William K. Wolfrum Chronicles

“The McCain-Palin Administration will replace the outdated and ineffective patchwork quilt of regulatory oversight in Washington and bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street.”

Vote John McCain. He’ll say anything you want to hear at any given moment. Except to the press. And no, Sarah Palin will not be testifying at her Ethics Investigation like she said she would … Wait, was I writing about? Oh yeah, transparency. McCain and Palin are going to bring transparency and accountability to Wall Street. Yup.

–WKW

This may come off as a bit of a whine or an overexaggeration, but Republicans have been in power for the vast majority of the last decade or so, and John McCain is as important a Republican as you can find, having spent a quarter-century as a senator.

And right now, the Republican economy is so bad, it appears that it has broken DowJones.com (didn’t it used to give you updates?)

Put the blame for this on McCain. How can one do oversight of Dowjones.com when you can’t use the Internet?

And mark down that you heard it here first - if McCain manages to sleaze himself to the Presidency, I predict the entire U.S. economy will bolt to Dubai.

Update: As of Monday, 11:30 p.m., DowJones.com is still not updating the update Dow Jones average.

–WKW

In a dramatic example of just how toxic Republicans are to the economy, the Dow Jones tumbled 170 points on the news that John McCain picked Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

The losses nearly completely wiped out the Dow’s impressive gain of 212 points due to Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention.

With the Republican National Convention beginning on Monday, worried investors are prepared for the worst.

–WKW

When analyzed, the Conservative master plan of “We have to give as much to the oil companies before we’re out of power or Osama bin Laden will eat your babies,” seems to have no place in reality. Luckily for Congressional Republicans, analyzing really isn’t something they’re all about. But they do know how to negotiate, and the moment they saw weakness from Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama, they realized they could get all the drilling in environmentally conserved areas that their masters require.

Still, while John McCain and the Republican Party are waving their arms that the only way to solve the current “oil crisis” is to let oil companies drill under caribou and fish, that pesky old capitalist feature of supply and demand has put the breaks on runaway oil prices. Now if only the U.S. dollar could bulk up a little.

Oil prices rise on mixed dollar

VIENNA, Austria (AP) — Traders bid oil moderately higher Wednesday amid mixed signals on the strength of the U.S. dollar and ahead of weekly U.S. crude inventory data expected to show a slight increase in oil supplies.

A weakening dollar has helped boost oil prices this year, because dollar-denominated commodities are often used as hedges against inflation and a falling U.S. currency. The euro rose Wednesday to $1.4919 but the yen was weaker against the greenback, trading at $1 to ¥108.93.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 72 cents to $113.73 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by noon in Europe. The contract dropped $1.44 overnight to settle at $113.01 a barrel. …

… Investors are waiting for a report by the U.S. Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration on U.S. oil stocks for the week ended August 8 later in the day. The petroleum supply report was expected to show that crude stocks rose by 500,000 barrels, according to the average of analysts’ estimates in a survey by energy research firm Platts.

Investors “have taken profits as they’ve seen demand destruction in the U.S. and they’re seeing it spread a little into Europe,” said Jonathan Kornafel, Asia director for brokerage Hudson Capital Energy in Singapore. …

… The Platts survey also showed that analysts projected gasoline inventories to have fallen 2.2 million barrels and distillates to have risen 1.9 million barrels during last week.

Any fall in gasoline supplies would come despite indications that the high price at the pumps is putting a crimp in demand.

Vienna’s JBC Energy cited the latest report from MasterCard Advisors, showing that “U.S. gasoline demand last week was almost 4 percent lower compared to the same week in 2007 despite a considerable decline in retail prices.”

Nope. No blatant evidence there that conserving oil is a good idea. Better drill. It’s politically imperative for Republicans, after all.

