Hipocracy, Thy Name is Liberal

$5 gas! What,no pitchforks?
Five dollars per gallon of gas by 2012! A former president of Shell Oil considers this likely. The average price on Christmas Day for a gallon of regular gas reached $3.28 in Los Angeles County, the highest price since October 2008. In one month, the price rose 13 cents, up 35 cents year to year. Where are the calls to sic Obama's Justice Department on Big Oil to hold the oil companies accountable for "market manipulation"? Why aren't we hunting down the amoral "oil speculators" responsible f...

Larry Elder: Who's blaming Obama for high gas prices?
The average price on Christmas Day for a gallon of regular gas reached $3.28 in Los Angeles County, the highest price since October 2008. In one month, the price rose 13 cents, up 35 cents year to year. Where are the calls to sic Obama's Justice Department on Big Oil to hold the oil companies accountable for "market manipulation"? Why aren't we hunting down the amoral "oil speculators" responsible for repealing the law of supply-and-demand in order to line their pockets? During President George ...

Chief Justice Decries Brawling Over Judicial Nominees
WASHINGTON—Chief Justice John Roberts decried the partisan warfare that has slowed the appointment of Federal Judges to a crawl, writing in his year-end report Friday that political gamesmanship on Capitol Hill has left some courts burdened with "extraordinary caseloads." "Each political party has found it easy to turn on a dime from decrying to defending the blocking of Judicial Nominations, depending on their changing political fortunes," the chief justice wrote. He called on Congress an...

Chief Justice Decries Brawling Over Judicial Nominees...
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Ethanol tax credit levels the playing field
Amidst the recent debate over the Ethanol Tax Credit, the broader vision of our country’s energy future seems to have been forgotten by many.

 But the Ethanol industry and America’s farmers have not forgotten that vision.

 We remain focused on a future where every driver in America can pull up to a fuel station and choose for themselves how much or how little Ethanol they would like to use.

 We are focused on a future where the Oil Industry no longer has

Oil to end the year up 12 percent, averages near $80
By Randy Fabi Singapore | Fri Dec 31, 2010 4:43am EST Singapore (Reuters) - Oil was set to close the year up more than 12 percent and average nearly $80 a barrel -- the second highest on record -- driven by a resurgence in global demand, an unusually cold winter and falling inventories. After rallying to a 26-month high of $91.88 on Monday, U.S. crude edged lower on Friday, with the February contract down 14 cents at $89.70 a barrel by 1:42 a.m. EST. ICE Brent crude fell 10 cents to $92.99. O...

Oil's surge in 2010 paves the way for $4 gasoline
NEW YORK (AP) - The price of oil is poised for another run at $100 a barrel after a global economic rebound sent it surging 34 percent since May. That could push Gasoline prices to $4 a gallon by summer in some parts of the country, experts say. Flying, shipping a package and ordering a pizza all likely would get more expensive next year if that happens and companies pass along higher energy costs. Some Economists say rising Energy Prices will slow Economic Growth. The U.S. is the world's larg...

The Year in Islamophobia: Timeline
Thu Dec. 30, 2010 11:00 AM PST It's never a good sign when you find yourself longing for the halcyon days of George W. Bush. But after a year in which right-wing Activists and politicians identified America's greatest threats as Mosques and infants, you could be forgiven for feeling a bit nostalgic for the man who responded to the 9/11 attacks by emphasizing that "Islam is a religion of peace." So, is America Islamophobic? It depends. For the overwhelming majority of Muslims, America'...

Ticket Replay: Barack '8 Years of Failed Bush Policies' Obama tells high school grads: 'Don't make excuses'
During the Holiday Season, as in years past, The Ticket is republishing some of our favorite items from the previous political year. This story was originally published on June 8, 2010: It was a Big Deal for the excited about-to-be graduates of Kalamazoo's Central High School. They had won a White House competition against 1,000 other schools, not for payoff jobs in the Obama Administration. But to see and hear the Real Great Talker himself. President Barack Obama went all the way to Mich...

Bomb explodes at army barracks in Nigeria
ABUJA, Nigeria - A bomb blast tore through a beer garden at a Nigerian army barracks where revelers had gathered to celebrate New Year's Eve, witnesses said, and state-run television reported Friday that 30 people died, though police immediately disputed that. A local police spokesman said the blast occurred at about 7:30 p.m. Friday in Abuja, the capital of Africa's most populous nation. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the Explosion in this oil-rich nation where citizens rem...

A List of Barely Socratic Questions to American Progressives
The two women who showed up early for my Book Signing at a small bookstore in Houston, TX, never even bothered to open my book. Wearing knowing smiles, they engaged me in a bizarre discussion that wound up leaping all around the known and unknown universe. They hadn't the slightest curiosity about my ideas as an ex-Soviet immigrant in America, or what I had to say about my experience working inside the two ideologically opposed systems. As it turned out, they had spotted my flyer in the store wi...

S&P; Withdraws Bank of America Short-Term Counterparty Rating At Firm's Request
"Most people believe that most oil in the world is produced by the Big Oil companies, the Exxons, the Shells, the BPs, the Totals of the world... That is not true. Most oil in the world is produced by national oil companies.” It is not inconceivable to fantasize about crucial city services that save lives getting more of that multi-trillion Federal Assistance than bondholders behind failed and fraudulent banking practices, no? As for the anticipation that this will resolve itself by next y...

The 6 Myths About Oil
Every American consumes an average of three gallons of Oil a day. Republicans and Democrats call this reliance on Oil an “Addiction”—an irrational, self-destructive habit that must be broken as soon as possible. This year's BP Oil Spill disaster is only making the chorus to “end our addiction to oil” louder. But if we examine the most common arguments for this idea, we see that they are myths. Oil is a vital, viable, and desirable part of our energy future. Myth #1:...

