As you read, remember that one year does not a trend make, even if the data supports your hypothesis.  Neither does a decade or two.  And that is the problem with the warming hysteria.  Scientists tell us that the world is millions of years old and that it has experienced continental drifts, forestation, deforestation, desertification, multiple ice ages, mega-volcanoes, giant meteor impacts and etc. and etc.  And yet, we are supposed to believe that twenty years of slightly increased temperatures (very slightly) is going to cause a catastrophic end to to the planet.  And further still, that this increase in temperature is occurring as a result of soccer moms driving SUV’s.  And still further, that we should take punitive actions now in the form of taxation and altered economic models so that we might avert this disaster.

At one point, not so long ago, the consensus among scientists and governments was that the world was flat.

______

click, read, relax:

http://www.nationalpost.com/opinion/columnists/story.html?id=332289

——

So we find ourselves today with an intriguing showdown between upstart Barack Obama and uber Democratic power player Hillary Clinton.  The Clinton political machine, though perceived as well-oiled and ruthless, has spit and sputtered its way to a slight disadvantage and a do or die March 4^th.  Mr. Obama, to this point, has clearly won the popular vote amongst the party masses who have turned out in record number this year.  Nevertheless, should next week’s vote be close, and should Mr. Obama win the two big states by only a narrow margin, Mrs. Clinton will still have two small handholds to cling to: Florida and the Superdelegates. 
 
Superdelegates (not an official term) make up about twenty percent of the voting delegates to the Democratic Party.  These delegates consist, for the most part, of party big wigs and ex-elected officials and they have no obligation to cast their votes to the candidate who has won, or is winning, the popular vote.  These are party power brokers and, as you can see in this document (http://www.capitaleye.org/superdelegates.asp) they are not above taking contributions from those for whom their votes may make a difference.  One can only imagine the phone calls, the promises and the persuasions being made to these kingmakers by the Clinton campaign and, most importantly, by the ultimate superdelegate, Bill Clinton himself.

In addition to the superdelegates, Mrs. Clinton has publicly expressed her intent to push to allow the Florida and Michigan primary votes to be counted towards the party election.  As you may know, both of these states were disqualified by the Democratic Party for holding their primary elections too early and not in coordination with the rest of the party.  As such, it is speculated that many Democratic voters in these states stayed away from the polls knowing that their votes would not be counted, thus yielding a vote count that does not accurately reflect the state’s true position; more disenfranchised Florida voters!  All of the Democratic candidates knew, before any voting began anywhere, that Florida and Michigan were not going to count.  To come now and push for the inclusion of these two states is more than just disingenuous; it is, to be less than eloquent, crooked. 

Political animals are political animals.  The small, sorry lot of scoundrels with whom we are seasonally betrothed are, first and foremost, politicians.  They have done, and will do, anything within their power to further their progression up the political ladder.  From smoke-filled rooms and brokered conventions to hanging-chads and the Supreme Court, to Superdelegates and counting votes that don’t count, it is all the same game and the same means to the same end.

—–

The trend is the trend until it is not the trend anymore.  Despite apparent tell-tale signs previously alluded to, the downward trend of the US Dollar appears to be intact.  Fluidity and pragmatism will always trump dogmatism where markets are concerned.

————————————

The enormous profits reaped by major integrated oil companies over the past several years have been widely reported and seldom fail to make headlines.  Seemingly unnoticed, though, are the similarly gargantuan federal and state income taxes that these same corporations have paid during this period.  There is sure to be reams of rhetoric thrown around in this election cycle in regards to windfall profits, corporate loopholes, making corporations pay their fair share and etc., ad nauseum.  Below are statements from the three remaining presidential candidates pertaining to these matters.  Read these, and then peruse the article below, written by Mark Perry, PhD, and brought to my attention by Dennis Gartman of the Gartman Letter.

Of note, the article points out that Exxon Mobile paid out more in income taxes in one year than the entire bottom 50% of taxpayers.   

You decide.
(and, before you buy into any “looking out for the poor” speeches, keep in mind that all of the remaining public servants are doing quite well with estimated net worth figures as follows:  Hillary Clinton, $10mm-$50mm, Barack Obama, $1mm-$2.5mm and growing, John McCain, $20mm-$32mm)

“I want to restore the tax rates that we had in the ’90s,” said the New York Democrat and former first lady. “That means raising taxes on corporations and wealthy individuals. I want to keep the middle-class tax cuts.”

