A Conservative Voice for the University of Central Arkansas

Unconscionably Ridiculous: First It Was the Speculators, Now It's the Price Gougers

UCA Conservative — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 01:59:50 GMT

In Alabama, Attorney General Troy King is warning unscrupulous contractors and businesses that he will take action against those who seek to profit illegally at the expense of Alabamians who may suffer damage and others who seek refuge in the state from tropical storms and hurricanes.

The state law that prohibits "unconscionable pricing" of items for sale or rent comes into play when the governor has declared an official state of emergency. Gov. Riley declared a state of emergency Friday in anticipation of Hurricane Gustav.

An unconscionable price is defined as one that is 25% more than the average price charged in the same area within the last 30 days, unless the increase can be attributed to a reasonable cost. The penalty is a fine up to $1,000 per violation, and those determined to have willfully and continuously violated this law may be prohibited from doing business in Alabama.

In Louisiana, Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced zero tolerance for price gouging at the gas pump before, during, or after Gustav. His office says it's logged over 300 complaints. In one case, a station was caught jacking up the price of gas from $3.50 a gallon to $4.10

MP: Hey wait a minute, that's only a 17% increase, that would be legal in Alabama.

Caldwell says when they busted these stations, employees told his investigators they didn't know they are not allowed to raise the prices. On Highway 415, west of Port Allen, gas prices are hovering around $3.65. People are warned that if they haven't gassed up, they should get to the pump soon. Some stations are running out of gas.

MP: Hey wait minute, officials are telling people to fill up, so demand for gas is rising sharply, and supply is declining, stations are running out, and prices aren't supposed to increase?

Update: Politicians seem to have a strong dislike for high oil and gas prices, and are willing to immediately blame, investigate and prosecute price gougers and speculators for "unconscionable pricing" when oil and gas prices increase. But it's often those same politicians who continually hold our own vast domestic energy resources off-limits to exploration and development, which contributes to higher prices. Isn't that "unconscionable logic?"

Even the playing field...

UCA Conservative — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:40:53 GMT

All in the name of fairness:

One man winning EIGHT gold medals in just ONE Olympics! We need to take the "windfall" gold medals from that greedy American, Michael Phelps, and distribute them to the less fortunate, but equally hard-working athletes in the swimming-poor countries. The International Olympic Committee should take control of 60% of his obscene, record medal count, and distribute them to athletes in nations like Iceland and Lichtenstein, who've never won Olympic swimming medals. He'd still have 3 medals left, he'd never even miss the ones we took. --Glenn Beck

Quote from CarpeDiem's Blog

UCA Conservative — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:14:52 GMT

Obama has also promised that "we will get 1 million 150-mile-per-gallon plug-in hybrids on our roads within six years." What a tranquilizing verb "get" is. This senator, who has never run so much as a Dairy Queen, is going to get a huge, complex industry to produce, and is going to get a million consumers to buy, these cars. How? Almost certainly by federal financial incentives for both -- billions of dollars of tax subsidies for automakers, and billions more to bribe customers to buy these cars they otherwise would spurn.

~George Will

If environmentalism is a religion, then recycling would be its sacrament

UCA Conservative — Mon, 18 Aug 2008 20:00:29 GMT

How about a $1000 fine for not properly sorting your garbage? Read this interesting article in the New York Times about the religion of environmentalism.

Is president Hardin underpaid?

UCA Conservative — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 03:09:12 GMT

For those who may not keep in touch with the exciting world of public education. There have been some murmurings of the recent $300,000 bonus given to UCA president Lu Hardin. Part of the controversy stems from the fact that the funds were taken out of the Board of Trustees Endowment Fund. According to the Democrat Gazette,

The Board of Trustees Endowment Fund was established in 1995 �to provide long-term support for scholarships and other operations of the university.�

But a review of the expenditures shows that the board used less than 1 percent of the money to fund college scholarships over the past six years. Just $17,000 of the $1.92 million spent from 2002-03 to 2007-08 went to fund scholarships � $2,000 for Miss UCA scholarship in 2007-08 and $15,000 in 2004-05 for �staff senate book scholarships,� which went to student workers and their children.

Other expenditures include an $800,000 payment to supplement construction at Estes Stadium, a $334,019.14 buyout for former UCA President Winfred Thompson, $250,000 for several university centennial celebrations and programs in 2006 and 2007, and Hardin�s $300,000 bonus.

Board members also approved $20,000 over two years to help the struggling Oxford American magazine, $12,000 for championship football rings, and $13,000 for chair risers for the UCA choir.

Not only does the board have to deal with the implication that they may be misappropriating these funds, their huge bonus for Lu may not comply with Arkansas law which caps the salary of public university presidents.

I wonder who is squirming more, the board because their afraid that they may be caught fudging on the very policies they created, or Lu who may have to write a check to UCA for $300,000.