Some Conservative Republicans Balk at Drilling Compromise

WASHINGTON — Some conservative Republicans are balking at an effort to compromise with Democrats on allowing more offshore drilling for oil, even as more key Democrats appear to be softening their opposition to such a move.
The moves come as opinion polls show rising levels of public support for increased offshore drilling.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) said Monday on CNN’s Larry King Live show that she would consider allowing a vote on legislation to permit drilling in more offshore areas if it were part of a broader energy package that included adequate safeguards for the environment, as well as support for renewable energy.

Ms. Pelosi and other top House Democrats have blocked Republicans from offering measures that would overturn the 27-year-old ban on drilling in many parts of the outer continental shelf. Earlier this month, the Democrats’ likely presidential candidate — Illinois Sen. Barack Obama — also said he would be willing to support an expansion of offshore drilling as part of a broader bipartisan energy bill.

Republicans have used the offshore-drilling issue to paint Democrats as out of touch with ordinary Americans and beholden to environmental groups that oppose any relaxation of the current drilling ban. Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican’s likely presidential nominee, has made Sen. Obama’s opposition to offshore drilling a feature in recent ads critical of his Democratic rival.

But the drilling issue could lose its power as an electoral wedge if both parties agree to the concept put forward by a group of Republicans and Democrats. Their proposal would open additional acreage in the Gulf of Mexico off Florida’s western coast to drilling, and also allow Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia to “opt in” to drilling off their shores if their legislatures approve.

The plan would also raise billions of dollars for conservation and energy-efficiency programs partly by making oil companies no longer eligible for a manufacturing tax credit and repealing other tax breaks. Some estimates have put the potential savings from such a move at $13 billion over 10 years.

Some conservatives worry that a deal would remove party differences on what they otherwise see as one of the Republicans’ best issues for winning over voters in the November election. Conservative radio-show host Rush Limbaugh has accused the Republicans who favor the compromise of giving a “gift” to Sen. Obama and other Democrats seeking election this fall.

Among many Republicans, “there’s a desire to not solve this problem” of gridlock over energy policy, said one of the Republicans supporting the compromise, Sen. Bob Corker of Tennessee. Sen. Corker added that “many people in the Republican Party are missing the point that this is a strong pro-[oil] production bill” and that Republican leaders “made a mistake” by not immediately endorsing it.

Some Republicans decry tax provisions in the proposed compromise. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R., Ky.) has expressed objections to the proposal to eliminate the oil companies’ eligibility for a tax credit. Through a spokesman, Sen. McConnell declined to be interviewed.

And former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who has spearheaded a campaign in favor of increased domestic drilling, assailed the compromise in a column published Tuesday on the Web site of the conservative Human Events magazine, saying it amounted to “an $85 billion tax increase disguised as an energy bill.”

The skirmishing over the compromise has placed Sen. McCain in a delicate spot. When the proposal was announced earlier this month, Sen. McCain’s aides released a statement saying he would oppose it on the grounds that it would raise taxes. Speaking to reporters last Friday, however, Sen. McCain said he had “not seen or examined all the aspects” of the proposal and that “obviously we have to come together” on energy policy.

Will reality play a part in the invented “debate” as to whether to open up drilling in environmentally protected areas? Only time will tell, though the deciding factor will likely be the fact that we live in a world where oil companies rarely feel any type of disappointment.

–WKW

Having the Oil Industry hold the Presidency of the U.S. the past seven years has been both good and bad.

The Good:

- Oil companies declare record quarterly profits of $50 billion.

- Barrel of oil up $100.

- Iraq oil free to steal.

- Knee-jerking politicians will likely end all drilling restrictions by the end of the year.

The Bad:

- Everything else.

Falling in the “Everything else” category is relations with Russia, which have hit a two-decade low thanks to a policy that consists primarily of disrespect, arrogance and myopia.

Russian Bombers Could Be Deployed to Cuba In Response To Missile Shield

Russian bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons could be deployed to Cuba in response to U.S. plans to install a missile defense system in Eastern Europe, a Russian newspaper reported Monday, citing an unnamed senior Russian air force official.

