Smirgen
Well-Known Member
by Paul R. Hollrah
The New York Times headline for June 16, 2007 proclaimed, Cost of Gas
(sic) and Food Rose Sharply Last Month.
The article by Jeremy W. Peters went on to report that the core rate of
inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, was up just 0.1 percent
during the month of May, while the overall rate of inflation, including
food and energy, was up 0.7 percent.
Peters tells us, Prices for staple household purchases like gasoline and
food rose to even higher levels (in May), effectively causing most
Americans to take a pay cut. After taking inflation into account, the
average weekly earnings for workers in non-management jobs some 80
percent of the work force fell for the second consecutive month in May.
Peters goes on to report that, Gas (sic) prices jumped 10.5 percent last
month, compared with an increase of 4.7 percent in April. Food prices rose
0.3 percent but are up sharply so far this year. Beef prices have risen 5.1
percent, poultry prices 4.3 percent, and pork prices 3.4 percent.
It was the perfect opportunity for Peters and the Times editors to unload a
bit of reality on their readers, but to do so would have done serious
damage to Democrat plans for a pointless and demagogic energy policy and
the Times just couldnt let that happen. In other words, if the news helps
Democrats and hurts Republicans its fit to print, but if the news tends
to hurt Democrats and help Republicans well, check the small entry
at the bottom of page 37.
If Peters had been interested in providing his readers with some really
useful information, he would have explained that,
a) weve only seen the beginning of food price escalation, and that
b) we can look forward to a major increase in Third World famine and all
because of the push by liberals and radical environmentalists to dedicate
more and more land to ethanol production. (One study in Great Britain
found that, to replace just 5% of their fuel supply with bio-ethanol, would
require the commitment of 20% of the countrys arable land to ethanol
feedstock production.)
So, for those liberals who cant make the connection, it would have been
extremely helpful if Peters had explained that cattle, hogs, and chickens
eat a lot of corn grain that will be in increasingly short supply as
farmers rush to cash in on the coming ethanol bonanza.
And while he was on the subject, and although it has little to do with
price inflation, he could have provided a great service to his readers by
pointing out that:
* The water that appears naturally in ethanol, and which cannot be
removed through distillation, can do major damage to an automobile engine
unless it is specifically designed to burn ethanol.
* Because of the water content of ethanol and the resulting danger of
corrosion, ethanol cannot be transported by pipeline. It would take a
convoy of 500 tank trucks, each hauling 6,000 gallons of ethanol, to
transport the same amount of ethanol each day that could be transported
by a single 12 in. diameter pipeline.
* Congress has enacted major taxpayer-funded subsidies (hidden taxes)
for domestically produced ethanol made from corn, and has placed
substantial tariffs on imported sugar beet ethanol, just to make corn-based
ethanol economically competitive.
* Ethanol is as much as 30% less efficient than gasoline, making it
more expensive per highway mile.
* It takes three-fourths of a gallon of petroleum to produce a single
gallon of ethanol.
* And finally, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) the countrys largest
producer of ethanol, has frightened farm state congressmen into believing
that, if they fail to support subsidized ethanol production, they will lose
their seats in Congress.
What all of this means is that, without taxpayer subsidies, ethanol can
never be economically competitive with gasoline, it is far less efficient
than gasoline as an engine fuel, and each gallon of the stuff contains more
hidden taxes than a Democrat Party platform.
So, if the American people learn nothing else during this year, lets hope
that they at least come to understand that ethanol as an alternative fuel
is the biggest hoax perpetrated on the American people since 1938 when
Orson Welles.convinced his radio audience that Martians had landed in New
Jersey.
The New York Times headline for June 16, 2007 proclaimed, Cost of Gas
(sic) and Food Rose Sharply Last Month.
The article by Jeremy W. Peters went on to report that the core rate of
inflation, which excludes food and energy prices, was up just 0.1 percent
during the month of May, while the overall rate of inflation, including
food and energy, was up 0.7 percent.
Peters tells us, Prices for staple household purchases like gasoline and
food rose to even higher levels (in May), effectively causing most
Americans to take a pay cut. After taking inflation into account, the
average weekly earnings for workers in non-management jobs some 80
percent of the work force fell for the second consecutive month in May.
Peters goes on to report that, Gas (sic) prices jumped 10.5 percent last
month, compared with an increase of 4.7 percent in April. Food prices rose
0.3 percent but are up sharply so far this year. Beef prices have risen 5.1
percent, poultry prices 4.3 percent, and pork prices 3.4 percent.
It was the perfect opportunity for Peters and the Times editors to unload a
bit of reality on their readers, but to do so would have done serious
damage to Democrat plans for a pointless and demagogic energy policy and
the Times just couldnt let that happen. In other words, if the news helps
Democrats and hurts Republicans its fit to print, but if the news tends
to hurt Democrats and help Republicans well, check the small entry
at the bottom of page 37.
If Peters had been interested in providing his readers with some really
useful information, he would have explained that,
a) weve only seen the beginning of food price escalation, and that
b) we can look forward to a major increase in Third World famine and all
because of the push by liberals and radical environmentalists to dedicate
more and more land to ethanol production. (One study in Great Britain
found that, to replace just 5% of their fuel supply with bio-ethanol, would
require the commitment of 20% of the countrys arable land to ethanol
feedstock production.)
So, for those liberals who cant make the connection, it would have been
extremely helpful if Peters had explained that cattle, hogs, and chickens
eat a lot of corn grain that will be in increasingly short supply as
farmers rush to cash in on the coming ethanol bonanza.
And while he was on the subject, and although it has little to do with
price inflation, he could have provided a great service to his readers by
pointing out that:
* The water that appears naturally in ethanol, and which cannot be
removed through distillation, can do major damage to an automobile engine
unless it is specifically designed to burn ethanol.
* Because of the water content of ethanol and the resulting danger of
corrosion, ethanol cannot be transported by pipeline. It would take a
convoy of 500 tank trucks, each hauling 6,000 gallons of ethanol, to
transport the same amount of ethanol each day that could be transported
by a single 12 in. diameter pipeline.
* Congress has enacted major taxpayer-funded subsidies (hidden taxes)
for domestically produced ethanol made from corn, and has placed
substantial tariffs on imported sugar beet ethanol, just to make corn-based
ethanol economically competitive.
* Ethanol is as much as 30% less efficient than gasoline, making it
more expensive per highway mile.
* It takes three-fourths of a gallon of petroleum to produce a single
gallon of ethanol.
* And finally, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) the countrys largest
producer of ethanol, has frightened farm state congressmen into believing
that, if they fail to support subsidized ethanol production, they will lose
their seats in Congress.
What all of this means is that, without taxpayer subsidies, ethanol can
never be economically competitive with gasoline, it is far less efficient
than gasoline as an engine fuel, and each gallon of the stuff contains more
hidden taxes than a Democrat Party platform.
So, if the American people learn nothing else during this year, lets hope
that they at least come to understand that ethanol as an alternative fuel
is the biggest hoax perpetrated on the American people since 1938 when
Orson Welles.convinced his radio audience that Martians had landed in New
Jersey.
