Just a Reminder...

...of what gas prices once were.

h/t The Political Commentator

Inflation Rears Its Ugly Head and Other Stuff

Obamanomics is a wonderful thing. It is all and nothing at the same time. It is sometimes downgrading, frequently unexpected and always someone else's fault in the eyes of this administration.

For the rest of us out here in the real world, it just plain sucks.

It should be clear by now that Obama is flailing in his attempts to get the economy going. His Sidam Touch (and yeah, that's Midas backwards, how did you guess?) is working its magic in every metric known to modern man. There are certain inviolable laws of economics, and Obama knows none of them.

Take this example, please: core wholesale inflation is up, way up. This number includes groceries and gasoline, as opposed to the statistic that we normally hear which doesn't include it, naturally to make the number appear far less than it really is. If you've been to the grocery store recently, you've no doubt noticed. The core figure is up .4%, the most since last January according to the government. Food prices are leading the way.

What this administration has yet to discover is the principle of cause and effect. Let's look at another seemingly unrelated (to this administration) factoid: for the first time in history, more corn is being made into fuel than it is for food. From the link:

For forever,” Plain said, “ feed was the largest single use of corn.”



The news comes as criticism that pro-ethanol subsidies and policies are raising food prices globally seems to be reaching a crescendo. Critics didn’t seem to latch onto the USDA’s market prediction, however.


A spokesman for Iowa’s ethanol industry termed the USDA’s market prediction “a footnote.”


“Every credible study has clearly found the effects of ethanol policies is negligible on the price of corn,” remarked Monte Shaw, president of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

Um, that's bullshit, y'all, plain and simple. Who are you going to believe, someone who is paid to make fuel out of food, or your lying eyes? If only we had something else to make fuel from, something that wasn't edible and could be made into other things, too. Something that was a more like a raw, natural resource that could be found nearly everywhere. Something that had more potential energy in it and seemed perfectly suited for use as a fuel. Something that didn't get worse mileage than before. Something that wasn't edible.

Wait! I've got it! I heard of something just like that! Oil, I think it's called. Oh, that's right, we can't use that because we have a President who wants us to move to something called a "green economy" that ignores the laws of physics, economics, and common sense all at the same time!

We're saved!

But wait! There's more!

The recent placing of three Colorado wildflowers on the federal endangered and threatened species lists will make it harder to exploit untapped fuel resources in the Rocky Mountain State, a group representing the energy industry tells Fox News, an assertion the government denies.

“By 2020 we could produce as much oil and natural gas in the West as we currently import from Russia, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Algeria and Nigeria combined,” she said, but “we’re adding more regulation and slowing the development of American energy, preventing us from reaching our full potential and creating jobs and economic development across the West.”

Wildflowers, huh? Two words: Hot House.

I think the nation has had about enough of this and is ready for some real change, this time the good kind. Obama's poll numbers on his handling of the economy is at a new low of 26%.

Then there's this...

During a town hall meeting at Wyffels Hybrids in Atkinson, Illinois, a farmer expressed concern to President Obama about forthcoming regulations. The man stated that people would rather be farming than "filling out forms and permits to do what we like to do." President Obama told the farmer "don't always believe what you hear" and blamed Washington for ginning up speculation. Obama added that, "Nobody is more interested in seeing our agricultural sector successful than I am, partly because I come from a farm state."

Strangely, I'm not comforted. I've already taken the President's advice, especially when he speaks.

Now, if this isn't what we need right about now, I don't know what we do need. Rick Perry responds to Obama's remark that he "watch what he says" with this: "You're killing jobs." Heh.

Perry is a breath of fresh air. Bold, accurate and unafraid of the current administration. How bold? you ask. He said in his speech last weekend he wanted to make Washington as inconsequential to the lives of Americans as possible. I think this is what he means. Well, to be fair, we've tried it the other way for two and a half years. How's that working out?

And finally, somebody named Gene Simmons knows how to pick 'em. He has a good track record, having picked the last three presidents, and he predicts Perry will be the next one.

My fingers are crossed.

Stay thirsty, my friends.

Change You Can Believe In – Actual Inflation is Near 10%

If you’ve been to the grocery store or the gas station lately, you may have noticed something. This “something” is a rapid rise in prices. It’s also something Washington struggles mightily to deny.
So, what are you going to believe? The government or your lying eyes? *rimshot!*

It almost seems like someone (or a group of someones) doesn’t want to tell you the truth about the economy. However, some truths cannot be hidden, lied about, or massaged. Money is like that.

You will doubtless recall how our unemployment rate was expressed in the Days Before Obama. There are several measurements that the government uses to track that figure, with the most popular being the U-3 statistic. (Click here for the Bureau of Labor Statistic’s page, scroll down to the chart on page 2.) But today’s long-term unemployed are skewing that number. If you’ve been out of work and can no longer qualify for unemployment compensation, you aren’t counted as being unemployed.

While that figure is still in use, the Obama administration fabricated a metric, “jobs saved or created.” If you’ve never heard of that phrase before, you’re not alone. No one else had either. It’s essentially meaningless since there is no accurate way to measure whether or not a job has been “saved.” Maybe it suddenly got religion.

The methods used to calculate inflation have changed over the years. The method used in the ’70’s isn’t the same method in use today. Even the BLS says so.

“Some have argued that if the CPI were computed using the methods in place in the late 1970s, the index would now be growing at a rates as high as 11 or 12 percent per year.” (This was written in 2008.)

Well, it just so happens that someone has figured today’s inflation using those methods in place in the late ‘70’s. You’ll never guess what they found. Never in a million years.

Inflation is nearing 10%. And that number is just for February.

I don’t need to tell you that.

But someone needs to tell Washington. We know that prices are rising much faster than what we’re being told. We also know why. It’s in the interests of any administration that the public not be told the truth about the terrible economy. An inflation rate of 10% usually means disaster for whoever has his feet on the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office.

Almost as surprising as this number is, what’s even more surprising is where this nugget of information is found. CNBC.com.

Now I don’t for a second think this will make it to the evening news on any of the alphabet stations of the Make Believe Media, but folks will eventually find this out. And it’s not like it’s actual news. We’ve known it for a while now, but it’s always nice to see a bit of validation.

This is particularly noteworthy since President Obama is set to give us a speech on the budget. Our deficit is the highest in history and is in large part responsible for the sagging economy. Government spending is clearly out of control, taken to unprecedentedly new and unsustainable levels by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid during the last two years of their Reign of Terror in Congress.

As usual, I’ll be washing Fido, my imaginary pooch, instead of listening to that speech.

He stinks almost as much as our economy.