The report in Izvestia, which could not be confirmed, prompted memories of the 1962 Cuban missile crisis, when the United States and the Soviet Union came to the brink of nuclear war after Nikita Khrushchev put nuclear missiles on the Caribbean island. The weapons were eventually withdrawn in an apparent Soviet climb-down, but President John F. Kennedy also secretly agreed to remove U.S. missiles from Turkey.

A spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry declined to comment on the report Monday, but did not deny it. Izvestia is often a forum for strategic leaks by Kremlin and other officials.

“While they are deploying the missile shield in Poland and the Czech Republic, our strategic bombers will already be landing in Cuba,” Izvestia quoted the source as saying.

So remember, while having Oil Companies hold the U.S. Presidency has been a windfall for Oil Companies, it has sort of hurt other areas. But, heck, it’s just Russia. It’s not like the rekindled Soviet Union has ever posed an existential, war-of-civilizations-type threat on anyone.

–WKW

The parents of little Timmy Johnson, 8, thought he knew better. But they had caught him, red-handed as it were, when he came out of his bedroom crying due to burning his fingers while playing with matches.

Though kind-hearted people, Bob and Sandy Johnson of Seattle had dedicated themselves to being strict with their child when situations such as these occurred. So when little Timmy stopped crying and pulled himself together, his parents told him he’d have to spend the weekend with no television or video games. He had been bad, they told him, and he was being grounded.

Wall Street reacted immediately to the news as stocks fell across the board. Overall, the Dow Jones lost more than 500 points as the news of tension in the Middle East and little Timmy Johnson’s grounding led to a groundswell of sellers.

“There’s still a lot of confusion as to where the current battle with Iran will take the market,” said Dennis Hagerfield, a trader originally from Des Moines, Iowa. “And this situation with little Timmy Johnson just pushed everything right over the edge. He deserved much more fair treatment.”

Despite the drop in the stock market, Sandy Johnson said she has no regrets over the grounding of her precocious son.

“I won’t have the stock market tell me how to raise my child,” said Sandy Johnson. “Timmy’s a good boy, but his curiosity can get the best of him.”

Disney was the biggest loser on the day, seeing its stock shares drop 2.3 percent on the day to close at $198,7243.32 per share. An official for Disney said the grounding of Timmy Johnson was an obvious problem.

“When children like little Timmy Johnson are removed from the Disney media blitz for even a weekend, problems arise,” said Myron Taylor, head of the Disney Media Blitz Department. “We believe we will cut this problem off, however, with the release of our informative and helpful straight-to-video release titled ‘The Pickle People Save Little Timmy Johnson.’ ”

Mainly, however, most experts pointed to the little Timmy Johnson Grounding episode as just another sign of how volatile the market is these days.

“Fuck, the market is really volatile,” said Dr. Gordon T. Mack of the Harvard School of Business.

Investors will be looking at little Timmy Johnson’s situation throughout the week. As of Wednesday afternoon, PST, the grounding was still in effect. Experts believe that if the grounding is at least cut in half the market will respond with one of its best days of the year.

–WKW

Crossposted at Shakesville

If there’s one thing that current gas prices have taught us, it’s this - environmentalists hate America.

It’s been explained over an over again in right-wing circles. Why are so many people so concerned with the environment when we have gas underneath some caribou somewhere? Or offshore? Don’t they understand that by drilling in conserved areas the U.S. would see prices at the pump drop by a nickel or so? In the next decade or so? Don’t they know that company oil executives believe that drilling everywhere and anywhere they want is the true secret to energy independence? Heck, even John McCain understands that.

“My friends, we have to drill off shore. We have to do it. It’s out there and we can do it. And we can do that. The oil executives say within a couple of years we could be seeing results from it. So why not do it?” said McCain.

So remember, people, there’s oil out there. Billions and trillions of barrels, just waiting for brave oil companies to go and get it. Yet environmentalists stop them, because they hate America, and the liberal media bails them out. How else would you explain the news coverage given to minor oil spills?

