"There is no problem that is not so bad that it cannot be made worse by Congress fixing it."
--REBierce
The heads of U.S. oil companies completed the second stage of their Congressional Big-Oil-Bash-Athon yesterday by answering questions from largely-economically illiterate congressmen--and women.
Congress took time out from pandering in person to pander in front of the TV cameras. The big winner of the "Comrade Stalin" award was Maxine Waters, who threatened to nationalize (seize) the oil company's assets.
Apparently, Waters is committed to bring the same brand of efficiency to the oil companies that government has demonstrated at the Post Office and Social Security.
Link: sevenload.com
Rep. Waters seemed a bit confused on what she was calling for--"socialization" was on the tip of her tongue--and it was guessed that she was wanting Big Oil to "work and play well with others".
The congresswoman declined to elaborate immediately afterwards--no doubt until she received further talking points from Hugo Chavez.
Of course, the Congresswoman is one of the reasons that oil supply is restricted: she's voted against opening up U.S. oil fields in Alaska. But, being a member of Congress, she's used to changing laws.
Waters will find that The Laws of Supply and Demand will continue to defy her best efforts. However, Waters is a gamer and one is assured that she will continue in her quest, no matter the facts.
Any number of rulers throughout history have drug their countries down the broken path of price controls: Rome, Russia, France, Great Britain, the United States are the examples that come to mind. All of them got a lesson in economics; when you control prices, there are less people willing to sell less of something for less money. Scarcity is the result. The next step is to criminalize those people who are not willing to give away their products for less. "Hoarding" is the charge that's most often heard.
Allahpundit was right on the money on this one: "Befitting the catastrophic stupidity of this idea, she doesn’t even know what the proper term for it is."
For those with the slightest historical recall, Congress has been here before: in the 1970s oil and gasoline prices were controlled by a government hellbent on demonstrating that There is Such a Thing as a Free Lunch.
Sadly, the inelastic laws of Supply and Demand trumped the U.S. government's best efforts then: "Windfall Profits Tax" and "price controls" soon meant that gas stations were open a couple days a week--and when they were open, motorists waited hours in line for privilege of filling up.
When Ronald Reagan was elected, gasoline prices in 1980 were in the $1.50 per gallon range. One of his first acts was to decontrol the oil prices. Pundits and Democrats screamed that gasoline would soon hit $2/gallon.
The Democrats in Congress were just as economically savvy in 1980 as they are 28 years later: within weeks, gasoline prices dropped to 60 to 70 cents/gallon and there were no more supply problems. Chalk one up for the philosophy of "government is the problem, not the solution".
9/11 changed that a bit for some people. The struggles of the Homeland Security leviathan to do anything effectively--other than spend tax money--should have reminded people of the abilities of government control.
It has taken 28 years for Democrats to figure the American people had forgotten that 1970s episode of Congress "fixing" gas prices.
By calling for the nationalization of U.S. oil companies, Maxine Waters is betting on the "amnesia" of the American people.
by Mondoreb
hat tip: AllahPundit @HotAir
images: polizeros
Source: Video: Maxine Waters threatens to nationalize America’s oil industry
Venezuela's Military at "High Alert", Embassy Closed - Are They Just Moves to Distract Opponents?
0 commentsFull Military Mobilization
Embassy with Columbia Closed
History's lessons aren't lost on Hugo Chavez.
Venezuelan strongman and president, Chavez formally ordered the country's armed forces to "high alert" status.
Chavez also ordered the closing of Venezuela's embassy in Colombia and the mobilization of the nation's armed forces to the Columbia border.
At various times when times are tough domestically, authoritarian rulers have distracted domestic opponents and rallied support of wavering populations with external threats--both real and imagined.
And what caused the Venezuelan president to call out the troops?
"We are at a state of alertness. I am putting Venezuela on alert and we will support Ecuador," Chavez told his regular Sunday broadcast Alo Presidente. "Defense minister: move 10 battalions to the Colombia-Venezuela border. Tank battalions, military aircraft: deploy!" he ordered.
So it wasn't trouble at home that caused all this military motion?
Well, whatever it is, it seems that there's been any military challenge from Ciolumbia, a country that is battling narco-lords, guerrillas and problems from the left and right.
But that's Chavez's story and he's sticking to it.
During the same broadcast, Chavez strongly condemned the killing of Luis Edgar Devia, better known by the alias Raul Reyes, who was the de facto foreign minister for the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), that nation's largest armed rebel group.
The Colombian army killed Devia in Ecuadorian territory. Ecuador responded with a protest letter sent via diplomatic channels.
Maybe the military's mobilized out of sympathy?
Chavez told the broadcast audience that he had received a phone call from Ecuador's president, Rafael Correa, in which Correa said he had recalled Ecuador's ambassador to Colombia and ordered the mobilization of troops to Ecuador's northern border with Colombia.
