“Wisconsin’s governor wants to outlaw reality. And by golly, if reality doesn’t cooperate, he’s going to fine the oil companies! Maybe imprison some oil executives! That’s how determined Governor Jim Doyle is about this. Along with all the other new taxes he’s rooting for, Governor Doyle wants a fat new tax on oil companies. Well, that’s not original. But he not only wants that new tax, he wants to ban oil companies from ‘passing on’ the tax to consumers. Huh?... Prices don’t just show up on the ticker tape. Nor do companies determine prices unilaterally. Prices are determined by supply and demand, with costs of production as only one major factor... Firms do have to cover the cost of doing business, and in this sense costs are invariably ‘passed on’ to customers. The alternative is operating as a charity. Or, I guess, begging the government for a subsidy to cover taxes the business is not allowed to regard as a cost. Even though they are a cost. This reality stuff is hard.”

—Paul Jacob