Oil's surge in 2010 paves the way for $4 gasoline
FILE - In this Aug. 4, 2010 file photo, a gas pump nozzle is shown, in Portland, Ore. Oil Prices slipped further below $90 a barrel Friday. Dec. 31, 2010, as investors took profits amid light year-end trading volume. Despite the fall, oil prices are set to end the year around 12 percent higher than where they started _ a clear signal that the Global Economy has returned to growth following the worst Recession since World War II . The price of oil is poised for another run at $100 a barrel after ...

Desire finds no oil again in Falklands
Port Stanley, capital of the Falklands. Drilling off the islands has reignited political tension between Britain and Argentina, which went to war over the archipelago in 1982. Photograph: Daniel Garcia/AFP/Getty Images Hopes that 2010 would end on a triumphant note for new Oil Exploration off the Falkland Islands were dashed today when Desire Petroleum reported another dry well. The hole will be drilled down further in the hope of success at a deeper level but shares in the small exploration...

Oil to end the year up 12 percent, averages near $80
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil was set to close the year up more than 12 percent and average nearly $80 a barrel -- the second highest on record -- driven by a resurgence in global demand, an unusually cold winter and falling inventories. After rallying to a 26-month high of $91.88 on Monday, U.S. crude edged lower on Friday, with the February contract down 14 cents at $89.70 a barrel by 1:42 a.m. EST. ICE Brent Crude fell 10 cents to $92.99. Oil Prices were set to average $79.60 this year, second on...

GOP Fuming Over Appointment of Lawyer Who Compared 9/11 to Drug Trade...
The president announced the so-called Recess Appointments Wednesday, using his power to install sidelined nominees while Congress is on break. They will still need to be confirmed by the Senate before the end of the next session, but the Recess Appointments allow Obama to break a series of logjams and fill positions that have been vacant for months.  Obama appointed four new U.S. ambassadors, along with the U.S. public printer and the deputy Attorney General.  The latter, James Cole, h...

An Interesting Year-End 'Charitable' Possibility
I am living proof of the way tax codes change behavior. Unavoidably on December 31, I start thinking of all the worthy causes I "should" have been supporting during the year, and rush to mail out checks or send online contributions while they still "count" as deductions for the tax year that's about to end. Here is a last-minute possibility with interesting implications: a site called "Give It Back for Jobs" that lets you calculate how much you, personally, will save on taxes because of the rec...

Is Health Reform One of the 5 Biggest Stories of the Decade?
A year ago I posted my top stories and trends for the decade. Given that the decade is actually coming to an end today (more on that in a second) it seems like a good time to revisit and revise the list. First the issue of the decade ending. As I noted last year, “since our calendar goes from 1BC to 1AD, without a year zero, this is not technically the last year of the decade.” Here’s the list, in chronological order, that I put together last December: The 2000 Elections. The...

Who Will Challenge Obama in 2012
Dec. 30, 2010 Who will challenge Obama in 2012 from the democratic party of which half of the Liberal Democrats are highly displeased with his administration’s entire agenda.  Many Democrats believe Obama sold himself out to Corporate Interests making backroom deals with pharmaceuticals guaranteeing higher prices for drugs for a trade off on their support of the Health Care bill. Did Obama sell out to Corporate Interests when he caved to real Wall Street reform that would banish pon...

RNC Candidate Cino: Im Pro-Life But Helped Pro-Abortion Group
And, I’m half Chinese. RNC Chair Candidate Maria Cino told a pro-Life group that she is pro-life but donated to and supported a pro-abortion group for several years. Maria Cino, the former Deputy Secretary of the United States Department of Transportation under President George W. Bush announced her intention of running for the chairmanship of the Republican National Committee in November. She has a distinguished career as a politician in the Republican Party. Republican Party chairman can...

An optimistic forecast for the new year
Posted by Paul at 1:55 PM Economist Irwin Stelzer finds that the U.S. economy is in much better shape at the end of 2010 than it was 12 months ago. 2010 was a banner year for corporate profits. As Stelzer observes, "third-quarter pre-tax profits topped their 2006 peak, as firms continued the cost cutting that has seen unit labor costs declining at a rate not seen for 50 year." The problem, of course, has been the effect of such cost cutting on the labor market, with businesses keeping their ca...

Anti war pukes charged with assault on Sen. Levin
Image via Wikipedia The Hill: An Anti-War demonstrator who hurled a pie at the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee in August was charged Thursday in the attack. Ahlam Mohsen, 23, of Coldwater, Mich., faces a count of assault for hitting Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.) in the face with an apple pie, and another count of assault on a federal officer. Her friend Max Kantar of Big Rapids, Mich., was also charged with the same counts. ... She told the Big Rapids Pioneer she hoped "to send a m...

The next RNC chairwoman? Amb. Ann Wagner wary of transatlantic creep of socialism and Michael Steele (Daily Caller)
When Ann Wagner, the former United States ambassador to Luxembourg, returned from abroad in 2009, she felt that she has not entirely left Europe behind. “I felt, after I left, that perhaps socialism had begun to follow me across the pond,” she told The Daily Caller in a phone interview. In an attempt to help end what she views as the government’s overreach during President Barack Obama’s tenure, Wagner is running for chair of the Republican National Committee. Wagner&rs...;

Azadeh Shahshahani: Georgia Must Enact Anti-Profiling Laws
When I testified this month before the Special Joint Committee on Immigration Reform, a committee of 14 Republicans convened to draft legislative proposals for the upcoming legislative session, I reminded them about the continued obligation of Georgia under international Human Rights law to protect and preserve the human dignity of all people regardless of immigration status. As documented by the ACLU of Georgia, Racial Profiling and other Human Rights violations against immigrants or those pe...