Chet Collins

Ever Wondered How Your Tax Dollars Make It To Those In Need? Check Out This Step-By-Step Guide - The Babylon Bee

1. The IRS asks you to please take a wild guess at how much money you should pay them.

Good luck!

2. The IRS takes this amount of money. If you guessed the wrong amount, straight to jail!

Oops! Miss by $1,000 or more and you’ll be penalized!

This article is quite perfect.

Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow Push for Crypto Sisterhood - WSJ

Some of these crypto-enthusiasts say they just don’t want women to miss out on the next big thing, if not the next sure thing. Ms. Kunis said women should not buy NFTs expecting to make money. “Just do it because you love it,” she said.

Pro tip: if a celebrity is trying to get you to buy a financial product, it’s garbage.

U.S. Travel Mask Mandate Extended by One Month to April 18 - WSJ

Travelers in the U.S. will have to continue wearing masks on airplanes, buses and other forms of transit through April 18 under a federal mandate that the Biden administration is extending

Asinine.

Nearly two-thirds of the more than 800 reports of unruly passengers this year have been related to masks, the FAA has said.

U.S. Banned Russian Oil. Will Suspension of Gasoline Tax Be Next? - WSJ

Democratic governors from states including Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania this week pushed Congress to suspend the tax

Strange coincidence, voters in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania will vote for a new governor in November.

“Russia’s aggression is costing us all, and it’s no time for profiteering or price gouging,” Mr. Biden warned oil companies earlier this week.

I’m confused. I thought this was the Putin Price Hike™️? Now it’s gouging?

This administration talk about price gouging all the time. Where are the indictments?

Mr. Biden has pledged to do everything he can to lower gas prices, but on Tuesday he acknowledged that his options might be limited. “They’re going to go up,” he said. “Can’t do much right now.”

He’s spent three years railing against fossil fuels, and 14 months in office taking every administrative step possible to limit US oil and gas production. He’s right, he has zero options to fix this problem in the next 8-12 months.

U.S. February Consumer Prices Rose 7.9% From Year Earlier - WSJ

U.S. inflation reached a new four-decade high of 7.9% in February, the Labor Department said Thursday, as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine pushed energy prices sharply higher.

I got a D in Medieval Philosophy back in Fall 2009, also because of the Russian invasion.

Hostages for Oil From Venezuela? - WSJ Opinion

The Biden Administration is going hat in hand to oil producers everywhere except the U.S. to increase global supply amid sanctions on Russian oil. Apparently begging Mr. Maduro, Iran and the Saudis is preferable to encouraging more oil production in the U.S. and Canada.

We had a glimpse last week of the foreign policy genius that Joe Biden has bragged about for three years.

Then we got the Polish MiG affair and buying oil from a different group of terrible autocrats.

What Surging Gasoline Prices Mean for You - WSJ

President Biden acknowledged that banning Russian crude oil will result in higher gasoline prices in the U.S. He said the administration’s previously announced move to release 30 million barrels of oil from the government’s reserves will help blunt the price increases at the pump. 

It’s brilliant politics to blame Russia for high gas prices.

Oil is a commodity that trades on supply, demand, and sentiment. Biden’s terrible energy policy drove the lions share of this run-up in prices.

House Lawmakers Release $1.5 Trillion Spending Bill That Includes $13.6 Billion for Ukraine

The House is expected to vote on the omnibus legislation on Wednesday and send it to the Senate, which will then debate the legislation and vote on it this week.

Nice to see our government wisely debating how to spend our tax dollars in the open where the public can provide input to the process.

Wouldn’t it be a shame if it was all done behind closed doors, wrapped into a bill 1000s of pages long, the price tag juiced, and suddenly spilled into public view with just days before it was voted on? That’d just be reckless.

Senate Passes Bipartisan Postal Service Overhaul - WSJ

The bill would undo a requirement in a 2006 law that the Postal Service prefund its retiree health benefits, which the agency projects will save $27 billion over a decade.

USPS hasn’t made those required payments in over a decade. So I’m going to save $1M by foregoing a planned purchase of a $1M beach house and book those savings to my balance sheet.

And that’s how the government does math.

Saudi, Emirati Leaders Decline Calls With Biden During Ukraine Crisis - WSJ

The White House unsuccessfully tried to arrange calls between President Biden and the de facto leaders of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates as the U.S. was working to build international support for countering Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and contain a surge in oil prices, said Middle East and U.S. officials.

Well that’s embarrassing.

Both Prince Mohammed and Sheikh Mohammed took phone calls from Russian President Vladimir Putin last week, after declining to speak with Mr. Biden.

Double ouch.

When asked in an interview with the Atlantic magazine released last week if Mr. Biden misunderstood the Saudi leader, Prince Mohammed responded: “Simply, I do not care.”