The real Nancy Pelosi — multi-millionaire, resort, dining and winery baroness who profits from non-union and illegal labor. Now she pushes more taxes on U.S. oil companies — not OPEC oil producers.

UPDATE
By Mick Gregory

UPDATE: Sept. 21, 2008; House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Senator John Kerry and more than 50 other members of Congress, Bloomberg reports.

Pelosi, in her most recent financial disclosure form, reported that her husband owned between $250,000 and $500,000 of stock in AIG, which ceded majority control to the U.S. government this week in exchange for $85 billion of loans.

Kerry, the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee, disclosed that his wife, Teresa Heinz Kerry, had more than $2 million of AIG stock at the end of 2007, when shares were worth $58.30. AIG has fallen 85 percent this week to close yesterday at $2.69. The lawmakers’ aides didn’t respond to calls seeking comment.

Did you know that the Obama family had their own private chef for years? Journalists didn’t bother to report that at any time during the past two years. Do you wonder why?

Sam Kass, who cooked for the Obamas in Chicago will now move onto the government payroll as a White House chef. (Ever wary of annoying the feminist base, the Obamas are not firing the very first woman to hold the Chief Chef job, chosen by Laura Bush. They’re just pushing her out of the way.)

Who knew? I believed all that stuff about how Michelle was an overburdened modern working mother, rushing from school dropoff to her high-paying, demanding work at the hospital, to dress fittings, to whatever it was she needed to do to support her husband’s political aspirations, back home to take care of her daughters. Call me naive, but that model usually includes making dinner. And squeezing in a weekly grocery shopping trip. Especially for those fresh, whole foods that don’t keep so long. Now I have to wonder who did the laundry, and the vaccuuming. Sure, granny helped—but I doubt she was the maid. Who was?

In fact, I don’t actually care who did the cooking (or cleaning) in the Obama household. And Chef Sam is fine with me. The orchestrated deception—the pretense that this family did it all themselves, living a low-key life just like most upper middle class Americans, working hard and taking care of the necessary, sometimes tedious requirements of home life as well as they seemed to have done—is a little more troubling. To be sure, a University of Chicago-educated private chef seems a little more indulgent than a nanny who broils the chicken or chops up the broccoli. But that’s their call.  

Didn’t the women at Slate, among others, complain that there was something offensive about Sarah Palin’s apparent ability to raise 5 children, run the state of Alaska, run marathons, and cook those mooseburgers—because it set the bar too high for ordinary women? But they were willing to believe that Michelle could do it all, and keep it all organic and healthy at that—because she has a law degree from Harvard?

This is one of the great gifts that comes with being a Democrat who is so beloved of the media. Instead of the inevitable carping and cries of hypocrisy and elitism, the New York Times food writer just gushes at what a master stroke this appointment is—bringing sustainable food to the White House and inevitable gardens to the grounds.

When you run for president as a community organizer, and a writer, or even a professor of constitutional law, perhaps it’s politic to hide a few salient details about your actual lifestyle that might mess up the “savior of the downtrodden” narrative. It’s important to keep up the fiction that only spoiled, indifferent, wealthy Republicans have personal servants. — Lisa Schiffren

Did you know? CNN’s Democrat cheerleader Anderson Cooper is the son of billionaire heiress Gloria Vanderbilt.

This new tax on oil is not unlike Chavez taking over control of private industries. Even liberal Californians voted down an identical energy tax just last November. So what does Pelosi do? She pushes through a more expensive energy tax in the first 100 hours without debate. This is similar to Hugo Chavez’s progressive politics. You think? What’s the difference?
The millions of dollars that Democrat supporters spent to pass Proposition 87 to promote an increase in the extraction tax on crude pumped from California oil wells wasn’t enough to win over the state’s voters last November.

The hotly contested ballot measure, which proposed to impose a new tax on oil production to fund a range of alternative energy programs, was backed by 45% of the voters, while 55% opposed it, according official returns.

Opponents of the initiative campaigned heavily, arguing the tax would be borne by consumers, who would end up paying even more at the pump.

The proposed Clean Alternative Energy Act sought to raise $4 billion over 10 years through an oil-extraction tax. The funds would be used to sponsor research and projects in alternative energy, including ethanol, solar and wind power.
The initiative, which sought to cut the use of petroleum by 25% over the next decade, drew a massive response from the oil industry and pulled in endorsements from political heavyweights such as former President Bill Clinton and Vice President Al Gore.

