Cap'n Bob & the Damsel

Money and Business

California Leads the Nation

big winner . . . in the cost of fuel, that is – $4.35 per gallon of regular.

On the way to the indoor target range today, I stopped to fill up the truck. The tank was a little dryer for my bi-weekly fill-up because of the trip out to the gun show yesterday. I lost the bet to Damsel that it would take over a hundred bucks to fill the tank – barely.

I blame the asswipes in government that disallow drilling, refining and production of petroleum products domestically.

Specifically (update 6/9/08 14:38z):

ANWR Exploration
House Republicans: 91% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Coal-to-Liquid
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 78% Opposed

Oil Shale Exploration
House Republicans: 90% Supported
House Democrats: 86% Opposed

Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Exploration
House Republicans: 81% Supported
House Democrats: 83% Opposed

Refinery Increased Capacity
House Republicans: 97% Supported
House Democrats: 96% Opposed

Hat Tip Redstate

Update: The Pelosi Premium . . .

pelosi-premium.jpg
08 Jun 2008 by California Congress Money and Business

Welcome, President Bush

President Bush will be paying a visit to Robinson Helicopter in Torrance, California tomorrow. That’s about a mile and a half from our house. We’d like to go see and hear the President, but admission is by invitation only.

Bush to visit Torrance on Wednesday

r22President Bush will pay a visit to Robinson Helicopter Co. in Torrance on Wednesday as he urges Congress to pass three free trade agreements.

Bush will take a tour of the company, which is the world’s largest manufacturer of civilian helicopters, and deliver remarks to employees.

Robinson Helicopter posted a record year in 2007, largely on the strength of its exports to 55 countries. Much of that success is due to the declining value of the dollar, which makes American exports less expensive to foreign customers.

“We’re an unusual story because we’re not outsourcing everything,” said Kurt Robinson, a company vice president. “I think it’s pretty exciting that we get the president here. It’s fun to show off American manufacturing.”

In his State of the Union Address on Monday night, Bush urged Congress to approve trade deals with Colombia, Panama and South Korea, which would reduce or eliminate tariffs on American-made goods.

“These agreements will level the playing field,” Bush said. “They will give us better access to nearly 100 million customers. And they will support good jobs for the finest workers in the world: those whose products say ‘Made in the USA.'”

Read the article in the South Bay Daily Breeze.

29 Jan 2008 by Aviation California Money and Business

Let the Panic Begin

golddollarsign.gifThe media have been falsely savaging the economy for so long, that everyone now believes we’re doomed. Today’s mega market dump is the result of self-fulfilling prophecies of economical doomsayers – an outcropping of the hatred of the Republican administration.

Donald Luskin is chief investment officer of Trend Macrolytics, an economics consulting firm serving institutional investors. Don analyzes this effect in Smart Money:

Panic Is Driving Today’s Stock Market

ARE YOU SATISFIED, all you permabears who have been preaching financial Armageddon — for years? Your patience in the face of reality has finally paid off. You’ve talked the American public into outright panic, and so now we’ve got the first real stock market break since the present bull market began in early 2003.

With the S&P 500 making new 52-week lows, having fallen 15% from all-time highs in October, as the Bard of Avon might ask, “There, art thou happy?”

Before I rant any further, let me get one item out of the way. I admit that I’ve been very wrong. I’ve been saying to buy stocks all the way down since the October highs. I was wrong. I repeat: I was wrong. If nothing else I get the satisfaction of being unique. How many stock market pundits do you know who will admit when they’ve been wrong?

So what do you do now if you’ve been wrong right along with me?

The first thing to do is to stop and think. You do not — repeat DO NOT — want to do anything hasty just because you’ve lost money, and you’re scared or angry or both. You’re not going to help by making another mistake by acting precipitously, just for the sake of “doing something.”

Continue reading…

22 Jan 2008 by Media Money and Business Whacko Politics

USPS — United States Parcel Smashers

bent-pkg.jpgIs it just me, or does everyone get their parcels smashed by the Postal “Service?” This box only contained a book, so there wasn’t any serious damage done. Click the image for a close-up.

This isn’t the first time that we have encountered this sort of scrunched package – once we had to return a ceramic crock which had been jolted into shards even though it was packed to withstand a ten foot drop. It looked like one of the handlers went “postal” on it.

And this isn’t the only USPS incident. Once, we ordered something on-line and the package didn’t arrive even though the on-line tracking showed it as delivered. We called the USPS to complain, and they didn’t own up to losing the package. They told me that my only recourse was to contact the seller with a lost package request. We did that and the seller (Amazon, in this case), made it good and shipped a second package. Weeks after the second package was received, lo and behold, the USPS finally delivered the original package! We followed Amazon’s instructions and refused delivery, and hopefully, they got their merchandise back.

We experienced another recent incident where a bank deposit by mail failed to show up in our account. A call to the originator of the check got them to put a stop on it, and they issued a new deposit, this time as a direct deposit to our account. A few days later, the original deposit showed up at the bank (which was dishonored, of course).

Doesn’t USPS have some sort of quality goals like most viable service organizations? When we use Fed Ex or UPS these things seldom happen.

17 Jul 2007 by Curmudgeon Rants Money and Business

Bad Economy? What Bad Economy?

dollar-sign.gifRecent performance in the economic sector shows that the Administration’s policies on tax and the economy are, indeed, having a positive effect. You can bet, however, that the numbers quoted below will go unreported by the liberal media while Democrats in Congress will try to raise taxes and reverse the current trends.

Read Larry Kudlow‘s excellent short article (from National Review Online “The Corner”) about tonight’s Republican Debate:

Continue reading…

03 May 2007 by Money and Business Whacko Politics

A Safe Experience

It’s not often that I get to write about a good experience when it comes to dealing with retailers, but I am especially pleased about a recent purchase from Lowe’s Hardware Stores.

A couple of weeks ago while at the gun show, Damsel and I had a discussion about getting a gun safe for our weapons and other valuable items. We had no immediate plans to acquire one, but started considering options: location for the safe, reasonable cost, adequate capacity, compliance with insane California gun laws and so forth. We put the thought on a back brain cell for the time being.

Continue reading…

04 Dec 2006 by California Firearms Money and Business

Tax Revenue “Gusher” Lowers Deficit

Why do Democrats keep calling for higher taxes when the President’s economic policies are working?

From Fox News/AP:

Federal Budget Deficit Falls to Lowest in Four Years

WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficit, helped by a gusher of tax revenues, fell to $247.7 billion in 2006, the smallest amount of red ink in four years.

The deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 was 22.3 percent lower than the $318.7 billion imbalance for 2005, handing President Bush an economic bragging point as Republicans go into the final four weeks of a battle for control of Congress.

Bush called the 2006 outcome a “dramatic reduction” in the deficit which allowed him to fulfill his 2004 campaign pledge of cutting the deficit in half earlier than his original 2009 target date.

“These numbers show that we have now achieved our goal of cutting the federal deficit in half and we’ve done it three years ahead of schedule,” Bush told reporters at a Rose Garden news conference. “The budget numbers are proof that pro-growth economic policies work.”

The pledge to cut the deficit in half was based on the administration’s forecast that the 2004 deficit would hit $521 billion, a figure that proved to be too pessimistic by more than $100 billion. However, the administration has continued to use the forecast number as its benchmark for deficit reduction.

[more]

11 Oct 2006 by Money and Business Whacko Politics

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