5
POPS Examples Of What Not To Do at The Heartland Institute. "Not only has it failed to cover many people, but all the false promises surrounding it have distracted Maine from doing anything that would actually help improve the situation." 'Costly, Ineffective Failure' "Maine has one of the highest state and local tax burdens. We should not be adding more taxes for this boondoggle, particularly at a time when Maine families are struggling with record high gas and heating oil prices and an uncertain economy." Past a 'Train Wreck' John Garven, president-elect of the Illinois State Association of Health Underwriters, concurs. "Dirigo is the more 'mature' of the * two programs, and it is already past the train wreck stage ." * Massachusetts 'universal health care' schemes Maine Residents Angered by Expansion of Dirigo Program Subsidy
5
POPSEnergy crisis is postponed as new gas rescues the world
"The common wisdom was that unconventional gas was too difficult, too expensive and too demanding," he said, according to Petroleum Economist. "This has changed. If we ever doubted that gas was the fuel of the future – in many ways there's the answer." The breakthrough has been to combine 3-D seismic imaging with new technologies to free "tight gas" by smashing rocks, known as hydro-fracturing or "fracking" in the trade. The US is leading the charge. Operations in Pennsylvania and Texas have already been sufficient to cut US imports of liquefied natural gas (LGN) from Trinidad and Qatar to almost nil, with knock-on effects for the global gas market – and crude oil. It is one reason why spot prices for some LNG deliveries have dropped to 50pc of pipeline contracts. We may soon be looking at an era when gas, wind and solar power, combined with a smarter grid and a switch to electric cars returns the country to near energy self-sufficiency.
1
POPSGlobal Warming Legislation Effect on States The preceding is a list of the 50 state-by-state breakouts of the impact the bill would have on jobs and the economy. Lieberman-Warner (S.2191) relies heavily on an unproven technology, capturing carbon and sequestering it. Even with the most generous assumptions " presuming that carbon capture and sequestration is commercially developed in 10 years " the economic costs for the average American are staggering. Under a more realistic scenario, the economic impacts in terms of losses in the job market, losses in household budgets, and higher energy prices will be drastically higher. To make matters worse, there will be inconsequential effects on the environment to show for it, if any. The Senate's leading climate-change bill, while aiming to combat global warming by reducing carbon dioxide in the air, actually poses "extraordinary perils" for Americans and the economy, according to a new study from The Heritage Foundation.
3
POPSPalin: Dollar woes show need for energy independence THIS should be among the top 2 issues that Washington is addressing! How many of our economic problems could be solved just by going full-force on this desperate need? Can someone explain to me (other than the environmentalist's drumbeat) why this is so hard to implement?? I hear the talk but see no movement. Crisis indeed!!
5
POPSThe Cost of War in Afghanistan -- 779 Troops, $229 Billion Obama's war now. The economic cost of this war that has been paid by Americans as well here , along with the devaluation of the U.S. dollar and higher gas prices (inflation in all consumer goods). See also this article with this obscure fact: ECONOMIC SCENE: Afghanistan will cost US more than Iraq Funding for war in Afghanistan will eclipse Iraq for the first time in next year's budget.
3
POPSAdministration Privately Admits Cap-And-Trade Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year: FOIA Documents
So there you have it, from an internal Treasury Department document that cap-and-trade could generate federal receipts, i.e. tax revenue, in the range of $100 to $200 billion a year. Does that cost sound familiar to you? The Heritage Foundation has long predicted that: "The annual cost of emissions permits to energy users will be at least $100 billion by 2012 and could exceed $390 billion by 2035." This raises a whole other issue, that the $100 to $200 billion estimate by Treasury has no date or timeline of any kind. While Heritage follows the trajectory through to 2035, and even to 2050, the Treasury Department doesn't provide any further analysis or calculations. In a different memo, prepared by President Obama's transition team after the election, they throw this out there: "Economic costs will likely be on the order of 1% of GDP, making them equal in scale to all existing environmental regulation." That's another prediction offered up without any details as to . . .