Both sides spent millions of dollars on their campaigns.
Hollywood producer Stephen Bing provided major funding in favor of the measure by pledging about $49 million to the campaign. Other backers include Google Inc. (GOOG

Energy companies calculated the impact of the potential new tax would range from 1.5% to 6%, depending on the price of oil. During its third-quarter earnings conference call, Chevron Chief Financial Officer Steve Crowe said the company could take a $200 million pretax hit on its annual earnings from the proposition.

Nancy Pelosi‘s socialist political views are exactly what have kept her elected in San Francisco, along with the flow of union campaign money. The staunch “union supporter” Pelosi has even received the Cesar Chavez Award from the United Farm Workers Union. But her $25 million Napa vineyards and winery, she and her husband own are non-union shops. The extra profit she earns is more than she gets from labor unions. But I don’t think she wants the rank and file to know this. Do you?

The hypocrisy doesn’t stop there. Pelosi has received more money from the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees unions than any other member of Congress in recent election cycles.

The multi-millionaire investors own a large stake in an exclusive resort hotel in Wine Country, the Napa Valley Auberge Du Soleil Resort. It has more than 250 employees. But none of them are in a union, according to Peter Schweizer, author of “Do As I Say, (Not As I Do) – The Hypocrisy of Democrats” and a regular contributor to the New York Times.

Pelosi is also partners in a restaurant chain called Piatti, which has 900 employees. The chain is – you might have guessed — a non-union shop. It is a very high-end restaurant group with locations in Carmel, Sonoma and Danville to name just the locations I dined at. Hardwood-fired ovens, exhibition kitchens, Napa wines, a very nice experience. I did notice some Hispanic kitchen help and busboys. I’m wondering if they are illegal alliens? No, the Speaker of the House wouldn’t hire illegals, would she?

I’m sure The Chronicle’s Herb Caen gave Piatti a big plug every so often.
The 67-68 (?) year-old Pelosi has spent more money on facelifts, cosmetic enhancements, and Armani suits than every one of her union supporters combined, don’t you think?

I heard Chris Mathews of “Hardball” say “what a knockout Pelosi is, “I can’t wait to see her sitting behind President Bush at the next State of the Union speech.”
Mathews actually worked at the The Chronicle and Examiner in San Francisco before his show “Hard Ball” on MSNBC, and before that he was a ‘gofer’ and occasional writer for the Democrat Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill.

I believe that Mathews wasn’t as kind to Kathryn Harris who is young enough to be Pelosi’s daughter and quite attractive without expensive plastic surgery.

Dogs have a sense of fair play. More so than the Democrat Machine — Gwen Ifill of PBS will benefit if Sarah Palin fails

By Mick Gregory

Dogs are becoming more intelligent and are even learning morals from human contact, scientists reported at a conference in Budapest recently.

They say the fact that dogs’ play rarely escalates into a fight shows the animals abide by social rules.

During one study, dogs which held up a paw were rewarded with a food treat.

When a lone dog was asked to raise its paw but received no treat, the researchers found it begged for up to 30 minutes.

But when they tested two dogs together but rewarded only one, the dog which missed out soon stopped playing the game.

Dr Friederike Range, of the University of Vienna, who led the study, said: “Dogs show a strong aversion to inequity.”

So we look at the PBS modirator for tonight’s VP Debate. If Obama wins the election, she is going to receive a $350,000 to $500,000 bonus  for her book she is promoting on Obama and other African  Democrats.

The moderator of tonight’s vice-presidential debate is writing a book to come out on the day the next president takes the oath of office that aims to “shed new light” on Democratic candidate Barack Obama and other “emerging young African American politicians” who are “forging a bold new path to political power.”

Gwen Ifill of the Public Broadcasting Service program “Washington Week” is promoting “The Breakthrough: Politics and Race in the Age of Obama,” in which she argues the “black political structure” of the civil rights movement is giving way to men and women who have benefited from the struggles over racial equality.

Ifill declined to return telephone messages from “The Factor” and WND asking for a comment about her book project and whether its success would be expected should Obama lose. But she has faced criticism previously for not treating candidates of both major parties the same.

During a vice-presidential candidate debate she moderated in 2004 – when Democrat John Edwards attacked Republican Dick Cheney’s former employer, Halliburton – the vice president said, “I can respond, Gwen, but it’s going to take more than 30 seconds.”

Ms. Ifill was lauded for snapping back at Mr. Cheney.

“Well, that’s all you’ve got,” she told Mr. Cheney.

Ifill told the Associated Press Democrats were delighted with her answer, because they “thought I was being snippy to Cheney.”

