There were two editorials in today's PI. In the first, the PI told us that more jobs are needed. (I agree.)
Last week's job report was an urgent call for more action by the federal government. More than a half million jobs evaporated from company rolls in November. December could be terrible as well. The list of companies shedding employees seems to grow by the hour.
In the second, the PI told us that gas prices should be higher.
We're concerned about the dropping price of oil. Sure, it's great for consumers. We, too, like seeing change after we fill our tank with gas. Most experts think the price will continue to decline and some are speculating that a barrel of oil will drop to less than $25 and gas at the pump may go below a dollar a gallon.
The problem is inexpensive oil will not help this country kick its addiction. The fact is high fuel prices help society heal, moving to healthier energy choices.
Except that those high fuel prices destroy jobs. Which doesn't seem too healthy to me.
So, I think the newspaper should decide which is more important right now, and in the long run, jobs or high energy prices. (I will give the PI credit for this much. Unlike almost all the politicians they support, the newspaper is willing to admit that they want higher prices for energy.)
As I have said before, I think that OPEC and high energy prices are principally to blame for the almost world wide slowdowns, which have turned into recessions in many nations. My argument is not complex. The surge in oil prices hit consumers hard in all the oil importing nations. Consequently, they had less to spend on other things, and their nations' economies slowed down. As the BBC noted, this has happened before; in fact, an anonymous BBC writer attributes four recessions since 1975 to OPEC.
Or, to put it another way, the money that went to Caracas, Dubai, Moscow, Oslo, and Riyadh did not go to Ford, GM, Nordstroms, or Sainsburys.
Cross posted at Jim Miller on Politics.
(For what it is worth, German Chancellor Merkel has come out in favor of jobs, over higher energy prices.)
Posted by Jim Miller at December 08, 2008 04:58 PM | Email ThisSilly PI.
Posted by: Michele on December 8, 2008 05:21 PMWhat kills me is watching Pelosi, Frank, and Reid demand business plans from the Big Three in order to get our money to save the bloated UAW. Of course, they think that the future should be tiny cars with 2 cylinder engines.
Meanwhile, people will start buying those SUVs again. Oh, those horrible Americans! They like to keep their family safe while driving.
So, what is Detroit going to produce? If it's tiny cars, they are going to need another bail out. What Detroit SHOULD do is focus on what they do best: building SUVs. Get out of cars almost entirely. If the future holds electric cars, there are other innovators, entrepreneurs, boy geniuses, and industrial sectors that are much better equipped than Detroit to deliver them.
Posted by: BananaLand on December 8, 2008 05:37 PMTo not understand that the high price of oil doesn't just affect the "price at the pump" but the cost of nearly every single good and service in the economic system borders on tragic.
One has to wonder just what sort of people would deliberately wish for a worldwide economic collapse. There are either ignorant, or evil.
Posted by: Bill Cruchon on December 8, 2008 05:46 PMTo NYT, Hearst and Tribune publishers and editors: Hope the guy next to you in the breadline buys into your leftist babblings, as no one on the street finds them worth fifty cents.
I will take particular pleasure when the P-I's Horsey is told to clean out his desk.
Posted by: Saltherring on December 8, 2008 06:51 PMTo NYT, Hearst and Tribune publishers and editors: Hope the guy next to you in the breadline buys into your leftist babblings, as no one on the street finds them worth fifty cents.
I will take particular pleasure when the P-I's Horsey is told to clean out his desk.
Posted by: Saltherring on December 8, 2008 06:52 PMSaltherring ~ I must admit that David Horsey drawing unemployment checks as opposed to political propaganda is particularly rich with poetic irony.
Posted by: Rick D. on December 8, 2008 07:01 PMHeck, it was energy that truly brought down the Axis in World War II, and energy looks to be the deciding political factor in the 21st century. If we want to learn from the downfall of our enemies in the past, we need to completely change the rules of the game... and that's not going to be simply by playing the game and drilling for more oil.
But hey... conservatives always believe that Mammon will provide, right?
Posted by: demo kid on December 8, 2008 07:28 PMMeanwhile, supposed environmentalist "do as I say,not as I do" liberals like Robert Kennedy Jr. Opposes wind farms off the nantucket sound where the Kennedy compound is because it would obstruct their view. Needless to say, hypocrites like Al Gore and Robert Kennedy Jr. are a dime a dozen on the left side of the aisle when it comes to this issue.
Posted by: Rick D. on December 8, 2008 08:14 PMLike, say, reducing regulations and restricting abortion? Or keeping our soldiers alive and invading Iraq?
Fortunately our country can multi-task.
Posted by: Bruce on December 8, 2008 08:27 PMAs far as "infrastructure" there are some projects worth doing, but I also think America actually overbuilt infrastructure which is one of the reasons local governments go bankrupt trying to repair everything every year. We could also create jobs in demolishing things that aren't needed at all like the Viaduct and 520 bridge and expanding the things that should be like Rte 2 and 405 S.
