This and That

Cyndy, Cyndy, Cyndy

Cynthia McKinney’s troubles continue following the taping of an interview on a Georgia TV station. Here’s the account from Wikipedia:

On April 23 2006, as reported by WGCL's Renee Starzyk, McKinney forgot she was still wearing the microphone after she was interviewed about the scuffle with the police officer. Her off screen comments were captured on tape. She was heard saying, "Oh crap now you know what... they lied to Coz and Coz is a fool." She was referring to one of her aides, Coz Carson. Mckinney realised the embarrasing mistake and returned on screen with the microphone, this time with instructions on what parts of the interview CBS 46 was allowed to use, "any thing that is captured by your audio...that is captured while I'm not seated in this chair is off the record and is not permissable to be used... is that understood?"

Well, no, it isn’t understood. If you don’t want comments used by reporters, you can do two things: Keep quiet, or ask that comments be kept “off the record,” and if you opt for the second method, you had better get the reporter’s agreement before you say anything. Ms. Mckinney did neither and now has to pay for her indiscretion, just as Vice President Dick Cheynet and President Bush had to pay when they made comments that were inadvertently picked up by open mikes.


When Will the American People Catch On?

It has become the new National Pastime. It’s the new Order of the Day. What is it? Blaming George Bush. The President’s enemies don’t even think anymore (did they ever?), they just automatically blame W. for whatever seems to be wrong with life.

What’s the latest booboo the President has made? Why gasoline prices, of courses. Everyone knows that one of the primary duties of the President of the United States is setting the price of barrels of oil, hence indirectly pricing gasoline at a level that punishes the nation’s businesses that have transportation as a major component of what they do and renders low income Americans unable to buy food and medicine.

This tripe is readily, even eagerly, accepted by a significant number of the American people as if it were true. One wonders if those misguided and easily duped fellow citizens will ever catch on.

It is a common tactic of the Democrats and liberals to imagine an umbilical cord connecting Republican presidents to “Big Business,” in this case, “Big Oil.” So Mr. Bush is protecting the greedy oil companies, who have conspired against the American people to make grossly large profits.

It just ain’t so. Oil company profits are no larger now than their usual level, and they are far less large than many other industries, such as pharmaceuticals at 19%, newspapers at 20%, banks at 18%, software services at nearly 10%. Oil and gas companies trail at around 8%.

In general, crude oil accounts for roughly half of gasoline's price, Other price components include refining, distribution (pipelines and tanker trucks) and marketing (service stations and convenience stores). After “Big Oil” acquires, refines and delivers gasoline to your neighborhood station, another major factor comes into play – federal, state and local taxes. Taxes average about 20 percent or more of the pump price. The federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon, while state taxes vary from 14 cents in Wyoming to more than 44 cents per gallon in New York.

So, wake up people. Start thinking for yourself. Stop drinking the Kool-Aid. Study the issues and get the facts. It isn’t hard to find the truth.

Technorati Tags: Cynthia McKinney, Big Oil, Gasoline Prices, Arrogance, Demagoguery