It happens all the time, but more so in Michigan than anywhere else. Maybe that's why the state has gone to hell.

This little blurb was sent to me from my Michigan REALTOR association:

"...the Senate Finance Committee formed a subcommittee to examine the effects of the new Michigan Business Tax (MBT) on businesses around the state. The Senate MBT Impact Assessment Subcommittee formed to analyze input from taxpayers, along with seeking suggestions for improvement of the MBT in order to bring recommendations for revision to the Senate Finance Committee in June."

Well, hell, Lansing, let's just pass the damn thing and worry about it later.

You fools have to have an impact study to figure out what higher taxes do to businesses and, thus, JOBS, in the state? Good God...

Here's some input: ABOLISH THE DAMN TAX!!!

The latest from Newt Gingrich:

"The starting point of any discussion of America's energy future has to be this: Shortsighted politicians [editor's note: I don't agree they are short-sighted, I believe they WANTED this to happen] have created the current energy crisis.

For decades left-leaning politicians have advocated higher prices and less energy. They were going to save the environment by punishing Americans into driving less and driving smaller cars. Now their policies have succeeded with a vengeance.

The very left wing politicians who favored a policy of no oil and gas exploration, no use of coal, no development of nuclear power, and no aggressive development of new technologies are now panic-stricken that their policies of higher prices have led to higher prices. [emphasis added]

And now the same shortsighted, dishonest politicians who created the crisis are blaming everyone but themselves for the crisis. Because they refuse to be honest about the policies which led to this crisis, they can't be honest about the policies that will lead us out of it.

The politicians want scapegoats. The American people just want solutions."

Just as I've been writing in blogs below. No, the politicians are not the only reason, but they are a damn big part of it through outlawing exploration for oil in certain areas, printing money and causing the dollar to drop, taxes, and other stupid left-wing (Democrat/socialist) policies.

Nothing is going to change, either, unless the voters - YOU - get off our duffs and tell these politicians enough is enough, quit trying to run everything out of Washington.

Newt goes on to offer several solutions here.

From this week's Ron Paul Texas Straight Talk:

"The House passed two bills attempting to rehabilitate the housing and mortgage market this week.  There doesn't seem to be any shortage of criticism and blame for the bad decisions, and rightly so.  Lenders and banks do share much of the blame for the overheated market.  Lending standards were relaxed, or even abandoned altogether, creating an exaggerated pool of homebuyers that led to ballooning home prices that many, especially real estate investors, expected to continue forever.  Now that the bubble has burst, the losses are staggering.

However, many in Washington fail to realize it was government intervention that brought on the current economic malaise in the first place.  The Federal Reserve’s artificially low interest rates created the loose, easy credit that ignited a voracious appetite in the banks for borrowers.  People made these lending and buying decisions based on market conditions that were wildly manipulated by government.  But part of sound financial management should be recognizing untenable or falsified economic conditions and adjusting risk accordingly.  Many banks failed to do that and are now looking to taxpayers to pick up the pieces.  This is wrong-headed and unfair, but Congress is attempting to do it anyway.

These housing bills address the crisis in exactly the wrong way, by seeking to hide the problem with more disastrous government bail-outs and interventions.  One measure, HR 5830 the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Housing Stabilization and Homeowner Retention Act would allow the FHA to guarantee as much as $300 billion worth of refinanced home loans for those facing threat of foreclosure.  HR 5818 the Neighborhood Stabilization Act, would provide $15 billion in loans and grants to localities to purchase and renovate foreclosed homes with the object of then selling or renting out those homes.  Thankfully, President Bush has vowed to veto both of these bills.  It is neither morally right nor fiscally wise to socialize private losses in this way.

The solution is for government to stop micromanaging the economy and let the market adjust, as painful as that will be for some.  We should not force taxpayers, including renters and more frugal homeowners, to switch places with the speculators and take on those same risks that bankrupted them.  It is a terrible idea to spread the financial crisis any wider or deeper than it already is, and to prolong the agony years into the future.  Socializing the losses now will only create more unintended consequences that will give new excuses for further government interventions in the future. This is how government grows - by claiming to correct the mistakes it earlier created, all the while constantly shaking down the taxpayer.  The market needs a chance to correct itself, and Congress needs to avoid making the situation worse by pretending to ride to the rescue."

