The View From Wisconsin

I'm still confounded about the anti-capitalistic laws we have in the state of Wisconsin when it comes to gasoline. There is a law on the books here that is just insane, and it's really starting to hit people at the bottom line of the gas pump.

It's officially known as the "Unfair Sales Act" - but is more colloquially known as the Minimum Markup Law. The state requires sellers of gasoline to "mark up" the price of their gasoline by a certain percentage, so consumers couldn't get the bare-bones "wholesale" price for gas, even if they wanted. This practice essentially eliminated the old practice of discounting cash purchases, or the creation of "gas warehouse cards" (for example, Sam's Club or a major grocery chain) selling gas at a discount for club members.

That's not all that's odious about State Statute 100.30: There is a section that requires a station to have an equal level of markup to the station closest to it at all times. Basically, if a station has gas at $2.099 a gallon, the next closest station must have a per-gallon price of no more than a penny or two. This law aggravates drivers to no end, especially when one station gets a new supply of gas – at a drastically increased price – suddenly you see other stations changing their price signs in response. You can go to a station in the morning, fill up at $2.799 a gallon, see another station down the highway get a new supply of gas, and later drive by the same station where you filled up to see that gas has shot up to $3.099.

There's another law regarding gasoline that has been a hot-button topic in the last few years – is the automatic increase in the gas tax each year. Every April 1, people grouse because the state automatically increases its tax on a gallon of gas, and no legislator is bold enough to put together legislation to rescind this law – or, if they do, it fails in a squabbling of issues that keep it from eitehr getting to a vote or even getting out of committee. The main problem is that the state's coffers are already drained, and the budget-makers and legislators count on that increase to pay for the spending they're planning for the future.

It's obvious that these laws need to not only be re-evaluated, but rescinded and thrown on the junk-heap of bad legislation. Open up the free-market system by removing the shackles on pricing. If a station can sell a ton of gas at $2.499 while everyone else is selling it at $3.099, more power to them. If people want to join a gasoline co-op or a "warehouse club" so they can get gas cheaper – isn't that what America is based on?

A "gas tax holiday" (where the state gas tax would not be collected for a certain period of time), while a good idea, would just hurt the state fiscally – something that it can't quite afford to do. Instead, rescind the mandatory increase in the gas tax, so that it remains "frozen" for at least two years or more. Add in a requirement that any automatic increase in the gas tax would have to be voted upon in a state-wide referrendum. (You can guess how much that would get voted down.)

On to other things:

• The questions about the wrath of Hurricane Katrina are coming around fast and furious: How bad is the destruction in New Orleans? Should they even consider returning and rebuilding the city? Are the Saints as homeless as the people who were forced to evacuate their home stadium, due to all the damage done to the roof? Will the damage caused to the refineries and oil rigs cause already-high gas prices to spike even higher? Will all of the damages impact the economy and send it into a recession? My response is this: People are going to come back and rebuild the city – it's just a matter of time before they get the levees repaired, and the water pumped out. I don't think the Saints will be playing back at the Superdome anytime soon, but they might be back before the end of the year. Gas prices, as I've already pointed out, are on their own crazy trip. Bud Greenspan could accidentally belch during a press conference and gas prices would go up by 10 cents a gallon.
• Concentrating on football for a moment: Brett Favre's family in Mississippi is alive and well, but it sure looks like his family home is history. There are going to be a lot of distracted players in the league this week – and possibly even into the first weekend of the season. The Saints (as previously mentioned) are probably, as a team, completely unconcerned about football right now that it's not funny. They will more than likely play in San Antonio for a while – until they can find Tulane Stadium under the flood waters.
• The people of Alysham, Saskatchewan are wearing Predators Mustard once again. Good to have Greg Classen back in the fold; the Preds need all the depth they can get at center.
• As a Brewers fan, I am officially calling on Ned Yost to bench Lyle Overbay and put Prince Fielder in as the starting first baseman for the rest of the year. It is time for the future infield of this club to come together and play as a unit, so they can go into spring training of 2006 as the definitive starters. Oh, and I'd also see about trying to pry Michael Young from the Rangers for Brady Clark, Lyle Overbay, a box of bats and a bucket of balls. Third base is the only weak spot for this team – whose potential is growing with each game.
• The throwing motion of Ben Sheets has always made me believe he was one mis-step away from tearing something. Now, he's not only going to have to heal the tear in his shoulder, but he's going to have to re-learn how to throw the ball. The Brewers don't seem to have much luck signing pitchers to long-term contracts; first there was Fingers, then Vukovich, then Higuera, then Bosio. I hope they are going to take this very cautiously, and not try to rush him back, like the Cubs did with Kerry "Oops, I Hurt It Again" Wood.
• Is it just me, or does the "new" Marquette Golden Eagles mascot look like the Kansas Jayhawk's evil twin?
• The college football season opens up this weekend, and everyone wants to know who's going to be playing in the Rose Bowl in January. The way that the BCS is set up (or, if you prefer, "not set"), I don't know if it'll really matter. Another season where there's no clear-cut national champion could doom the BCS permanently – and finally lead to a NCAA-sanctioned playoff.
• I'm re-thinking my initial displeasure at the decision by MLB to rescind Donruss's license to produce baseball cards. Each of the sets that I've encountered so far – Absolute Memorabilia, Team Heroes, Leather and Lumber, and the latest cards I bought, Throwback Threads – are some of the least imaginative cards that I've seen. The only thing I really regret is the loss of Fleer; their Fleer Tradition set was a great-looking, even promising collection – even if they made it impossible to finish the set (another issue I have with card makers).
• I am seriously having second thoughts about my planned trip to Nashville for opening night of the NHL; the cost of gas could make it more of a luxury than either myself or Eriks could really afford. It actually might be cheaper to fly in to the 'Ville and then rely on the "kindness of strangers" to get us where we want to go.
• Speaking of trips: it's official. I won't be driving out to AZ with my dad at the end of October. He's still recuperating from his knee replacement surgery, and it's highly unlikely he'll be ready to go by then. He has contemplated going out there after Thanksgiving; I've posited to him that perhaps he should consider flying out there, and purchasing an economy car while there to keep there. There'd be less strain on his knee from all the driving we normally do, and he wouldn't have the hassle of packing up and bringing a lot of stuff home. And, since it's conceivable that gas prices in the Valley could hit $4 by year's end, it'd be much cheaper for him instead of gassing up his minivan constantly. If he decides to buy the car here, I'd be more than happy to drive it down there for him – and drive it back every two years to have it checked for emissions.
• I now am the proud owner of a dead router. My old DI-604 D-Link router stopped working this week, prompting a trip to the local Office Depot for a replacement. It wouldn't even let me connect to the router to run a diagnostic to see what was wrong. Home networking problems are their own kind of hell when it comes to computers. It was bad enough when I had to run the ethernet cabling across the hallway and down the cold-air duct to link up the cable modem to my wife's computer; this just takes it to the next level.
• My cat is doing okay, though she decided to take the issue of her meds into her own paws this week and knocked her secondary medicine drops off the counter and onto the floor. I have discovered that no matter how hard you try, giving a cat medication is a two-person job. I'm also a bit concerned that she has some more fur-marks on her; hopefully, she's not licking herself because of an allergy.