Idle Rambling -- Wednesday Morning

For those who came to this site strictly for Bakken information, please disregard this post.

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North Dakota census: new record.

The Census Bureau's data shows North Dakota's population is pegged at 683,932 residents. That's up from the previous record of 680,845 residents set in 1930.

The most interesting thing about that article: the "Bakken" was not mentioned. Although in fairness, it it did mention "the oil patch."

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Perhaps the biggest story of the day: Chevy Volt costing taxpayers $250,000 per car.

Each Chevy Volt sold thus far may have as much as $250,000 in state and federal dollars in incentives behind it – a total of $3 billion altogether, according to an analysis by James Hohman, assistant director of fiscal policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Hohman looked at total state and federal assistance offered for the development and production of the Chevy Volt, General Motors’ plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. His analysis included 18 government deals that included loans, rebates, grants and tax credits. The amount of government assistance does not include the fact that General Motors is currently 26 percent owned by the federal government.

And then this:

Talking head: being bought by taxpayers and by GE. A few wealthy elites might be buying this car but the working stiffs are paying for it. Let's stop this madness.

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I see oil is up another $1.15 today (on a day when the US dollar is stronger, go figure) and this $1.15 is on top of the $3.00 yesterday. And this is not peak driving season. Looks like the oil market is starting to find a new floor. The old floor was $70.

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Nope, I was wrong. The top story of the day is not the story on the Volt (above) but rather the story (and even better, the picture) of the two Navy women kissing upon return to port. A great Navy tradition just got better. 

And every US Navy sailor loved it. Smile.

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Has the US Senate adjourned for the year? The misinformation regarding the payroll tax cut is astounding. 

If the payroll-tax cut expires, it will affect 160 million workers and would average nearly $1,000 in higher taxes for them next year.

That may be true, but the tax cut extension everyone is referencing is for a two-month extension. There's no way a two-month extension equates to a $1,000 tax cut. And even the White House agrees that a two-month extension could not be implemented in time to make any difference. By the time it was implemented the months (January and 28-day February) would have passed.

This is what bothers me:

Senators couldn’t reach a similar long-term agreement, so on Saturday they passed a two-month extension of those provisions, though they cut out the new unemployment benefit changes that would have let states conduct drug testing and would have required the unemployed to have a high school diploma or GED certificate, or be working toward one.

Anyone who can't agree on these two items ... the president's mantra has been education for the unemployed, and taking one hour credit every year or so would not have been burdensome --- and drug testing .. that's a no-brainer... the military is drug tested, truck drivers are drug tested, TSA folks are drug tested (or are they?), NFL players are drug tested, Olympians are drug tested....and if someone tests positive, a note from her physician will explain it away ...

Remember, the president and the GOP are on the same side of this year: they both want a full-year extension; it was the Harry Reid-led Senate that couldn't pull it together.

But if the extension is that important, the president needs to decree a one-year extension by executive order; certainly he can find a connection to homeland security.

Oh, by the way, they say taxes will go up if this extension is not passed. "Payroll tax" was a misnomer to begin with: if I'm not mistaken, this "tax" funds worker's  retirement (called "social security"). The "payroll tax" was lowered as part of the program to stimulate the economy: right, wrong, or indifferent, it was meant to expire at this time. To be perfectly honest, Congress should let this expire as the law was originally passed, and then if stimulus is still required and if this is the way Congress wants to stimulate the economy, then pass a new bill altogether. This is not rocket science.

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SeekingAlpha.com article today mentions seven companies in which insiders bought yesterday. Of the seven, only one energy company: KOG.

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For those who remember the president's vow to destroy the coal industry:

Southern Company and American Electric Power Company, Inc. are protesting the White House’s newly finalized rules for the curbing of toxin emissions from coal-fired power plants, saying they would have to shut down plants in order to install new equipment. The Environmental Protection Agency estimates the rules will cost utilities, which will have to install scrubbers in order to be compliant, $10.6 billion by 2016.

It takes a bit of time, but death by a thousand cuts comes to mind.  $10 billion is the EPA's estimate; something tells me the estimate is being low-balled.

By the way, it's no longer in the "what-if" column: the rules have been issued. Now that this is behind them, the EPA can get on with banning hydraulic fracking.

The public utilities should go to their state public utility commissioners and tell them they have no plans to retrofit the utilities unless they have the money in their coffers before retrofitting begins. Period. Dot. If not retrofitted, the power plants come off line.