Following up on my earlier post about oil speculation, there’s news that 50 million barrels of oil are being hoarded on supertankers. The market calls it “contango.” I call it irresponsible. From Marketplace… “Contango” refers to a market condition in which the future price of a commodity is higher than the cost of buying it [...]

And they find that the folks who were trying to make a quick buck were affecting oil prices far more than the normal market forces of supply and demand. Gee, that sounds oddly familiar… Last year I argued time and time again that the energy speculators were the cause and that supply and demand couldn’t [...]

This weekend I had the pleasure of receiving my end-of-the-year statement from the institution managing my IRA. I made the mistake of opening it. Obviously, I am aware the markets did not do so well in 2008. Seeing the personal damage, however, made the whole matter that much more painful. In the last six months, [...]

“Clearly, putting a “mission accomplished” on a aircraft carrier was a mistake. It sent the wrong message. We were trying to say something differently, but, nevertheless, it conveyed a different message.” – George W. Bush today in his final press conference. Here’s more… You don’t — you don’t get to have information after you’ve made [...]

Larry Burns on General Motors’ ideas for the next generation of automobiles, which include cars giving power back to the grid. We can talk all we want about how firms like GM have failed in the past couple decades, but they’re right at that point where they can really make a difference and it would [...]

Kind of an odd statement coming from a guy who accepted a paid gig to be a war correspondent, but hey…it’s not like Pajamas TV is paying Wurzelbacher to be consistent or even correct. AP reports… And here’s a partial transcript just in case you can’t see the video… I’ll be honest with you. I [...]

The Architect (of the GOP’s demise?) is on the microblogging/messaging platform and I’m almost 100% sure it’s actually him. The only reason I say that is because some folks have created fake accounts, including somebody claiming to be Karl Rove. In any event, whatever you may think of Rove, I think most people will acknowledge [...]

I have little doubt that they would have given a thumbs up to this plan had the political will been there, but this is an interesting juxtaposition to reports that Bush has been wanting to bomb Iran. From Wash Post: President Bush last year rejected an Israeli request to provide sophisticated, deep-penetration bombs to attack [...]

Bill Cosby talks about comedy, politics and the controversy he has created by speaking up about difficult issues. Also, the economy is obviously the topic du jour. And it seems like everybody agrees that a stimulus plan is needed. Now the debate is between the % of tax cuts vs. infrastructure spending. Something tells me [...]

The Chair-designate for the Council of Economic Advisers put the plan together so she’s the best person to explain it. It’s refreshing to hear somebody argue that both government spending and tax cuts can create jobs. Because, first and foremost, Romer cares about the ideas that works and that’s what we need right now. Also, [...]

But it will happen. Obama said as much on This Week today: “I think it’s going to take some time and our legal teams are working in consultation with our national security apparatus as we speak to help design exactly what we need to do,” Obama said in an exclusive “This Week” interview with George [...]

I found this interesting nugget in Obama’s economic proposal… Summing across industries suggests that the total number of created jobs likely to go to women is roughly 42% of the jobs created by the package. Given that so far in the recession women have accounted for roughly 20% of the decline in payroll employment, this [...]

Before we get into the details, one very important thing I want to point out is that the Obama team is starting to make this plan bullet proof. Because not only are 90% of the projected jobs going to be created in the private sector, but the 10% of government jobs are those that are [...]

And it looks like Obama and Bush are coordinating on this so Obama won’t have to veto the first piece of legislation he sees. From Wash Post: Under the emergency rescue legislation approved by Congress in October, the administration must inform lawmakers that it wants access to the second installment of $350 billion. Unless Congress [...]

Press Secretary Robert Gibbs answers a lot of questions for the transition. Definitely try to watch them all. However, check out the last question/answer around 4:15 of this video. All I can say is…it’s about time. I’ve never understood the claim that somebody disclosing their sexuality would destroy troop morale, especially when it has been [...]

And you may think that it’s a narrow margin, but there’s definitely room for that consensus to grow… From Gallup… So how does that break down when looking at party affiliation? Once again, the independent voter provides a valuable guide as they’re only 1% off the average view… And, surprisingly enough, the broadest support for [...]

There seems to be a lot of resistance to the idea of a stimulus package because the employment numbers aren’t nearly as bad as those during The Great Depression. But you have to look at the numbers in a historical context if you want to understand the entire story. From Reuters: Figures collected for Reuters [...]

Yesterday’s job numbers were hairy, but we have to remember that the underemployment numbers were far worse, and that’s the true measure of where employment is at the present time. From Wash Post: The fine print of yesterday’s report from the Labor Department showed that a broader measure of joblessness — which includes people who [...]

Roland “I am the Senator” Burris Today, the Illinois House of Representatives voted 114-1 to impeach Governor Rod Blagojevich.  Meanwhile, the state’s Supreme Court declined to order Secretary of State, Jesse White, to sign the certificate by which appointed Roland Burris to fill Barack Obama’s Senate seat, but also ruled that the appointment document was [...]

I have a piece in US News & World on the future of our two most prominent political dynasties.   My basic thesis:  Governor Patterson may be doing more than just selecting the next senator from New York, while President Bush may have soiled the family brand for Jeb and future generations. www.nickragone.com