Ed Weaver Is A Nitwit 4.5.08: Gas Prices

Back by unpopular demand, it's my political series of posts where I take on the neo-con columnist in the local newspaper.

It's always more of the same. Everything he says and thinks is channeled directly to him from his Christian God and everyone else is a stupid devil worshiper. His regurgitation of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity gives me indigestion every week. And you, my faithful readers, know one thing I don't need any more of is things that make me feel like crap.

Check out his latest rant on the hearing held by the House Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming where leaders of Big Oil were questioned:

"Yes, I do realize that many of you 'enlightened, compassionate' liberals consider anyone who makes as much money as [Exxon/Mobil CEO Rex] Tillerson does to be 'criminal' if they're in the corporate world."

Watch for the zig:

"Oprah Winfrey could buy every single asset Tillerson holds 100 times over and make more in salary during one week than Tillerson does all year...You have no problem with their riches; only with corporate executives, most of whom work much longer and harder than D.C. and Hollywood big shots."

Now for the zag:

"[Committee Chairman] Markey threatened to remove the $300 billion in tax cuts the oil companies receive for research into imporved fuel eficiency. He knows those tax breaks were put into place more than 20 years ago when Democrats held big majories in both houses of Congress. He knows that when Republicans have twice blocked efforts to remove those tax breaks, the couldn't have done so without help from a few Democrats...Congressman Markey, how about you guys slicing the federal gas taxes in half?"

So much to say, so little time.
• Nice deflection of the argument from obscene Big Oil profits to Hollywood. Thing is, I, you, and the U.S. economy must have oil and energy as it is currently structured. No one needs Oprah. Big difference.
• Is there some underlying racism playing here...if you're going to criticize rich white men, you better criticize a rich black woman, too?
• Big Oil CEO's work harder than those in Hollywood. Says who, exactly? All have to answer to investors.
• If we've given Big Oil $300B in tax cuts for fuel efficiency, they there should be a report somewhere that shows us what improvements they've made. All I ever hear is that they need to drill more.
• What is the cost of our military keeping the Strait of Hormuz safe for the passage of oil tankers? Why don't we shift that burden to the oil companies? They can pay Blackwater's overcharges directly.
• There seems to be an inconsistency in the taxes argument from a "small government" pundit. Wouldn't giving tax breaks to companies making record profits be inconsistent with personal responsibility? If you can make money — big money — why is the government giving you more?
• Why not cut the gas taxes and fund it by ending the tax cuts to the oil companies? They'll end up getting it all back anyway.
• It didn't take long for him to reach back and blame the pre-1994 Democratic Congress. I bet he can't wait for a Democratic presidential victory in November so he'll have someone to blame the current recession on.
• Competition is the check and balance in a capitalistic system. The government should never have approved the Exxon Mobil merger. It has decreased competition. Break them up!

And now for a tidbit on his denial of global warming:

"The earth is warming — few deny that — by a couple degrees at best. Man is NOT the cause. There is literally no evidence that carbon dioxide emissions cause global warming. John Coleman, prominent meteorologist and founder of The Weather Channel, called the belief that man is causing global warming an 'outrageous scam.' The vast majority of climatologists in this country agree regardless of what the U.N., Al Gore and other liberals claim."

• There is plenty of evidence, he chooses to deny it. There's not proof that God exists but that doesn't stop him from believing in that.
• The main anti-global warming scientist is also the man that testified before Congress on behalf of Big Tobacco. See a trend here?
• Since when have weathermen ever known anything? They can't tell me when it's raining outside let alone if there's climate change and who causes it.
• The vast majority of climatologist do believe that man is causing climate change.
• If Al Gore and I are wrong, at least we'll all end up living in a cleaner and more efficient world which, ultimately, will generate a whole industry and more high-paying jobs for America. If he's wrong, the planet is fucked and we all suffer — not just him. I'd rather bet on my view than his.

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Ed Weaver's column appears every Saturday in The Record newspaper in Troy, NY. I'd say he's a right-wing conservative, but all indications are that he's even whackier than that. His views are so skewed, and based in a reality that I don't even recognize, that I think he sees the world through fun house mirrors, only it isn't funny. He's proof of the theory that hindsight is 20/20, only his vision is 20/100...20 for those things that support his views, 100 for those that don't.

Previous Posts:
4.14.07 || 4.7.07 || 3.31.07
3.24.07 || 3.17.07 || 3.10.07 || 3.3.07 || 2.17.07 || 2.10.07 || 1.27.07
1.20.07 || 1.13.07 || 1.6.07 || 12.30.06 || 12.23.06 || 12.16.06
12.9.06 || 12.2.06 || 11.25.06 || 11.18.06 || 11.11.06 || 11.4.06
10.28.06 || 10.17.06 || 10.10.06 || 10.3.06 || 9.26.06 || 9.19.06
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