Enough is enough

for the President told me so:

[April 01, 2008] The Democratic presidential candidates are criss-crossing Pennsylvania this week, dropping in at gas stations and truck stops to convince voters they've got the best plan to tackle soaring gas prices and Big Oil profits...

Obama, meanwhile, said Monday a crackdown is needed on oil companies.

"[We] need a president who can stand up to Big Oil and big energy companies and say enough is enough," Obama said Monday.

Well, I'm sure el Presidente has figured out by now the difference betweening campaigning and ruling*. Whether or no, I'm sure Exxon's quarterlies are going to look pretty good, so long as they don't have any assets in Egypt. Or Libya. Or Tunisia. Or anywhere else in the Middle East for that matter.  While it's too early to say, the likelihood that all these producing nations are going to turn into property rights-respecting democracies is, well, as thin as Turkish prison gruel.

But that's not the point**, which is a little more mundane.  As of today, oil has popped up 6% to well over $90, the dollar is under 80 (77 and change) and gold is still well over $850.  That being the case, all of my personal economic warning lights are now flashing a very lovely shade of fire engine red. I'm not sure what that means, the numbers being completely arbitrary, but I'm pretty sure the next six months or so will not be boring. So we've got that going for us.

* the electorate, however, still clings to the illusion that one has to do with the other.
** Neither that it's Obama's fault or that he could have avoided it. It is what it is.