"The pipeline shutdown has absolutely nothing to do with gas prices," said Patrick De Haan, head of petroleum analysis for GasBuddy. "Prices are higher because production has lagged behind, not because there isn't enough pipeline capacity — there is."
American Petroleum Institute spokesperson Scott Lauermann said that "first and foremost, higher crude oil prices are the main cause of higher gasoline prices." He agreed that the price of crude, the biggest component of gasoline prices, is higher this year because demand is rising while supply is constrained.
Even API - no friend of Democrats - says its nothing to do with a pipeline that wasn't in production.
And if we are going to heap it all on the President - as if markets have no actors with their own agency - Then the unemployment rate being at historic lows and gas prices starting to come down (and still be below the Bush II era high point) ought to offset this . . . curious, don't you think, that it doesn't?
I remain ... flummoxed ... perplexed ... frustrated ... with all the man-on-the-street narratives about how the Administration caused this. Biden doesn't set gas prices, nor does he control oil production by OPEC or Russia. he can't force trucking companies to hire more drivers - which does take some amount of training time; and while he did broker a deal to get the west coast port flowing again, he can't nationalize them and send in the Army to run them. He also can't force employers to pay wages that will attract and keep workers and thus stem the Great Resignation.
And yet so many of them STILL defend the Paltry sums the "got" under Trump's tax cut as being a reason it was worth depriving the treasury on $1.7 Trillion over a decade.
Its also why all thee coastal wetland restoration programs down here are so expensive. All that land - while submerged - is in private hands and you can't turn it back into emergent wetland without compensating land owners . . .
Same thing in statistics - knowing how two write a two factor ANOVA is less useful now then knowing why your data needs one, since all the good stats programs are essentially drag and drop or pull down menus. Some of the data visualization programs still require programming skills, but the SAS I learned in grad school in 1993 has long passed its usefulness.
My federal land management colleagues universally hate practicing in Louisiana. During Deep Water Horizon we had a small army of attorney's working 24-7 getting access rights and temporary easements because land that has become permanently submerged is still considered private land. So we'd be running across an open bay, miles from shore, and hit a line of pipes sticking up out of the water with No Trespassing signs on them. Absent written consent, we couldn't go look for oil much less send clean up crews.
I don't know the criminal side, but I do know my several friends who are practicing attorneys had to take two bar exams after law school to admitted at bar anywhere else.
Well many of us are sure of that, but the economists quoted in the MSM don't want to be sure of that because it impacts their ability to garner huge corporate consulting fees.
Most federal statutes actually have to be renewed periodically - remember the kerfuffle when Obama supported renewal of the Patriot Act? Congress has to vote on the renewal, whet they don't usually do is a full committee mark up or any analysis of effectiveness.
And again they can't pass appropriations on a deadline they have given themselves (and moved at least once) - an Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 duty assigned to Congress:
No Money shall be drawn from the Treasury, but in Consequence of Appropriations made by Law;
My preference is still that we reduce the power of the federal government to the point that those officeholders I can’t vote for have minimal influence on my life.
How very Libertarian of you. Now, would accept them having minimal influence on the live of others, say by not being able to strike down Roe? Because the office holder of say Texas sure seem to think they can have an impact on my daughters lives by forcing the SCOTUS to toss Roe and Republican senators sure seem to want to prevent it from becoming federal law and thus a national standard.
This is kind of the same thing as getting rid of the filibuster: whether or not it’s a good idea seems to be largely based on what one tribe or the other wants to do right now and the other side who is currently getting their way despite a minority of votes gets to say “Do it and you’ll be very unhappy with what happens when we inevitably take the majority in the future.” But the filibuster isn’t a Constitutional rule (yet, y’all might decide to make it one).
Well given that we know what Republicans will can off the filibuster whenever they think it stands in their way as the majority I think this horse is well away from its barn.
with the exception of Georgia and Florida, the southern states don't have "large" cities. Our state capitol - the blue city - is 166,383. Our next largest city is Gulfport at 72,926. Baton Rouge, LA is 227,470 and New Orleans - which is quite liberal - is only 388,424. Alabama's largest city is Huntsville at 215,006; the state capitol is third largest at 200,603.
So no, southern states aren't split between urban and exurban environments politically in any meaningful way.
