Today's Nuze: April 26, 2006 

LET'S NOT BE CONFUSED BY THE FACTS HERE

What we saw yesterday in George Bush's speech on gas prices was rank, pure capitulation.  Pandering to the ignorance of the American people.  Not one sign of leadership.  Just a whimpering submission to the softness that is decaying the American spirit.  There's George Bush yesterday sounding more like Jimmy Carter than like a president who is leading his country in a war on terror. 

Why these harsh words?  Because Bush took the easy way out yesterday.  He bowed to the demagoguery of the Democrats and some Republicans.  He ordered price-fixing investigations of the oil companies in spite of the fact that there is not one single shred of evidence that any collusion or price fixing is taking place.  Over the years there have been many of these investigations.  Not once -- not one single time has one of these investigations uncovered any evidence of price fixing by the oil companies. 

This was a time for Bush to lead.  This was a time for him to step in front of the American people and tell the truth.  Educate them! Instead of trying to address the ignorance of the American people on the issue of gas prices, he pandered to that ignorance. 

For starters, the president could have told the American people that the federal government doesn't exist to solve every problem in their lives.  They live in a country where capitalism, free enterprise and economic liberty have created a standard of living that is the envy of the entire world.  If you want to rely on the government to address every problem that arises in your life, then you have to be prepared to give up some of those freedoms. 

Here are a few more facts that Bush could have shared in his speech yesterday:

Repeating my first point; even though there have been countless investigations in the past, and even though the Federal Trade Commission has a division that constantly, day after day, scans the nation for evidence, no investigation has ever shown one scintilla of evidence of price fixing in gas and oil.

The oil company profits are not obscene.  As of September of last year the total take for local, state and federal governments for each gallon of gas sold was 46 cents.  In New York that figure is 63 cents.  At the same time gasoline retailers were making about 12 cents on the sale of a gallon of gas.  Right now the government take is approaching an average of 50 cents a gallon.  Retailers are making about 14 cents.  so ... who is making the obscene profit?  The local gasoline retailer invests in the community, buys a plot of ground, builds a gas station, hires the employees, pays the local taxes, deals with the local regulatory agencies, and makes a big screaming 14 cents on each gallon sold.  Meanwhile, the government steps in without having invested one dime in that facility and takes about 50 cents per gallon.  Some obscene profits, right?

As for profit margins ... the amount of money earned for each dollar of sales ... oil companies are nowhere near the top of the list. In 2005 pharmaceutical companies made about 17.6 cents for every dollar of revenue.  That, for those of you educated in government schools, that works out to a 17.6% profit margin for the drug makers.  How about your local bank?  They made about 19.1 cents for every dollar of revenue.  Almost a 20% profit!  Not too shabby.  And what about your household goods and cosmetics?  Those companies earned 11 cents on the dollar.  A lot of competition there.  Now, the oil companies.  What did they make?  In 2005 the average was 8.5 cents per dollar of revenue.  That works out to an 8.5% profit margin. 

Maybe President Bush could have said something yesterday about MTBE.  Congress recently refused to protect the MTBE makers from liability from frivolous lawsuits.  MTBE is a component in gasoline ... and the makers are bailing.  MTBE is to be replaced by ethanol .. .but the ethanol producers just can't keep up!  This affects supply, and reduced supply in the face of increased demand means what?  Higher gas prices?  Could we get the ethanol we need from overseas?  Why yes!  We could!  But the Bush administration has a 54 cent-per-gallon import duty on imported ethanol!  There's your price gouging!  Drop that import duty and I wonder what would happen to gas prices.

It's enough of a problem when Americans suffer from a tragic level of ignorance on issues of basic economics due to generations of state-run education.  It's even more tragic when politicians pander to that ignorance for political gain.

"ILLEGAL ALIEN" A RACIAL SLUR?

In the debate over illegal immigration, there is quite a bit of political correctness being thrown around.  Those who favor open borders, amnesty and a guest worker program...they refer to the invaders from the South as "undocumented workers" and "migrants."  Anything to minimize the criminal acts they have committed to break into our country.

Then there are those that call it like they see it.  People who violated the laws to get into this country, and continue to violate the law every single day that they remain in this country are illegal aliens, plain and simple.  A quick search of the web reveals some interesting information.  According to the Internal Revenue Service, an alien is "an individual who is not a U.S. citizen or U.S. national."  The IRS uses the term.  However, since the truth hurts. some people don't like to be called "illegal aliens."  Poor babies.

One of those people is attorney Domingo Garcia.  In fact, he has gone so far as to compare calling someone an illegal alien as to calling a black person the N word.  So now 'illegal alien' is a racial slur.  I think not.  If that's the case, then someone needs to tell the racists at the IRS to change their definitions.

No, the real reason people are upset with 'illegal alien' is because the truth hurts.  They're here illegally...they're not citizens...so they're aliens.  Come on...say it with me....Illegal Alien. 

TONY SNOW TO BE PRESS SECRETARY

Today it will be announced that Fox News' Tony Snow is taking over at the podium in the White House briefing room to be the new press secretary.  He will no doubt be taking a massive pay cut to return to government work...but for some reason, he wants the gig.  So Scott McClelland is out and Tony Snow is in.

Here's a prediction, and it's already started.  With Tony Snow having worked at Fox News...the left and the mainstream media are going to be up in arms.  To them, Fox News is an administration-friendly, slanted, right-wing news outlet.  They're going to accuse the White House of trying to control the news media by putting in an ideologue in the position.

It will be interesting to see how Tony Snow, who comes across as an aw-shucks good guy on TV, will handle the slings and arrows from the leftist White House press corps.  I'm sure David Gregory and Helen Thomas are sharpening their knives as we speak.

TONY SNOW IS GONE! LET'S EXPLOIT THE SITUATION

Permit me, if you will, a moment of crass exploitation here. Tony Snow, who is a friend by the way, is the new White House Press Secretary. That means he will no longer be doing his talk show. Tony is one of my competitors. His show is syndicated during the same time period as mine. Now his stations are going to have to find a replacement! Not later, right now!

So ... if your favorite talk station carries (or should we say "carried) Tony Snow, and you would like to see that station now carry Boortz ... well then, SPEAK UP! Now be polite about it, but these station program directors respond to their listeners. So a quick email might help, or a phone call. The decisions will be made so fast that letters might be a bit slow. Is there one station out there I really want? You bet. That would be KLIF in Dallas. I'm a Texan .. I have family in Dallas ... I want to be on the air there. Maybe this is my chance. How about a hand here? We'll make it easy. Find a station that carried Tony's show here.

REDNECK SCRAP BOOK

Even redneck soccer moms need something to haul the kids around in. More in the Redneck Scrap Book.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

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Do you want to get something done?  Forget kindness ... try greed (whatever that is), Greed is, indeed, good.

Pedophiles must be really, really stupid.  Police in Ft. Myers, Florida managed to snare about 24 of them in sting operation over the past weekend.  Lock 'em up.  Drop the keys in the Gulf.  Bonita News reporter Tom Hanson has this account of one particular predator who showed up to have sex with a 14-year-old boy ... and brought his 5-year-old along! 

Consumer confidence has reached a four-year high.  Try to find this on the front page of a newspaper.  Oh, wait. I almost forgot.  A Republican is in the White house.

For my aviation friends ... just in case you haven't seen the flight deck of the Airbus 380 yet.

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