See the full article from the Democrat Gazette.

Are high gas prices alarming?

UCA Conservative — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 00:43:29 GMT

The last couple of walk-in customers where I work have complained about high gas prices after exiting their large luxury cars or SUVs. All I can think is "what is the big deal?" And what exactly worries them about current high gas prices? I am left to figure that one out. Here's a good article by Justin Wolfers called "What Exactly Concerns Us About Gas Prices?" Only if I could hand it to them as they walk out.
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2 ... #more-2757

UCA Salaries Updated

UCA Conservative — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:26:12 GMT

The list of University of Central Arkansas Salaries is now searchable. (You can use the built in search capabilities of Adobe Acrobat.)

UCA Salaries

Stay tuned for the new, updated salary list coming soon...

Oil

UCA Conservative — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 17:20:07 GMT

Why oil prices will tank

UCA Conservative — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 17:56:59 GMT

According to Shawn Tully in Why oil prices will tank:

"Arguments that $4-a-gallon gas (or even higher) is here to stay are dead wrong. Housing's boom-and-bust cycle tells you why."

You should feel guilty for living.

UCA Conservative — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:50:57 GMT

This greenhouse calculator was developed by Australian Broadcasting Corporation and is meant for children.

Fill out the survey yourself and you can learn when you should die!

http://www.abc.net.au/science/planetsla ... e_calc.htm

Irrelevant apologies by Thomas Sowell

UCA Conservative — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:27:42 GMT

It is amazing how seriously the media are taking Senator Barack Obama's latest statement about the latest racist rant from the pulpit of the church he has attended for 20 years. But neither that statement nor the apology for his rant by Father Michael Pfleger really matters, one way or the other. Nor does Senator Obama's belated resignation from that church.
For any politician, what matters is not his election year rhetoric, or an election year resignation from a church, but the track record of that politician in the years before the election.
Yet so many people are so fascinated by Barack Obama's rhetorical skills that they don't care about his voting record in the U.S. Senate, in the Illinois state senate, the causes that he has chosen to promote over the years, or the candidate's personal character and values, as revealed by his actions and associations.
Despite clever spin from Obama's supporters about avoiding "guilt by association," much more is involved than casual association with people like Jeremiah Wright and Father Pfleger.
In addition to giving $20,000 of his own money to Jeremiah Wright, as a state senator Obama directed $225,000 of the Illinois taxpayers' money for programs run by Father Pfleger. In the U.S. Senate, Obama earmarked $100,000 in federal tax money for Father Pfleger's work. Giving someone more than 300 grand is not just some tenuous, coincidental association.
Are Barack Obama's views shown by what he says during an election year or by what he has been doing for decades before?
The complete contrast between Obama's election year image as a healer of divisions and his whole career of promoting far-left grievance politics, in association with America-haters like Jeremiah Wright and Bill Ayers, are brushed aside by his supporters who talk about getting back to "the real issues."
There is nothing more real than a man's character and values. The track record of what he has actually done is far more real than anything he says, however elegantly he says it.
There is no office where the character and values of the person in that office matter more than the office of President of the United States. He holds the destiny of 300 million Americans in his hands and the fate of generations yet unborn...

On Oil and Capitalism

UCA Conservative — Fri, 23 May 2008 22:25:55 GMT

The CEO�s of our nation�s largest oil companies have recently been called to Capitol Hill to answer for their �record profits.� It seems quite ridiculous that today you might actually have to stand before congress and explain yourself for being too successful.

Those in the panel of congress, mostly Democrats, have sat across from these oil executives hurling accusations and showing their disdain for anyone in this nation who is more successful than themselves. They even had the guts to accuse the oil companies of not giving enough money to Myanmar for relief? Not giving enough? First of all, some reports have shows that a few of these oil companies alone have given more than 50% of what the entire United States government has given. Secondly, since when is it the right of a congressperson to scold someone for not giving enough?

According to Thomas L. Friedman in his book, �The World is Flat,� �Communism [is] a great system for making people equally poor.� This seems to be the road that these Democrats would like to take.

The gist of the Democrats� argument seems to be that the oil executives are exploiting poor Americans and in the meantime making too much money. I would ask the question, �How are we being exploited?� Do we have a right to oil that legally belongs to the oil companies? If we stole it from them, would that be just?

Although these congressmen fancy themselves modern day Robin Hoods � in this day and age, Robin Hood goes to prison and the rich man gets back what is rightfully his.

What would our Founding Fathers say?

