Performance Art: Dems To Vote On Bill Cracking Down On “Exploitative” Cost Hikes

By William Teach May 15, 2022 – 7:00 am

Oh, I’m sure there are some who are overcharging. I know it’s happening at car dealerships, above what you could call a seller’s market. But, this is not the car manufacturers doing it, but, dealers. Are gas stations overcharging? If some are, that’s not on the gas companies, but, the individual station owners. Heck, the price of gas is mostly set by the trading of gas on the commodities market, along with production costs, shipping, refining, drilling, exploration, etc. But, Democrats do not really want to do anything, they want some Outrage Theater that plays well with their unhinged base, and perhaps pick off a few flippers

A bill that would set gas price limits and prevent ‘exploitative’ cost hikes is headed for a House vote

Congress will vote next week on a bill that would prohibit “excessive” gas prices.

The legislation would enable President Joe Biden to issue an emergency energy declaration making it illegal to increase gas and home energy prices in an “exploitative” manner. The bill, titled the Consumer Fuel Price Gouging Act, would give the Federal Trade Commission the authority to crack down on oil companies with over $500 million in annual consumer fuel sales.

In a press conference announcing the legislation on Thursday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said “price gouging needs to stop.”

“While families are struggling to pay higher prices at the pump, oil and gas companies are recording record profits,” Pelosi said. “This is a major exploitation of the consumer, because this is a product the consumer must have,” she added.

This will go exactly nowhere. The Dems might pass it in the House, but, it will die in the Senate, and that’s what they want. It’s also dangerous investing more power to go after Wrongthink companies in the Executive Branch, with virtually no oversight nor limits. Nor would it change the price of gas and energy one bit. Dems expect it to die, so they can demagogue it in the runup to the midterms.

The legislation is just the latest attempt by Democrats to address surging fuel prices. Democratic leaders have also considered creating initiatives to incentivize US oil companies to ramp up production.

How will this help? They don’t mention that. What’s exploitative? Let’s take a look at parts of the actual bill

(1) IN GENERAL.—It shall be unlawful for any person to sell a consumer fuel, at wholesale or retail, in an area and during a period of an energy emergency covered by a proclamation issued under para5 graph (2) at a price that—
(A) is unconscionably excessive; and
(B) indicates the seller is exploiting the circumstances related to an energy emergency to increase prices unreasonably

And how is that defined?

(i) Whether the amount charged by such person grossly exceeds the average price at which the consumer fuel was offered for sale by such person during—
(I) the 30-day period before the date on which the proclamation was issued;

What’s grossly? What if one station near an interstate is 10 cents higher than in town? Is that grossly? During normal times the station out in Knightdale near I540 is higher than the station near my community. I pass both almost every day going to and/or from the gym. Can we consider the difference between NC and California, where the price seems unconscionably excessive? Where’s the line? The only line seems to be whatever Biden considers it to be. Nothing hard.

The bill was first put forward by Reps. Katie Porter (D-California) and Kim Schrier (D-Washington) last week. They railed against the oil companies that they say have profited from record gas prices.

“What’s infuriating is that this is happening at the same time that gas and oil companies are making record profits and taking advantage of international crises to make a profit,” Schrier said. “This must stop.”

Rather Ironic that this comes from Reps of states with massively high gas prices, in large part to taxation and other government activity.

If gas stations are gouging, the local and state authorities will be all over it. We do not need Los Federales involved. Mind your own business.

 

Read: Performance Art: Dems To Vote On Bill Cracking Down On “Exploitative” Cost Hikes »

Posted in Barking Moonbats, Democrats, Economy | 8 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: The Ukraine War Is So Inconvenient For Biden’s Climate (scam) Agenda

By William Teach May 14, 2022 – 3:00 pm

Perhaps Joe shouldn’t have helped push Putin into invading Ukraine

The U.S. pledged billions to fight climate change. Then came the Ukraine war

No, the U.S. didn’t. Biden did. Yet, he has a massive carbon footprint

The United States owes billions of dollars in climate funding to developing countries. But the war in Ukraine is delaying payments and slowing down U.S. progress to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and that has leaders in low-lying and less wealthy nations feeling frustrated and forgotten.

