Leadership from the States??
Ok, there has long been the thought that if there is an issue that affects all citizens of the country, it is a matter best addressed by the Federal Government. However, we all know that the Federal Government is bloated, inefficient, wasteful and generally dysfunctional.
In light of the recent Lunde and Lunsford cases where two young girls were kidnapped and killed by sexual and violent crime offenders that we were supposed to be protected from, many are insisting that the Federal Government compile a list of sexual offenders, thus nationalizing both the offense as well the punishment. Certainly, the crimes are worthy of national recognition as "scumbags," but asking the Federal Government to get involved is likely not the solution.
Did you know that oil refineries in the USA produce something like 37 different grades of gasoline (I recall that it is 37 grades, it could be more, could be less, but the fact is that it is numerous)? Why? Well, each state has passed legislation that details what the specifications of the gasoline should be, usually pursuant to their "Clean Air" legislation. Are the environments of each state that radically different that so many grades of gasoline are needed? Or is this how some bureaucrats justify their existence? Each time a refinery stops production of one grade to shift to another grade, the down time costs money. Further, I am sure that the refineries have to inventory the different grades and thus the management of the inventory costs them money as well. And these costs are not absorbed by Big Oil, they are passed along (presumably profitably) to the consumer. Thus, if you have not yet concluded as such, these different grades cost us money at the pump - in addition to the dollars we're willingly sending to the Saudis.
So how can we get the Federal Government to fix these and other issues? We don't. What we need is leadership from the states. We need a governor who will take a leadership role (perhaps a governor looking to be President some time) and build a consensus among the states. We need someone to take a leader's role and get the states together such that someone takes an issue and solves it. For example, Illinois could take the lead role in compiling and publishing sex offenders from all the states in the union. Also, another state, California? Oregon? could take the lead role in establishing gasoline grades acceptable to all states. It is inconceivable to think that such an effort would yield only three or four grades, but lets presume such an effort could lead to significantly less grades and thus lower prices.
In light of the recent Lunde and Lunsford cases where two young girls were kidnapped and killed by sexual and violent crime offenders that we were supposed to be protected from, many are insisting that the Federal Government compile a list of sexual offenders, thus nationalizing both the offense as well the punishment. Certainly, the crimes are worthy of national recognition as "scumbags," but asking the Federal Government to get involved is likely not the solution.
Did you know that oil refineries in the USA produce something like 37 different grades of gasoline (I recall that it is 37 grades, it could be more, could be less, but the fact is that it is numerous)? Why? Well, each state has passed legislation that details what the specifications of the gasoline should be, usually pursuant to their "Clean Air" legislation. Are the environments of each state that radically different that so many grades of gasoline are needed? Or is this how some bureaucrats justify their existence? Each time a refinery stops production of one grade to shift to another grade, the down time costs money. Further, I am sure that the refineries have to inventory the different grades and thus the management of the inventory costs them money as well. And these costs are not absorbed by Big Oil, they are passed along (presumably profitably) to the consumer. Thus, if you have not yet concluded as such, these different grades cost us money at the pump - in addition to the dollars we're willingly sending to the Saudis.
So how can we get the Federal Government to fix these and other issues? We don't. What we need is leadership from the states. We need a governor who will take a leadership role (perhaps a governor looking to be President some time) and build a consensus among the states. We need someone to take a leader's role and get the states together such that someone takes an issue and solves it. For example, Illinois could take the lead role in compiling and publishing sex offenders from all the states in the union. Also, another state, California? Oregon? could take the lead role in establishing gasoline grades acceptable to all states. It is inconceivable to think that such an effort would yield only three or four grades, but lets presume such an effort could lead to significantly less grades and thus lower prices.
posted by Skier at
9:12 AM
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