2
POPSGoldman Profits. Do We Lose? From tech stocks to high gas prices, Goldman Sachs has engineered every major market manipulation since the Great Depression - and they're about to do it again. In a brilliant article that appears in the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine, "The Great American Bubble Machine" by Matt Taibbi, we can see in all its gory and horrendous detail what is so wrong with "the invisible hand of the marketplace." From the article: “any attempt to construct a narrative around all the former Goldmanites in influential positions quickly becomes an absurd and pointless exercise, like trying to make a list of everything. What you need to know is the big picture: If America is circling the drain, Goldman Sachs has found a way to be that drain — an extremely unfortunate loophole in the system of Western democratic capitalism, which never foresaw that in a society governed passively by free markets and free elections, organized greed always defeats disorganized democracy.”
3
POPSThe Next Industry on the Chopping Block game plan hasn't worked out so well for Venezuelans. And check out the poor schlub sitting next to her. You can almost read his mind. How the heck did I get stuck sitting next to this national embarrassment? After "reforming" health care, the National Socialist Democrats will target the energy industry. Whether through cap-and-tax or some other stealthy mechanism, Democrats will punish more job creators as certainly as night follows day. And If Waters is really the best that Californians can do, I would recommend that residents start evacuating now. Posted by directorblue
2
POPSPhony recession..from a blog We have the technology now, to make it unnecessary for any one who doesn't want to, to have to work. We could feed the world forever with the cost of ONE stealth bomber.. We could send every college aged student in America through college.. room and board and tuition with the cost of ONE stealth bomber. So why don't we? Big business is too busy lining their profits making stealth bombers, Abrams tanks, helicoptors, etc. We have the technology for electric cars. Nikola Tesla invented electric power that could be sent out like radio waves. Free. But big business killed that. Why? They couldn't meter it and charge for it. Make executive pay in private industry sensible and reasonable. Stop excessive and ruinous profits.. e.g., gas prices, pharmaceutical prices, real estate prices, etc. Roll back prices to 1949 levels and freeze them there. Make all wages sufficient for everyone to be able to have a nice car, a nice home, a good vacation every year. Not ju
1
POPSSeven Surprising Stay-Home Salaries Working at home can help you save on skyrocketing gas prices, but it makes financial sense for your employer, too. A study done for the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas showed telecommuters earning $44,000 a year saved their company an average of $10,000. And, telecommuting options improve morale, productivity, and worker retention
7
POPS230 MPG? Are you kidding? How they will get 230 MPG later next year if now they cannot reach a figure 10 times less? They must have smtin in their sleeve...:cool: If it's true and not next in a long row BS, who would choose to pay $50 per tank if he can pay 10 and no strings attached?
6
POPSThe Great American Bubble Machine a suspiciously self-serving plan to funnel trillions of Your Dollars to a handful of his old friends on Wall Street. Robert Rubin, Bill Clinton's former Treasury secretary, spent 26 years at Goldman before becoming chairman of Citigroup " which in turn got a $300 billion taxpayer bailout from Paulson. There's John Thain, the asshole chief of Merrill Lynch who bought an $87,000 area rug for his office as his company was imploding; a former Goldman banker, Thain enjoyed a multibilliondollar handout from Paulson, who used billions in taxpayer funds to help Bank of America rescue Thain's sorry company. And Robert Steel, the former Goldmanite head of Wachovia, scored himself and his fellow executives $225 million in golden parachute payments as his bank was selfdestructing. There's Joshua Bolten, Bush's chief of staff during the bailout, and Mark Patterson, the current Treasury chief of staff, who was a Goldman lobbyist just a year ago, and Ed Liddy, the former Goldman director . . .
4
POPSCap and Trade and You Household Cap-and-Trade Burden Calculator By reducing carbon emissions, cap-and-trade systems raise prices throughout the economy. These costs are ultimately paid by American consumers. The following calculator estimates the annual cost your household would face under a typical U.S. cap-and-trade system designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent. All estimates are based on the 2009 Tax Foundation study, "Who Pays for Climate Policy? New Estimates of the Household Burden and Economic Impact of a U.S. Cap-and-Trade System," available here. Who Pays for Climate Policy? New Estimates of the Household Burden and Economic Impact of a U.S. Cap-and-Trade System (Default values are U.S. national averages. Roll over each category for additional detail.) via suitable flip
6
POPS“Russ Carnahan voted to … close us and other … small business” David McArthur, vice president of the 52-year-old family operation, a Gateway City institution, is one of a growing number of business owners and taxpayers nationwide who are mobilizing against the so-called cap-and-trade bill . . . "We make (our product) with electricity, we bake it with gas, we refrigerate and freeze it with electricity and we distribute it with gas and oil," said McArthur, who said he worries that high prices could cost his company up to $15,000 a year in an industry with a very tight margin for profit. The legislation requires that the country reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 17 percent by 2020. Big energy plants and producers would have a cap on emissions like carbon dioxide, but could purchase "credits" from other companies that have met their reduction goals. The Obama administration says it will pump hundreds of billions of dollars into the economy. "Russ Carnahan voted to ... close us and other ... small business."