Spill could close part of Mississippi River for days

(CNN) — The U.S. Coast Guard closed 98 miles of the Mississippi River from New Orleans, Louisiana, southward after a fuel barge and a tanker collided early Wednesday, spilling more than 400,000 gallons of fuel oil.

The closure — on what is a major shipping route between the Midwest and the Gulf of Mexico — could last days, and the cleanup could take weeks, said Capt. Lincoln Stroh, the Coast Guard chief in New Orleans.

The collision between the Liberian-flagged chemical tanker Tintomara and the barge pushed by the tug Mel Oliver happened about 1:30 a.m. Wednesday, splitting the barge nearly in half and dumping more than 419,000 gallons of oil into the river, the Coast Guard said.

The accident happened just north of the massive bridges connecting downtown New Orleans to the west bank of the Mississippi, the Coast Guard said. The tanker was undamaged. …

… The accident left a sheen of oil over much of the river and its banks. Booms were deployed to contain the oil, and skimmers are being used to suck it off the surface, said Petty Officer Thomas Blue, a Coast Guard spokesman.

The spill is much smaller than the ones that followed Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the Coast Guard estimated that more than 7 million gallons of oil were dumped into the Mississippi and nearby waterways.

Do you people realize how small 400,000 gallons of oil actually is? That’s one year of flying for Al Gore. Leonardo DiCaprio uses that much annually just going out and cruising with his pals. And it’s not like most of you live in that area, anyway.

So remember, not a drop of oil was spilled due to Hurricane Katrina - seven million gallons were spilled. And no one was bothered in the least. So while CNN trumpets news of oil spills, think about how it affects you and your pocketbook. Because oil spills will come and go. Getting a nickel off a gallon of gas in seven years or so, that’s priceless.

–WKW

The Market. In some strange Libertarian/Conservative Land of lollipops and a strong dollar, the Market stands tall as a false idol. The Market can never be wrong in this land. The Market makes life better.

The Market kicks teenagers out of an operating room because they refuse to cover the surgery.

Why was a brain surgery patient turned away?

Bartow, Florida – Seeing your child suffer is the most painful emotion a parent can experience.

Sheila Jackson says she would gladly trade places with her daughter, Caitlin, who was recently diagnosed with a rare brain disorder called Quiari Malformation.

“As a parent, you wish first and foremost it was you instead, you know,” Jackson says.

The destructive condition will rob her 19-year-old daughter of motor skills, memory and possibly one day, her life. For now, Caitlin has excruciating headaches and dangerous fainting spells. Her life as she knows it has come to a standstill.

“I constantly have to have somebody around me. I can’t even stay at home for five minutes,” Caitlin says.

With all the pain, there is still a peaceful expression on the face of Caitlin’s mother. She says her faith is the only thing getting her through what can only be described as a nightmare.

Caitlin needs immediate surgery for her condition, and she was hours away from getting it.

The problem? Her insurance company, Aetna. They approved the operation 15 minutes too late. Caitlin lost the operating room to another patient and had to be rescheduled.

Then, the company came back with an even bigger shocker. They told her they would not cover her brain surgery at all, that her benefits ran out.

The family would now have to foot the bill at a staggering $113,000. Tampa General Hospital was requiring $55,000 down, and the rest after the operation.

John McCain’s plan to fix things like this?

An important part of his plan is to use competition to improve the quality of health insurance with greater variety to match people’s needs, lower prices, and portability.

Translation: Use the word “reform” a lot, then let The Market decide. Just as it is now.

Health Care is a human right. But luckily for a “reformer” like McCain, The Market doesn’t care one bit about humanity.

–WKW

Exciting news for 300 million Americans. Soon your investment portfolio will include Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac stock:

U.S. Weighs Takeover of Two Mortgage Giants

WASHINGTON — Alarmed by the growing financial stress at the nation’s two largest mortgage finance companies, senior Bush administration officials are considering a plan to have the government take over one or both of the companies and place them in a conservatorship if their problems worsen, people briefed about the plan said on Thursday.

The companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have been hit hard by the mortgage foreclosure crisis. Their shares are plummeting and their borrowing costs are rising as investors worry that the companies will suffer losses far larger than the $11 billion they have already lost in recent months. Now, as housing prices decline further and foreclosures grow, the markets are worried that Fannie and Freddie themselves may default on their debt.

Under a conservatorship, the shares of Fannie and Freddie would be worth little or nothing, and any losses on mortgages they own or guarantee — which could be staggering — would be paid by taxpayers.

What will you do with your shares? Sure, they’re worthless and pretend, but at very least you can have the pride of ownership. And what’s $11 billion, anyway? Aside from 20 percent of a plan that would give all Americans health care?

But that’s a bad comparison. After all, when the government gives individuals something for their tax money, it’s socialist. Like Denmark. When the government gives money individuals’ tax money to big businesses that have run themselves into the ground, why, that’s good ol’ American-style capitalism.

–WKW

The Great Economic Stimulus Program of 2008 can now officially be called a remarkable success. Wal-Mart had a fantastic month in June, selling 5.8 percent more of its primarily Chinese-made inventory.

Shoppers stimulate discount stores

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — Consumers sought the biggest bang for their economic stimulus bucks in June, sending the sales of discount merchants such as Wal-Mart and Costco surging.

“The perception of a weakening economy will prevail in people’s shopping moods and where they decide to spend their money,” said Ken Brown, retail analyst for ResearchConnect.com, a research Web site.

As the economy remains weak, Brown said shoppers - rich and poor - are flocking to discounters for low-cost goods.

“I think you’ll see a wider spread of people, demographically, in Wal-Mart today than you would have a couple of quarters ago,” he said.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. trounced analyst expectations Thursday with a 5.8% jump in June sales for stores open at least one year, attributing the increase to the government’s economic stimulus payments.

Wal-Mart officials added that in their continuing effort to improve the quality of life of its employees, they will use part of stimulus profits to give Dennis Hagerfield, a greeter at a Wal-Mart in Des Moines, a coupon worth 25 percent off a new shirt, provided Hagerfield buys one at a comparable price.

–WKW

Today, John McCain is letting Americans know that, if elected, the U.S. will have a balanced budget by the end of his term. Here is a detailed look at McCain’s three-pronged plan to save the American economy:

1. Cut taxes on the rich and corporations; cut social spending; cut defense spending; Proclaim victory in Iraq.

2. ?

3. Profit!

Oh sure, it sounds easy enough, but one needs to pity McCain, who has been given the responsibility of running Milton Freidman’s sixth term.

You see, Reagan, Bush I, and Bush II got all the fun parts of the “Starve the Beast” plan. They got the illegal wars, tax cuts for his wealthy pals, massive government waste and corruption, running up an astronomical debt and all the other things that make a Republican’s life worth living.

McCain, on the other hand would get the hard part. He’s the one who has to drown the Federal government and 100 million or so Americans in a bathtub.

–WKW

Crossposted at Shakesville.

As an American, I’m always on the lookout for endeavors that would be considered heroic. This is generally easy enough because any and all American endeavors are heroic, by definition. But this time, I see that the country is in need, and I will fill that need.

You see, recently, President George W. Bush has stated several hundred times that there have been no new oil refineries built since 1976 and that America could really use some new ones. Bush never points out that no one has offered to build a refinery since 1976, but such lapses are to be accepted from the President, who is busy with other activities such as not golfing.

This is where I will heroically step in. I will build an oil refinery.

Now sure, there will be naysayers, saying nay, as they are prone to do. But I am serious about this. Some may look at my record and see that I have no experience in the oil industry, no knowledge of engineering, and have even failed miserably in attempts to build simple models of sports cars and the such. But I am an American. And everything an American sets out to do can be done.

This project will by no means be simple. However, having recently seen the film “There Will Be Blood,” I feel I have the gist of the oil industry. To put it in layperson’s terms, there’s a lot of milkshake out there that needs some refining. And I plan on refining the holy hell out of it.

