Worcester County Freedom Trail

First the Dems in DC complain high oil prices are a huge problem and we need to cut back on consumption. We do exactly that and now they’re complaining that low oil prices are going to be a problem. Why? In January 2005, we were paying about $1.85 per gallon of gasoline in New England. In January 2006, we were paying about $2.37. Last month, I was paying over $4.00. Why shouldn’t we be able to go back to those lower price levels without upsetting the entire economy? Get the speculators on to some new commodity and let the market make the corrections it needs to to get oil and gas prices back in line with demand.

Thanks to Linda Caswell for pointing out this “we changed our minds” article from CNN Money:

Oil prices are falling sharply, and that’s good news. But not nearly as good as you might think.

No doubt the drop, down to $120 by mid-day Monday, gives strapped consumers relief at the gas pump. Prices have dropped below $4 a gallon and could be headed toward $3.50, going by trading in wholesale futures markets. Any decline will be welcomed by Americans struggling under the burden of falling house prices, rising layoffs and stagnant wages.

But falling oil prices also suggest that the recession the U.S. has so far avoided is well on its way, as consumers pull back from the spending spree that drove economic growth earlier this decade. A weakening economy will mean more layoffs, further pressuring already reduced spending.

Perhaps the biggest factor behind the recent 18% drop in the price of a barrel of crude is sinking North American demand. Federal Highway Administration data show the number of miles driven in the U.S. dropped from year-ago levels for the seventh straight month in May.

May’s decline was the third-largest monthly drop on record since 1942, says Stephen Schork, editor of the Schork Report energy and shipping newsletter in Villanova, Pa.

Americans are driving 4% less now than they were a year ago, Rosenberg writes, while energy use in inflation-adjusted terms has dropped 2% – an event he calls “extremely rare.”

But this is exactly what politicians and economists wanted, a decrease in consumption. Now that they’ve gotten it, they’ve done a Kerry flip-flop. For goodness sake, make up your mind.

Come on, guys and gals. We told you the budget was too big to begin with.

Instead of dealing with the overspending when they were creating the budget, the legislature went right ahead and overspent to its heart’s content. How can they not get the message? Taxpayers are stretched to the max. Government spending needs to be cut.

Prompted by forecasts of a potential financial fiasco, state lawmakers are eyeing an emergency return to Beacon Hill as soon as October to balance the bloated $28.1 billion budget.

“Most members expect that’s going to happen. We’re going to be back in October to address issues about the budget and economy,” said Sen. Stephen J. Buoniconti (D-Springfield).

Lawmakers would hold an emergency session to grant Gov. Deval Patrick expanded emergency cutting powers to balance the budget.

While Bay State revenues were above expectations in July, it was mainly due to a one-time $80 million payment, said Panagiotakos. The emergency cuts probably wouldn’t effect local aid but could slash into government services, Panagiotakos said. State officials are also deeply concerned about a Medicaid reimbursement for the state’s new Universal Health Care Law worth hundreds of millions in federal dollars that is still in negotiations.

Now here’s some good news from  Sheriff Guy Glodis — his intention to vote for Senator John Kerry’s opponent, Ed O’Reilly.

Guy Glodis, the Worcester County Sheriff who holds significant political sway in central Massachusetts, threw a wrench into the Massachusetts Democratic machine Wednesday, voicing his intention to vote for Ed O’Reilly, the Democrat challenging U.S. Sen. John Kerry.

Jim O’Sullivan of the State House News Service first reported Wednesday that Glodis has chosen to support O’Reilly (D-Gloucester) over Kerry (D-Boston), becoming the first major Democratic politician in the state to do so.

Glodis said he doesn’t “sway easily” but that he has met O’Reilly seven or eight times in the last month and has been moved by O’Reilly’s “tenacity and work ethic.” “He’s earned my vote,” he said. “He’s very pleasant, very personable. I think he’d make a great U.S. senator.”