Things I’d Like to Post About ….. (062008, Morning)

….. But Don’t Have Any Time For:

• What Michigan’s ruling ruining party is doing to the Wolverine State is horrifying, but useful. Right Michigan (HT NixGuy) somehow got a hold of the state’s unemployment numbers for May (I didn’t think they came out until this morning at 8:30 10:00). Unemployment in the Wolverine State shot up in May to 8.5% from 6.9%. That’s 3 points above the national average. It’s useful because what Jennifer Granholm et al have done to Michigan with tax increases and refusals to do anything meaningful about spending is a microcosm of what Barack Obama and his party will do to the whole country if they gain power. Yes it is.
• IBDeditorials.com — “Haven’t heard much news coming out of Iraq recently? Consider the near silence a clear indication that things are going well there.” As yours truly noted on Tuesday, the Associated Press has already told us, in its own cryptic way, why Iraq is not worth reporting on now that the situation has improved.
• Another gem from IBDeditorials.com — “On Thursday, Barack Obama declared he’d forego public finance for his presidential campaign, going back on a public pledge to Common Cause to do the opposite. Instead of admitting he’d be more likely to win with private finance, he blamed Republicans. ‘We face opponents who’ve become masters at gaming this broken system,’ he claimed. Never mind that the bridge-builder had assured rival John McCain’s camp that he’d talk it over with them.”
• Michelle Malkin made a great point yesterday about the offshore oil-drilling situation — “There are two bans on drilling–one by Congress and one by an White House executive order put in place by President Bush’s father. Why won’t the son revoke that order NOW if he truly believes expanding American oil production by increasing access to the Outer Continental Shelf is an urgent priority?” Good question.
• Along those lines — Go to this link (last four quarters are here). In return for doing everything involved in finding, getting, and producing petroleum-based products, Exxon Mobil has been making an after-tax profit of about 8% – 10% of each dollar of revenue for the past 4 years. Now go to this link. In return for inefficiently-run, pork barrel-laden highway programs, the states and the federal government collect about 47 cents a gallon in state and federal gas taxes. That’s about 11%-12% of the current pump price of about $4.08. So who’s “greedier,” and who is giving us the better deal?