I will need help, of course. Primarily I’ll need one of those no-bid government contracts. For say, $300 billion, to start. And if we could make it one of those cost-plus deals, well, that would be just great.

But I’ll also need help from many other Americans. This is the beauty of my plan. Not only will I build a refinery, I will put Americans to work. Because I’d have to assume I’d need a lot of workers to build an oil refinery. Welders, especially. That just seems like a no brainer. Lots of welding needed to build a refinery.

In the end, I envision one hell of an oil refinery. People will bring me oil, all crude and disheveled, and I will refine it. And people will say “Wow, that sure is some refined oil. That sure was a great idea to build an oil refinery. Especially after Exxon, Shell, BP, etc., refused to build one since 1976.”

So my friends, I hope you work with me on this massive project that will save America. Together, we can build a refinery that will have Americans paying $.50 a gallon at the pump and a good steak will only cost a nickel. All because of my refinery.

I have already begun the planning stages for the refinery, and have found the perfect location for it, which you can see by clicking here.

Thank you for your time and I have retained counsel in this matter.

–WKW

Crossposted at Shakesville

–WKW

Seriously, you people and your worries about the economy. Just chill out. After all, Exxon is doing fantastic, as is Shell. And so is Halliburton.

“Halliburton jumps on revenue, growth”

HOUSTON (AP) — Oilfield services provider Halliburton Co. said Monday its fourth-quarter profit rose almost 5 percent from a year ago, helped by growing business in the Eastern Hemisphere, where the company is placing greater resources.

Net income in the October-December period rose to $690 million, or 75 cents per share, compared with $658 million, or 64 cents a share, during the same period a year ago.

Halliburton’s quarterly revenue rose 19 percent to $4.2 billion from $3.5 billion in the previous year, topping analysts’ estimates of $4.1 billion.

“I am very pleased with our performance in 2007,” said Dave Lesar, the company’s chairman and chief executive. “We’re particularly pleased by our growth in the Eastern Hemisphere, where revenue increased 27 percent year-over-year, and operating income increased 26 percent year-over-year.”

So really, people just need to relax about the economy. It’s all going as they planned.

–WKW

New research is showing that lead exposure, like tobacco and asbestos, can have long-term effects on humans, with early lead exposure hastening brain aging later in life.

While the U.S. pushed through laws against the usage of lead in such things as paint and gasoline (fighting the lead industry the entire way), the Bush Administration’s anti-science beliefs and stance that business should be allowed to do anything to anyone at any time to make profits means that lead exposure will very likely be a future health problem for today’s children.

From the Environmental Working Group:

The Bush administration’s proposed 2005 budget cuts $35 million from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)’s lead poisoning prevention program, a 20 percent reduction from the previous year. The program pays for expert home evaluations and repairs to prevent young children from being exposed to lead-contaminated dust, soil and paint chips (Washington Post 2004). Primary prevention is the key to ending future lead poisoning and the related personal and social costs. Cuts to this program serve only to perpetuate unnecessary lead poisoning of future generations.

This is not the first time that the Bush administration has hindered lead poisoning prevention efforts. In 2002, in a move that catered to the interests of the lead industry, the Bush Administration shuffled the appointments to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Advisory Committee on Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention, replacing reputable public health and pediatric lead experts with panelists with a history of defending the lead industry in the courts.

More simply put, from Bradford Plumer of The New Republic (via N.Y. Times Opinionator Blog):

“The Bush administration loves lead. Loves it. They want it everywhere. Okay, that’s only a slight exaggeration: Back in 2002, the White House tried to stack an advisory committee on lead regulations with industry types. Last December, the administration announced that it would consider doing away with the standards that cut lead from gasoline, at the behest of battery makers and lead smelters. And its EPA has weakened a rule on removing lead paint from older residences.”

George W. Bush will spend tonight trying to talk up his conservative legacy, but his legacy is set in stone, as future generations will not only be forced to clean up his fiscal and foreign relations disasters, but they’ll also suffer physically from his and conservatism’s actions.

–WKW