But she also was cited in complaints PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler said he received after Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin delivered her nomination acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minn., earlier this month.

Some viewers complained of a “dismissive” look by Ifill during her report on Palin’s speech. According to Getler, some also said she wore a look of “disgust” while reporting on the Republican candidate.

Google the facts yourself if you have any doubts. Care to comment?

Note to new readers: PBS is a nationalized, taxpayer supported news medium.

Conclusion: Your loyal dog Spots has more sense of fairness than the mainstream media. Nothing will get in the way of elite liberal Democrats in their power grab. This smells awful. Or are you OK with it?

To the big-spending, do-nothing congress: Change is coming

Sen. John McCain’s blockbuster line: “Let me offer an advance warning to the old, big-spending, do-nothing, me-first-country-second Washington crowd: Change is coming.”

It’s not “global warming” climate change John McCain is talking about, it’s a red-state tide coming in to take back America from European socialists. Democrats, be afraid. Be very afraid.

Change is coming.

The Annenberg Challenge — What happened to $100 million in grants to improve Chicago schools?

The September surprise. Obama is a pawn of far left socialists and Chicago Democrat machine

Barack Obama and the ’70s communist Bill Ayers have worked closely together on ‘education reform’ since 1995. Reform meaning, funds for leftwing friends of Ayers were funded while real reforms such as algebra tutoring for innercity students went unfunded. Obama has dodged and minimized this association in interviews and in public statements and on his Website.

What is Obama hiding?

This is some of it:

When Obama made his first run for political office, articles in both the Chicago Defender and the Hyde Park Herald featured among his qualifications his position as chairman of the board of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a foundation where Ayers was a founder and guiding force. Obama assumed the Annenberg board chairmanship only months before his first run for office, and almost certainly received the job at the behest of Bill Ayers. During Obama’s time as Annenberg board chairman, Ayers’s own education projects received substantial funding. Indeed, during its first year, the Chicago Annenberg Challenge struggled with significant concerns about possible conflicts of interest. With a writ to aid Chicago’s public schools, the Annenberg challenge played a deeply political role in Chicago’s education wars, and as Annenberg board chairman, Obama clearly aligned himself with Ayers’s radical views on education issues. –Stanley Kurtz

It’s becoming known as the Annenberg Challenge cover-up and it’s become big news since the McCain campaign highlighted it in a press release late Wednesday.

In the past few days, Stanley Kurtz of the National Review has been trying to get access to the archives of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, an education reform group co-founded by Bill Ayers in 1995 and chaired by Barack Obama from 1995 to 1999. After originally giving Mr. Kurtz permission, the library then told him that he could not proceed because they did not have proper authorization from the donor of the archives. They would not identify the donor, but the library assured Mr. Kurtz that they hoped to conclude an agreement and make the documents available soon. And why that cover-up? Because it points to the root corruption that has ruined thousands of student’s lives in one of the worst school districts in the United States.

Watch for the release of the papers. Check out WGN radio for upcoming interviews with Mr. Kurtz.

In regard to payoffs and rigged Chicago elections, Obama does have more experience than Sarah Palin.

The media sent 15,000 reporters to Denver, half that to St. Paul and incredibly just a dozen to look into the Annenberg coverup. Is that a free press?

Obama grew up in privilege, his step father was an energy top manager in Jakarta, the boomtown city of Islamic rule in oil rich Indonesia. Later, Obama went to school in Hawaii. After two years at Occidental college in California, he was accepted at Columbia University and later Harvard Law School. Free ride?

Sarah Palin has executive and energy experience

When the price of oil reached nearly $149 a barrel and the price at the pump broke the $4 barrier, energy became the top issue of this election. The Democrats (or European socialists if you prefer) are slow to understand economic issues and are still chanting Green Party slogans while the rest of the country has discovered that oil drilling in America has been shut down for the past 30 years off the coast of the U.S.

Sen. John McCain picked a super star in Sarah Palin, governor of Alaska. She knows more about the oil industry than Obama, Biden, Pelosi and Harry Reed put together. Pali’s husband has been a North Slope oilfield engineer.

It’s time to realize that Norway and the UK are drilling and producing billions off their coasts in the North Sea and off the western coast of Norway. Russia has revived to a world power again from oil reserves.

Only the United States remains stupefied by environmental screed. Billions of barrels of oil and natural gas remain untouched in ANWR and off the coasts of California, Washington, Oregon, Florida ant the Carolinas.