“Instead of working to find ways to relieve the burden on the middle class, we’ve developed creative ways to remove the burden from the well-off,” Mr. Obama will say, according to excerpts of his speech released by his campaign. “Instead of having all of us pay our fair share, we’ve got over $1 trillion worth of loopholes in the corporate tax code.”

Barack Obama

September 18, 2007
 

Despite calls in Washington for short-term economic relief, John McCain proposed a long-term economic plan on Thursday that would lower the corporate income tax rate and provide a host of other tax breaks for business. “We will get through this rough patch, my friends,” McCain told supporters.
The Republican presidential candidate proposed cutting the corporate tax rate to 25 percent from 35 percent. McCain, speaking to a rally under a tent in the rain, said that would expand the economy, creating jobs and opportunity.
He said his plan was “pro growth, less taxes and less spending.” He contrasted it with “the Democrats’ tired ideas of tax and spend.”

Exxon’s 2007 Tax Bill: $30 Billion
posted on: February 05, 2008 |

Corporate profits receive a lot of media attention, but what receives considerably less attention are the corporate taxes paid on corporate profits. Do a Google search for “Exxon profits” and you’ll get about 8,000 hits. Now try “Exxon taxes” and you’ll get a little more than 300 hits. That’s a ratio of about 33 to 1.

I’m pretty sure that Exxon’s tax payment in 2007 of $30 billion (that’s $30,000,000,000) is a record, exceeding the $28 billion it paid last year.

By the way, Exxon pays taxes at a rate of 41% on its taxable income!
[Update: The $40.6 billion and $39.5 billion figures are after-tax profits. For 2006, Exxon's EBT (earnings before tax) was $67.4 billion, it paid $27.9 billion in taxes (41.4% tax rate), and its NIAT (net income after tax), or profit, was $39.5 billion.]

 Over the last three years, Exxon Mobil has paid an average of $27 billion annually in taxes. That’s $27,000,000,000 per year, a number so large it’s hard to comprehend. Here’s one way to put Exxon’s taxes into perspective.

According to IRS data for 2004, the most recent year available:
Total number of tax returns: 130 million
Number of Tax Returns for the Bottom 50%: 65 million
Adjusted Gross Income for the Bottom 50%: $922 billion
Total Income Tax Paid by the Bottom 50%: $27.4 billion

Conclusion: In other words, just one corporation (Exxon Mobil) pays as much in taxes ($27 billion) annually as the entire bottom 50% of individual taxpayers, which is 65,000,000 people! Further, the tax rate for the bottom 50% is only 3% of adjusted gross income ($27.4 billion / $922 billion), and the tax rate for Exxon was 41% in 2006 ($67.4 billion in taxable income, $27.9 billion in taxes).

Mark J. Perry, Ph.D.              About this author: Bio & more articles Visit author’s site

Large Oil Industry Tax Payments Undercut Case for Windfall Profits Tax

by Jonathan Williams and Scott A. Hodge

Table 1. ConocoPhillips, Chevron and Exxon Mobil’s 2005 Profits in Perspective

Source: U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Hoover ’s Inc., Tax Foundation.

end

As arctic ice melts, South Pole ice grows

Scientists are puzzled, but the phenomenon seems to fit the latest global-warming models.

from the January 10, 2008 edition

In the latest example that the U.S. dollar just ain’t what it used to be, some shops in New York City have begun accepting euros and other foreign currency as payment for merchandise.

“We had decided that money is money and we’ll take it and just do the exchange whenever we can with our bank,” Robert Chu, owner of East Village Wines, told Reuters television.

The increasingly weak U.S. dollar, once considered the king among currencies, has brought waves of European tourists to New York with money to burn and looking to take advantage of hugely favorable exchange rates.

“We didn’t realize we would take so much in and there were that many people traveling or having euros to bring in. But some days, you’d be surprised at how many euros you get,” Chu said.

“Now we have to get familiar with other currencies and the (British) pound and the Canadian dollars we take,” he said.

While shops in many U.S. towns on the Canadian border have long accepted Canadian currency and some stores on the Texas-Mexico border take pesos, the acceptance of foreign money in Manhattan was unheard of until recently.

Not far from Chu’s downtown wine emporium, Billy Leroy of Billy’s Antiques & Props said the vast numbers of Europeans shopping in the neighborhood got him thinking, “My God, I should take euros in at the store.”

Leroy doesn’t even bother to exchange them.