“Effectively, the U.S. owes the rest a climate debt that needs to be paid,” says Mohamed Adow, the leader of PowerShift Africa, a coalition that advocates for climate policies across the continent. “Our continent is effectively on the front line, and we are paying for the harms [of] these climate pollutants.”

In 2021, the U.S. promised to dramatically cut greenhouse gas emissions this decade, and send long-overdue money to help developing countries transition to cleaner energy and protect residents from rising seas, heat waves, food instability and other dangerous climate effects.

Yes, it’s just so inconvenient for you cult grifters. You know what, you moochers?

“It’s very disheartening and worrisome,” says Alejandra Lopez, a climate policy expert with Transforma, an environmental think tank based in Colombia. “I don’t mean to be disrespectful. [The war] is a major crisis,” she says. But “even if this [war] is a very scary scenario, climate change continues to be scarier.”

Piss off, person inconvenienced by a tiny increase in global temperatures, who’s missing out on the grifter money.

There are many ways that the war in Ukraine is delaying U.S. climate action, according to climate economists. The Russian invasion is contributing to global economic inflation, which feeds opposition to major infrastructure legislation stuck in Congress. That legislation would help the U.S. meet its emissions goals by investing in electric vehicles, solar and wind electricity and energy-efficient buildings.

Higher gasoline prices also led the Biden administration to encourage U.S. fossil fuel companies to produce more oil and gas.

And then there’s the problem of mental bandwidth. “The biggest risk for U.S. climate action is just a lack of focus and attention,” says Trevor Houser, a climate analyst at the think tank Rhodium Group in the U.S. “Policymakers in any country have limited attention, and the war in Ukraine is a giant crisis that requires a lot of focus and attention.”

We’re so sorry this is happening to you. It’s so much worse than all the death and destruction and displacement in Ukraine.

Read: Bummer: The Ukraine War Is So Inconvenient For Biden’s Climate (scam) Agenda »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 14, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is an area turning to desert from carbon pollution, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Green Jihad, with a post on 17 GOP states suing EPA over California waiver.

Doubleshot below the fold, check out Jo Nova, with a post on India going gangbusters on coal, throwing out “green” rules.

Read More »

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 31 Comments | Trackback URL

It Took Six Months For Biden To Get To His “Ultra-MAGA” Line

By William Teach May 14, 2022 – 1:00 pm

Seriously, this is what Biden and his Democrat Comrades are concerned with, while Americans suffer under high inflation, high gas prices, and a shortage of goods. Remember when Brandon said he wasn’t going to be divisive, that he’d be the president for all?

Report: Liberals Spent Six Months Coming Up with ‘Ultra MAGA’ Attack Line

Liberal, Democratic Party-aligned strategists, pollsters, and think tank experts spent six months coming up with the “ultra MAGA” label that President Joe Biden has begun to deploy against Republicans ahead of a difficult midterm election.

The Washington Post reported Friday:

Biden’s attempt to appropriate the “MAGA” brand as a political attack was hardly accidental. It arose from a six-month research project to find the best way to target Republicans, helmed by Biden adviser Anita Dunn and by the Center for American Progress Action Fund, a liberal group.

The polling and focus group research by Hart Research and the Global Strategy Group found that “MAGA” was already viewed negatively by voters — more negatively than other phrases like “Trump Republicans.”

In battleground areas, more than twice as many voters said they would be less likely to vote for someone called a “MAGA Republican” than would be more likely. The research also found that the description tapped into the broad agreement among voters that the Republican Party had become more extreme and power-hungry in recent years.

But, see, it’s Brandon’s phrase, not anyone else’s

(Fox News) “Who came up with this phrase, ‘ultra-MAGA?’” ABC News correspondent Mary Bruce asked. “Why the need to kick it up a notch, ‘MAGA’ is not enough? I mean, why now use this phrase?”

“I will tell you it’s the president’s phrase,” Psaki responded. “And I think what has struck him is how extreme some of the policies and proposals are that a certain of the Republican Party that is taking up too much of the Republican Party are for and are advocating for.”

It’s apparently extreme to push for policies that actually help the economy, which lower gas prices, which push freedom

(Yahoo News) President Biden’s approval rating remains underwater and more than 80% of registered voters say the U.S. is on the wrong track, according to a Thursday poll from Monmouth University.