As was previously stated, Chavez has been battling opponents of his rollback of Venezuelan democracy. Street demonstrations are common.
But it's nothing a fully-mobilized military can't handle.
by Mondoreb
image: file
Source: Venezuela put military on high alert
DBKP.com - Bigger, Better!.
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
A: Hugo Chavez
If Hugo Chavez were working on a tree farm somewhere in Vermont, he would be a candidate for psycho-therapy.
The Venezuelan strongman, who only last week threatened to "cut off the oil supplies to the United States", said yesterday he was only kidding.
Chavez said U.S. motorists "shouldn't worry" about Venezuela cutting off oil supplies.
"We don't have plans to stop sending oil to the United States," Chavez said on Sunday during a visit to heavy-oil projects in Venezuela's petroleum-rich Orinoco River basin that were nationalized last year.
Elsewhere, it's been reported that Chavez sent his ambassador to the U.S. to beg the U.S. to beg Exxon Mobil Corporation not to freeze Venezuelan assets.
Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S. has asked Sen. Richard Lugar to press Exxon Mobil Corp. to drop legal measures that have frozen $12 billion in assets worldwide.
"Through tactics that can only be compared with the very discredited strategy of pre-emptive war, Exxon Mobil has clearly violated the terms of the arbitration process," Bernardo Alvarez, Venezuela's ambassador to the U.S., said in a letter to the Indiana Republican that was released by the embassy Friday. Lugar is the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
Of course, if Exxon Mobil were a Venezuelan corporation, there'd be no begging. Chavez would just arrest the officers of the company, throw them in jail and then spend the accumulated wealth from their work on trying to prop up his government.
As Anna said:
Of course Venezuela would not be over a barrel and begging the war-mongering gringos of the United States if they had abided by the contract they had with Exxon.
Instead Hugo Chavez thought, since he was in charge, that he could merely violate a written contract between the country of Venezuela and Exxon to fully exploit an oil field in the name of social justice.
Exxon has merely acted in the interest of its shareholders, who's money is invested in this oil field, to protect its investments, to keep sacred such contracts in the future, and to prevent anyone else from trying this trick.
We'll agree with all that.
Maybe the U.S. should send Anna to Venezuela to be the ambassador.
Or perhaps Chavez should hire Anna to advise him on the perils of nationalizing a foreign company's assets in the first place.
Of course, if Hugo Chavez were working on a tree farm somewhere in Vermont, he wouldn't need an adviser or help with the consequences of his nationalization actions.
But one suspects, he'd still be a candidate for the psycho-therapy.
by Mondoreb
image: spokanetogo
Source:
* Hugo Goes Begging
* Chavez: US Motorists shouldn't worry about Oil
Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.
Chavez Accuses King of Coup Knowledge
Hugo Chavez wants to know: What did the King of Spain know and when did he know it?
Chavez, not known for his demure personality, escalated the war of words between the Venezuelan dictator-wannabee and the Spain's king. Showing the manners Chavez is famous for, he demanded to know the monarch's knowledge of a 2002 coup.
King Juan Carlos told Chavez to "shut up" at a conference in Chile after Chavez called ex-Spain Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar a "fascist".
Spanish media almost unanimously cheered their King.
More and the President of Venezuela and the spat involving the nation that used to rule it from BBC News:On Sunday Mr Chavez said the king was "imprudent" and asked if he knew in advance of the brief coup against him.
Hugo Chavez is a bullfighter? One thinks Mr. Chavez got the part about 'bull' right, at any rate.
As he left the Ibero-American Summit in Chile's capital, Santiago, Mr Chavez questioned whether Spain's ambassador had appeared with Venezuelan interim president Pedro Carmona during the two-day coup in 2002 with the monarch's blessing.
"Mr King, did you know about the coup d'etat against Venezuela, against the democratic, legitimate government of Venezuela in 2002?" he asked at a news conference.
"It's very hard to imagine the Spanish ambassador would have been at the presidential palace supporting the coup plotters without authorisation from his majesty."
Spain's El Mundo newspaper quoted Mr Chavez as saying that on Saturday the king had "got very mad, like a bull".
"But I'm a great bullfighter - ole!" he said.
On Sunday, Mr Chavez said he hoped the spat would not damage relations.
"But I think it's imprudent for a king to shout at a president to shut up. Mr King, we are not going to shut up."
After listening to Chavez and his boorish behavior the last several years, it's apparent he enjoys calling leaders of free nations names. It seems Chavez has a taste for labeling leaders of free countries.
While his own people are massing for further demonstrations against the loss of their freedom, he calls the elected PM of Spain a "fascist". Masked gunmen shot students protesting several days ago; few doubted who the thugs answered to.
