FreedomTalks

Yesterday, I listened in to a blogger conference call with Peter Robertson, Vice Chairman of Chevron’s board. Much of the call naturally centered on gas prices and, of course, the basic issues of supply and demand which drive pump prices. I can’t say I agreed with his statements about the need for biofuels (I’ve been [...]

So reports USA Today:

Taxpayers are on the hook for a record $57.3 trillion in federal liabilities to cover the lifetime benefits of everyone eligible for Medicare, Social Security and other government programs, a USA TODAY analysis found. That’s nearly $500,000 per household.
When obligations of state and local governments are added, the total rises to $61.7 [...]

Dean Baker thinks we shouldn’t bother with free trade because it’s not really free trade — it only affects low-income workers, right? — and because IP rights for things like pharmaceuticals are a Big Bad Conspiracy to keep poor people sick.  Too bad that, as Megan McArdle points out, this is pretty much nonsense.

Here’s what Peggy Noonan wrote in the Wall Street Journal last week:
Robert M. Duncan, who is chairman of the Republican National Committee, told the New York Times. This was after Mississippi. “We can’t let the Democrats take our issues.” And those issues would be? “We can’t let them pretend to be conservatives,” he continued. Why [...]

Here’s a video of Nancy Pelosi complaining about high gas prices just a few weeks ago.  Indeed, we’ve seen steep jumps in price at the pump.  But what was Pelosi doing just a few months before?  Advocating tax credits for gas stations that pump ethanol, as well as additional tax credits for ethanol and biodiesel [...]

What makes a bill good? Lots of handouts for special interests — or so says Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Reason’s Jacob Sullum has the full quote and analysis.

John McCain has been talking up his global warming plan this week. Needless to say, I’m not impressed.  It’s expensive, of course, and it’s based on a lot of unfounded, alarmist scare-rhetoric. But more than that, it’s inconsistent. On one hand, he buys into the apocalyptic hype of the green crowd. On the other hand, [...]

A lot of places, sure, but one of them is Manhattan. Here’s a map, courtesy of Matt Yglesias:

You know, last I checked, there weren’t a lot of farms on the Upper East Side. Awful lot of money going there, though.

George Will’s got a great column on the mortgage market and the deeply flawed legislation being presented to address it. One point he makes I think has been conspicuously absent from the debate is that there are actually upsides to lower housing prices:
Do young couples struggling to purchase their first homes concur with the sudden [...]

I’ve just seen a list of some of the earmarks included in the new farm bill. The top item is “Baucus National Sheep and Goat Industry Improvement Center $1 million.” Here are a couple of other items on the list:

Baucus Camelina Pilot Program $9 million
Biden Chesapeake Bay Watershed Conservation Program $382 million
Cardin Chesapeake Bay [...]