The summer driving season is just around the corner, and the kept media are dutifully reminding us how much more pricey it will be, and of course who to blame. The talk is centered on "high gasoline prices," "gouging" and other such nonsense. The topics are glossed over, naturally, with no one bothering to investigate root causes and their effects. As the Congress scrambles and plots to once again hamper the functioning of the market, I notice something curious.
Whenever I happen to spot a vehicle idling for more than say, five minutes, invariably it is a government vehicle. And I don't just mean diesel-powered either (ambulances, etc.). Perhaps you have noticed this in your city or town as well.
I have the misfortune of living down the block from an esteemed NYC councilor who recently ran for mayor. Outside his apartment building are two Chevy Suburban SUV's (fully armored, I assume as part of his u2018security detail') each with two security people in them. I have observed them idling there, on more than a few occasions, for longer than two hours. On my daily walk to work I encounter at least one or two other vehicles (most often NYPD cars) parked, and idling away. The NYPD has a new "show of force" display that they go through across from the old WTC site. Maybe you saw it recently on "60 Minutes." I walk past this every morning, and while not all the police cars are idling, out of the fifty-plus vehicles that are there, many are. Add to this the scores of diplomat vehicles (courtesy the US taxpayer) that I see here on the East Side, idling away waiting for their UN busybodies to finish doing whatever it is that they do.
Among the "legislators" who are currently agitating for more government control of the energy markets, (and also a virtual break up of the largest oil companies) is none other than New York's own, Senator Chuck Schumer. His duplicity is truly amazing. While he grandstands at Manhattan gas stations with his threatening language, he of course fails to mention that New Yorkers pay the highest gas taxes in the nation, at a whopping $0.679 per gallon (American Petroleum Institute). He then talks of subpoenaing top oil company executives and opening up their books. This coming from a man who has spent not a single day of his adult life in the private sector. I could go on and on. And when he has finished spewing his anti-market rhetoric, he will be whisked away to his taxpayer-provided car and security car(s), no doubt idling away in the background.
So while the government browbeats the public about conservation and other such nonsense to "conserve energy," its agents seem to do as they please. "Do as I say, not as I do" is the order of the day, I guess. What a bunch of lying hypocrites. Gary North is right. National Politics is truly hopeless.
May 3, 2006