Hugo Chavez can conduct himself before the Venezuelan people people and there is little they can do without fear. The king of Spain told Chavez to "shut up" and was cheered in Spain. Many in Venezuela wish the king had used a megaphone to deliver that message.
Or more.
by Mondoreb
Back to Front Page.
[video]
Score one for civility.
The King of Spain told Venezuelan strongman, Hugo Chavez, to "shut up" at a conference on Saturday. It was civility, in the form of the king, answering rudeness, Chavez.
Chavez, used to jailing, shouting down or strong-arming anyone talking back to him, did not call on police to arrest the king.
More on the exchange from EDUARDO GALLARDO, AP at Breitbart:The king of Spain told Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to "shut up" Saturday during a heated exchange at a summit of leaders from Latin America, Spain and Portugal.
Of course, Chavez was not about to take this with lips zipped.
Chavez, who called President Bush the "devil" on the floor of the United Nations last year, triggered the exchange by repeatedly referring to former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar as a "fascist."
Aznar, a conservative who was an ally of Bush as prime minister, "is a fascist," Chavez said in a speech at the Ibero-American summit in Santiago, Chile. "Fascists are not human. A snake is more human."
Spain's current socialist prime minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, responded during his own allotted time by urging Chavez to be more diplomatic in his words and respect other leaders despite political differences.
"Former President Aznar was democratically elected by the Spanish people and was a legitimate representative of the Spanish people," he said, eliciting applause from the gathered heads of state. Chavez repeatedly tried to interrupt, but his microphone was off.
Spanish King Juan Carlos, seated next to Zapatero, angrily turned to Chavez and said, "Why don't you shut up?"
Thank God King Juan Carlos was not carrying a protest sign.
by Mondoreb
Back to Front Page.
If there was such a thing as a Do-It-Yourself Dictator Kit, Hugo Chavez would be following the instructions closely and doing it by the numbers.
A top general and former Chavez ally spoke out against the strongman's attempt to change the constitution in an effort to bring about his Socialist Paradise. More on this from CNN"An ex-general who helped President Hugo Chavez through an abortive coup against his leadership in 2002 publically broke with the president Monday over proposed constitutional changes.
Though the National Assembly is overwhelmingly pro-Chavez, large segments of the population are not swayed. There were protests both against the proposed changes and Chavez.
Approval of the proposed changes "would in effect finalize a coup d'etat, brazenly violating the constitution," former Defense Minister Raul Baduel said at a news conference. "The Venezuelan people should categorically reject this fraud."
Venezuela's pro-Chavez National Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly approved a package of 69 changes to the 1999 Constitution. The changes would institutionalize Chavez's bid to implant a new model of development -- called "Socialism for the 21st Century" -- in the country while strengthening the power of the executive to rule by decree. It would also change electoral rules and allow a sitting president to seek unlimited re-election -- grandfathering Chavez into that system.Watch VIDEO of Protesters in Venezuela.
General Baduel had some words of warning about his former comrade and the proposed constitutional changes. Baduel, who was Chavez's defense minister and military general in chief until July, became the highest-profile former military official to criticize Chavez's constitutional designs. He targeted his stinging criticism on how the changes would concentrate power in the executive.
Baduel most likely regrets the help he gave his former buddy to both install him in power and, after Chavez was ousted, to help return him to power. Especially troubling must be Baduel's assistance in ridding the Army of anti-Chavez officers--officers whose help could be used about now.
"Constitutions are born precisely to limit the power of governments and to protect citizens from the abusive exercise of power, guaranteeing their rights and liberties," Baduel said. "They shouldn't do the opposite."
"Any Constitution that removes the limits on power should be viewed with suspicion," he continued, calling on "on all Venezuelans to vote 'No'" when the changes are put to a public referendum in December.Baduel's harsh criticism -- and the public nature of his break with his former comrade in arms -- was a sharp counterpoint to their previous relationship.
The two came up through the officer corps together as both military and philosophical brothers in arms: Baduel participated with Chavez in his 1992 coup attempt against President Carlos Andres Perez, but escaped being cashiered from the army because his role in the plot didn't come to light.
Then, as commander of the 42nd Airborne Brigade in Maracay, Baduel's support was critical in helping overturn the abortive coup d'etat in 2002 that briefly unseated Chavez -- and opened the way for Chavez to strengthen his grip on power by moving to clear dissident officers from the military and put the opposition on the defensive.
Hugo Chavez met recently met with ailing Cuban dictator, Fidel Castro, and apparently picked up some tips for constructing his socialist state in Venezuela. He can add these tips to his instruction sheet of the Do-It-Yourself Dictator Kit.
To the people in streets opposing him, they can only hope that "batteries are not included".
by Mondoreb
Back to Front Page.