The Thursday poll found that Biden’s approval rating is sitting at 38%, with 57% disapproval. Those numbers are down from March when Biden had a 39% approval and 54% disapproval. Monmouth also found that just 18% of Americans say the country is on the right track.

Doing great, Brandon.

(Fox Business) U.S. consumer confidence tumbled more than expected to a fresh 11-year low in early May, reflecting heightened concerns among Americans about the hottest inflation in a generation.

The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment index fell to 59.1 in May – down sharply from the April reading of 65.2 and well below economists’ forecast for a reading of 64. That’s a more than 28% drop from just one year ago, when the gauge was at 82.9.

It marks the lowest reading for the gauge since 2013.

Who was vice president then? Perhaps Biden should worry less about catch-phrases and more about doing the job. Which is difficult when he spends almost every weekend away.

Read: It Took Six Months For Biden To Get To His “Ultra-MAGA” Line »

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Husband Of Climate Cult Member Who Set Himself On Fire Speaks Out

By William Teach May 14, 2022 – 7:15 am

In the not so distant past, he would have said he was disturbed, and had worried about what the doomsday subject matter was doing to him. Because setting yourself on fire is not rational. Not compos mentis. It’s pure batshit crazy. Instead, we get

Husband of environmentalist who set fire to himself urges others to seize climate action: ‘Choose to live’

On an overcast Friday last month in the nation’s capital, Wynn Alan Bruce stood before the US Supreme Court and set himself on fire. Mr Bruce’s death, on the annual observance of Earth Day, aimed to bring attention to the climate crisis, some of his family and friends later said.

For Terry Kaelber, the stranger’s death struck him “in the gut”.

Four years ago, Mr Kaelber’s husband David Buckel, a renowned lawyer turned environmentalist and expert composter, set fire to himself in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park.

“My gut reaction was I don’t think the Supreme Court would care,” Mr Kaelber told The Independent, during a phone interview last week. “Our institutions have become so disconnected from our humanness. And here is a cry out from this man to try to shake us out of our stupor that’s causing us to not look up, and see what’s in front of us.”

He continued: “But, for anyone who’s considering this, I really believe you would have more of an impact if you and one hundred of your friends chained yourselves to the gates of the Supreme Court than burning yourself up alive. You can continue to do that day after day, try to stop what’s going on and cause people to, in fact, look up.”

Well, that’s weird. The Independent reached out to someone who did not know the nutter climate cultists who recently did this because the guy had a husband who was also a nutter four years ago.

And, really, Warmists would have more of an impact if they practiced what they preached, rather than trying to force their cult beliefs on Everyone Else.

Mr Kaelber urged people not to give into feelings of despair around the climate crisis.

“Believe in your own power, don’t surrender to feeling like you have no impact,” he said. “Impact comes from banding together with your community, your family, going out onto the streets [and] asking people to really think about what’s going on.

Except, that’s what the climate cult pushes: pure doomsday. Stop asking people to think about the coming climate apocalypse, and make your own life carbon neutral.

Read: Husband Of Climate Cult Member Who Set Himself On Fire Speaks Out »

Posted in AGW Idiocy, Climate Cult, Global Warming | 10 Comments | Trackback URL

Hot Take: Pro-Life Republicans Want Illegal Alien Children At Border To Die

By William Teach May 14, 2022 – 7:00 am

This is one of the reasons it’s really just about impossible to have conversations with the hardcore leftists: they take a small conversation and dial it up to 11, as we see from this Rolling Stone piece

‘Pro-Life’ Conservatives Are Mad the Government Isn’t Letting Migrant Infants Starve to Death

There’s a baby formula shortage in the United States. Republican lawmakers and conservative media members are taking frustration out on immigrants.

Fox News hosts have spent the past 24 hours raising hell over immigrant babies at the U.S.-Mexico border receiving formula, arguing that it should instead be distributed to Americans first. “[For] American families there’s a shortage, but if you’re a migrant, don’t worry because Uncle Sam has a stash of that,” Fox & Friends host Steve Doocy said Friday morning.

Doocy is not wrong. There’s more than plenty of baby formula available for those who come in illegally/show up and demand asylum, people who have seen the Democrat talking points and taken long treks with babies, putting them at risk.The RS piece makes no attempt to show that Doocy is wrong.