“I’m happy if I take in 200 euros, because what I do is keep them,” he said. “So when I go back to Paris, I don’t have to go through the nightmare of going to an exchange place.”

(Reporting by Angela Moore, writing by Bill Berkrot; Editing by Doina Chiacu)

…and Arlen Specter is an IDIOT!

The Republican and top ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Committee is pursuing discussions this week with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell in regards to the New England Patriots and the “spy-gate” incident.  The good senator from Pennsylvania has questioned the thoroughness of the NFL’s investigation into the matter that led to a $500,000 fine for coach Bill Belichick and a $250,000 fine for the team, in addition to the loss of this year’s first round draft pick.  The honorable senator also wants to know why Mr. Goodell had the tapes destroyed. 

Let’s keep this matter in perspective.  The National Football League is, first and foremost, a business; a business, I might add, that has special anti-trust protection granted from the US Congress.  Each team operates as a franchise, a part of the overall league and is, thus, subject to rules and regulations imposed by the league.  Video-recording the activities of other teams, as done by the Patriots, is in violation of league rules.  However, by no stretch of the imagination can this type of surveillance be considered a crime.  It is strictly a matter between the umbrella organization and its franchisee’s.  You might think of it as the equivalent of a McDonald’s franchisee using mayonnaise instead of “special sauce” on their quarter pounders.  McDonalds, Inc. may disapprove and may fine the franchisee or even revoke the franchise license.  In any event, I doubt that Arlen Specter would be on the phone with Ronald McDonald to further investigate the matter.  Come to think of it, Arlen Specter and Ronald McDonald probably have a lot in common.
 

In other Arlen Specter News:

Sen. Arlen Specter, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, introduced a bill this week that would allow houses of worship to show football games on big-screen televisions.

Unfortunately, this is no joke. These are the matters of global importance that your highly-compensated public servants are working on.

More on your congressmen at work…..

We all know that Roger Clemens and Andy Pettite, among others, have spent several days this week behind closed doors with congressional attorneys.  Today, Clemens and his former trainer, Brian McNamee are both on Capitol Hill answering questions from lawyers and congressmen alike.  The big news of the past twenty-four hours is that Mr. McNamee has physical evidence that will link Roger Clemens to steroid use:

On Wednesday, word emerged that McNamee’s side turned over gauze pads and syringes they said had Clemens’ blood to IRS Special Agent Jeff Novitzky in early January, a person familiar with the evidence said, speaking on condition of anonymity because McNamee’s lawyers did not want to publicly discuss details. The syringes were used to inject Clemens with steroids and human growth hormone, the person said. A second person, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said the evidence was from 2000 and 2001.
(good to know that the IRS is now involved!)

One has to question just why a sports trainer, working for a Major League Baseball team, would keep used “…gauze pads and syringes…” for seven years.  One wonders why such a trainer would keep these items for seven minutes.  Are these not the types of items that are, normally, disposed of immediately upon use?  What would motivate a person, supposedly a friend, to store incriminating evidence against someone years before any kind of investigation was even begun?  Did Mr. McNamee hatch a plan in his mind way back in 2000 and 2001 to, one day, extort Roger Clemens with this alleged evidence?  McNamee’s explanation for these actions follows:

The Daily News report said McNamee kept the evidence from the 2000 and 2001 seasons out of fear Clemens would deny use of the drugs if the issue were ever investigated.

This explanation rings hollow in my ears.  If he, indeed, was such an adept “former police officer,” what is he doing dealing illegal drugs?  Of course, all of this is beside the main point; What is Congress doing investigating baseball?

Is the war in Iraq over? 
Have fears of a recession been dismissed?
Has the federal budget been balanced?
Have we lowered taxes and restored individual freedoms?
Have we gotten government out of the way and allowed our healthcare system to work 
                     properly and efficiently?
Have we restored our national credibility with the rest of the world?
Have we solved the perceived immigration crisis? 
Have we stopped “water boarding” prisoners and calling it interrogation? 
Is the earth’s atmosphere cooling?

You’ll recall “bread and circus” from your history lessons.  While I enjoy the sporting world as much, or more, than the next fellow, I would warn that the parallels are clear.

… Already long ago, from when we sold our vote to no man,
the People have abdicated our duties; for the People who once upon a time
handed out military command, high civil office, legions - everything, now
restrains itself and anxiously hopes for just two things:
bread and circuses
                                                                Juvenal
                                                                Satire X