Texas for one - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/05/texas-republicans-endorse-legislation-vote-secession
But equally as worrisome is this polling:
A Bright Line Watch/YouGov poll of 2,750 Americans taken in late June 2021, revealed that a jaw-dropping 66 percent of Southern Republicans indicated a willingness for their State to secede from the United States and join other seceding States.
Exactly. Congress won't pass a budget on time. They've punted on immigration reform numerous times. And on and on. SCOTUS keeps slapping down the follow-on executive actions and telling Congress to act, but it doesn't. And too many Americans seem to think this is ok.
The states in the civil war didn't secede from a standpoint of good will. They wanted to continue enslaving other humans. They deserve the a$$ kicking they got.
Modern red states proposing seceding do so to keep the vestages of Jim Crow intact. Should they go that road they will deserve the a$$ kicking they will get.
The Southern states used secession as a vehicle to try and keep the "states right" to enslave Africans and others to provide labor for their plantations. So when someone says "state rights" I always ask rights to what . . .
The current structure is rather functional and quite robust, until its not, and at present the only reason its not is that it won't support permanent minority rule.
That aside we fought a war over secession and the secessionists lost.
While divorce could be preferable to war, I don't want to give the Lost Cause apologists any ground to say the South was right - because it wasn't. And you and I both know they would.
Quite probably. Which Is why I'm not a fan. The Constitution has a process for amendment, and it has worked 26 times so far. NO one wants to do the work or make the compromises to make it work a 27th or 28th or 29th time.
In my case its because most of the proposals I've seen - until this one - focus on expanding the second amendment to allow unlimited unrestricted gun ownership as well as making national all sorts of race based voting rights restrictions. Even here with the Zombie Voter and Ballot Harvesting ideas we see altering the constitution for problems that 1) are already dealt with in the states and 2) have yet to have any real impact on anything.
Its a non-starter in search of a rebellion to quash.
On “2021 Saw Highest Levels of Inflation In 40 Years”
https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2021/dec/01/facebook-posts/no-evidence-biden-canceling-oil-pipeline-caused-hi/
Even API - no friend of Democrats - says its nothing to do with a pipeline that wasn't in production.
And if we are going to heap it all on the President - as if markets have no actors with their own agency - Then the unemployment rate being at historic lows and gas prices starting to come down (and still be below the Bush II era high point) ought to offset this . . . curious, don't you think, that it doesn't?
"
I remain ... flummoxed ... perplexed ... frustrated ... with all the man-on-the-street narratives about how the Administration caused this. Biden doesn't set gas prices, nor does he control oil production by OPEC or Russia. he can't force trucking companies to hire more drivers - which does take some amount of training time; and while he did broker a deal to get the west coast port flowing again, he can't nationalize them and send in the Army to run them. He also can't force employers to pay wages that will attract and keep workers and thus stem the Great Resignation.
But boy is it all his fault!
"
And yet so many of them STILL defend the Paltry sums the "got" under Trump's tax cut as being a reason it was worth depriving the treasury on $1.7 Trillion over a decade.
On “Wednesday Writs: Bar Exam, Gatekeeping, and Cheese Snobbery Edition”
Its also why all thee coastal wetland restoration programs down here are so expensive. All that land - while submerged - is in private hands and you can't turn it back into emergent wetland without compensating land owners . . .
On “2021 Saw Highest Levels of Inflation In 40 Years”
And the Fed isn't hiking rates yet either.
"
I hope not. But like Carter his party on the Hill isn't helping these days.
On “Wednesday Writs: Bar Exam, Gatekeeping, and Cheese Snobbery Edition”
Same thing in statistics - knowing how two write a two factor ANOVA is less useful now then knowing why your data needs one, since all the good stats programs are essentially drag and drop or pull down menus. Some of the data visualization programs still require programming skills, but the SAS I learned in grad school in 1993 has long passed its usefulness.
"
My federal land management colleagues universally hate practicing in Louisiana. During Deep Water Horizon we had a small army of attorney's working 24-7 getting access rights and temporary easements because land that has become permanently submerged is still considered private land. So we'd be running across an open bay, miles from shore, and hit a line of pipes sticking up out of the water with No Trespassing signs on them. Absent written consent, we couldn't go look for oil much less send clean up crews.
