years of study and thought, I have a come up with a fool-proof 7-point plan to weather the coming financial apocalypse. Will you be one of the many caught in the flood or will you plan ahead and save your future and that of your children? It's not too late - financial security is still possible. My 7-point plan to save your financial future can be had for just 3 easy payments of $29.95. Don't delay.

Seriously, I have never used the term apocalypse and I am not a financial planner. What I do think is that over the next several decades taxes are going to go up very severely and there will be cuts in social security, Medicare and Medicaid. My advice, is save more than you think you will need and try to save with assets that will be hard to tax.

12: Do you think that a Kerry presidency would be better for our long-term fiscal health than a second Bush presidency would be?

Kerry is obviously no fiscal hawk. Having said that I do think a Kerry presidency would be better for long-term fiscal health but not because of him. Kerry would be good because Republicans are a wonderful opposition party. When in the opposition they talk a great line about free trade, federalism, and fiscal discipline but don't expect them to follow through. Remember, no matter who you vote for, the government always gets in.

Wired News: Maybe the Music's Just Lousy?

Study on DLing and effect on record sales that believes that dling has little effect on record sales. Not sure if I 100% buy this, but downloading does expose you to a lot of different genres of music and many songs that you would never ever have purchased, so some of it makes sense.

"While downloads occur on a vast scale, most users are likely individuals who would not have bought the album even in the absence of file sharing," they said.

The Roots: New Album 'The Tipping Point' Out June 29 on Geffen:

New Roots June 29th and it includes Dave Chappelle....Oh shit....Oh shit....I can't wait.

In other news check out Van Hunt--the hotest RnB album I've heard in a long time and Talib Kweli's single "Lonely People"...banging.

"With contributions from Jean Grae, Martin Luther, Devin the Dude, guitarist Captain Kirk Douglas, producer Scott Storch and comedian Dave Chappelle, 'The Tipping Point' also highlights the collective of artists and producers who the Roots have championed throughout their career.

The Roots are currently filming a video for the first single from 'The Tipping Point,' 'Don't Say Nothin'.' The track was produced by Scott Storch, who began his career as the Roots' first keyboardist and went on to produce hits for Dr. Dre, Christina Aguilera and Beyonce Knowles among others.

Elsewhere on the record, comedian Dave Chappelle makes an appearance on 'In Love With (The Mic)' and the group also pays homage to Sly and the Family Stone with a 'virtual' duet on 'Everybody is a Star.' "