05/21/08 Oil Prices & Downer Beef

Oil Prices & Downer Beef plus Food Forethought. I'm Greg Martin with today's Northwest Report. Crude prices continue their unnatural climb as prices topped $129 a barrel and gasoline prices were hitting $3.80 a gallon according to AAA. Diesel prices were at $4.54 up 2 cents. Drivers in some parts of the U.S. are paying considerably more, however. Gas pump prices in parts of California have been stuck above $4 a gallon for weeks now. Crude's latest surge comes after OPEC's president was quoted as saying the cartel won't increase its output before its next meeting in September, adding to lingering worries about global supply. Can you say, stick 'em up? Downer cattle has become a hot topic ever since the Hallmark Beef Packing plant fiasco and Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer is now proposing a total ban on the slaughter of downer cattle for food use. SCHAFER: I am announcing today that USDA will begin work on a proposed rule to prohibit the slaughter of all disabled, non-ambulatory cattle known as "downer cattle." In other words I'm calling for the end to the exception of the so-called downer rule for animals that suffer an obvious injury inside the slaughter plant after they have passed an initial veterinary inspection. Now with today's Food Forethought, here's Lacy Gray. It appears that even the "Terminator" hasn't been able to get California out of the tight spot it's in. With a state budget that is billions of dollars in the red and climbing California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger is now looking at yet another creative tax scheme. This time they are proposing a 25 percent sales tax on pornography, which has that very lucrative industry screaming "Not Fair". I say all is fair in love and war and this appears to be war. The pornography business has revenue dollars that are more than the combined revenues of CBS, NBC and ABC networks combined. Rather ironic that such a foul business is hollering foul over the recently proposed porno tax. A representative for the California porn business stated that such a tax would more than likely put them out of business in little more than a year. You mean California could get themselves out of a financial jam and legally bring down the pornography business all in one fell swoop? Sounds like a win/win situation to me. Thanks Lacy. That's today's Northwest Report. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.