Your government is ineffective.
But you knew that.
All it should be doing is providing defense and emergency services and maintaining infrastructure. Instead, it’s found ways to inefficiently infiltrate every corner of our lives.
Term limits and ending the revolving door of corporate/government payola and employment would do much to fix it.
But what politician would do such a thing when they have it so good already?
Anyway, that’s an essay for another day.
Today, just two quick examples of the great progress your public officials are making.
When Did Logic Leave the Room?
The Postal Service lost $5.1 billion dollars last year. That’s $16 for every man, woman, and child in this country.
It lost another $3.2 billion in the first three months of this year.
I need the post office for nothing. In the free market, it would wither and die.
Here’s how it works in Washington…
The USPS asks Congress to end a retiree health payment requirement, pull its employees out of federal health programs, end Saturday mail delivery, and raise rates beyond inflation.
The Senate says the USPS can take longer make those health payments and can end Saturday mail delivery in two years while ignoring everything else.
The House of Representatives does nothing: No bill is passed. Nothing is resolved.
They’ll get reelected in November and we’ll all be shocked next January when the USPS reports a $10 billion loss.
Go government!
Fracking Idiotic
Maybe you’ve heard Vermont is going to be the first state to outlaw fracking.
I hope they spent a good deal of time and taxpayer money to research, draft, and debate the law, because it’s going to have a monumental effect on the nonexistent fracking industry in Vermont…
That’s right, no fracking going on there.
The state doesn’t even have any notable gas reserves. This was simply a time-wasting token gesture.
States that do have frackable reserves and that are undergoing a jobs- and energy-producing fracking boom — like Wyoming, Texas, and Michigan — are encouraging responsible growth by requiring companies to disclose the specific chemicals they use in the process.
So hats off to you, Vermont state legislators. You banned something that didn’t even exist. Let me know how the unicorn moratorium goes.
I don’t know what’s going on, but there has been a serious deterioration of logic and common sense over the past few years.
As always, my advice remains the same: Be observant enough to recognize the idiocy and hypocrisy that’s fed to us every day in the form of ‘news.’
And be smart enough to stay above it, sift through it, and cull the nuggets of information that add to your bottom line.
We do that for you here every week. This week’s examples below.
Call it like you see it,
Nick Hodge
Editor, Energy and Capital
Obama’s Favorite Gas Stocks: Green Light for Gas Profits
Obama’s latest push towards natural gas offers new ways to invest.
Facebook IPO: The Only Way to Trade Facebook
Analyst Ian Cooper explains why investing in Facebook’s IPO is a bad idea, and offers several other profitable alternatives.
The Return of Texas Tea: Is the Eagle Ford Bigger Than the Bakken?
Publisher Brian Hicks tells readers about a new oil field on track to produce one million barrels per day this year.
The Greatest Investor of Our Time: Investing Money in Oil Stocks
Just left the Lundin office and the Kenya oil play could be THE story of 2012. The pay zone (official numbers coming out soon) could be massive.
Trump Decries Scottish Wind Power: Donald Trump Laughed Out of Government Hearing
Donald Trump hates offshore wind… and he doesn’t care who knows it.
Fracking Water Market: $9 Billion by 2020
Each fracked well can require as much as 22,000 cubic meters of water. That equates to 140,000 barrels, or 5.88 million gallons. All of it needs to be treated… and companies are already popping up to take advantage.
Hidden Costs of the Shale Boom: Finding a Profitable Solution
An end to the hydraulic fracturing debate may be closer than investors might think…
Warren Buffett Thinks You’re Stupid: Charlie Munger Thinks You Lack Social Graces
Uncle Warren and his 88-year-old sidekick Charlie Munger are at it again…
Six Reasons to Sell Oil: Oil is Going to $85 a Barrel
Here are half a dozen reasons to sell oil now.
Millionaire Next Door: A No-Nonsense Guide
Saving money is just as important as making it… It’s just not as sexy. It’s not mainstream. It isn’t what the cool kids do.
