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Today the Senate voted to take the next steps in passing a bill that would essentially try and remove speculation from the oil markets. However, does the Senate have any idea what they are even talking about?

In watching some of this unfold today, it’s quite clear that this bill is going to serve as the base for a variety of additions and negotiations, which means it’s probably something that the Republicans might actually compromise on, if they get their carrots.

The biggest impetus for this bill was the skyrocketing costs of oil over the past few months. According to CNN.com, Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND) is convinced that speculation is responsible for 71% of the increase in the price of oil.

Who actually believes that 71% of our increasing oil prices are based on the actions of investor? Anyone?

I think John Birger explains this well in an article at money.cnn.com,  Don’t blame the oil ’speculators’, where he examines the ludicrous accusations that speculators are playing a “huge” role in the increase of the price of oil.

One segment from the article:

Bad public policy

If our representatives did understand the oil markets, they’d know that the true telltale sign of a speculative bubble is not rising trading volumes but rising oil inventories. Speculators would be hoarding oil - building up inventories either in anticipation of higher prices or as part of a scheme to drive prices there. Yet according to the Department of Energy, U.S. oil inventories are now at below-average levels. U.S. oil stocks stand at 309 million barrels, versus 330 million in June 2005.

So far, lawmakers have introduced nine different bills targeting oil speculators, though for the most part their prescriptions have been milder than their over-the-top rhetoric .

Bashing futures traders may well be good politics, but it’s stupid public policy. By providing a mechanism for locking in prices, the futures market makes it easier for oil companies to make costly investments in new production - which is the key to lowering prices at the pump.

Futures trading also discourages hoarding in an otherwise tight market. Without speculators willing to take the other side of so many futures contracts, oil refiners and other end-users might be inclined to ramp up their spot-market purchases and store more oil as a hedge against further price increases.

And, of course, any increased draw on current supplies would lead to even higher oil and gasoline prices. Indeed, without a futures market, I believe we’d be decrying oil at $200 a barrel oil instead of oil at $135.

I encourage everyone to read Birgers complete article, because I think it sums up the real issues so well.

Honestly, I’m quite shocked to see Senator Dorgan be so aggressive in pushing this legislation. After all, he is one of the few members of the Senate who I would have guessed would be most qualified to oppose the very claims he is making. Senator Dorgan has an MBA from U of Denver, was the tax commissioner for North Dakota, is the chairman of the Subcommittee on Energy and is also the chairman of the Subcommittee on Interstate Commerce, Trade and Tourism. You would hope that any one of these positions would have given him more understanding on this issue.

But, I guess sometimes politics surpasses knowledge.

For more details on this bill, please checkout TheOilDrum.com, where they have been covering this extensively, and are providing excellent analysis of the more complex issues regarding speculation.

I’ve seen a lot of crazy things, and have met many interesting people since I moved to Washington, D.C. However, not even my wildest of dreams would I be able to come up with some of the crazy things people do here to look their best.

CNN.com reports:

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia (AP) — Ready for the latest in spa pampering? Prepare to dunk your tootsies in a tank of water and let tiny carp nibble away.

Fish pedicures are creating something of a splash in the D.C. area, where a northern Virginia spa has been offering them for the past four months. John Ho, who runs the Yvonne Hair and Nails salon with his wife, Yvonne Le, said 5,000 people have taken the plunge so far.

Very odd.

Brian Beutler, a well-known progressive blogger, was shot and seriously injured during a mugging last night in Washington, D.C. One bullet damaged Beutler’s spleen, and he had it removed during surgery this morning at the Washington Hospital Center. He’s expected to make a “pre-trauma” recovery, which is to say, a completely full recovery.

While I wouldn’t consider Beutler and I to be on the same ideological plane, it’s still crazy to think that even in your own community, people as harmless as bloggers are even susceptible to the shootings that have plagued the city.

I wish Brian and his family the best during this ordeal.

digg story

Eerie video of a giant panda showing up at Senator Chris Dodd’s house in DC. Looks like he had an agenda: exposing Dodd’s Countrywide Financial scandal. Watch the video!

read more | digg story

Even before gas prices started to inch near the $4.00 mark, one of the hot items in Washington has been a Democrat-pushed effort to try and pass a “windfall profit tax” on big oil companies.