Cuba, China and Venezuela are about to start producing oil miles off the U.S. coast.

America is about to be treated to a lesson in economics.

Obama would be Jimmy Carter’s second term

Sen. John McCain just shot off the best line of the 2008 campaign: “Obama would be Jimmy Carter’s second term.” That is a grand slam, slam dunk and TD rolled up into one.

Jimmy Carter was the worst president of the past 50 years, but Obama could take that  title away from Carter. Maybe it would be good for the country to see how much damage the Democrat/Socialist party can do. That’s how Reagan and the Republicans came roaring back to power in a landslide. Even die hard Democrats couldn’t take another term of Jimmy Carter’s mediocrity.

Kim Jong-iL is not only mentally ill, but now on his death bed. USA and China prepare for collapse of failed nation

North Korea’s pot-bellied communist leader Kim Jong-il failed to appear at a parade on Tuesday to mark the 60th anniversary of the country’s founding.

UPDATE: Kim Jon Il fired his two-stage rocket on April 5. Look out California. 

Slight of hand. What does President Obama say about it? The U.S. and Russia will work on reducing each others nuclear stockpiles. So? The issue is Kim Jon-iL’s rocket and nuclear weapons program. 

 

North Korean leader Kim Jong Il is more impaired from the stroke he apparently suffered last month than reports from the region suggest, and the United States and China are holding talks about what to do if the government in Pyongyang collapses, FOX News has reported.

A senior Bush administration official says that although Kim may not be close to death, the U.S. does not accept reports from South Korea that he’s on his way to a rapid recovery.

The official told FOX News the United States is naturally engaging the Chinese about what to do if there is ensuing instability in North Korea.

– The Kyodo news agency report from the city of Pyongyang.

Kim Jong-il is ill. What else is new? We knew that. He's an outspoken supporter of the Democrat Party.

Friends of Kim, including pot-bellied Hugo Chavez, hate-filled President Ahmadinejad of Iran, and the Castro brothers are on the phone with North Korea’s embassy, I’m sure.

Now is the time for first George Bush, then John McCain and Sarah Palin to help North Korea become free. Another wall comes down. What does Obama have to say?

Here is my stab at Obama’s quote to come.

“Let me say that I am not going to speculate on the health of a world leader… Yes, in my campaign statements, I said I would meet with President Kim Jong-iL, Hugo Chavez and Ahmadinejad. I’m staying by that promise…”

Hilly and Billy Clinton had to disclose the contents of their investments by the office of governement ethics. The story finally gets out. Their investments were in Wal-Mart, oil companies and military contract companies. Who knew?

Mick Gregory

Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton — the cute progressive couple, liquidated the contents of their investments of $5 million to $25 million that might very well pose conflicts of interest or prove to be embarrassing to her presidential campaign that will be in full swing a year from now. They hope (and pretty well know) that their liberal followers will forgive them or forget over the next year. Major newspapers will consider it “old news.”

It’s up to blogs to report the news that you can use to make informed decisions.

This just in: the Clintons, when away from their New York residence, which is nearly always these days, charge the US Secret Service the exact price of their mortage for the right “to stay” at their home.
By the way, how “green” is their house?

Back to the big story that will not get much play in the New York Times or Washington Post.

The investment trust and a bank account valued in the range place the Clinton’s total wealth at between $10 million and $50 million.

The Clintons had to disclose their investiments in April under instructions from the Office of Government Ethics and sold their assets in May, according to a disclosure form filed Friday.

Over time, the Clintons’ investments grew significantly and included stock holdings in oil and drug companies, military contractors and Wal-Mart.

The report, also filed with the Federal Election Commission, provides the most detailed look at the Clintons’ holdings as their wealth has expanded since the former presidential couple left the White House in 2001.

The new report also shows that the former president made $16 million in speaking fees between January 2006 and Wednesday. That was 100 times more than any other former president in history.

So far this year, Bill Clinton has given 34 paid speeches for a total of $5.9 million. He will be giving some of that to Hilly and legally under the McCaine Finegold election reform law they pushed through the major media, then congress.

Their investments held stock in pharmaceutical companies, including $250,000-$500,000 in Biogen Idec and Johnson & Johnson and $100,000- $250,000 in Amgen, Pfizer and GlaxoSmithKline. It also invested in General Electric and Raytheon, two leading bomb makers contractors. The trust had a varied portfolio, with investments in numerous other companies, including Exxon Mobil, BP Amoco, Walt Disney and eBay.

