Quotes of the Morning: I Am Power!

“I am power!”
-He-Man

“Although spending proved weaker than expected in August as auto purchases plummeted, the decline followed two months in which consumers spent freely. Economists said the fall was not particularly troubling.
‘The drop in August is just a pullback from that earlier surge in spending,’ said Gary Thayer, chief economist at A.G. Edwards and Sons in St. Louis.
The spending decline pushed up the saving rate, the percentage of disposable income saved, to negative 0.7 percent from July's record low of minus 1.1 percent. A negative saving rate shows U.S. consumers eating into their accumulated wealth to spend.”
-CNN Money, September 30, 2005

“Shares on Wall Street are set to open lower on Thursday with concerns over rising inflation weighing while worries surround GM after the automaker was subpoenaed by the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
-Reuters, October 27, 2005

“Wow. Great. Now Americans are only spending .7% more than they make, and still saving nothing for a rainy day despite rising inflation. The economy is doing just swell. Well, they can live off of their oil company stocks if times get tough.”
-Skippy

“Gigantic oil companies generally do not enjoy the best PR.
Pick your poison: Oil companies have caused tanker spills, proposed drilling into the Arctic wildlife ranges, crafted ties to shady nations and meddled in the affairs of others, and produced products that pollute.
Now, even as high gasoline prices continue to anger motorists and aggravate financial problems at General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the oil companies have begun to report record quarterly profit. Yesterday, British energy giant BP PLC reported a $6.53 billion third-quarter profit, up from $4.87 billion in the same period last year. And tomorrow, analysts expect Exxon Mobil Corp. to show that it earned nearly $9 billion over the past three months -- the largest corporate quarterly profit ever.”
-Washington Post, October 26, 2005

“Remember how prices on gasoline shot up past $3 a gallon? It seems that that somehow lead to record profits. There is only one thing to do I guess.. Give them tax breaks. They’re really wealthy now, and we all know that the best way to improve the economy is not to tax people who have money.”
-Skippy

“Meeting the needs of our growing economy also means expanding our domestic production of oil and natural gas, which are vital fuels for transportation and electricity and manufacturing. The energy bill makes practical reforms to the oil and gas permitting process to encourage new exploration in environmentally sensitive ways.
The bill authorizes research into the prospects of unlocking vast amounts of now -- energy now trapped in shale and tar sands. It provides incentives for oil refineries to expand their capacity, and that's consumer-friendly. The more supply, the more reliable your gasoline will be and the more -- less pressure on price.
The bill includes tax incentives to encourage new construction of natural gas pipelines. It clarifies federal authority to site new receiving terminals for liquified natural gas, so that consumers across this nation can benefit from more affordable, clean-burning natural gas.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, August 8, 2005

“But there is a solution for the poor consumer.”
-Skippy

“Steps we're taking will help address the problem of availability, but it's not going to solve it. Americans should be prudent in their use of energy during the course of the next few weeks. Don't buy gas if you don't need it.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, September 1, 2005

“You see, Bush is an oil man. He understands the energy industry and can keep everything sensible and fair.”
-Skippy

“Do you realize we've got 250 million years of coal? “
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, Jun. 8, 2005

“One of the great sources of energy for the future is liquefied natural gas. There's a lot of gas reserves around the world. Gas is -- can only be transported by ship, though, when you liquefy it, when you put it in solid form.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 28, 2005

“I like the idea of people growing corn that gets converted into energy. Somebody walks into the Oval Office and says, there's a lot of corn being grown, Mr. President. Hopefully, that one day will mean we're less dependent on foreign sources of energy. The more corn there is, the more we have to eat. The more corn there is, the more energy there is.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, April 20, 2005

“And so while there's a shortfall because of down refining capacity, we will work with -- we have instructed EPA to leave the rules in place, or to suspend the rules that were in place, keep the suspension in place, which would make it easier to increase supply, and continue to get supply of gasoline here. And that's important for our consumers to know.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, September 26, 2005

“And he knows how to get the best advice.”
-Skippy

“BUSH: I appreciate the Secretary of Energy joining me today. He's a good man, he knows a lot about the subject, you'll be pleased to hear. I was teasing him -- he taught at MIT, and -- do you have a PhD?
SECRETARY OF ENERGY BODMAN: Yes.
BUSH: Yes, a PhD. Now I want you to pay careful attention to this -- he's the PhD, and I'm the C student, but notice who is the advisor and who is the President.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, June 22, 2005

“Thank the Judeo-Christian God that we have him at the helm in these times of trouble.”
-Skippy

“We need a energy policy.”
-George ‘Dubya’ Bush, June 19, 2003