UCA Conservative — Mon, 19 May 2008 06:21:15 GMT

"And it's not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren't like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations." Barack Hussein Obama
�Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.� John Adams
�No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the affairs of men, more than the people of the United States. Every step by which they have advanced to the character of an independent nation seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency.� President George Washington First Inaugural Address
�For my own part, I sincerely esteem it a system, which without the finger of God, never could have been suggested and agreed upon by such a diversity of interest.� Alexander Hamilton
"It is impossible for the man of pious reflection not to perceive in it a finger of that Almighty hand which has been so frequently and signally extended to our relief in the critical stages of the revolution.� James MadisonFather of the Constitution

McCain says no to Secret Service

UCA Conservative — Sun, 11 May 2008 01:41:16 GMT

Father-Daughter Talk

UCA Conservative — Sun, 04 May 2008 16:27:17 GMT

A young woman was about to finish her first year of college. Like so many others her age, she considered herself to be a very liberal Democrat, and among other liberal ideals, was very much in favor of higher taxes to support more government programs, in other words redistribution of wealth.

She was deeply ashamed that her father was a rather staunch Republican, a feeling she openly expressed. Based on the lectures that she had participated in, and the occasional chat with a professor, she felt that her father had for years harbored an evil, selfish desire to keep what he thought should be his. One day she was challenging her father on his opposition to higher taxes on the rich and the need for more government programs.

The self-professed objectivity proclaimed by her professors had to be the truth and she indicated so to her father. He responded by asking how she was doing in school. Taken aback, she answered rather haughtily that she had a 4.0 GPA, and let him know that it was tough to maintain, insisting that she was taking a very difficult course load and was constantly studying, which left her no time to go out and party like other people she knew. She didn't even have time for a boyfriend, and didn't really have many college friends because she spent all her time studying.

Her father listened and then asked, 'How is your friend Audrey doing?'

She replied, 'Audrey is barely getting by. All she takes are easy classes, she never studies, and she barely has a 2.0 GPA. She is so popular on campus college for her is a blast. She's always invited to all the parties, and lots of times she doesn't even show up for classes because she's too hung over.'

Her wise father asked his daughter, 'Why don't you go to the Dean's office and ask him to deduct a 1.0 off your GPA and give it to your friend who only has a 2.0. That way you will both have a 3.0 GPA and certainly that would be a fair and equal distribution of GPA.'

The daughter, visibly shocked by her father's suggestion, angrily fired back 'That's a crazy idea, how would that be fair! I've worked really hard for my grades! I've invested a lot of time, and a lot of hard work! Audrey has done next to nothing toward her degree. She played while I worked my tail off!'

I have never understood why it is "greed" to want to keep the money you have earned but not greed to want to take somebody else's money. Thomas Sowell

Earth Day Celebration!

UCA Conservative — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:52:35 GMT

The world will be �...eleven degrees colder in the year 2000. This is about twice what it would take to put us into an ice age,� - Kenneth Watt, speaking at Swarthmore University, April 19, 1970.

What better way to celebrate Earth Day than to reminisce on the first ever Earth Day. The hysteria was much the same then. Although, one interesting difference is that a rise in pollution then was predicted to block sunlight from reaching earth therefore causing a new ice age. Today pollution is said to be holding earth�s heat in, resulting in warming - same cause, different effect.

One might wonder if this round of predictions will be any more accurate.

See more predictions from the first Earth Day...

Global Warming Fanatics

UCA Conservative — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 19:04:47 GMT

Do you think that perhaps global warming fanatics have gone too far? ...

You can't break the rules of economics.

UCA Conservative — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:45:52 GMT

The Living Wage Campaign

UCA Conservative — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 21:40:08 GMT

In 2001, a group of activist student at Harvard wanted a �living wage� ($10.25 a hour, plus benefits) for all Harvard employees. The �living wage� movement is obvious. Life is hard for workers trying to support families on $7 an hour. Greg Mankiw said in response to the students� movement that if we could wave a magic wand and help those at the bottom of the economic ladder move up a rung or two, we should do it. But enacting a social reform is not like waving a magic wand. It is more like prescribing a drug with a long list of side effects. Sometimes the side effects are worse than the disease .
Most prices are set by the market force of supply and demand. The major difference between high-wage workers and low-wage workers is productivity, which drives the demands for their services. The living wage campaign wants to repeal the law of supply and demand. One effect of higher wages is a reduction in the amount of labor the employers demand. ( See Hillary disproves her own position, posted Sunday, April 6, 2008 )
Living wage supporters argue that Harvard�s large endowment could afford to pay higher wages. Yes, that is true, but that�s not the point. Like all employers, Harvard is always making cost-benefits calculations, weighing the benefits of one project against others. For example, hiring more janitors to clean chalkboards more often or hire more professors to reduce class sizes. The living-wage protest also raises the issue of Harvard�s mission in society. Supporters who give to the institution do so to support education, not income redistribution.
Throughout history, students have been drawn to utopian social reforms. But history teaches that such social reforms often fail to yield what the reformers promised. The living wage campaign happens to be a most recent example.

Outsourcing

UCA Conservative — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 04:15:37 GMT

Report: Many U.S. Parents Outsourcing Child Care Overseas