If you work on the Hill or read the news regularly, odds are you’ve heard the concept of this tax tossed around dozens of times. However, one thing that you never hear when this is discussed is what does “windfall profits” actually mean?

Yes, I know that this effort has been blocked by Republicans in the Senate (thanks, guys), however I’m quite confident that this isn’t the last you’re going to see of this, or something similar. Take note that Harry Reid voted against this bill, just so they would have the issue back on the floor.

So the question what are “windfall profits?”

Instead of me trying to explain it, I think the Economist does it best:

A controversial concept, often used by politicians to justify imposing a tax on profit that in theory is earned unexpectedly, through circumstances beyond the control of the company concerned, and is thus deemed undeserved and ripe for the taking by the tax authorities. As the profits were neither expected nor a result of the efforts of the firm, taxing them should not harm the firm’s incentives to maximize future profits.

The problem comes when greedy politicians start claiming that profits are windfalls when in fact they are deserved and expected. Then taxing them sends a signal to firms that they should not try too hard to make profits, as if they do too well they will not get to keep the profits anyway. If this became widely believed, effort would probably decline and economic growth would be slower.

Why on earth would the government ever want to present a proposal that would suggest that if something happens beyond your control and you make money on it, you should be taxed more excessively than if they were planned occurrences? Since when was America about the government telling you what profit is reasonable?

To make this issue resonate and make it more comfortable amongst constituents, Democrats paint a nice picture of these tax dollars going towards advancements in energy independence. They make it sound like taxing evil big oil is going to save the world and reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

If it wasn’t so ridiculous, their logic would be funny to me. From what I gather, the Democrats model to energy independence runs something like this:

1. Excessively tax oil companies who happen to make a profit off of selling a product to American consumers.
2. Prevent any attempts to tap into American oil reserves
3. Propose some ridiculous new government program
4. Blame the Republicans for our current energy and economic problems
5. Take a long recess

Both House and Senate Democrats (and even a few Republicans) need to get together and take a crash course in basic economic concepts. The principles of supply and demand are very powerful, and it should be no surprise to anyone that they play more of a factor in the price of oil than any executive.

Instead of listening to what the pundits are saying about the price of oil, I recommend that anyone who is interested in this issue start following what the business news channels are saying. For example, here is what you won’t hear the pundits talk about:

Citigroup raised its 2008 oil price forecast to $117 from $95 a barrel, and boosted its estimate for 2009 to $122 from $88 a barrel, citing fundamental reasons for the upward trend, driven by continued erosion of non-OPEC supply estimates, and the fact that demand, while softening, is by no means falling low enough to materially offset tightening supply. (Source: BusinessWeek.com)

When you follow the business side of the news, you often see things from a different perspective than what is being presented to you by the network news. Furthermore, if you follow international headlines, like this one from two weeks ago:

Nigerian militants warn of attacks on oil facilities

You’ll start to get a better glimpse into why we’re in the position we’re in today, as well as a better argument for why we should start tapping into some of the oil that we have here as a means to offset these unpredictable situations that are increasing the price we pay at the pump.

I know that there is a lot more to this issue; however, I’ve noticed that there are a lot of people, including many Hill staffers and Members of Congress who have resorted to simply using the talking points that the majority leadership has put together, without addressing the real issues we’re facing.

Sadly, the only reason that their talking points are able to work is because the American public is so uninformed, and reliant on news outlets to digest complex stories for them.

Maybe $5.00 per gallon gasoline will lead people to start doing their homework?

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Of course, I can’t write about oil and gas prices without providing a shameless plug to a great petition that I urge you all to sign: GasPriceProtest.com

There is no doubt that we are embarking on what could be one of the most contentious elections that most people living today have ever seen.

Already, attack ads are flying from both sides, and from campaigns to 527 organizations, each entity has started going after the various flaws and slip-ups of their opponents.

Today, CNN is reporting that the Republican National Committee is fighting to have ads released by the Democratic National Convention pulled off of the air, because they are ‘misleading.’

I’m sure next week the DNC will have a slew of ads that they want taken off of the air, and this is just going to be an ongoing cycle of bickering from both of the national organizations.

While I believe that the RNC is right for going after these ads that are in fact misleading, there have been some bigger problems that I’ve been noticing that I think need to be addressed before the RNC and the McCain campaign spend their resources on these inevitable things.