1
POPSU.S. Considers Curbs on Speculative Trading of Oil 
I am a little weary of this step in the regulation of futures markets. Though I do not have the complete information before me and I do realize the vital interest there is in price stability I question the role of government to overly regulate the energy futures market as futures markets do serve a function that is beneficial to more than the few. Though what that benefit is escapes me at the moment. In fact the price swings of late I’d say have little to do with futures markets and more to do with expected price fluctuations of a dwindling resource, i.e. this is an indicator that we have reached peak oil. There was a study (hey if you are interested in the details, let me know) that came out a few years back that showed the price curve of a commodity that suddenly reached the point of being a dwindling resource, meaning that new demand was coming on at a higher rate than supply. Contrary to expectations the price did not skyrocket forever but went through wild gyrations
7
POPSPut a Lid On Cap-and-Tax This bill does not address the international nature of climate change. For example, even if the United States completely eliminated carbon emissions, global levels would still rise because developing countries' emissions are rapidly growing. Increasing our domestic energy prices would put U.S. businesses at a disadvantage. In fact, many American jobs would likely be shipped overseas where energy is cheaper and environmental restrictions are more lax. Does anyone think this would be a good idea in the midst of the worst recession since the Great Depression? Additionally, ACES would impose tariffs on products produced by other countries that don't impose similar curbs on greenhouse gas emissions. This would violate our international trade obligations and could incite a devastating trade war that would cripple American exporters.
6
POPSCap and Trade must die must die in the Senate; thanks to House Republicans
We may now safely conclude that whomever leads in green technology will certainly trail the world in economic development. Especially when leading the way means we discard energy sources that are reliable and affordable. By doing so, we ensure less money in the pockets of individuals. Cap and trade will be an embedded tax in everything from the car we drive, to the A/C that keeps us cool, to the gas we use to operate vehicles, to the food we eat, to the very air we breathe. All industries that make things or produce things (including food) emit carbon. Therefore, everything is subject to this program, and the “little guy” pays for it all in the end. What do these politicians in the House of Representatives hope to achieve through this bill? Reduce emissions and save the planet we assume. Why then, are we emulating the European Union’s famed ETS (Emissions Trading Scheme), which actually saw emissions RISE by 1.9% from 2005 to 2008? Could it be that our politicians are not REALLY
3
POPSWho's Really Behind the Rising Prices at the Pumps? This bipartisan cabal created a speculative mechanism that's presently sucking money out of your pocket with every gallon of gas you pump. Meanwhile, every dollar that Goldman, Morgan and the rest use to inflate oil prices is a dollar they are not investing in real economic activity that could create middle-class jobs. Of course, Wall Street culprits are trying to keep their involvement hush-hush. When a McClatchy newspaper reporter approached Goldman Sachs about it, the response was terse: "Goldman Sachs declines to comment for your story."
5
POPS Watch What Obama Does, Not What He Says But capacity can be increased only gradually, and that's if more production is being encouraged rather than prevented. To think that wind and solar or other alternative fuels can fill the energy gap requires a belief in what Adriel Bettelheim of Congressional Quarterly has called the "Tinkerbell effect," as in Peter Pan. It consists of believing something will happen just because you wish it would. Wind and solar now provide less than 1 percent of America's energy needs. The likelihood, based on projections by experts, is that oil and gas must be relied on overwhelmingly to meet the country's energy needs for at least two more decades. But amazingly enough, the Obama administration is worried about domestic "overproduction" of oil and gas. So Obama has proposed removing all tax incentives to produce oil and gas, slapping a 13 percent excise tax on all energy derived from the Gulf of Mexico,
6
Pops
Newest Clips
Latest Comments
Most Pops
Print
Save
Turn on live update