About A Dollar A Day
Jun 16, 2010 Political
Barack Obama was on TV last evening discussing the oil spill in the Gulf and he used the crisis to push his agenda forward. He used his buzz words about this being the moment and the opportunity for this generation to end our dependence on fossil fuels. He spent the first part of the speech discussing the wonderful response of the federal government. He was basically trying to convince people that he was on top of things from the start. Then he went into the whole clean energy hard sell.
This fits right in with the never let a crisis go to waste and puts winds in the sails of John Kerry and Joe Lieberman who are putting forward the cap and tax bill. They were overjoyed to learn that the cost to families will be between $80 and $150 a year. They are giddy at this and Lieberman thinks it is great. What family would not be happy to spend less than a dollar a day to green up the country?
“There’ll be some people who will want to demagogue that politically, but that’s less than $1 a day,” Lieberman told reporters. “Is the American household willing to pay less than $1 so we don’t have to buy oil from foreign countries, so we can create millions of new jobs, so we can clean up our environment? I think the answer is going to be yes.” Politico
I guess I am one to demagogue because I can think of plenty of families who will not want to pay this. Perhaps those who are in foreclosure or are struggling to make ends meet. Perhaps those who do not have a job, the supposed priority of the Obama regime, would have a problem paying the money.
I do not think the numbers add up because we have seen time and again government estimates that end up costing way more than advertised. The health care bill was touted as a savings measure as Democrats hid the true cost. Once the bill was signed into law the real numbers came out and this monster will cost a hell of a lot more than advertised.
The cap and tax will be no different as the politicians decide they need more and more of our money. THEY ALWAYS WANT MORE.
Obama is using the crisis in the Gulf to bash BP (the company Kerry was courting when writing his bill) and to push an agenda that will cost us a fortune. Yes, we will pay more than the amount Lieberman proudly proclaims and we will also pay the increased costs to companies because costs are passed on to consumers.
Remember, it was Barack Obama who said his cap and tax scheme would necessarily cause electricity costs to skyrocket.
Obama sounded flat last night as if he were giving a half hearted campaign speech.
Even his state run media was unimpressed.
You know he has jumped the shark when he has lost his cheer leading section in the state run media.
Yes, Obama is not letting this crisis go to waste. He is using the tragedy to push something he has wanted all along.
I noticed he mentioned Katrina a few times as if he was trying to say that he is not as bad as the last guy. Funny, the folks in Louisiana don’t see it that way.
Never surrender, never submit.
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I Think I have Seen The Light
Apr 1, 2010 Commentary
After much reflection and after reading resources provided by several of my commenters here I have come to the conclusion that I have been wrong about several things. I have taken the last ten days or so and read the health care law (PL 111-148) and see that it actually benefits more than it hurts. It has some things I do not care for but overall it is a good thing.
I have been reading some of President Obama’s initiatives and find that more and more I fall in line with what he proposes. I have issues with some of the things but for the most part I am in line with him on them.
I am still skeptical about global warming but can see, from the stuff I was provided, that I need to give it a closer look.
The cap and trade system is not great but I might be able to get on board if they make a few changes. I think what Lindsay Graham and John Kerry are working on might be something I could support.
I have been watching Bill Maher and even though I find him obnoxious I can see his points on many things. I believe that my alignment with TEA Party members might have been a mistake.
We need to have a less toxic political environment and I think it is time for me to get on board with helping to remake the country.
Thanks to all who have sent me links to fascinating pieces of well researched information and for those who have helped to steer me in a better direction.
I have finally seen the light.
And for that I thank you.
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Tags: cap and trade, global warming, health care, Obama
Obama To Abandon Cap And Trade?
Nov 13, 2009 Political
Politico reports that in Obama’s next State of the Union Address he will indicate that he will focus on cutting the federal deficit (now that he ran it up) and will pay less attention to other issues except job creation. The thought is that this will put Cap and Trade on hold.