The report said all the proceeds of the sales are being placed in a cash account. The massive unloading of stock means the Clintons face “substantial” capital gains taxes. So their last tax statement will show that they payed their “fair share” in taxes for next year’s final stretch of the election.

(Scratcing, “I don’t remember reading that anywhere in my daily newspaper?”

What do progressives think of that? Do you think they care?

One out of four to be cut from the San Francisco Chronicle news department

Managing Editor “Steps Down” (Really, I didn’t know he was standing on a higher plane than the rest of us? Perhaps an ivory tower?)

Mick Gregory

The Chronicle will cut 25 percent of its newsroom staff in the next month.

“This is one of the biggest one-time hits we’ve heard about anywhere in the country,” said Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, in Washington.

Not so rosey for the Fourth Estate.

Managing Editor Robert Rosenthal will be leaving The Chronicle after nearly five years at the newspaper.

In a note to the newsroom staff, Rosenthal (known as Rosey to the elite editors) said he was departing “without rancor or acrimony.” (That’s redundant. But it sounds very intelligent. Wouldn’t you say that Rosey had a rather elevated view of himself?) He said he is not sure what he will be doing next but “I hope to help another organization grow and another group of talented people find success.”

(Rosey, the readership of The Chronicle sank dramatically during your 4.5 years. And you laughed over Manhattens with Phil, as scores of Chronicle employees in Marketing Communications, Creative and Advertising lost their jobs. You hadn’t built anything, but your bar tab at the “M.” )

I think it’s time where the skills we have as journalists can be applied in a different way. The business model for newspapers is clearly broken,” Rosey.

No, Rosey. You don’t know the first thing about business. The business model was thrown out the fifth floor window of The Chronicle when Hearst allowed Phil Bronstein and other hack copy editors run the entire enterprise.

In fact, here is an editor’s idea of a motivational pep talk at the neighboring Mercury News:
Apparently responding to a report that the Mercury News plans to cut 60 newsroom positions, executive editor Carole Leigh Hutton tells her staff that “we’re in the midst of a difficult budget season for the fiscal year that begins in July. We’re discussing a number of cost-cutting measures. As soon as I can give you some definitive plans, I will. Meanwhile, I hope we can focus some of that energy on doing the journalism we do so well.”

Just two weeks ago, the paper revealed a coming 25 percent reduction in newsroom staffing.

Eighty reporters, photographers, copy editors and others, as well as 20 employees in management positions will be joining Rosey by end of the summer. Chronicle Publisher Frank Vega (nicknamed “Darth Vega”) said Friday that voluntary buyouts are likely to be offered.

Dozens of The Chronicle’s marketing, creative, special section writers, sales and production departments have been reduced during the past few years, but until now the newsroom “elite” have been spared deep cuts.

One has to ask, how much is Phil Bronstein (the last husband of Sharon Stone) worth? Do you think Phil saw his own shadow?

Now it’s going to be one out of four hitting the cold, windy streets of San Francisco.

Michael Savage reported the self-serving article written by a reporter waiting for the “buyout” papers.
Savage has a keen mind and can zero in on the problem, it’s the leftist mindset, with American and family values mocked and slammed on a daily basis by the “journalists” that is the main problem for The Chronicle’s demise.

They were the cheerleaders for Cindy Sheehan, who just last year, was in photos with Hugo Chavez as they both denounced the USA. But the top of the Democrat machine pulled the plug on Sheehan’s wages. They said, “Good Riddance Attention Whore.”

The Chronicle newsroom didn’t get the memo in time. Now they were to turn on Sheehan. Watch, a little late, but they will now.

Advertisers are middle class entrepreneurs, not socialists. Advertisers and readers have many more options available. The monopoly is over.

“I can’t wait to see if the Hearst inheritance cases will get rid of the thing (Bronstein) in these cuts,” Savage said Tuesday evening.

Oh, the tales that are being slurred in the Guiness foam at the corner pub tonight. Pour me another, brother!

Big Cash Bonuses for Executives — Not oil companies — Newspapers

By Mick Gregory

How much do the top management of today’s media empires make? We only seem to see reports of the CEOs of a few global oil companies. What about the newspaper business? A product that is not a necessity in today’s multi-media age. Let’s look at the McClatchy gang.

These bonuses for McClatchy Newspaper executives are in addition to their annual salaries. Not a bad take for walking around in suits discussing global warming and the chances of Hillary/Obama winning in ’08. This is in sleepy Sacramento, with a nick name of “Sack-o-tomatoes” because it is smack in the middle of central California’s farm belt and you see semi-trucks by the score stacked high with small red potatoes that look a lot like tomatoes.

