Assorted links and news

1) We keep hearing that our government wants "affordable" housing yet it continues to attempt to prop up housing prices by using money it doesn't have. What a waste. Let prices fall already. The sooner they do, the sooner the economy bounces back. Instead, we have the Obama regime trying to reverse a waterfall.

2) Fidel Castro endorses Obamacare. Great minds think alike.

3) If you haven't heard the latest from Venezuela, liberal icon and Code Pink fave, Hugo Chavez arrested Guillermo Zuloaga, president of Globovision Television, the only remaining television station on public airwaves critical of Hugo Chavez. Also arrested was lawmaker Wilmer Azuaje for being a critic of the Chavez regime.

Colombian Special Forces strike FARC again

From the LA Times--Armed forces disguised as rebels Wednesday rescued former Colombia presidential candidate Ingrid Betancourt, three U.S. defense contractors and 11 other hostages held by leftist insurgents, in a daring operation that delivered the latest in a series of blows to the country's largest anti-government force.

The 46-year-old Betancourt, who was held for more than six years, called the rescue operation impeccable and told reporters that she planned to run for the presidency again.

Comment: I read in the WSJ that the disguised Colombian soldiers were wearing Che Guevara t-shirts. The rebels were easily duped by that ruse. I wonder if Americans (the ones that live around my very own community) that wear those same t-shirts know that Che Guevara was a cold blooded murderer. Or that he was an ally to such brutal butchers as Pierre Mulele and Laurent Kabila. In any case, this is a win for the good guys and another blow to Hugo Chavez and all leftist groups everywhere that sympathize with FARC and Chavez.

Venezuela: Land of 12-cent gasoline

From Business Week

Global oil prices zoomed up to $135 a barrel this past week. But that doesn't worry Roberto Morales, a 33-year-old Venezuelan businessman. Morales, who drives a compact Volkswagen Gol, still pays only $1.32 to fill up his car with 11 gallons of high-octane gasoline, thanks to Venezuela's subsidized fuel price.

"This is crazy but I'm not complaining," says Morales. "Gasoline here is cheaper than water."

Comment: If countries like Venezuela, China, Saudi Arabia and many others ended their subsidizing of gasoline for their respective populations, I’m sure that it would curb global demand with current crude oil prices. Of course, that would also mean big problems for the ruling regimes in these countries. Let’s just say that subsidies for gasoline in these countries aren't going to be dropped anytime soon.

VH news roll for Monday.

Hugo Chavez threatens to expropriate steelmaker Sidor because he doesn’t want to pay what the shareholders are asking for; this is not a good way to entice foreign investment in your country, Chavy.

In a world spooked by climate change, an old technology is being entertained for long distance travel--zeppelin’s. It would only take (gasp!)40 hours from N.Y.C. to London. Don’t sit me next to the screaming kid, please.

Texas wants a reprieve from bio-fuel standards: More proof that corn ethanol is a disaster.

The Milton Friedman Prize

Congratulations to Yon Goicoechea for being a thorn in Hugo Chavez’ side.

Chavez nationalizes cement industry

From the Associated Press:

"President Hugo Chavez on Thursday ordered the nationalization of Venezuela's cement industry, saying his government cannot allow businesses to continue exporting raw materials needed to help tackle a domestic housing shortage."

"Prior to Thursday's nationalization order, Chavez had already moved to nationalize Venezuela's largest telecommunications company and the electricity sector, slap new taxes on the rich and impose greater state control over the oil and natural gas industries."

Comment: Well, it looks like Chavez continues to turn the thumbscrews on his economy and his people. Nationalizing the cement industry will have short term benefits but will create shortages, inefficiencies, and it will cost the government a pretty penny. This is just another item that Chavez has added to the public debt. How long do you want to bet that cement output starts to decrease after nationalization? Look how much oil production has dropped off after that industry went public and Chavez pushed out some of the private companies.

And in other news regarding Chavez from the Times Colonist:

"Venezuela is preparing a "windfall" oil tax to boost the OPEC nation's revenues from record crude prices, only months after leftist President Hugo Chavez's nationalization crusade forced out two of the world's largest energy companies."