Once Mitt Romney suspended his campaign, I immediately contacted the McCain Headquarters to sign up to volunteer, since the campaign office is located in Arlington, VA, only a few miles from my home.

It would seem safe to assume that the national headquarters for the presumptive Republican nominee for President of the United States would be a place that is booming with activity, opening their doors early and closing late, making sure they make contact with all time-zones, and after that get the necessary campaign collateral put together.

Having worked on a variety of House, Senate and local campaigns, the campaign headquarters is usually the one spot where you could assume that they always needed help from volunteers. It’s usually a common mantra amongst campaign managers to tell their volunteers that if they find themselves with some free time, to come by the campaign office.

Even if there isn’t work planned, they’ll find something for them to do.

These are things that I thought were universal in the campaign world; however I’ve noticed that when it comes to trying to build a strong volunteer base at the national headquarters, the McCain campaign is doing it all wrong.

I truly believe that if they don’t fix their current program and launch a more flexible volunteer program ASAP, they simply won’t have the manpower they need to run a national campaign come November.

Currently, this is how the McCain volunteer outreach seems to work: when they need you, they’ll send you an email. However, instead of creating a variety of flexible opportunities, this is what McCain campaign sends potential volunteers when asking for help:

“If this is the first time you are getting this, and you are able to come in and help, please RSVP to do so – PLEASE DO NOT JUST SHOW UP.”

To anyone who has been to the McCain office will know that this place is massive, so its not as if they are worries about losing space. But, for some reason they don’t seem to want to open their doors on a full time basis.

While that bothers me, I guess I can understand why they would want people to RSVP first. But what is even more troubling is this:

“Volunteers are welcome between 10 and 7 during the week days and 12 and 4 on Saturday.”

Honestly, what person who works in DC is even home by 7pm? There is no reason why they shouldn’t have their offices open later, especially if they are just looking for help on simple things, like putting signs together, doing mailings, packets, etc.

Washington, DC, without a doubt is home to some of the best campaigners and college campuses in the country, and even though most of these people are employed outside of politics, they are still die-hards who are willing to help if given the opportunity.

Just out of curiosity, I called the Hillary Clinton headquarters which is also located in Arlington, seeing how they operated their volunteer program in their national office. When I called, I was asked what times I was available, what I was interested in doing and where I lived.

Very quickly was I provided with a variety of opportunities to help the campaign, and yes, their hours went beyond 7pm.

Now, I have absolutely no intention of volunteering at the Hillary Clinton HQ, but their willingness to accommodate to volunteers should be noted.

The DNC is doing a great job getting people mobilized. I’ve seen them on the streets of DC and Arlington, and I’ve also seen the same for the Clinton and Obama campaigns. Sadly, I’ve seen nothing from the RNC and/or McCain camp.

If the RNC and McCain campaign doesn’t start rolling out their mobilization efforts soon, I’m afraid that many volunteers are going to be turned off from helping, simply because they see the massive army that the left has amassed.

Recruiting volunteers is probably the easiest part of a campaign, however, if you don’t engage them immediately, the odds of them helping out when you really need them are quite slim.

Celebrity McCain supporters make their way to DC

I’m not normally one to get caught up in pop culture, but when Heidi Montag, feux-celebrity from MTV’s “The Hills” stated that she was supporting John McCain for President, I couldn’t help but keep an eye on this story.

As anyone in DC knows, a few days ago was the White House Correspondents dinner, which usually has a variety of celebrities representing various causes and/or political agendas.

This year was no different, Pamela Anderson was there promoting animal rights, as a guest of PETA and Jenny McCarthy was there promoting a march that she was organizing in June.

Then of course there are your random musicians, like the Jonas Brothers, who usually are just invited by their labels or agents to get some good PR.

But this year just got weirder when Heidi Montag and her weird boyfriend Spencer Pratt showed up as guests of Fortune Magazines editor, Andy Serwer. While Heidi and Spencer are definitely an odd couple, finding out that there is a connection between those two and Fortune Magazine is even more baffling.

Anyway, here are some shots of them being tourists in DC. If you live in DC, you probably find these pictures just as obnoxious as I do, but some of you might find it interesting.

Despite Heidi Montag’s support for Senator McCain, I somehow doubt she made any effort to swing by the Headquarters to make some phone calls.