Once again, the good Doctor gets it right.

I didn't say "stupid", I said ignorant as defined: Unknowledgeable or uneducated at http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ignorant

But the politicians - all of them, but mostly the Democrat socialists - pander and pander and just don't give a damn if something actually works, much less whether it is a good thing. And the RIGHT thing is never a consideration. Just how much face time can I get and whose vote can I steal is all that matters. Oh yes, just let me stay here in government "service".

High gas prices are a politicians dream. It allows them to scream and yell in front of the cameras about massive profits without ever mentioning a return on investment of about 8 or 9%. That kind of return is really nothing to write home about, though. Hell, public water utilities are over 20%; when was the last time you heard a politician crook want to tax your water because of excessive profits? Of course, 99% or more of Americans don't know what an ROI is i.e. ignorant, even after the trillions of dollars spent on education.

Big oil? Tax 'em!! NO, fools...read these:

http://www.heritage.org/Press/Commentary/ed050808i.cfm and

http://blog.heritage.org/2008/05/08/morning-bell-the-new-york-times-wants-you-to-pay-even-more-at-the-pump/

"Liberal universities have been pumping out tax and spend liberals for a long, long time. The people you hear complaining about those evil oil companies came from those liberal universities. So, one could easily predict their reaction when the government announced that it was targeting these giant endowment funds (often in the billions)---they would surely be happy about it. After all, this money would be going to the good of society. Hypocritically, they were oh so upset. Kevin Casey, Harvard's Associate Vice President for Government, Community and Public Affairs said, "You can't do that. You'd be taxing success." Oh, it gets even better from there."

From the Glenn Beck show today. The whole transcript is here.

"You can't do that. You'd be taxing success." Forgive me, but Jesus H. Christ!!

Hey you idiot liberals and socialists: you wanted it, you got it. You should be happier than pigs in slop. But you're not...So:

But is it idiocy or just the normal socialist agenda?

I have never smoked cigarettes. I hate cigarette smoke, and so do millions of others.

But what has that got to do with Michigan banning smoking in "public places" such as bars, restaurants and casinos (of course the casinos are fighting it like hell)? Bars, restaurants, etc. are PRIVATE PROPERTY, and private property rights should protect a property owner and allow him to do pretty much what he wants on his property. However, in socialist Michigan a bar is a "public place" now apparently, so an owner will not be able to have a smoking section as his private property rights are supposed to allow him. What crap!

This smoking ban is asinine and shows just where Michigan's legislative heads are (I promised I wouldn't make any reference to the Governor's recent bowel-obstruction surgery but, damn, you make it tough not to). Between all the things they do wrong in Lansing - read that as liberal, socialist, or communist - like making sure they can tax anything that is there to tax and sometimes even if its not there, they are taking this state right into the toilet with all their liberal bullshit.

Governor, what is your goal? Listen to me: having the government run every facet of life doesn't work!! People are smart. THEY WILL NOT COME TO OR STAY IN MICHIGAN UNTIL THE SOCIALIST CULTURE IS GONE. THEY WILL NOT COME TO YOUR SOCIALIST PARADISE TO PAY EXORBITANT TAXES SO YOU CAN GIVE IT BACK OUT TO YOUR BUDDIES COMRADES. AND THEY WON'T BE FOOLED BY YOUR TRANSPARENTLY TEMPORARY-UNTIL-IT-TURNS-AROUND FIXES. PERMANENT, NON-SOCIALIST CHANGE BEFORE ONE COMPANY WILL COME HERE WITH THE JOBS.    

Its not that hard to figure out, Jenny...unless you have an agenda?

UPDATE: A Detroit News online survey that I saw just now after I posted my comments above shows 74% of voters favor a ban. You know what, Michigan, state of my birth and my life long residence? You keep asking for socialism and any kind of government help and control instead of individual freedom and responsibility. You deserve exactly what you are getting, so quit complaining when the roof caves in on you when it doesn't work and you lose everything.

