I Love Playing This Game (A Housecleaning Item)

JAMIE FRANKS: “Good afternoon.

Hi. How the hell are ya?

“Our economy is failing.

Really? You do understand that a recession is two consecutive quarters of negative growth, which hasn't happened yet.

Businesses are closing and people are losing jobs.

Which is always a good argument against socialism.

The price of food is rising.

And ethanol, which you love so much, is one of the main reasons.

And we are paying more than we’ve ever paid for a gallon of gas – prices that have dropped slightly after topping $4 a gallon in recent weeks.

Amazing what an executive order lifting a drilling ban and two-thirds of the public wanting drilling, added to a little conservation can do. Can you call Nancy and tell her to schedule a vote on drilling when she gets done with her book tour?

“This pain at the pump is a major contributor to our economic problems as many people are emptying their wallets to fill their tank.

And yet you can still drive an SUV. Way to lead on that one, Oh Friend of the Workin' Man.

With prices as high as they are, we could see people forced to decide whether to fill their tank or buy groceries.

Wait, I thought prices had dropped a little recently? It's gone down 50 cents since the executive order. Can you get your story straight?

“Now, we have a presidential candidate, Republican John McCain, who has an unclear stand on energy and close ties to Big Oil.

Yet the 'Big Oil' executives have given more to Obamessiah than McCain. Square that, Golden Boy. By the way, how's your buddy Samson's lawsuit against a small oil company in north Mississippi going?

If he wins the presidency, who would he look out for: His buddies in the oil industry or the working men and women of our state and country?

I'd like to think he'd look out for the American people by not treating them like serfs dependent on an overlord to make their decisions. And part of that is not increasing their taxes.

“Consider these facts: McCain has 33 oil and gas industry lobbyists as his campaign advisors. Charlie Black, the most prominent lobbyist in the McCain campaign, lobbied for several oil companies; Mark Buse, McCain’s chief of staff in the U.S. Senate, lobbied for Exxon Mobile

And what did David Axelrod do between campaigns? He was an 'advocate' for CORE and ASK in Illinois. And really, isn't an advocate the same thing as a...lobbyist? I love the Obamessiah meme that he's so pure that he won't touch lobbyists. It's not true, of course. But it makes a nice line in a speech, and that's what's important, isn't it?

And apparently nobody on your staff lobbied for Spellcheck.

“McCain’s energy plan would cut taxes for oil companies by nearly $4 billion. A study by the Center for American Progress Action Fund found that McCain’s plan would include a $1.2 billion tax cut alone for Exxon Mobile – or perhaps we should call it Exxon McCain.

Oh, man, you're so clever. I bet you've got an ExxonMcCain sticker on your SUV. By the way, the McCain tax plan includes a 10% across-the-board corporate tax cut. The US corporate tax is 35%-one of the highest in the world. It's one of the reasons that businesses are leaving. But I'm sure you knew that, right?

“McCain has accepted more than $2 million in campaign contributions from Big Oil – more than seven times the campaign contributions Democratic nominee Barack Obama received from people connected with the industry.

And Obama gets foreign policy advice from that sage of international politics George Clooney, who is currently planning a fundraiser for Barry-in Switzerland. I hope the symbolism isn't lost on you-but I'm sure it is.

“The skyrocketing price of gasoline has plagued our country and economy for much of this year. Many people spend $50 or more to fill their tank once, and, sometimes twice or more, a week.

Oh, that vaunted connection with the common man. Try twice that if you own a big pickup. But I guess since the Screamer started picking up the tab for you've stopped paying attention to those things.

And Big Oil is enjoying record profits.

And record tax payments. 15 cents in taxes for every 4 cents of profit.

“Less than two weeks ago on July 31, Exxon Mobile reported the largest operating profit in U.S. corporate history – an $11.7 billion profit for the second quarter, caused mostly by rising prices for crude oil. Exxon Mobile’s earnings were up 14 percent from a year ago.

So what you're saying is that companies that make a profit and employ people are bad?

“That same day, Royal Dutch Shell reported its profits rose to $11.56 billion. The Wall Street Journal’s Market Watch reported Shell’s profits weren’t much of a shock; the oil and natural gas it produced sold for 76 percent more than it did the same period one year earlier.

Yeah, it's too bad they have to go to all these places with Radical Islamists, tinhorn dictators, and cholera-ridden hellholes to do it, when they could do it in such exotic places as Biloxi, Mobile, Tampa, Charleston and Savannah.

“In November, we have a clear choice: Do we support John McCain, whose ties run deep with Big Oil; who has proposed billions in tax breaks for Exxon Mobile; and who has no clear energy policy?

Yeah, no clear energy policy-except the one that says drill more, and promotes nuclear power for our electrical needs, as well as investments in wind and solar. I think you may have him confused with a big-eared dude with a funny name whose plan is limited to a tire pressure gauge.

“Or do we support Barack Obama, who offers the change voters want; who plans to invest $150 billion over the next 10 years in finding new energy sources; and who wants to give every working family a $1,000 energy rebate paid for by oil company profits?”

So what you're saying is that you're going to tax an essential product that you say is already overpriced? It's official-you did sleep through econ in high school. I guess in the fantasy world you reside in, the oil companies don't pass along costs to the consumer. Of course, in that fantasy world, you didn't get good enough coverage from David Hampton last fall.