What Obama wants to do is give Democrats cover for the 2010 election. Cap and Trade is unpopular and Obama does not want to have the record show that Democrats voted for this unpopular legislation though we already have the names of those in the House who voted for it.
The recent elections have driven home a few points, one of which is that Democrats could be vulnerable in 2010 because of the spending spree they have been on. This is a political move designed to lessen damage from the midterm election.
Make no mistake, Cap and Trade will be back if Obama maintains majorities in both chambers of Congress. He knows that if he puts the Democrats out there on this issue, whether it passes before the next election or not, he is likely to lose a lot of seats. If Cap and Trade has not passed and he loses the Senate, it never will and even if it does pass and he loses one chamber, his legislative agenda will be dead. He will also have a harder time being reelected.
This is a stalling tactic. Obama wants people to forget about the Cap and Trade issue so he can keep both chambers. If he is successful, Cap and Trade will be back and a number of other liberal/socialist items will be introduced.
Regardless of what he does next year we need to vote as many of them out of office as possible.
We saw what a mess was created when Republicans held all the power and now we are seeing it to an even greater degree with the Democrats.
We need to bring some sort of sanity back to DC and we can do that by shaking up the Congress.
Vote them all out in 2010.
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Tags: cap and trade, election, Obama, stalling, state of the union
Here We Go Again
Aug 18, 2009 Political
While everyone is involved with the debate on healthcare, and rightly so, there are other problems that the socialists are trying to ram through, like the Cap and Tax problem that they are foisting on a public that, while most are environmentally aware, are unaware that their economic future is extremely dependent on whether this bill is passed in its current form or not by the Senate when they come back from recess (makes them sound like the children they seem to be, doesn’t it?). It should be noted that not everyone is thrilled with the content of this badly constructed bill.
Local energy workers are expected to crowd into a downtown Houston theater today to protest climate change legislation that the U.S. Senate will take up in the coming weeks.
The Energy Citizens rally, promoted by some major energy companies and business organizations as well as the Greater Houston Partnership, will be the first of several such events planned in 19 states in the coming weeks.
Organizers of the event, billed as a dialogue on energy and the environment, told the Chronicle on Monday that legislation the U.S. House passed last spring will destroy millions of U.S. jobs and raise costs without reducing greenhouse gas emissions blamed for climate change.
“It’s a dangerous piece of legislation,” said James Hackett, chairman and CEO of Anadarko Energy, which is busing employees to the event.
Hackett said he supports reducing greenhouse emissions and developing alternative sources of fuel.
“But I do think there’s a virtual reality that’s being portrayed to most American citizens about how quickly we get there and how we get there,” Hackett said.
chron.com
These workers, who actually do work in the energy industry, not just “play one on TV”, are concerned about the future of our energy industry if this bill is passed, as there is so much that is omitted in this bill.
The climate change bill the House passed earlier this year sets a steadily decreasing cap on emissions from factories, power plants and other industrial sources and lets companies trade any excess emissions allowances. The price of those emissions allowances would most likely be passed on to consumers.
The measure also would set up a system for creating extra allowances, called offsets, through other projects that reduce emissions, and would include incentives for renewable energy sources and home and business energy efficiency.
But opponents say the bill won’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions because it doesn’t secure promises from developing nations, like China and India, to put controls on their growing emissions.
It also makes no mention of encouraging nuclear power generation, which some rally organizers believe will be key to meeting the country’s electricity needs without creating more greenhouse gases, and doesn’t discuss a role for natural gas, which typically has lower carbon emissions than other fossil fuels.
Opponents also say the cost of the legislation is ill-timed in a weak economy.
chron.com
Yeah, nuclear power would and should be on the plan, but some environmental whackos won’t be satisfied until we are living off of granola, sitting in our tents, and pondering our navel. Lovely.
When you consider that China and India’s air becomes ours in two to three days, as the jetstream transfers and mixes air above us, any plan that doesn’t have them on board is useless, and just cripples our economy, and makes no sense. It’s the economic version of slitting our own throat.