The Republican party nomination may be sown up, but Ron Paul continues to just make sense. Here's his latest Texas Straight Talk:

"In the past few months, American workers, consumers, and businesses have experienced a sudden and dramatic rise in gasoline prices. In some parts of the country, gasoline costs as much as $4 per gallon. Some politicians claim that the way to reduce gas prices is by expanding the government’s power to regulate prices and control the supply of gasoline.  For example, the House of Representatives has even passed legislation subjecting gas stations owners to criminal penalties if they charge more than a federal bureaucrat deems appropriate. Proponents of these measures must have forgotten the 1970s, when government controls on the oil industry resulted in gas lines and shortages. It was only after President Reagan lifted federal price controls that the gas lines disappeared.

Instead of imposing further restraints on the market, Congress should consider reforming the federal policies that raise gas prices. For example, federal and state taxes can account for as much as a third of what consumers’ pay at the pump. The Federal Government’s boom-and-bust monetary policy also makes consumers vulnerable to inflation and to constant fluctuations in the prices of essential goods such as oil. It is no coincidence that oil prices first became an issue shortly after President Nixon unilaterally severed the dollar’s last link to gold.

Basic economics says that when government restricts the supply of a good, the price will increase. Yet Congress continues to reject simple measures that could increase the supply of oil. For example, Congress refuses to allow reasonable, environmentally sensitive, offshore drilling. Congress also refuses to remove the numerous regulatory hurdles that add to the prohibitively expensive task of constructing new refineries. Building a new refinery requires billions of dollars in capital investment. It can take several years just to obtain the necessary federal permits. Even after the permits are obtained, construction of a refinery may still be delayed or even halted by frivolous lawsuits.  It is no wonder that there has not been a new refinery constructed in the United States since 1976.

Last year, in order to provide the American people with relief from high oil prices, I introduced the Affordable Gas Price Act (HR 2415). This legislation protects the American people from gas price spikes by suspending the federal gas tax whenever the national average gas price exceeds $3.00 per gallon. The Affordable Gas Price Act also expands the supply of gasoline by repealing the federal moratorium on offshore drilling, including in the ANWR reserve in Alaska . HR 2415 also provides tax incentives and protection from nuisance lawsuits for those seeking to build new refineries. Finally, HR 2415 authorizes a federal study on the link between our nation’s monetary policy and the price of oil.

The free market can meet the American people’s demand for a reliable supply of gasoline as long as government does not distort the market through excessive taxation and regulation. Therefore, Congress should lower prices gas prices by pursuing an agenda of low taxes, regulatory relief, and sound money by passing legislation such as my Affordable Gas Act."

More on oil, from Robert J. Samuelson at the Washington Post:

"It may surprise Americans to discover that the United States is the third-largest oil producer, behind Saudi Arabia and Russia. We could be producing more, but Congress has put large areas of potential supply off-limits. These include the Atlantic and Pacific coasts and parts of Alaska and the Gulf of Mexico. By government estimates, these areas may contain 25 billion to 30 billion barrels of oil (against about 30 billion barrels of proven U.S. reserves today) and 80 trillion cubic feet or more of natural gas (compared with about 200 tcf of proven reserves).

What keeps these areas closed are exaggerated environmental fears, strong prejudice against oil companies and sheer stupidity. Americans favor both "energy independence" and cheap fuel. They deplore imports -- who wants to pay foreigners? -- but oppose more production in the United States. Got it? The result is a "no-pain energy agenda that sounds appealing but has no basis in reality," writes Robert Bryce in "Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of 'Energy Independence.' "

Unsurprisingly, all three major presidential candidates tout "energy independence." This reflects either ignorance (unlikely) or pandering (probable). The United States imports about 60 percent of its oil, up from 42 percent in 1990. We'll import lots more for the foreseeable future. The world uses 86 million barrels of oil a day, up from 67 mbd in 1990."

And, to beat a dead horse, as long as the value of the dollar falls imported item's prices, including oil, will only keep increasing.