You can see the demographics in their Sunday best, as they make the trip to town. You know, starched white shirt, cowboy hat and boots on Pa, Ma has highlights and a long cowgirl skirt. The kids look like gang bangers. Old Town Sac has maintained wood sidewalks for that “Old West” look.

This is where the McClatchy Bee newspaper empire holds court. Bee is a very old-timey name for a newspaper, isn’t it? Kind of cute. “Busy bees.” Who knew this clan would end up gobbling up Knight Ridder, then pay for half the purchase by selling off the prestigious Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News and the San Jose Mercury News right off the bat?

In an industry that is losing revenue every year and piling on expenses, while it cuts its staff and puts more and more operations offshore, to Pune, India, isn’t it funny that they reward this type of executive management?
How about offshoring management? With today’s Skype, Web conferencing, and Business Service Software, the real number crunchers in India could streamline operations in months.

Here is the president of McClatchy, Gary Pruitt from two years ago.

Base Pay $950,000

Bonus $1,100,000

Restricted Stock $0

LTIP Payouts $108,600

Present Value of Option Grants $342,194

Other Annual Compensation $0

All Other Compensation $19,171

Total Compensation $2,519,965

Stock Option Exercises and Cumulative Balances

Shares Aquired on Exercise (#) 0

Value Realized for Options Exercised $0

Remaining Exercisable (vested) Options (#) 301,250

Remaining Unexercisable (non-vested) Options (#) 268,750

Value of Remaining Exercisable Options $9,616,656

Value of Remaining Unexercisable Options $3,204,843

Data for fiscal year ended in 2004

The following executive officers received the cash bonuses shown below:

Name and Title Amount of Annual Cash Bonus
Patrick J. Talamantes, Chief Financial Officer $170,000
Bob Weil, Vice President, Operations $200,000
Frank Whittaker, Vice President, Operations $220,000
Howard Weaver, Vice President, News $129,000

—SEC report 2006.

These figures are just “‘at-a-boy” bonuses. Just triple the figures and see how much the suits made out.
Here is what they received two years ago:

Frank R.J. Whittaker
Vice President Operations $1,277,252

Robert Weil
Vice President Operations $1,257,148

Patrick Talamantes
Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer $1,003,908

Howard Weaver
Vice President News $726,720

Let’s look at McClatchy stock (MNI) on the NYS exchange. The past 12 months high – $56.12, The past 12 months low – $36.95

Today’s price — $36.91. Whoopsie! If that price holds or drops this afternoon, it’s new low. After all that wheelin’ and dealin’. Well, time for another board meeting, and editorial executive summit, Palm Springs?

The Progressives are Fanning the Flames of Global Warming Fear

By Mick Gregory

There are skeptics about global warming among scientists who are experts on weather and climate. If you heard both arguments, you might not be so willing to go along with those who are pushing to impose more taxes, sacrifice jobs and the middle class standard of living to the latest cause, created by politicians and the media.

Why aren’t your major daily newspapers publishing both sides? Because they already took sides? That’s what I’m thinking.

The New Republic’s editor, Mick Crowley tries his best to discredit Michael Crichton’s “State of Fear.”

The uber-progressive, Crowley slammed one of the most well-educated authors of the past 50 years. Michael Crichton graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College, received his MD from Harvard Medical School, and was a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, researching public policy with Jacob Bronowski. He has taught courses in anthropology at Cambridge University and writing at MIT. Crichton’s 2004 bestseller, State of Fear, acknowledged the world was growing warmer, but challenged extreme anthropogenic warming scenarios. He predicted future warming at 0.8 degrees C.

Crichton’s first bestseller, “The Andromeda Strain,” was published while he was still a medical student. He later worked full time on film and writing. Now one of the most popular writers in the world, his books have been translated into thirty-six languages, and thirteen have been made into films.

“It’s all like a Stalinist show trial. The senators all get up and make their statements and leave. No one listens. At one point in State of Fear, a sympathetic character observes that a Senate hearing is an “unquestionably manipulative” means of raising public awareness.

When I read this biased review, I knew I had to buy “State of Fear.” It has kick-started me to look deeper into to
the mass media and Progressive Democrat global warming scare. It must be “for the children.”

Mick Crowley — a neo-Stalinist, is a senior editor at The New Republic, the U.S. version of Pravada.
If he hates “State of Fear,” you know it is a must-read.

