Pump prices have been lower for quite a while now, so this might not be extremely interesting, but I’ll post it anyways.

I remember that at the height of gas prices there was a TON of complaining. It was Bush’s fault, the government should do something, the oil companies are evil, etc. Once you see the following though, you will be a better informed citizen, and when you hear people say stupid things, you can then correct them.

Gasoline prices are directly related to the price of oil. The price of oil gets set in a fashion similar to the stock market. That’s not something the government controls, or George Bush (or now Obama), or the evil oil companies. It’s set on the open market, and take a look at the graph below. The price of oil and the price of a gallon of gas are perfectly aligned. In the future, the next time you see Congress summon the heads of the major oil companies to see if they are in collusion, now you will know what a bunch of idiots they are.

To make your own chart go here.

Israel is attacking Gaza!

Before you read another headline, or watch another tv report, please read this article. All the press coverage I’ve seen has failed to mention the countless rocket attacks that the people of Israel face everyday. Instead it’s evil Israel attacks the poor helpless Palestinians. A news report tonight said that a civilian was killed in Gaza when an Israeli rocket landed in a civilian neighborhood. What they failed to mention is that Hamas routinely uses civilian neighborhoods to launch their rockets!

Get informed.

I hate to immediately replace my last post, but I had to share this.

During our Prop 8 discussion we had a lengthy debate about what effect (if any) legal gay marriage would have on those that disagree with same-sex relationships. Some argued that it would have no effect on anyone, and that it was wrong to discriminate against them. I argued that gay marriage was really about raising same-sex relationships to the same level as straight relationships in every sense. We had some discussions about what would happen if private companies or churches refused to accept or service same-sex relationships. Some people told me I was crazy, and that no one would be forced to accept gay couples.

This isn’t directly related to Prop 8 (not to mention it passed), but this is a clear example of how the gay “rights” movement is about MUCH more than just two gay people wanting to get married. The online dating site eHarmony is being forced to change their business to include same-sex matchmaking because a gay man sued them. He wanted to find a gay mate, eHarmony did not want to provide that service, but after constant litigation, eHarmony finally folded.

This is probably only the beginning. The umbrella of “discrimination” can have far reaching implications, and don’t be surprised when it stretches into the private and religious sectors.

Obama is the President-Elect! Overall I can’t say I’m too surprised. I was holding out hope that the polls weren’t accurate, but overall they pretty much were. I think McCain just had too much to overcome. The combination of Bush being extremely unpopular and the financial crisis sending the entire country into the doldrums didn’t help. I think this was much more about people being unhappy with government than it was about a mandate for Obama’s politics.

There are two things I want to bring up about Obama’s impending Presidency. First, while I think it’s great we have our first black President, I’m over it already. Is this going to be the new benchmark to establish when a minority group is no longer opressed? Poor hispanics and asians are going to have to wait for a President that can affirm their ability to do whatever they want. That being said, I don’t think the cries of discrimination are going to stop anytime soon. The black community faces many unique challenges like high crime rates and out of wedlock births, and an Obama presidency will do little to change those problems. How long will it take before the black community turns on Obama for not fixing their problems?

Speaking of Obama and fixing problems…it will be interesting to see how he governs. He set the bar awfully high when he promised to change the world. He does realize he’s only in charge of one country right? With so much power in congress I fully expect the Democrats to embrace a leftist agenda. Don’t expect them to tackle the problems with social security or earmarks, but instead look for topics like healthcare and social spending. Clinton’s eight years were relatively mild because he was kept in check by a Republican congress. The last time the Democrats were in this position was when Carter was in office.

I’ve seen talk already of the Republican party realizing they need to get back to the basics of limited government. They screwed the pooch royally over the last eight years of Bush and the six years of their majority in congress. If Obama does govern to the left, and prolongs the economic troubles we face, Republicans will be in a good position to come back to the people and preach about limited government.

One thing I pledge to do over the next four years is to respect the office of the Presidency. I’m sure I will have many disagreements with Obama’s vision for our country, so don’t be surprised to find me critical of his politics. However, I promise to keep it on an even keel, which hopefully isn’t a surprise to most that read this blog.

Look for another post soon with baby pictures and Little Big Planet!

I wanted to get this post up before any real voting is done or there is any hint of how today will go. I want you to have my personally biased assessment before the fun begins tonight!

Here’s how I see things. McCain certainly has an uphill battle. There are some key states that he really needs to win like Florida and Ohio, and recent polls show him clearly in contention there. If Obama wins PA and NH (which recent polls show likely) then McCain really has his work cut out for him. There are a number of states he needs to win, like NV, NM, and CO to name a couple, and the polls in all of those are either very close or have Obama slightly ahead.

Speaking of polls though, I think the polls have overstated Obama’s lead for a while now. When pollsters come up with their polling numbers, they determine what percentage of the electorate will be Democrat and Republican. Many pollsters are giving Democrats a 6% advantage this year…but that hasn’t happened in the last 8 years! Over the last few election cycles the number of Republicans and Democrats that showed up were either tied, or Democrats showed up 2-4% more frequently, but never 6%. The last Presidential election was a tie, and to assume that four years later will be a huge Democrat turnout might be wishful thinking. Another promsing nugget is that several times in the primaries Obama was expected to win handily, sometimes by as much as double-digits, but he lost to Hillary in some of those states. Over and over Obama hasn’t been able to close the deal, and with some polls showing almost 10% of people unsure of whom they will vote for, that means McCain can still have a lot of votes in play. Since most of my readers are on the West coast, make sure you ignore any exit polling you hear because it consistently overstates support for the Democrat, and make sure you get out and vote. Here in California we’ve got other important things on our minds like Prop 8!

But either way, it should be interesting tonight. I’ve got some sausages to grill and some beers to drink, but whoever wins tonight wins. Obviously I think an Obama win would be bad for the country, but I’ve never had a blog while someone of the opposing party was in the White House. That might be fun, but I’ll certainly trade that for McCain and his supreme court nominees.

Here is my “guide” as requested by a couple people. Thanks to GeekyWeekly for doing the work on the Judicial nominees. Those are always a pain. Have fun tonight everyone!

Federal and Statewide
President/Vice President – John McCain/Sarah Palin
House and Senate Seats – Republican

Judicial
Office #72 – Hilleri Grossman Merritt
Office #82 – Thomas Rubinson
Office #84 – Pat Connolly
Office #94 – Michael J. O’Gara
Office #154 – Michael Jesic

Propositions
Prop 1A – No
Prop 2 – No
Prop 3 – No
Prop 4 – Yes
Prop 5 – No
Prop 6 – No
Prop 7 – No
Prop 8 – Yes
Prop 9 – Yes
Prop 10 – No
Prop 11 – Yes
Prop 12 – Yes
Measure R – No