"The move extends Chavez's broad campaign to boost state control over oil operations that led to legal battles with Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips and helped spark a wave of resource nationalism throughout the Andes."

'"Because of high oil prices, oil companies have excessive earnings that go beyond reasonable levels of profitability," Legislator Angel Rodriguez told state news agency ABN."

Comment: Chavez and House Democrats (and some Republicans too) have something in common when it comes to “windfall” profit taxes. Great minds think alike, eh?

Venezuela is a socialist utopia?

From The Christian Science Monitor

“The "hot corner" stands in the center of Caracas, in Plaza Bolívar. It's a makeshift booth papered with fliers that marks itself as the "launching point to the revolution." There militants rail against imperialism and greedy Yankees all day.”

“Until recently, they didn't have anywhere to go. Socialism was in retreat, "revolutions" scarce. Then along came Mr. Chávez and his gambit to forge a "21st century socialism." Suddenly, Caracas is the new leftwing petri dish. "This is the most interesting social experiment in the world taking place today," says Fred Fuentes, an Australian who moved to Caracas last July, as he sips from a mug with the government motto "Rumbo al Socialismo" (On the way to Socialism). "Venezuela is the key place to be observing."’

Comment: In the spring of last year university students started to turn on the Chavez regime with protests against the government decision to deny a popular television station its license. The TV station never got its license back but it spurned the students to turn up the heat on the regime with six months of demonstrations. Of course, the demonstrations didn’t stop Chavez from trying to mangle the country’s constitution by introducing a referendum later in the year. The constitutional re-write would have given Chavez dictatorial powers.

And then there’s the latest escapade regarding Chavez and the Colombian terrorist group FARC. It turns out that Chavez has been funding the terrorist organization and giving it additional support by allowing the group a safe haven in Venezuela. Several weeks ago, when Colombian forces bombed a FARC camp a mile inside Ecuador, Chavez quickly reacted as if the incident had happened in his own territory: He reacted before the Ecuadorians did. Chavez sent troops to the border and rattled his saber. It was all obviously an attempt to distract the Venezuelan population from the mounting issues in their country.

Inflation in Venezuela (2007) is roughly at 22.5%, the highest in Latin America, and far higher than the 17% mark the year before, despite state-imposed price controls. And due to the price controls, there is now food shortage. Such items as milk, eggs, rice, and beef are scarce and are to be found, in some cases, only on the black market. Crime in Caracas is at an all time high and garbage collection goes unattended.

Yet, despite all of these issues, there are plenty of radical romantics from the far left that will overlook these stark problems. Even if the situation starts to become ripe for civil unrest and suffering, these leftist radicals will continue to believe that redistribution equals justice and equality. The sclerosis that socialism has started to inflict on Venezuelan society is palpable. One hopes that Venezuelans rise up against the repressiveness of Chavez socialism and create a free private enterprise exchange economy: A system that they have never, in their history, enjoyed. And on that day, the leftists and their terrible ideas will go home forever.

Cartoon del Dia

From the Detroit News.

Chavez is on the move! Part 2

"’I used to believe in [Mr. Chávez], when I still believed he'd do what he promised,’ says Norelys Rangel, a lifelong resident here. Instead, she says, she often can't find milk or rice. In fact, she says, life has gotten harder.”

“Petare and other neighborhoods like it are still very much Chávez territory, but signs of his waning support in those areas highlights a broader trend. Despite the country's vast oil wealth and near record oil prices, Venezuelans are complaining about product shortages, crime, and high inflation.”

It seems that the escapades that Chavez is putting his nation through is starting to wear thin; Venezuelans are starting to figure out that Chavez and his “Bolivarian Revolution” is not what it’s cracked up to be. Read the full story at the The Christian Science Monitor

Chavez is on the move!

It looks like Hugo Chavez has decided to rattle his saber. He has ordered troops to the Venezuelan/Colombian border threatening to support the FARC terrorists that have had a knack for kidnapping innocent Colombian and Venezuelan citizens for large ransoms. I suspect that Mr. Chavez is trying to distract his population from the dire issues that plague them on a day to day basis: Food shortages, high inflation, high crime and garbage that goes uncollected in Caracas. Read the MSNBC article HERE