(Images via celebrity-gossip.net)

Click here for more DC pictures

Well it looks like the potential of a lot of drunken Republicans inside the Beltway watching John McCain accept the nomination at the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis has increased significantly.

From the Politico:

The NFL announced today that the 2008 season will kick-off on Thursday, Sep. 4th — the same night McCain is set to accept the GOP nomination at the convention in the Twin Cities.

Per ESPN, the game will start 90 minutes earlier because of the convention.

But given that it pits the world champion New York Giants versus America’s team, the Washington Redskins, Republicans can’t be happy about what will inevitably distract attention from the penultimate night of their convention.

I personally think that this could create an interesting dynamic at the bars on Capitol Hill and inside the Beltway. Get everyone liquored up and then put on the Republican National Convention. How else would one want to spend a Thursday night?

One of the real treats about living in DC is the fact that there is always something new opening up around the city. Whether that be a new exhibit, or even a new museum, there is almost always something to do and/or check out.

Unfortunately, since I moved here in February of 2007, I haven’t taken as much advantage of the “touristy” attractions in the city as I would have liked, however this past weekend I was invited to check out the new Newseum, located on 5th and Pennsylvania a few weeks before it officially opened.

Right off the back, I strongly urge any and every blogger who is interested in learning more about how the media has progressed over the years and where it is going, to make the Newseum a stop the next time they are in DC.

The Newseum has 6 floors packed with hands-on exhibits, incredible archives and a handful of theaters, including a 4-D theater that in less than 10 minutes gives an extremely impressive depiction of how important the media has been in shaping our lives and more importantly, our country. The additional dimension makes it even more enjoyable for even those who are usually hard to please (like myself).

Even though the theaters were impressive, the one exhibit that I enjoyed the most was News Corporation’s “News History Gallery,” which had original copies of newspapers chronicling some of the most important events to happen in the history of the United States, dating all the way back to the 1700’s. It’s quite impressive to see how even in the last 10 years, newspapers have significantly evolved, but it’s even more impressive to see the evolution over the last 300 years.

Another exciting feature that the Newseum has is an incredibly large series of sections from the Berlin Wall. Unlike most museums, you could actually get up close to the wall, take pictures and examine the messages, which were surprisingly all in English. Aside from the Berlin Wall, the Newseum also has a 3 story guard tower that visitors can step into.

Finally, one of the more somber parts of the Newseum was their 9/11 gallery, which includes what appeared to be a large sculpture which was originally a 40? section of the broadcast antenna that was atop World Trade Center Tower 1 (thanks to DHH for the clarification), and along the walls are hundreds of newspapers from across the globe with their headlines from that day. Even though I’ve seen most of those front pages online previously, seeing them again takes you back in time to wherever you were when you first heard about the attacks. It’s definitely a powerful exhibit. Rightfully so, there is no photography allowed in this part of the Newseum.

I definitely recommend the Newseum to anyone who is interested in the media, it’s history and more importantly, its future.

The links below are some additional pictures I took at the Newseum (on each page, click image to view full-size image).

View from the top of the Newseum

Famous Typos from the Newseum

Hanging Chad’s!

News Corp.’s News History Gallery

It looks like it’s going to be another great summer full of Dave Matthews Band shows. Just at quick glance, it looks like there is a handful of shows that are within a 3-5 hour driving radius of the district:

(from DMBand.com)

•  5/30 - 5/31 - Burgettstown, PA (4.5 hours from DC)
• 6/3 - 6/4 - Camden, NJ (3 hours from DC)
• 6/10 - Scranton, PA (4 hours, 30 minutes from DC)
• 6/27 - Hershey, PA (3 hours from DC)
• 6/28 - Bristow, VA (1 hour from DC)
• 8/7 - Virginia Beach, VA (3 hour, 30 minutes from DC)

As some of you know, Dave Matthews has endorsed Barack Obama for President. I’m curious to see how he will play a role in the election should Obama be the nominee for the Democrats. Dave Matthews Band fans reach across a wide range of demographics, and for many, all it might take to sway them is one well crafted argument from Dave Matthews in the favor of Obama.

However, anyone who has ever been to a DMB show knows very well that many of the people aren’t in their “right mind” before, during and after the concert. Of course, one could argue that such a climate could make any political debate that much more interesting.