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07/14/2008: "Headlines Galore!"

There are a lot of interesting stories in the news this morning that demand at least a small comment ...

- Bush to lift executive ban on offshore oil drilling

Sorry, George - wrong answer! Why is it every time there's a spike in the cost of oil, some think we can simply drill our way out of it? Are you going to tell me that our coastlines are less valuable today than they were a year ago? Or were they always for sale, just waiting for the right price? Even if they started today, the first oil is 10 years away - making this little more than a political ploy. I agree with the idea of energy independance, but force the oil companies to match every dollar spent on new drilling efforts with money spent on alternative energy sources. Even better - tax the hell out of the windfall profits they're reaping, but instead of sending it to the Feds, force them to spend it on implementing serious programs to develop solar and wind energy generation.

- InBev to buy Anheuser-Busch for $52B

Joe Six-Pack is gonna wake up this morning to a whole new kind of headache - "This Beck's for you, Bud". Frankly, I couldn't care less about who owns A-B from a drinking perspective, as I won't go near any of their product. But this ought to be sounding alarm bells in the business sector - when the value of the dollar goes down, there are suddenly a lot of attractive bargains out there for foreign investors. This won't be the last one, either ...

- Schumer: Don't blame me for IndyMac failure

OK, Chuck, I don't blame you for the failure. But I damned well blame you for the run and the panic and the unnecessary concern by all those IndyMac depositors. Clearly, IMB got itself in trouble, and I'll even accept that the FDIC was right to step in. But if you were really concerned - as a New York senator over a Cali bank - did you really need to voice that concern by press conference? Is there something about being a politician that makes you unable to pick up a frigging telephone and ask someone at the Office of Thrift Supervision what the hell was going on? As a member of the Senate Banking Committee, there's no way you didn't understand the negative impact voicing your concerns publicly would have on IMB - and it's depositors. The idea that you would put making political hay ahead of the financial health of citizens - even those on the opposite side of the country from your constituency - is pathetic.

- Miss Venezuela crowned Miss Universe; Miss USA trips -- again

Good lord - could we please find someone who can walk in high heels?