Sirened

Yesterday, Barack Obama joined the pack by announcing that he is forming a Presidential Exploratory Committee. With so many exploratory committees out there it leaves one wondering, what is left to explore?
What if Rod Johnson’s house in Butte, Montana has already been explored? Don’t you think he might get irritated? Don’t you think he might feel violated?
Oh well, the hounds will be out in full force to get their exploratory details. Be on high alert!

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For many non-smokers, state cigarette tax is seemingly a non factor. Many non-smokers don’t even know what the going price of cigarettes are. Why should they? They don’t buy them.
The price of cigarettes does affect non-smokers however. States with low cigarette taxes means Big Tobacco is getting a break in their state at their expense. It undoubtedly means that their tax money is footing some of the medical costs of smokers.
Smokers may moan and groan about it, but the tax on cigarettes should be high. While cigarette prices are fairly inelastic among smokers (similar to gasoline), it does discourage some smokers while …read more

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Last night Anderson Cooper was reporting live from New Orleans, with a backdrop of the still devastated lower 9th ward. It has been sixteen months since Hurricane Katrina hit and residents are angered about the escalating violence in the city.
Yesterday saw massive protests in New Orleans. Mayor Ray Nagin attended and was hoping to speak, protestors did not even allow him to. Three Hundred National Guard members have been deployed to back up a depleted police force in the city.
Many are angered by the increased law enforcement because they feel no safer, but that they are now living in a police state. Many feel the problem doesn’t …read more

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Yesterday, Ted Kennedy came out guns blazing against George Bush. He quoted phrases from President Lyndon Johnson that rang scarily similar to the rhetoric of George Bush.
Lyndon Johnson said that we must “stay the course” when referring to Vietnam. This was before he deployed an additional 100,000 Americans to that war. We all know what the end result was, many years later.
Former aide to Ronald Reagan and conservative Paul Craig Roberts compared George Bush to Adolph Hitler on Antiwar.com. When referring to Bush he says:
“Like Hitler, he protects himself from reality with delusion. In his last hours, Hitler was ordering non-existent German armies …read more

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US Airways has upped the anti in its bid to acquire bankrupt Delta. The airline’s initial offer of $8.5 billion was spiced up to entice Delta’s creditors. US Airways has now offered $10.2 billion, $5 billion in cash and 5.2 billion in stock.
So the difference in proposals comes to $1.7 billion. Man, they were really trying to shaft Delta on the first one!
Many analysts question the merger as one that would violate antitrust laws. Delta and US Airways share many of the same routes. So by consolidating and reducing the competition, they could have a free hand in raising prices.
A merger between Delta and US Airways …read more

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In a poll conducted by the AP, President Bush received the most votes for biggest villain of 2006. George Bush received 25% of the vote compared with only 8% for Osama Bin Laden. Bush beat out other villains like Saddam Hussein, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Kim Jong Il and even Satan himself. Nice work Georgie!
Bush beating out other dictators/fundamentalist radicals/the devil is somewhat surprising. But given that Bush has more in common with Bin Laden than many realize, it’s probably justified. Aside from not living in a cave and clothing attire, Bush and Bin Laden have a great deal in common. They …read more

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According to a story in the NY Times, General Motors believes that Toyota has more lobbying power in Washington than they do.
Robert Lutz, GM’s Vice Chairman said it took ages for Detroit’s Big Three automakers to get a meeting with President Bush. He said that the President told them “tough luck guys, you made the deal with the unions decades ago, now live with your mistakes of the past.”
Through international free trade, the government has made it uncompetitive for companies to pay fair wages and give fair benefits and stay competitive. If companies choose this blasphemous route, well then, as President Bush says “tough luck.”

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Publicly traded companies have come under scrutiny of late because of the exorbitant amount of money being paid to CEO’s. Most recently, Robert Nardelli left his CEO post at Home Depot with a nice parting gift that amounted to over $200 million. Not bad for a guy who was let go!
Many argue that the exorbitant money paid to CEO’s is the going rate for the top notch guys (or most connected guys). They also argue that the private sector’s CEO salary/benefits package has driven up the cost of CEO’s in publicly financed companies.
Whatever the case may be, these guys are …read more

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President Bush, in a last ditch effort to win the war in Iraq is proposing a new energy drink called Surge. The surge would create a buzz in Iraq and attempt to reinvigorate the cause in order to win the war.
The purpose of surge would also be to increase the morale of American troops who reached a milestone death toll of 3,000 this week. Democrats oppose the surge saying it is a rip off of Vietnam and it didn’t work then.

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