The foot bone’s connected to the ankle bone, the ankle bone’s connected to the leg bone, the leg bone’s connected to the knee bone; or You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours; or Follow the money

I know that everything one encounters online, especially on Facebook, is not necessarily true. All’s fair in love and war, everyone seems to have an axe to grind, and so forth. Nevertheless, I found the following particularly interesting:

For readers who find reading white text on a black background difficult, especially if it is in a sans serif font, the text under the photograph of a long, long line of railroad tank cars reads as follows:

“Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad (BNSF) owns all of the rail lines in the US that connect to western Canada, and they haul 80%+ of the crude from Canada to the Midwest and Texas or charge other Short Line railroads a fee to use their tracks. BNSF charges $30 per barrel to haul the oil while the Keystone Pipeline would cost $10 per barrel by the State Department’s own estimates. BNSF is owned by Berkshire Hathaway whose chairman is Warren Buffet. In the last 2 election cycles, Buffet gave extensively to democrat causes and candidates. He also bundled and hosted numerous fundraisers for Obama. If anyone believes the Keystone Pipeline isn’t being blocked by Obama on Buffet’s behalf, I’ve got a bridge to sell you. Buffet could stand to lose $2 billion+ a year if the pipeline is constructed. He makes the same amount every year that the pipeline is delayed.”

I have no idea whether the figures 80%+, $30 per barrel, $10 per barrel, and $2 billion+ in the above paragraph are true, but I do know this:

Warren’s last name is Buffett. Not Buffet. Buffett.

An error like that just makes the whole thing suspect in my eyes.

But it certainly provides ample food for thought.

Photo: “Hot Buffet line aboard Celebrity Equinox” by Joe Ross of Lansing, Michigan, 12-09-2011. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Brilliant!

Here’s the latest quotation making the rounds on Facebook:

“I could end the deficit in 5 minutes,” Warren Buffett told CNBC. “You just pass a law that says that anytime there is a deficit of more than 3% of GDP*, all sitting members of Congress are ineligible for re-election.”

I hope it’s genuine, but even if it isn’t from Warren Buffett, it’s still a darned good idea.

------------------------------
*Gross Domestic Product, as opposed to GNP (Gross National Product) or NNI (Net National Income) or a number of other economic factors.

For a list (three lists, actually -- take your pick) of countries by GDP (nominal), click here. Our old friend Tuvalu is 190th of 191 countries on the third list. I’m just sayin’....