Wretchard – Good writing and painting always leave something to the imagination so that each visit allows the visitor to complete the work of art in a new way.
Agree. And I strongly agree with Wretchard that Obama is a gifted writer. Criticize him for his quals or beliefs, but give him dibs on writing a wonderful 1st book.
Jerry – You may hate Obama, but people who have looked into his book-writing have said it was all Obama, with a good editor. Not ghost-written, certainly not plagarizing another writer.
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Ridgerunner – Due to refinery closures in Texas, and to panic buying, gasoline is practically unavailable in Florida’s capital city Sunday morning. The local blog comments are running about four to one in favor of blaming the Republicans, the (this is a quote) “billionaires who own the oil companies,” and the price-gouging station owners. Little understanding of supply/demand economics exists among those posters.
Sorry, but people will not put up with that supply-demand crap as capitalists try to exploit natural disaster and desperate need to extort huge, undue profit from others.
It sounds like the profiteering and price-gouging in Florida is being allowed to happen by Republican authorities whereas in other States, prices on existing inventories bought cheaply (at 3.38-3.69 per gallon regular) pre-hurricane are limited to regular markup until the more expensive gas starts coming in post-Ike, from wholesalers.
In Florida, the slimy pigs who own certain retail outlets are trying to extort double the price they got from distributors. Hopefully they will be arrested soon.
In other countries, in more desperate times, people such as those Florida rip-off artists would be dragged off to rot in a hole for years, even shot. To mass public approval.
Texas local DAs and the Attorney General tore such profiteers a new asshole when they tried selling gas during Rita at 6 bucks a gallon and selling water bottles and bags of ice costing them 8 and 20 cents respectively for 5 bucks and 20 bucks each to stranded, dehydrated motorists trapped on the highway for up to 40 hours. Several opportunistic gad station owners were driven into backruptcy, one convenience store chain was hit with jail sentences to 3 executives.
I may be a Republican, but I detest such exploitation. And people furious at being charged between 4.50 and 7 bucks for gas the dealer bought for 3.40 have an excellent place to start complaining with the Republican Administration of Charlie Crist. Florida has begun issuing subpoenas..dealers and owners can face fines up to 25,000 a day for each day they price-gouge. Consumers in Kentucky (another state where profiteering started) have triggered state emergency statutes and have told consumers overcharged to hang on to their reciepts because the owner-predators will…pay…them back.
