[movermike] movermike: "What's wrong with Socialism?"

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Posted by movermike:
"What's wrong with Socialism?"
http://www.movermike.com/posts/1177180068.shtml


   How do you answer the question my friends asked, "What's wrong with
   Socialism?" I don't have a canned elevator spiel on the problems, but
   I was reminded of the question today. I received am email from
   NewsMax.com with the headline of a story: [1]Ethanol Boom Could Boost
   US Natural Gas Prices. I have posted about ethanol before, [2]here,
   and I was interested in the subject.

   You will recall that the meddling began as the government "offered
   farmers millions of dollars in incentives to produce the fuel in an
   attempt to cut imports of foreign oil." Interfering in the market is
   where the problems began. Besides the inefficiencies of ethanol in our
   cars, using corn began to have an effect on corn prices as we consumed
   food for fuel. Higher prices for corn are great for farmers, but
   already Mexican peasents are feeling the price impact on corn prices
   for corn-based foods.The article states that "farmers this year are
   planning to plant a bumper crop of corn, possibly the most since World
   War II. Corn fields consume large amounts of fertilizer, the ammonia
   of which comes from natural gas." In addition, 78 ethanol plants are
   under construction and seven undergoing expansion. "If all the new
   plants and expansions come on line, total capacity will be above 12
   billion gallons per year, according to the Renewable Fuels
   Association.

   Up to 95 percent of U.S. ethanol plants use natural gas boilers"

   So now the government's meddling has created two new demands for
   natural gas and demand causes the price to go up if supply is limited.
   Which it is. Here's a chart of Natural Gas ([3]see chart). You can see
   that the price has been contained under $8.00 for most of 2006 and
   2007. It appears to me that it is getting ready to move back to the
   $10.00-$12.00 area. Here are some of the uses for Natural Gas:

   Furnaces
   Pool and Spa Heaters
   Clothes Dryers
   Outdoor Lights
   Barbecues
   Water Heaters
   Stoves/Ranges
   Fireplace Logs
   Patio Heaters and Fire Pits

   When winter comes and the poor can't pay for the higher prices of
   natural gas, who do you suppose is going to pick up the tab?

   Here's another problem, production of natural gas peaked in 1970,
   despite higher prices and increased drilling:
   [USNatGasProdution1900-2005.gif]
   The six largest countries in order of Proved reserves (trillion cu
   ft)of Natural Gas are

    1. Russia 1,680
       Iran 971
       Qatar 911
       Saudi Arabia 241
       United Arab Emirates 214
       United States 193

   Seems to me the end result is heavier demand and greater reliance on
   the very countries that we swore we would cut imports of foreign oil.

   Socialists turn to government to solve short term problems and don't
   bother to think of the long term consequences. What happens if
   corn-based products go up in price? Socialists want to step in and
   subsidize or tax or resort to price controls.

   Ethanol is a boondoggle. It is bad for the environment, bad for our
   cars and bad for our pocketbooks. If the government would stay the
   hell out, we would see higher prices for oil and gas which in turn
   would inspire creative solutions, like [4]Zero Point Energy
   applications. More on that later.

   [5]Socialism [6]Natural Gas [7]Ethanol [8]Corn [9]fertilizer [10]Mover
   Mike

References

   1. http://newsmax.com/money/archives/st/2007/4/19/163320.cfm?MN=1&promo_code=32BB-1&s=al
   2. http://www.movermike.com/posts/1170819112.shtml
   3. http://futures.tradingcharts.com/chart/NG/W
   4. http://www.zpenergy.com/index.php
   5. http://technorati.com/tag/Socialism
   6. http://technorati.com/tag/Natural+Gas
   7. http://technorati.com/tag/Ethanol
   8. http://technorati.com/tag/Corn
   9. http://technorati.com/tag/fertilizer
  10. http://technorati.com/tag/Mover+Mike