Category Archive

Alaskan Pipeline Closure May Fuel Motorists’ Ire Ugh.  What a terrible pun.  But the story itself is actually worse. The Bay Area will not face an oil shortage, but gas prices may jump in the weeks to come following a shutdown of Alaska oil supplies, experts said Monday. London-based BP Amoco PLC, the world’s second-largest oil supplier, is shutting down … Read More

As Jon Stewart pointed out recently, let’s not feel bad for the oil companies. Poor BP set a record quarterly profit of $6.118 billion, or roughly $55,000 per minute. And news comes out today that Exxon second quarter profits for this year jumped 36 percent.  They netted "earned $10.36 billion in the second quarter, the second largest quarterly profit ever … Read More

Just thought you should know: Nationwide gas prices hit an all-time high in the last two weeks, rising nearly 2 cents to just over $3 per gallon, according to a survey released Sunday. The national average for self-serve regular stood at $3.0150 a gallon Friday, up 1.98 cents in the last two weeks, according to the Lundberg Survey of 7,000 … Read More

Count me among those who think the penny is worthless in the single, and costly in the aggregate: NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Representative Jim Kolbe wants to do away with the penny – and for the second time has introduced legislation that would effectively kill it. The Currency Overhaul for an Industrious Nation (COIN) Act would force the rounding off … Read More

But you already knew that, right? Here’s the local forecast: North Carolina: A variety of reasons are adding up to another spike in gas prices. Parts of the Triangle are seeing gasoline on average for around $2.74 a gallon. The statewide average is $2.75 a gallon. However, some analysts believe gas could be as high as $3 a gallon by … Read More

Back in 1898, the federal government imposed a 3% excise tax on all long-distance phone calls.  It was called a "luxury tax", because back then, only the wealthiest Americans could make long-distance phone calls.  In fact, most Americans didn’t have a phone. Oddly enough, that "luxury tax" has been with us for 108 years, even though phones and long-distance calls … Read More

GOP conservatives voted yesterday to extend  the 15 percent tax rate for capital gains and dividends until 2010.  This will add another 70 billion to the deficit. But you’ll get a tax refund, right?  Well… actually…. according to the Tax Policy Center study (as reported by the New York Times): The top tenth of 1 percent, whose average income is … Read More

High oil and gas prices are here to stay.

Will we be seeing more of this?

Michelle Malkin looks at this poster and writes: "Welcome to May 1. It’s the day to hate the Yankees. That is: Americans, not the baseball team." So I guess you hate Americans if you support "the family unit", "justice for Hurricane Katrina survivors, unions, and workers.  Thanks, Michelle.