Beep, Beep, Beep...Hypocrisy Sighting Over At On The Border LIne: CPI

On the other side of the border, the OTBL admin is trying to work his math-magic by trying to make a speck of gold dust look like Fort Knox. As always, he is busy trying to polish up the image of his favorite president in time for the holidays. Since it is so short and empty of meaning -- just another data point pulled from the desert sands of Roswell, New Mexico -- I will include his entire post:

Biggest Drop in 56 Years!
Filed under: General, News, Finances, Free Markets --- admin @ 1:02 pm

The Labor Department today, that its Consumer Price Index plunged 0.6 percent in November, its biggest decline since July of 1949. That's 56 years. The slide was led by a record 8 percent decline in the cost of energy. And I thought the energy companies where gouging us.
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That is a big drop in the consumer price index, but it is a data point. You will see the OTBL'ers use this data point trick all the time. A favorite is to say they've seen a house in Hudson that's had a for sale sign in the yard for a year and a half. They say this means that real estate isn't selling in Hudson. Of course, houses, multi-family dwellings, etc. are going up all around the city limits, but they ignore the facts and build their case on one house. And they actually call themselves "intellectuals" over there! Be careful Scarecrow, they will steal your diploma and feed you to their favorite, political hay burner.

Of course the OTBL admin is trying to turn it into some nourishment for W -- his favorite, political hay burner. The 8 percent decline in the cost of energy is also an interesting data point and, yes, the oil companies were gouging us.

I did some research on his blog site and I failed to turn up the 12 percent increase in energy in the November CPI. Likewise, he failed to mention the 18.3 percent increase in the cost of energy over the past year.

For your information, the CPI measures the cost of buying a fixed bundle of goods (some 400 consumer goods and services), representative of the purchase of the typical working-class urban family. The fixed basket is divided into some of the following categories: food and beverages, housing, apparel, transportation, medical care, and entertainment. Generally referred to as the "cost-of-living index," it is published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the US Dept. of Labor.

Below is the current CPI measure taken from the Bureau of Labor Statistics site.


With these statistics, it's not the monthly data point that is important. It's the overall trend for given time periods. Below is a trend explanation from the BOL site:

During the first 11 months of 2005, the CPI-U rose at a 3.8 percent
seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR). This compares with an increase of
3.3 percent for all of 2004. The index for energy, which increased 16.6
percent in 2004, advanced at a 21.7 percent SAAR in the first 11 months of
2005. Petroleum-based energy costs increased at a 22.0 percent annual
rate and charges for energy services rose at a 21.3 percent annual rate.
The food index has increased at a 2.4 percent rate thus far in 2005,
following a 2.7 percent rise for all of 2004. Excluding food and energy,
the CPI-U advanced at a 2.1 percent SAAR in the first 11 months of 2005
after advancing 2.2 percent in 2004.
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Look at the cost of energy over the past two years. It's interesting how the OTBL'ers only point out positive data points for Bush's economy and only negative points when it comes to public education. They point fingers at the Clinton News Network (CNN) about not reporting this or that and the then the OTBL'ers turn around and do the same thing. Hypocrisy?

When I saw this CPI statistic today, I knew exactly how the OTBL admin would be reporting it. A mouth ago when gas was over $3, the OTBL'ers were saying that's just free-market economics. Like most of President Bush's sheep -- I mean base -- OTBL'ers don't want to admit the truth about what is happening in Iraq.

Yesterday afternoon, on Wisconsin Public Radio, I listened to Wisconsin Congressman Paul Ryan field questions about Iraq and he said oil is a major reason why we are there -- he quickly added it wasn't the only reason. I believe Congressman Ryan is a Republican. Apparently he can admit the truth.