Republicans in Congress are looking for ways to curb capitalism, at least in one industry. It seems capitalism is cool until it hurts you at the polls. The problem is rising gas prices. As the prices go up, Republican popularity goes down. I guess free enterprise isn't so free, is it fellas?

You've probably heard by now that Hastert and Frist are looking for ways to reduce gas prices before the summer surge hits. According to this Washington Post article, energy experts say it isn't that easy. While no quick fix is given, it does help explain an email sent by Walter Jones discussed yesterday in one of Anglico's diaries.

More on the flip side

A friend told me recently that I would be waiting a long time if I waited for John Hood, stage manager at Art Pope's Puppetshow, to turn his gaze inward, to actually consider the tragic consequences of the neoconservative reign of terror on America. Indeed, I had promised that I would not link to any of the Puppetmaster's sites (this Art Pope) until I could find evidence of such introspection. Well, I can sometimes be an easy grader, so I hereby declare this morning's commentary sufficient to reestablish the practice of linking to JLF content.

It can't possibly get much worse than being the lone Congressman holding up the placement of a permanent monument to the crew and passenger heroes of flight 93.

For emotional wallop, there are few rivals to the windswept, grassy field outside of Shanksville, Pa., where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001.

But for three years, that field has made do with a makeshift monument while one member of Congress, Rep. Charles H. Taylor (R-N.C.), has blocked a $10 million request to buy the land for a permanent memorial to the 40 passengers and crew members who overpowered hijackers bent on crashing their jet into the Capitol or the White House.

The rest of the story on the flip side..

The TTA has just reached an agreement with Norfolk Southern that ensures that they have access to all 28 miles needed to complete the proposed Triangle Regional Rail Line:

The agreements with Norfolk Southern gives the TTA access to the corridors necessary to build the 28-mile rail transit system, which is schedule to have 12 stations connecting Durham, Research Triangle Park, Cary and Raleigh.

dKos: "It's hard to imagine that the Internet, that vast free-flowing world of entertainment, enlightenment, education, and interaction could be fettered, but under this legislation it very well could be. Internet service provision in the U.S. is covered by telecommunications law, and has operated under the idea of "network neutrality." In it's early years, telephone companies provided most Web service, and carried most of the traffic. Because of the nature of laws regulating phone service, Web traffic was handled just like phone traffic, each "call" being equal. That means every page you surf to on the Internet is served up just like any other, as far as your ISP is concerned. You can go from Amazon.com to Aunt Harriet's family history blog equally."

It looks like the shootings last night may have ended the Chapel Hill street festival known as Apple Chill. The cutely named festival, which was intended as a folksy art festival, will not happen again according to Mayor Foy:

"The (Town) Council's first responsibility to the citizens is public safety," Foy said in a written news release issued Monday afternoon. "We cannot continue to be confident that Apple Chill can be conducted in a way that is safe for citizens. I want to end Apple Chill. Tonight, I will ask the Council to give our staff that directive. Yesterday was the last Apple Chill."

Fellow Blue NCers, This one is a Shocker! A real Shocker! Knowing what I know though it isn’t hard to believe!

. - James L. Hogan got some shocking news in the mail last month. He'd been dead for months, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. The department wrote to the Vietnam veteran's "estate" seeking a return of the $23,231 in veteran benefits issued to Hogan since his "death." "Based on that amount, I figure I must've died sometime around July," said Hogan, who is alive and living in Florence. "I'm still trying to get an answer as to who signed my death certificate." Although Hogan has kept a sense of humor about the mistake, it's caused plenty of problems.

According to this report, a large chunk of the $1 billion the NCDOT spends every year to build roads in North Carolina is paid to workers with falsified social security numbers, presumably because they are illegal.

There are so many issues with this that I have not been able to wrap my head around a coherent post. But generally, this proves the value of immigration to our society (we need roads, right), but it also shows that the immigration is artificially keeping the costs of roads down. Also, these could be high paying construction jobs, not the jobs typically thought to belong to illegals.

Over at the Cabarrus County GOP website, they take pride in reminding themselves why they are Republicans. Call me a wacko, but when I read their principles and try to align their governing practices, I have to conclude that they're all flat-out crazy.