Major Brand Survey Shows Citgo Crashing

By Mick Gregory

What the mainstream news either can’t or will not provide. The cost of this oil industry report is $150. That’s about how much a reporter costs a day following Hillary and Obama around.
Where are the followup stories on Citgo? Why not report on why 7-Eleven, Circle K and Petro Express dropped Citgo? Have they lost 3,000 or is it closer to 5,000 locations?

More than 90 brands were ranked in this year’s Brand Power rankings including Mobil, Exxon, Stewarts, Marathon Ashland, Citgo, Cenex, Sunoco, Rotten Robbie, BJ’s, USA Petroleum, Safeway, Phillips 66, Sinclair, Kum & Go, Aloha, RaceTrac, Admiral, Home Depot, Caseys, Speedway, Kwik Trip, PDQ, Irving, Tesoro, Rutters, Gas America, Gate, Mapco, Getty, Gulf, Circle K, Weigel and more.

The Oil Price Information Service (OPIS), the leading authority on wholesale and retail gas prices in the U.S., has put together the most comprehensive scorecard on the entire retail petroleum landscape. The OPIS Retail Year in Review and 2007 Profit Outlook is a must-have 125 page almanac for anyone involved in the downstream petroleum industry.

The report includes the annual OPIS Brand Power results, a ranking system based on how much of a premium one brand is able to extract against its direct competition at the pump.

On a national basis Chevron proved to be king for the third straight year. The average Chevron station was able to charge 2.15cts/gal more than its competition. Shell was second followed by Lukoil, BP, Texaco, Fina, Mobil, Exxon, 76 and Pure.

At the opposite end of the spectrum was Arco which priced its pumps nearly 10cts/gal below its competitors. The Arco discount was more substantial than Costco, Sam’s and BJ’s, the three largest wholesale clubs in the country. Most of Arco’s business is company operated or dealer tankwagon, but if measured against local racks, Arco sites fetched very low implied margins.

On a regional basis, top honors continued to go to major flags except one region.

New England: Texaco was the most powerful player with the average station pricing 3.1cts/gal above its competitors. Shell was next followed by Mobil, Exxon and Sunoco.
Hess was the most aggressive in the region, even more aggressive than supermarket chain Stop & Shop.
Mid-Atlantic: Shell, Mobil, Lukoil, and Exxon were in the top four, while Wawa, Xtra Fuel, Delta Sonic, Royal Farms and Kroger were in the bottom five.
Southeast: Chevron was also a regional winner in the Southeast. The more aggressive stations in the region included Flying J, Costco, Liberty , Sam’s and Sheetz which recently opened some sites in North Carolina.
Great Lakes : It was independent brands in this region that took the top 2 spots. Gas City and Fast Stop were best in the region which were comprised of Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana and Ohio. Flying J, Meijer, Wal-Mart, Murphy USA, Thornton Oil, and Kroger were ranked as some of the chains with the lowest pump prices.
Midwest : BP took the top spot in the Midwest which also saw Valero and Fina crack the Top five. The top 5 most aggressive brands included Murphy USA, Quik Trip, Kwik Shop, Mirastar and 7-Eleven.
Southwest: The 76 flag was tops in the Southwest. The most aggressive supermarket in the region was Kroger followed by Albertsons, HEB and Safeway. The data also indicates that Costco priced more aggressively than Sam’s by about 3 cts/gal.
Rockies: Chevron once again obtained a regional championship and Conoco cracked a regional top-five for the first time this year. Sam’s Costco, Mirastar, King Soopers, Flying J, and Maverik were the most aggressive sites in the region.
West Coast: Texaco was number one in the West Coast followed by Chevron. Costco and Arco were the two cheapest pricing brands on the Pacific.
In addition, the report takes an in-depth look at profit margins on a national, regional and market-by-market basis. It reveals the six annual trends in the market, (the winter high, winter sell-off, Petronoia rally, Petronoia ebb-tide, demand/storm rally and the autumnal collapse) and examines how each market in the eight regions of the country reacted to those trends.

It is clear to industry analysts that Citgo is in its last months as a brand. Not even Joe Kennedy shilling for Hugo Chavez’ brand, can help stem the market losses.

Why don’t your major newspaper business sections cover this subject?

It Is Time for Citgo to Go.

By Mick Gregory

President Hugo Chavez has new dictatorial power that he is using to nationalize several U.S. oil companies’ investments in upstream projects. Those involved include ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobil, and Chevron. The Marxist president who calls his own middle class “rancid” is demanding that the oil firms sell the majority of their Venezuelan project control to his government, in effect, nationalizing the projects.

