It is clear to me that this administration has no concept of "public interest" at all. Privatizing the collection and analysis of intelligence means giving up ownership of the resulting product. How is that in the best interest of the nation?

The government could be held hostage - at the whims of Corporate America. A Corporate America that has increasing ties and obligations to governments across the world, and whose only true loyalty is to the bottom line. There is a huge monetary incentive for these companies to become information brokers. What if our enemies pay more for the information? Would we ever know?

This is some seriously messed up shit. Who can possibly think this is a good thing? I'm just blown away.

Posted at June 10, 2008 2:08 PM in response to Today's Must Read

@BevD

You need to read the law regarding this. The federal excise tax on gasoline is a tax on the producer of gasoline, not the consumer. The oil companies have passed this tax on to the consumer in the form of a higher price at the pump. But the liability for the tax is NOT the consumers.

This is the crux of the problem. Passing a law that suspends the tax liability for 3 months means that the oil companies don't have to pay the tax. There is no guarantee that oil companies will pass any savings to consumers in the form of a lower pump price. There is ample historical evidence that in situations like this the reduced tax liability do NOT get reflected in the price to the consumer.

Posted at May 7, 2008 8:55 AM in response to The Gas Tax Holiday: A Rare Teaching Moment in American Politics