The subject became fodder for right-wing xenophobia earlier this week, with Rep. Kat Cammack (R-Fla.) on Wednesday tweeting a picture of what she said was “shelves and pallets packed with baby formula” at the Ursula Processing Center in McAllen, Texas. She contrasted that with a picture of a bare store shelf, writing, “This is what America last looks like.”

“Xenophobic.” But, she’s not wrong. Nor are the other Republicans mentioned in the screed.

The care of infants in U.S. detention centers, unsurprisingly, is the responsibility of U.S. officials, and immigrants can’t just leave to try to find formula themselves. Yet Abbott’s fellow “pro-life” Republicans — including Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, North Carolina Rep. Dan Bishop and Texas Rep. Troy Nehls — are essentially suggesting that the government let the infants of immigrants starve to death.

So, see, Republicans are just pointing out what’s going on, so, it means they want illegal alien babies to starve. Freaking leftist nutjobs.

Read: Hot Take: Pro-Life Republicans Want Illegal Alien Children At Border To Die »

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Jacobin Magazine Says Spreading Awareness Will Not Stop Climate Doom

By William Teach May 13, 2022 – 1:00 pm

What is Jacobin? “Jacobin is a leading voice of the American left, offering socialist perspectives on politics, economics, and culture.” It’s lauded by hard left folks like Chris Hayes, Noam Chomskey, and Doug Henwood. Is it any surprise they are big fans of Doing Something about ‘climate change’?

“Awareness” Will Not Save Us From Climate Disaster

In the mid-2000s, there was a real sense of momentum in climate politics. In 2006, Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth was heralded as the Silent Spring of our generation; sure to mobilize millions to the climate fight. In the same year, economist Nicholas Stern alarmed the policy world with his Stern Review on the Economics of Climate Change, a seven-hundred-page report predicting that the costs of climate change could amount to between 5 and 20 percent of GDP. In 2007, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its fourth assessment report, laying out the dire science and the rapid changes needed.

Comparing Gore’s movie to Silent Spring is perfect, since Silent Spring was a scientific mess, and lead to countless deaths from Malaria via stopping the use of DDT. Gore’s movie also was ripe with shoddy science and full of emotional blackmail. Anyhow, the piece goes through many paragraphs about spreading awareness, ie, doomsaying, and such before

Yet after the seeming momentum of 2007–8, it all went sideways. The global capitalist economy collapsed, the United States reassumed its role as delayer in Copenhagen — and to this day, the climate movement still has not ignited the kind of transformative change needed. In fact, McKibben consistently and correctly points out that we are losing the climate fight, and badly.

What are the limits of making climate politics about knowledge? This kind of politics of knowledge appeals to a specific class position: the professional class. I define the professional class broadly as those who marshal degrees, licenses, and other credentials in the market for labor power. Like McKibben and his “group of university friends,” the professional class still remains at the core of the climate movement — scientists, journalists, and college students.

So, the Elites and those who think they are elites. The people whom Doing Something really won’t affect negatively. Also, ones who rarely practice what they preach. And, for all the yammering in the screed about The Science, this sure seems to break down into Marxist views of the working class vs the Elites. Most of the article is about this, ending with

While professional class sensibilities tend to assume solving climate change requires making these things cost more to “internalize” the costs of emissions, socialists can counter with a decarbonization program that guarantees access to these basic needs of working-class life. The 2018–20 explosion of Green New Deal proposals espousing this vision have sputtered lately, but we cannot lose sight of this basic insight that we should reorient climate policies toward direct improvements to workers’ lives who have suffered decades of neoliberal austerity and assault from the capitalist class war.

So, more Government? Interestingly, in the Political Science definition of Socialism, there are three things that make it up. First, the government being heavily involved in the economy, up to and including owning the means of production. That’s the Economic Core. In the Political Core, virtually mob rule, with voting on everything by the citizens, and few restrictions on who can vote. You’ve heard the term “direct democracy?” That’s what it is. Third is the Moral Core, and, with Socialism, it means that government almost fully stays out of the lives of citizens. And that’s where this breaks, because the Left wants very much to control the lives of citizens. ‘Climate change’ is a great way to accomplish this, because it is For Your Own Good.