Citgo Petroleum, the Venezuelan oil company operating in the U.S. has failed to file SEC reports for the past 18 months and its Houston corporate website says they still have 13,000 retail locations (and they’re sticking to it), even though there are well-publicized reports of more than 3,000 locations that have dropped the Citgo brand in 2006, including 7-Eleven, Circle-K and Petro Express.

Remaining Citgo retailers seem willing to weather the national boycott, things are going to get better? You think? Some owners are apparently satisfied with the big discounts Citgo grants them on fuel for staying with the tarnished brand. What’s the future in that, when oil is at historic highs?

Analysts are beginning to wonder how much longer the Citgo brand will exist. The organizational, legal and marketing costs of maintaining the brand are much more than the value the brand generates to attract customers. In fact, it may well be repelling customers. Chavez could shave some $60 to $70 million from the budget. Several million dollars have been slashed from the marketing and promotion budget. The sponsorships of NASCAR, BassMasters fishing tournament and several regional sports promotions have been cut, and the Events Marketing Manager Geoff Smith was let go in January. Plus there are expensive lawsuits springing up from retail owners regarding pricing irregularities and lack of marketing support. That’s on top of serious federal EPA lawsuits for illegal emissions.

At $56 a barrel, PDVSA would be better off selling their Venezuelan, OPEC oil on the world market without the expense of supporting a failed brand name.
Remember the “feel good” ad campaign Citgo ran last year, “Fueling the Future?” There were no reported sales gains from the multi-million dollar effort. How long before PDVSA’s financial advisors run the numbers?

Some believe Chavez planned to shut the downstream retail business all along. Last summer, Chavez brokered a deal to sell half of its current U.S. supply to China, as soon as the super tankers and refineries are up and running.

As Danny Ortega goes, so does America’s Democrats?

Daniel Ortega, the Castro wannabe who never won a fair election, is back in Nicaragua acting as if he found religion to attract conservative voters, and with a split ticket of populist candidates, Ortega is leading in early counting with about 35 percent of the vote. Hugo Chavez offered low cost gas to the Sandanista areas to help Ortega, just as he did with discounted heating oil in Democrat areas to help elect Democrats in America.

The strategy is being used by Marxists and Democrats, they must be using the same playbook. A good example of the split ticket strategy is in Texas where there are behind the scenes funding of “independents” to split off votes from Republican Perry with all the liberal Democrats voting in lockstep for Democrat Bell, who like Ortega, has lost 10 elections in a row.

But the people who vote in midterm elections are the middleclass who pay the most taxes have families, drive the economy and believe in positive future for America.

Today I can tell you that Shelly Sekula-Gibbs will win the write-in candidate house seat in Houston vacated by Tom Delay. Arnold will win in California and Brian Bilbray will win the San Diego seat vacated by Randy Duke Conningham for accepting bribes. Meanwhile what’s going on with the Democrat William Jefferson from Louisiana who was caught with hundreds of thousands in bribes in his freezer? He’s keeping his seat.

November surprise, Sequoia/Smartmatic voting machines

Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez “won” an historic 2004 recall referendum on his presidency. The former military coup-plotter supposedly got the backing of 57.8% of the electorate, with only 42.2% against him. But the reality, say observers, is the opposite: By tampering with electronic voting machines, Yes-votes for recalling Chavez got turned into No-votes allowing him to stay in power.

The machines themselves were supplied and programmed by Chavez insiders at a heavy cost to the Venezuelan state. Tellingly, they are not even voting machines. Produced by Italy’s Olivetti for use as lottery terminals, they were sold to a shady government-connected outfit called Smartmatic who doubled the price and immediately resold them to the Venezuelan taxpayers for use in the recall referendum.

This was Smartmatic’s first-ever involvement in electronic election machines. At the time of the deal, the company’s largest shareholder was the Chavez government itself. No outside auditing of the election software has so far been effectively concluded.

By Johan Freitas, in Caracas

Today we know that Smartmatic is owned by Antonio Mujica a Venezuelan and in Hugo Chavez’s inner circle. Just days before the US mid-term elections, we find that Smartmatic voting machines are in place in several states.

Not to worry, Mujica indicated that the machines’ software is certified by three distinct groups at his company.

Now we know there are a dozen “Smartcards” missing in Democrat districts in Tennessee. Smartcards are easily reprogrammed with off the shelf equipment.

“It’s not who votes, it’s who counts the votes!” — Joe Stalin, 1950