We're No Longer Talking About What You Are...

...we're only haggling over the price.

Goes the punchline to the old joke:

A wealthy man walks up to a good looking woman at a high society party and asks "Would you sleep with me for a million dollars?" (This may need updating for inflation.)

She considers a moment, and says "Yes, I think I would."

"Well, how about for twenty dollars?" he inquires.

She gets angry, slaps him and says "How dare you, sir; I'm not a prostitute!"

... Ba dump!

Menendez' bill could have aided donor's investment

Sen. Robert Menendez sponsored legislation with incentives for natural gas vehicle conversions that would benefit the biggest political donor to his re-election, the same eye doctor whose private jet Menendez used for two personal trips to the Dominican Republic, an Associated Press investigation found.

The disclosure reflects the latest intersection between the New Jersey Democrat who is the subject of an ethics inquiry on Capitol Hill and the Florida doctor involved in a federal criminal investigation.

Dr. Salomon Melgen invested in Gaseous Fuel Systems Corp. of Weston, Fla., and joined its board of directors in early 2010, according to the company's chief executive and a former company consultant. GFS, as the company is known, designs, manufactures and sells products to convert diesel-fuel fleets to natural gas. The amount of Melgen's investment is confidential under rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, but a 2009 document filed with the SEC showed the company required a minimum individual investment at that time of $51,500.

At the same time, Menendez emerged as a principal supporter of a natural gas bill that would boost tax credits and grants to truck and heavy vehicle fleets that converted to alternative fuels. The bill stalled in the Senate Finance Committee, and after it was revived in 2012, the NAT GAS Act failed to win the needed 60 votes to pass.

Of course, Menendez is not the first, and will not be the last Senator to push something in Congress that would be a material benefit to one of his supporters.  And, it could be perfectly innocent, Menedez just happens to believe in, and a significant number of his constituents support (at least the ones who bother to think about how their Senator votes).

The problem is that Congress in general has far too much power over the economy of the United States, and that opens up far too many opportunities for such quid pro quo arrangements.  Natural gas is a fine fuel.  Not quite as good a gasoline and diesel for vehicles, because it is less energy dense, and more difficult to store and transfer, but it's certainly doable.  If the market finds that natural gas is a cheaper and more reliable source of energy for transportation, people will make the conversion themselves, and the market will provide the means to make it easy.

Now, how is that underage Dominican hooker probe coming?