Russell Roberts has an interesting letter from the airlines calling on Congress to ban oil speculation. Never mind that everyone who knows what they’re talking about — including liberal Paul Krugman — agrees that speculation isn’t driving up the price of oil. This is another prime example of how Big Business hates the free market; hates it. What the airlines want is for them to be able to speculate (through strategic buying) but not let anyone else do it.

The problem with critiques of McCain’s positions on issues is that he’s going to have a Democratic Congress. His proposals are completely irrelevant. The only reason to vote for him is to block the Democrats from doing anything stupid.

That might just be enough reason.

For the nausea-inducing Helms’ tributes, you can’t do better than Rush Limbaugh.

Jesse Helms died on the Fourth of July, the very day that John Adams and Thomas Jefferson passed away. And of course with the media, like here’s the AP: “Jesse Helms, Polarizer, Not a Compromiser.” Jesse Helms, a polarizer, not a compromiser. Was Ted Kennedy a polarizer? Ted Kennedy doesn’t compromise. Chuck Schumer doesn’t compromise. And of course in every story about Jesse Helms, “whether you agreed with him or not,” it says, whether you agreed with him or not, Jesse Helms was XYZ. So Jesse Helms died on July the 4th, the same day as John Adams, whether you agreed with him or not, the same day as Thomas Jefferson, whether you agreed with him or not. But Jesse Helms, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, these three Americans had something more in common than the date that they left us. And that is, they believed in things. They said what they believed, and then they stood for what they believed. None of this moving-to-the-center stuff. None of this nuance stuff. None of this “on the other hand,” or “but.”

This is absurd. The entire second episode of the John Adams series — which Rush was praising recently — is about the back-door dealing to ensure that the Declaration of Independence was passed unanimously, not rammed down the throats of unwilling states. The entire sixth episode is about Adams trying to stay out of party politics and avoid a war. I could just imagine the Limbaughs of 1800 saying that Adams was weak for avoiding war with France. In fact, they did say that.

Adams, Jefferson (and Madison, who also died on the 4th) were not hate-spewing, opposition-crushing bigots, like Helms was. They weren’t even close.

The lauding of the late Jesse Helms has been dreadful to listen to. Some perspective can be had at Reason.com here and here. This man did a lot to sabotage the Reagan Revolution. People wonder why they only draw 10% support among blacks and why free market economics became confounded with bigotry.

I have to wonder if this chatter about Obama nominating Hillary for SCOTUS is a trap laid by the Senator. If she gets nominated, the Republicans will throw all the pent-up mud they’ve been building for 16 years at her. She not only won’t get the post, she’ll be finished politically.

You know, these laws forbidding people from leaving the US for tax reasons make me nervous. People are Americans by choice, not force.

You know, it’s shit like this that makes me want to vote for Obama, just to piss those assholes off.

I supported the nutrition label requirements initially. But Balko makes me think twice about it.

Then there are the lawsuits. When McDonalds voluntarily agreed to post its nutritional information on the Web several years, it wasn’t long at all before the nutrition fanatics at the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) attacked the company because a couple of McDonalds employees served covert CSPI reps overly large ice cream cones.

Earlier this month, a Seattle firm filed a class action suit against the Applebee’s chain because of what the firm says were errors in its nutritional menu labeling. Days later, the same firm filed a similar suit in Texas, this time aimed at the Brinker chain, which owns brands such as Chili’s and Macaroni Grill. Of course, if these restaurants deliberately mislabeled nutritional information or didn’t bother to accurately test food labeled as “healthy,” they should be held accountable.

But it’s also impossible to make the same dish the exact same way every time. Such is the reason why large chains test the same dish multiple times to arrive at an average. But if you’re looking for a reason to sue, you’re only going to include in your claim the chains that served dishes that came out over the posted data, not under.

This is the main reason why restaurants have been reluctant to provide nutritional information in the first place. An extra pat of butter, an extra dash of salt, a substitution here or there, or even a generous chef who — God forbid — decides to give a customer a generous portion, can now mean multimillion-dollar class action lawsuits.

These menu-labeling bills have put restaurants in a no-win predicament. Their best bet is to mechanize their kitchens and to take all variety and spontaneity out of their menus — which isn’t exactly a good outcome for consumers. And you can bet that when the latest round of menu-labeling bills fails to make us any skinnier, the nutrition activists will start taking aim at the smaller chains and independent restaurants too.

Actually, I think massive lawsuits are the point, no?

The government is talking about building houses out of straw. Really. ‘Cuz it’s sustainable.