Posted by: John Bailo on December 8, 2008 09:08 PMThe MSM certainly hasn't had much to say on this, but it seems a little to much like coincidence that the fuel spike and the credit crunch hit like a one-two punch over summer.
Of course with high fuel prices as the savior of the planet, I guess the thought may not have occurred to some.
Remember Obama's quote on fuel prices? I do. He said they went up too fast, but that he say it as good way to get off of fossil fuels.
Get ready for $4/gallon Obama gas prices in the near future.
Posted by: deadwood on December 8, 2008 11:59 PM"I will take particular pleasure when the P-I's Horsey is told to clean out his desk"...
Absolutely!
Here's idiocy one can't help but laugh at brought to you by the demo kid: "that's not going to be simply by playing the game and drilling for more oil. But hey... conservatives always believe that Mammon will provide, right?
"...
Hmmm, you're a victim of an education in the publically financed government madrassas aren't you demo kid?
Posted by: juandos on December 9, 2008 03:44 AMChina is going in a different direction -- one worthy of consideration. Next month it plans to raise the tax on regular gasoline fivefold -- and diesel fuel eightfold. The Chinese government will use the tax revenue to pay for improvements to infrastructure as well as a subsidy for farmers and other disadvantaged people affected by the tax burden.~ P-I Editorial Bored
Mmmm yes, is it any surprise that the kommisars at the P-I are wanting the U.S. to emulate the Communist reds?
...and for the latest on Criminal Democrats comes this headline this morning:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, has been taken into custody on criminal charges, a federal law enforcement official said on Tuesday.Posted by: Rick D. on December 9, 2008 07:01 AM
The official, who declined to be identified, said the charges brought in Chicago have yet to be made public. Blagojevich has been the subject of a federal corruption investigation.
Yeah that should work. You fools screwed up the housing market, S/S, medicare. So let them run these car makers and well all be driving yugos!!
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 9, 2008 07:01 AMHe wasn't booted, he left when he was passed over for CEO.
Posted by: Medic/Vet on December 9, 2008 08:25 AMIt's cheap. It's reliable. And it's good for the environment. Build more nuclear plants, and it supports the future of plug-in vehicles too, which use far less fossil fuels, and will drastically reduce our reliance on foreign oil.
Posted by: Palouse on December 9, 2008 08:57 AMBy most every standard Mulally done has Ford well since his hire (and that is saying something as the Ford family is not easy to work for). He has set them up for a bright future and able to weather any small downturn (but not an extended deep one). Of the Detroit 3 Ford is the only one not asking for funds, just a line of credit should it be necessary in the future.
A line of credit is a far play from what GM will have to endure for their funds with a congressionally appointed panel to monitor their business dealings and make sure they are building cars that the congressmen deem should be built (with the help of Greenpeace and other green constituencies). That is in addition to Congress wanting to fire the GM CEO and a few of his deputies probably to be replaced by Chuck Schumer's nephew or other similar appointment.
Posted by: G Jiggy on December 9, 2008 10:44 AMI filled up the other day for 30 bucks (premium)and gave the attendant and extra 20 to get the price to where it was a few months ago.
I now feel healed and you can't take that away from me.
Posted by: G Jiggy on December 9, 2008 10:49 AMYour "analogy", like your logic, is faulty. First, diet IS restricting intake and exercise is INCREASING use.
Do we really want to increase use of oil to get off of oil? It is not a question of not eating, it is a question of changing our FOOD. Simplistic analogies that make no sense are why you don't understand the issue and cannot talk intelligently about it.
Where are all the drill baby drill people now?
The price of oil has dropped BECAUSE demand has dropped. Instead of efficiencies, though, it is a 10% drop in DEMAND. We certainly are not suddenly getting any more oil from drilling. This goes to show how much demand affects the system - much more than hypothetical drilling that we may see in 10 years (or not if they ship out the oil anyways).
Imagine what we could do for our deficit, our deposndence on foreign oil and our future if we could cut demand evenmore with alternative fuels.
So much for the bogus drill more argument. And oil IS too low now. There is less incentive to get off our addiction to foreign oil.
Posted by: correctnotright on December 9, 2008 12:02 PM"First, diet IS restricting intake"
Wrong. 50lbs of greasy hamburgers is not any less intake than 50lbs of rice, so the you're not restricting intake, only refining your decision to intake the "good" food over the "bad" food. Pretty simple really, but I'm not surprised the concept was lost on you.
"and exercise is INCREASING use."
Again, wrong. Exercise in this instance is to find and implement many alternative energy sources in order to ween ourselves off our addiction to oil.
My analogy stands. I can't help if you're too dense to get it.
New jobs in Washington paying less than living wage
By JOHN IWASAKI P-I REPORTER Nearly 80 percent of job openings in Washington last year paid less than a living wage for a single parent with two children. And every opening that did offer a living wage for that type of family drew an average of 10 job seekers".
all of the sudden 1 person turned into 3.
Starnge that the boobsy twins kinda disappeared after that scumbucket democrat governor blew up today.
Their silence, while welome, is deafening.
Posted by: Hinton on December 9, 2008 10:21 PM