Democrats and Iranian Riots
A man shows the damage to a gas station which was
destroyed in northwest Tehran on Wednesday.
Photo Credit: Raheb Homavandi / Reuters
Here's a warning to Democrats:
LATimes
Gas rationing triggers unrest in IranTEHRAN -- Demonstrators took to the streets and torched at least a dozen gas stations after the surprise start of gasoline rationing early this morning, Iranian news agencies and witnesses reported.
Under a plan to curb rapidly increasing domestic consumption of Iran's limited supply of gasoline, the government of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad implemented a program that limits motorists to 26.4 gallons a month at the subsidized priced of 42 cents per gallon.
...
Motorists rushed to gas stations to fill up before the plan went into effect. Angry mobs in the capital set gas stations afire. A spokesman for the fire department told the daily World of Industry newspaper that 21 gas stations were burned down, but a source at the Gas Station Owners syndicate told the same paper the number was 16 and others cited the figure 12....
Ahmadinejad, a self-styled populist, came to power in 2005 on a platform of bringing a larger share of the country's immense oil wealth "to the tablecloths" of Iran's ordinary people, who are under tremendous economic pressure because of inflation and stagnant government wages.
Instead, Ahmadinejad's administration has imposed its conservative religious ideology on the country and stepped up the country's anti-Western and anti-Israeli foreign policy agenda. This week, Ahmadinejad renewed his controversial prediction that the state of Israel would soon meet its end.
That's interesting: The Democrats also came to power promising great things, but instead stepped up their anti-American and anti-Israeli foreign policy agenda. A word to the wise.
By the way, Iran is the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter but because of its lack of refining capacity, it has to import 40% of its gasoline!
While there has been a worldwide jump in new drivers in the emerging car markets in India, China, and the former Warsaw pact countries, American refiners have been holding back increasing refining capacity; imported gasoline, for example, now accounts for about 10% of domestic supplies. It's bad enough that we have to import oil, it's worse that we can't refine all we need for our own use or export some to the emerging economies of the world.
So why don't we have new refineries going up?
Kiplinger
8 Jun 2007,
Get Used to Gas Price Run-UpsWhat's holding refiners back? For one thing, they're wary of overinvesting, given the volatile nature of the energy markets. Refiners have seen margins suddenly shrink in reaction to oil price spikes or unexpected dips in gasoline use. That creates a general fear of commitment when it comes to building large, capital-intensive refineries. The proliferation of environmental regulations around the country, requiring different fuel mixes in different regions, also has made refinery building more complicated.
Coaxing by Congress to boost refinery construction won't do much good, at least in the short term. Lawmakers have eased some restrictions, reducing the federal paperwork required to obtain permits to build and operate new refineries. But refiners still have to slog through the state and local permitting process and deal with possible legal challenges by local governments and citizens. Refiners also are bracing for a host of new regulations aimed at cutting emissions of greenhouse gases, and operators don't want to commit funds before they know what to expect.
...
The average U.S. refinery was built 30 years ago and, even with careful maintenance, is vulnerable to outages. Indeed, refinery accidents have been epidemic in the U.S. and Europe this year, adding to tightness in the gasoline and diesel markets.
Indeed, the refining industry has closed 50 refineries since the 1990s because it would have been prohibitive to make them comply with pollution laws and not one single new refinery has been built since the 70s. It will only get worse. If the Gorites take control of Congress we can expect Global Warming concerns to make building new refineries completely impossible. $30/gallon gasoline, anyone?
Of course, the liberal approach is to demand more regulations and to blame the problem on the producers.
Others blogging:
Don Surber,
Gas riotsGee, maybe they could try this "free market” thing I have been hearing about. Charge people the true cost of gasoline and watch them conserve.
Instead, not only does the Iranian government not tax gasoline, it subsidies it to the tune of picking up 80% of the price.
Of course, Government vehicles aren't so harshly rationed:
demediacraticnation,
Iran Beano Use Up; Gas ShortageThe rationing amounts according to IRNA:
private cars which cannot use compressed natural gas (CNG) would get 100 liters of petrol a month, and those with CNG would get 30 liters.
Government Cars? 10 liters per day.
Debbie hopes this is the beginning of the end for Madman Mahmoud:
Right Truth,
Iran, the emperor has no clothesCould this be the start of an uprising by the Iranian people against President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad? We can only hope. Former U.S. Ambassador John Bolton on Iran:
Worse still, according to Ambassador Bolton, the Bush administration does not recognize the urgency of the hour and that the options are now limited to only the possibility of regime change from within or a last-resort military intervention, and it is still clinging to the dangerous and misguided belief that sanctions can be effective.
And can Sally Quinn be any more of an idiot than she already is? What's wrong with a war with Iran? We should have bitch-slapped Iran before we went to Iraq so that they wouldn't be able to supply arms as they do now to the insurgents.
The Knucklehead of the Day award goes to Sally Quinn. She gets the award for the following:
Washington Post, A GOP Plan To Oust Cheney
The big question right now among Republicans is how to remove Vice President Cheney from office. Even before this week’s blockbuster series in The Post, discontent in Republican ranks was rising.
As the reputed architect of the war in Iraq, Cheney is viewed as toxic, and as the administration’s leading proponent of an attack on Iran, he is seen as dangerous. As long as he remains vice president, according to this thinking, he has the potential to drag down every member of the party — including the presidential nominee — in next year’s elections.
An interesting question is why has Bush allowed foreign oil companies to do business with Iran?
Thoughts of American Infidel
27 Jun 2007,
DAR AL HARB - U.S.A.: CONGRESS MOVES TO ATTACK FOREIGN ENERGY COMPANIES THAT DO BUSINESS WITH IRAN... the new bill would close a loophole that has allowed the administration of President George W. Bush to waive sanctions against foreign energy companies that continue to court lucrative deals in Iran.
In the absence of the US energy giants, European and Japanese companies have enjoyed the lion's share of the exploration and distribution of oil and natural gas from Iran.
The House committee's chairman, Tom Lantos, accused the Bush administration of "abusing its waiver authority and other flexibility in the law" by never sanctioning any foreign oil company that has invested in Iran.
