Trackbacks and tips

Fred at Stone Court has a trackback to my post about enshrining Ronnie the R. on our cash. (The trackback actually appeared on my post about Burntfarm's appearance before the Senate, but no matter.) What he said was sharp enough that I wanted to repeat it here. Referring to the notion of putting Reagan on the $10 or $20 bill, he said

If you had to sum up what those two men symbolize, what would it be? I nominate:

Hamilton - fiscal responsibility

Jackson - democracy

And what exactly is it we are being offered in their place?

Now, no analogy is perfect, of course, and while I can't say just how fiscally responsible Hamilton was, I can say that Jacksonian democracy was not as inclusive in fact as it is in our mythology. But no matter, Fred hones the issue to a nicely clarifying point.

Oh, and another benefit of trackbacks: Looking at Stone Court as a result, I was tipped to an item from AP for June 5.

Baghdad, Iraq - While Americans are shelling out record prices for fuel, Iraqis pay only about 5 cents a gallon for gasoline - a benefit of hundreds of millions of dollars subsidies bankrolled by American taxpayers.

Before the war, forecasters predicted that by invading Iraq and ousting Saddam Hussein, America would benefit from increased exports of oil from Iraq, which has the world's second largest petroleum reserves.

Instead, average gasoline prices in the US have increased by nearly a third over the pre-invasion price, to just over $2.00 a gallon - while in the UK, the price hit $5.79 last week. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, drivers can fill a 22-gallon tank for $1.10.

The reason, it seems, is to keep a lid on potential anger by keeping the price low. Iraq has lots of oil, but little refinery capacity.

So the U.S. government pays about $1.50 a gallon to buy fuel in neighboring countries and deliver it to Iraqi stations. A three-month supply costs American taxpayers more than $500 million, not including the cost of military escorts to fend off attacks by Iraqi insurgents.

Gotta love that dedication to the free market.

Footnote: AP notes that this is actually an improvement, as the government

paid even more last year for Iraqis' gasoline - between $1.59 and $1.70 per gallon - when the imports were contracted to Halliburton, the Texas oil services giant formerly headed by Vice President Dick Cheney.

Yeah! More of that good news progress the rightos are always saying we ignore!

Okay, this probably isn't an example they'd want chosen....