Read: Jacobin Magazine Says Spreading Awareness Will Not Stop Climate Doom »

Posted in AGW Socialism, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach May 13, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is a horrible asphalt road designed for fossil fueled vehicles, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is Never Yet Melted, with a post on renaming George Washington University.

Read: If All You See… »

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Poll Shows Majority Against Giving Kids Transgender Surgeries And Puberty Blockers

By William Teach May 13, 2022 – 10:30 am

The Democrat’s unhinged base is losing yet another debate. Perhaps they should reconsider supporting life changing surgeries and chemical therapies for kids who’ve been indoctrinated into believing they’re inhabiting the wrong gender body

Americans oppose transgender surgeries, anti-puberty blockers for minors: poll

The majority of Americans do not support transgender surgeries or anti-puberty blockers for minors, according to a poll from a conservative nonprofit organization.

The survey asked respondents whether they would support a ban on puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and physical sex-change surgeries for children under 18.

56% of respondents said they would support a ban, while 34% said they would not. A little over a third of those respondents identified as Democrats, while 37% identified as Republicans, and just under a quarter identified themselves as Independents, according to the survey by the American Principles Project Foundation.

In another question, respondents were asked whether they supported or were against children being pushed into a sex change. Around 63% of respondents agreed that children were too young for the decision. Around 22% of respondents believed that opposition to gender transitioning was transphobic.

If they want to do this when they are adults, that’s on them. Children should not have this done to them. They are not mentally ready to make the decision, and they are too young to have these life altering body changing procedures done to them.

Medical professionals have told Fox News they have seen rates of gender dysphoria skyrocket among young people in recent years, but that many of their colleagues are reluctant to speak publicly against transgender ideology for fear of both professional and personal retaliation.

How do kids come to the decision that they are trans? Especially when really young? Because it’s being taught to them. They’re being pushed into it. Indoctrinated. They see their friends and classmates suddenly declare that they’re trans. It seems to be trendy, as created by teachers and wacko parents. Like TikTok trends.

https://twitter.com/libsoftiktok/status/1524964383851307008

Sure seems like malpractice, cutting off developing breasts. I wonder how many really have parental permission? How many will come to regret this in later years when they realize it was a fad? How does the medical association not investigate this? How does this become normalized? One big reason: Human Resources. HR is infested with hard left wackos, and, anyone who blows the whistle, complains in the least, will find themselves the ones under investigation.

Read: Poll Shows Majority Against Giving Kids Transgender Surgeries And Puberty Blockers »

Posted in Unhinged Tools | 13 Comments | Trackback URL

The World’s Oceans Might Be Getting Amnesia From ‘Climate Change’ Or Something

By William Teach May 13, 2022 – 7:00 am

It’s always something new and bonkers with these people. Can’t they just be a crazy cult like Scientology and keep to themselves?

Climate Change May Be Giving the World’s Oceans Amnesia

Climate change is making the world’s oceans lose their “memory,” according to new research.

A report in Science Advances finds that ocean temperatures are going to fluctuate drastically as these waters lose their ability to regulate and “remember” recent conditions, including temperatures. Water doesn’t literally have a memory, of course—no matter what homeopaths claim—but the large bodies that make up the global ocean tend to be steadfast. Unlike weather, which can change drastically by the day, changes in the ocean happen little by little, and the ability to maintain that stability is like a “memory” for the ocean.

It’s connected to the thickness of the upper layer of the ocean, also called the mixed layer. That section is predicted to become shallower with climate change. Research has shown that the mixed layer becomes smaller in the spring and summer when there are higher temperatures, and a warming climate means that seasonal heat is more intense and longer-lasting in many parts of the world. This could result in sea surface temperatures that fluctuate unusually. Researchers across several institutes, including the University of Hawaii, used climate models to calculate different outcomes based on either low, medium, or high greenhouse gas emissions. They found that ocean memory is likely to decline around the world by the end of this century.

Now, compare it to the previous Holocene warm periods. Any difference? How’d those warm periods happen?

Read: The World’s Oceans Might Be Getting Amnesia From ‘Climate Change’ Or Something »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 3 Comments | Trackback URL
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