A study released by the National Association of Manufacturers last week says the law would cost 1.8 million to 2.4 million jobs by 2030 and would cost each U.S. household up to $1,248 a year by 2030.
Other estimates of annual household costs have differed — $83 per year according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration; $88-$140 according to the Environmental Protection Agency; and $175 a year projected by the Congressional Budget Office.
chron.com
Now, I am all in favor of a plan that makes sense, and I am aware of how wasteful people can be, but if we take water out of the ocean on the West coast, and put it back in on the East coast, we have accomplished nothing.
That is basically what this bill does.
One of the scheduled speakers at today’s event, National Black Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Harry Alford, said his organization has been on the record against such a bill since 1996 when it opposed the Kyoto Treaty that led to the emissions trading system now operating in Europe.
chron.com
You know you have lost the argument when the President and CEO of the National Black Chamber of Commerce is not on your side in this debate. Mr. Alford knows what everyone else besides our lawmakers know- this is a bad bill, and should not be passed.
If it is, our economy will suffer- that’s guaranteed– and all for naught, as nothing will have been accomplished in a positive manner. We the people will suffer, the rest of the world, (you know, the ones who can see the future of energy) will have their nuclear reactors, or their hydroelectric dams, and they will definitely have our manufacturing jobs.
We will have a lot of over- paid, out of work, disgruntled union workers who will be sitting around wondering how things could change so badly for them. It’s simple, really-
They, and the other liberals, will have figured out too late that their leader “Changed” the playing field on them also.
All to gain control.
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Tags: cap and trade, job loss, nuclear energy, waste
Gorebal Warming
Jul 16, 2009 Political
[note]No one knows exactly how much Earth’s climate will warm due to carbon emissions, but a new study this week suggests scientists’ best predictions about global warming might be incorrect.[/note]
Looks like the settled science gets less settled each day. CO2 is used to explain the theory but it is not the only possible explanation and it looks as if CO2 does not have the great affect that the global warming community states. The problem is that they have decided that CO2 is the answer and have stopped looking (that is what it means when the science is settled) so other possibilities are discounted and those espousing them are ridiculed as not the right kind of scientist or a hack. The field of science is only unimportant if the sceientist in question believes in and supports global warming. Then it does not matter because he supports the position. As an aside, the EPA worker who was quited was deemed to be an economist and not a scientist. He actually was a scientist AND and economist. He has degrees in both fields. Ace digs into this in greater detail at the linked article.
I have stated many times that this is something that needs more research before we invest trillions of dollars into fixing what might not be the problem. One day we might find out that there was nothing we could do, or there was not a problem, or that it was natural and cyclic. By that time though, we will have spent huge sums of money and a few folks will have gotten very rich off the entire deal. Al Gore has increased his wealth substanially on his warming crusade and he will increase it more if cap and trade is passed. So will Goldman Sachs and General Electric, companies who are heavily vested in this scam.
The more that research is done (by deniers or those looking for the truth) the less settled things are and that cannot make the warmers happy. The longer it drags out and the more that is discovered, the less opportunity they have to make lots of money. This is why things have to be done NOW. The planet does not have a fever, the warmers have an itch, an itch they want to scratch with lots of our money. But the problems keep arising. According to a Rice University media release (reporting on a study from Natural Geoscience):
“In a nutshell, theoretical models cannot explain what we observe in the geological record,” said oceanographer Gerald Dickens, a co-author of the study and professor of Earth science at Rice University. “There appears to be something fundamentally wrong with the way temperature and carbon are linked in climate models.”
Cap and trade is an albatross that will cost us a fortune and result in lost jobs. Obama and the supporters keep saying it will create jobs but the bill specifically provides money for people who lose their jobs as a result of the legislation which means they know it will cost jobs. This is the wrong way to do things and we will be forced to absorb the crushing blow this would have to the country all in the name of an unsettled science.
It is time to defeat the cap and TAX bill and allow research (unbiased research) to look at the issue without the static and background noise provided by Gore and his band of merry warmers.
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Tags: cap and trade, global warming, gore, science