The NYT was fretting this week that nobody can make fun of Obama. Tom Tomorrow figured out how.
About a month ago I was on a press call to push to for an extension to Unemployment Benefits, which have since passed, tragically tied to funding for Eternal War. During the call, Rep. Sander Levin (MI-12) described the unemployed as invisible because because checks by mail have eliminated the need for long lines at benefit offices. Invisible people are easy to ignore. Thing is, I don't think people in need are going to stay invisible much longer.
Nobody could have predicted this:
Texas had some of the cheapest power rates in the country when it zapped most of the state's electric regulations six years ago, convinced that rollicking competition would drive prices even lower.
This summer, electricity there is some of the nation's priciest.
Power costs are rising in the rest of the U.S., but everything is bigger in Texas: On a hot day in May, wholesale prices rose briefly to more than $4 a kilowatt hour -- about 40 times the national average.
Over at the Agonist, Hannes Artens makes a good case that there will be no attack on Iran.
And the House is going crazy, asserting its oversight powers and other stuff that's sure to anger our Unitary Daddy. Don't worry, none of it will ever get by the Senate, where the Constitution has been effectively (and silently) amended to require 60 votes for passage.
This summer, electricity there is some of the nation's priciest.
So much for deregulation.
Posted by: mick arran | July 18, 2008 at 12:28 PM
No! No! NO! Deregulation always leads to rollicking competition and we all know that since all markets are identical and that the built-in constraints of the magic Supply and Demand Curve will eliminate any bad behavior, then the more free and rollicking they can be the better!
Posted by: eRobin | July 18, 2008 at 02:18 PM
Been drinking that Kool Ade again, haven't you?
Posted by: mick arran | July 18, 2008 at 03:24 PM