I don't know the criminal side, but I do know my several friends who are practicing attorneys had to take two bar exams after law school to admitted at bar anywhere else.
On “2021 Saw Highest Levels of Inflation In 40 Years”
Well many of us are sure of that, but the economists quoted in the MSM don't want to be sure of that because it impacts their ability to garner huge corporate consulting fees.
On “Wednesday Writs: Bar Exam, Gatekeeping, and Cheese Snobbery Edition”
The Napoleonic Law Code in Louisiana would like a word . . .
On “Local Gets Things Done!”
Most federal statutes actually have to be renewed periodically - remember the kerfuffle when Obama supported renewal of the Patriot Act? Congress has to vote on the renewal, whet they don't usually do is a full committee mark up or any analysis of effectiveness.
And again they can't pass appropriations on a deadline they have given themselves (and moved at least once) - an Article I, Section 9, Clause 7 duty assigned to Congress:
"
Now now Chip, don't you know only Democrats have agency in the Senate . . . .
"
How very Libertarian of you. Now, would accept them having minimal influence on the live of others, say by not being able to strike down Roe? Because the office holder of say Texas sure seem to think they can have an impact on my daughters lives by forcing the SCOTUS to toss Roe and Republican senators sure seem to want to prevent it from becoming federal law and thus a national standard.
"
This is kind of the same thing as getting rid of the filibuster: whether or not it’s a good idea seems to be largely based on what one tribe or the other wants to do right now and the other side who is currently getting their way despite a minority of votes gets to say “Do it and you’ll be very unhappy with what happens when we inevitably take the majority in the future.” But the filibuster isn’t a Constitutional rule (yet, y’all might decide to make it one).
Well given that we know what Republicans will can off the filibuster whenever they think it stands in their way as the majority I think this horse is well away from its barn.
"
with the exception of Georgia and Florida, the southern states don't have "large" cities. Our state capitol - the blue city - is 166,383. Our next largest city is Gulfport at 72,926. Baton Rouge, LA is 227,470 and New Orleans - which is quite liberal - is only 388,424. Alabama's largest city is Huntsville at 215,006; the state capitol is third largest at 200,603.
So no, southern states aren't split between urban and exurban environments politically in any meaningful way.
"
Texas for one - https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/05/texas-republicans-endorse-legislation-vote-secession
But equally as worrisome is this polling:
https://usmedia.buzz/2021/10/16/polls-show-mounting-support-for-state-secessions/
"
We have red states. I live in one of them. Only one city in the state might be considered blue . . .
"
Exactly. Congress won't pass a budget on time. They've punted on immigration reform numerous times. And on and on. SCOTUS keeps slapping down the follow-on executive actions and telling Congress to act, but it doesn't. And too many Americans seem to think this is ok.
Can't solve that with an amendment.
"
The states in the civil war didn't secede from a standpoint of good will. They wanted to continue enslaving other humans. They deserve the a$$ kicking they got.
Modern red states proposing seceding do so to keep the vestages of Jim Crow intact. Should they go that road they will deserve the a$$ kicking they will get.
"
The Southern states used secession as a vehicle to try and keep the "states right" to enslave Africans and others to provide labor for their plantations. So when someone says "state rights" I always ask rights to what . . .
"
The current structure is rather functional and quite robust, until its not, and at present the only reason its not is that it won't support permanent minority rule.
That aside we fought a war over secession and the secessionists lost.
"
While divorce could be preferable to war, I don't want to give the Lost Cause apologists any ground to say the South was right - because it wasn't. And you and I both know they would.
On “Fixing The College Football Postseason”
Georgia beat Alabama, proving once again that all roads to the National Championship run through the SEC.
On “Local Gets Things Done!”
Quite probably. Which Is why I'm not a fan. The Constitution has a process for amendment, and it has worked 26 times so far. NO one wants to do the work or make the compromises to make it work a 27th or 28th or 29th time.
"
In my case its because most of the proposals I've seen - until this one - focus on expanding the second amendment to allow unlimited unrestricted gun ownership as well as making national all sorts of race based voting rights restrictions. Even here with the Zombie Voter and Ballot Harvesting ideas we see altering the constitution for problems that 1) are already dealt with in the states and 2) have yet to have any real impact on anything.
Its a non-starter in search of a rebellion to quash.