gmsisko1
05-25-2007, 11:07 PM
REP. JOHNSON SAYS NO TO GAS PRICE GOUGING
Fines May Support Energy Assistance for Nation's Needy
Now isn't that so special? Not only will Congressman Johnson be able to go to his town hall meetings over the weekend and tell the myrmidons that he is doing something about gas prices, but he's also doing something to help the poor, poor pitiful poor as well! What a guy? (By the way, Hank Johnson now occupies the seat once filled by the Cutest Little Jihadist in Congress --- none other than Cynthia McKinney.)
So, what constitutes price gouging under the bill? Well ... that's hard to say. After all, the purpose here wasn't to really establish what is price gouging and what is not. The purpose was to pander to the voters. So the politicians decided to tell us that price gouging occurs when the price is "unconscionably excessive" or "indicates that the seller is taking unfair advantage of unusual market conditions." Well .. that pretty much nails it down, doesn't it?
What this bill really does is set the stage for even more political posturing in the future. Let this atrocity become law and the next time gas prices go up political hacks will hold grandstanding hearings to see if anyone out there might be taking unfair advantage of market conditions or charging a price that is unconscionably excessive. Since those terms are so vague, the politicians will have wide range to strut and grandstand before the TV cameras as they grill evil oil company executives.
Bush is threatening a veto if it the bill should get through the Senate, but just when has the president shown any determination to keep the government from interfering in the free marketplace? Sorry, but outside of the war against Islamic fascism and the big "A" I'm not really looking for the president to show any leadership on this point.
The concept being presented to us here by our rulers is that free enterprise, the time-tested law of supply and demand, should only be allowed to work for things that you do not need.
This is nothing less than an orgy of pandering by power-drunk politicians pandering to the government-induced economic ignorance of the dumb masses. Does that sound insulting? Are you offended. Well, perhaps you shouldn't be. You, after all, listen to talk radio. I'm referring to the vast majority of the American people who get their daily dose of news from Entertainment Tonight and feel that the most important decision to be made anywhere in the free world before another sunrise is who will be the new American Idol. These people can't name their two U.S. Senators, they don't know how long congressmen serve, and they couldn't name two cabinet-level departments in the executive branch of government; probably not even one.
Our rulers couldn't get away with this price-gouging absurdity of the American people had even the most fundamental economic education. In virtually every news story I have read, heard or seen concerning gas prices and the push for anti-price gouging legislation there has not been one single reference to oil company profit margins. Profits? Oh my yes! Our rulers and the media know that we understand high profits, and they also know that not one out of ten Americans know the difference between a profit and a profit margin. It's not how much money you make, it's how much money you make on each dollar of sales. Hank Johnson -- our local congressman with a penchant for pandering -- knows this. His press release .. the one where he cleverly added in a shout-out to the "needy" ... cites the profits of the oil companies, but not one word about profit margins.
Why are Americans so damnably ignorant? Does something like this happen by chance? When I was doing research for the chapters in "Somebody's Gotta Say It" about our government education system, I was shocked to learn that some of the people involved in the formation of our present system of government education had a goal of making sure we enough to function, but not enough to be much of a threat to the ruling class. The details and references are in the book, but let me share a few gems with you.
Let's go back to 1888 and the Senate Committee on Education. The committee was addressing local control of education. Concerned was expressed that local control of the government education process might actually result in our children being taught too much! The committee report actually says "We believe that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years manifesting itself among the laboring classes." In other words, the more someone knows the more discontent they become in later years. Discontent with what? Their rulers?
By: Boortz
http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html
Fines May Support Energy Assistance for Nation's Needy
Now isn't that so special? Not only will Congressman Johnson be able to go to his town hall meetings over the weekend and tell the myrmidons that he is doing something about gas prices, but he's also doing something to help the poor, poor pitiful poor as well! What a guy? (By the way, Hank Johnson now occupies the seat once filled by the Cutest Little Jihadist in Congress --- none other than Cynthia McKinney.)
So, what constitutes price gouging under the bill? Well ... that's hard to say. After all, the purpose here wasn't to really establish what is price gouging and what is not. The purpose was to pander to the voters. So the politicians decided to tell us that price gouging occurs when the price is "unconscionably excessive" or "indicates that the seller is taking unfair advantage of unusual market conditions." Well .. that pretty much nails it down, doesn't it?
What this bill really does is set the stage for even more political posturing in the future. Let this atrocity become law and the next time gas prices go up political hacks will hold grandstanding hearings to see if anyone out there might be taking unfair advantage of market conditions or charging a price that is unconscionably excessive. Since those terms are so vague, the politicians will have wide range to strut and grandstand before the TV cameras as they grill evil oil company executives.
Bush is threatening a veto if it the bill should get through the Senate, but just when has the president shown any determination to keep the government from interfering in the free marketplace? Sorry, but outside of the war against Islamic fascism and the big "A" I'm not really looking for the president to show any leadership on this point.
The concept being presented to us here by our rulers is that free enterprise, the time-tested law of supply and demand, should only be allowed to work for things that you do not need.
This is nothing less than an orgy of pandering by power-drunk politicians pandering to the government-induced economic ignorance of the dumb masses. Does that sound insulting? Are you offended. Well, perhaps you shouldn't be. You, after all, listen to talk radio. I'm referring to the vast majority of the American people who get their daily dose of news from Entertainment Tonight and feel that the most important decision to be made anywhere in the free world before another sunrise is who will be the new American Idol. These people can't name their two U.S. Senators, they don't know how long congressmen serve, and they couldn't name two cabinet-level departments in the executive branch of government; probably not even one.
Our rulers couldn't get away with this price-gouging absurdity of the American people had even the most fundamental economic education. In virtually every news story I have read, heard or seen concerning gas prices and the push for anti-price gouging legislation there has not been one single reference to oil company profit margins. Profits? Oh my yes! Our rulers and the media know that we understand high profits, and they also know that not one out of ten Americans know the difference between a profit and a profit margin. It's not how much money you make, it's how much money you make on each dollar of sales. Hank Johnson -- our local congressman with a penchant for pandering -- knows this. His press release .. the one where he cleverly added in a shout-out to the "needy" ... cites the profits of the oil companies, but not one word about profit margins.
Why are Americans so damnably ignorant? Does something like this happen by chance? When I was doing research for the chapters in "Somebody's Gotta Say It" about our government education system, I was shocked to learn that some of the people involved in the formation of our present system of government education had a goal of making sure we enough to function, but not enough to be much of a threat to the ruling class. The details and references are in the book, but let me share a few gems with you.
Let's go back to 1888 and the Senate Committee on Education. The committee was addressing local control of education. Concerned was expressed that local control of the government education process might actually result in our children being taught too much! The committee report actually says "We believe that education is one of the principal causes of discontent of late years manifesting itself among the laboring classes." In other words, the more someone knows the more discontent they become in later years. Discontent with what? Their rulers?
By: Boortz
http://boortz.com/nuze/index.html