Enviromental Wackos team up to wack OH Energy company

Just when you think there is not much to cover on the front of Liberty and Freedom (as if there is never anything to talk about in this country as long as there are Liberals around) all I have to do is open up a local newspaper and just read inside.

Just one issue of the Nashua Telegraph of Nashua, NH has given me enough fodder to talk about for the next two weeks. Seriously. And that is is only on the first 6 pages of the small city newspaper. You see, I don't usually read newspapers. I don't have high blood pressure now and I know if I were to read the bull that most Liberal rags purport to be news, I would end up with sever high blood pressure.

OK I am being a little bit funny there. But I do not read many newspapers because I know of their bias from years of reading them in the past.

One of the stories that caught my attention is in the News Digest section on page 2. Here is what the little blurb said in part:

N.H. To get $1.2m in pollution settlement.

OK you might think that is a good thing. The state is getting money from a polluter to offset the cost of cleaning up a mess. Well you would be thinking wrong. Read on.

CONCORD (AP) – New Hampshire Attorney General Kelly Ayotte says the state will receive $1.2 million fro a multi-state settlement reached last year with an Ohio power company.

The money comes from an October agreement with American Electric Power Company over smokestack pollution that drifted across Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states. The case began in 1999 when eight states and 13 environmental groups joined the Environmental Protection Agency's crackdown on energy companies accused of rebuilding coal-fired power plants without installing pollution controls as required..

Yes you read that right. A company was sued by our government because they did not put some over regulated pollution control devises back in place when they up graded the plants that produce the very power that you, me, and the government uses.

Now who do you think is going to pay that settlement? You think an insurance company is going to pay? No. The reason is this is more like a fine but in order for the different state and federal governments to get a piece of the action it has to come down as a law suit. We the consumer will end up paying this bill.

Not to mention it will also cost this company finances to invest in new technology that would make using coal and other domestic sources of fuel a more viable and cleaner source of energy for all of us. After all we depend too much on foreign oil, at least that is what the left side of the political isle is always telling us.

The entire settlement will end up being $60 million to be distributed throughout the Northeast and parts of the Midwest for environmental projects such as improvements to building to make them energy efficient and investments in solar power.

Come on. Do you think any of that money is going to go to research and investment in solar power? I know for a fact it wont. If that is what they wanted the company to do then they would have just settled for the Ohio company to invest in alternative energy research and development. Or they could have forced them to invest in solar power by having them install solar energy producing panels and the like in buildings around the Northeast.

Instead, this was just a money grab no doubt led by the 13 environmental groups. You gotta ask yourself how many trees sacrificed their lives in order to make all the paper that this litigation needed? After all everything has to be written, stamped, mailed, etc on paper.

The environmental groups had to drive their cars which use gas made from oil in order to get to the lawyers offices and to get to court in order to try this case not to mention all the gas needed by those people serving the various legal papers to those involved.

You have to ask, how much did they destroy the environment by bringing on this law suit that could have been settled with a simple fine and proper administering of the fine money?

Don't think for an instant this was about protecting the environment. It was all about grabbing money from the big bad energy producers. The very companies that produce something we all want and enjoy. Electricity.

Sunday Brief 2 10 2008

Barack is on a roll or is he? It looks like Obama swept the 5 state primary/caucus yesterday. But did he really make gains on Hillary on the delegate count? Yes and no. There were not a whole lot of delegates up for grabs but since the two Democrats are nearly even in the count, every single delegate is going to count.

Next big steps will be in the states of Texas, Ohio and PA. But can Obama pick up those states? Can he win? Some polls suggest that if Obama were the Democrat nominee, that he would beat McCain.

Other polls suggest that Obama's lack of being specific about anything will hurt him in the general election because he has a very small record to lean back on. McCain has a huge record and that record seems to harm him when it comes to conservatives. But this is where Obama will have a tough time as well.

He will need to get specific about his plans. Inspiring and pretty speeches will not cut it when you have an opponent who presses you for specifics. Obama has not had to deal with that yet. Clinton won't press Obama on specifics for fear of having to give greater details on her own plans.

The who strategy here is, less is more for now. These Democrats are afraid to let you know there specific plans. Why? Remember a decade ago when Hillary was trying to get Hillary-care passed? Americans got the details and said no with a loud and deep voice.

She and Obama know that if they get specific on their plans, the American people will run away again. This is where a good strong Republican can win. McCain, despite his own liberal record, can win over conservatives and independents simply by getting Hillary and Barack to get specific about their plans and policies. Until that happens, we will have more flowery speeches and rallies by the two Democrats. there won't be anything relevant.
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• The wealthiest 1%, in 2003, earned 14% of the income and paid 35% of all individual income taxes.

• By comparison, the bottom 60% of all taxpayers earn 28% of all income and pay just 1% of all individual income taxes.

This should dispel the notion that the rich don't pay their fair share or that the rich need to pay more in taxes. We already know that the higher income earners help the economy and those at the lower end of the economy as well.

Many people who earn under $36,$15per year do so in an industry that caters to those who earn more than $150,000 per year. These high earners buy stuff. They buy lots of stuff. They get services. They get lots of services. So people who sell or service the high earners depend on those high earners to spend that money. If they don't have as much money because of higher taxes then those people who depend on them will suffer and they will suffer big time.

How do you keep the economy going strong? Simple, you first cut the taxes on the people who have the money to spend. Then you cut the taxes on every other economic group that pays taxes. When people have money to spend, they will spend it and those people on the lower end of the economic ladder will benefit and will not need government services as much or at all.

Now do the Democrats really want to help the "less fortunate" or do they just want to pay lip service? You be the judge.
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Waterboarding continues to be a hot topic on the political landscape. The UN (and we all know how reputable and fair the UN is) says that waterboarding is torture and needs to be halted in the USA.

The media has been focusing on this issue for months as well. Obviously, the media in general is against waterboarding. Why? Simply because it works without harming the individual being questioned. But many Americans, if you ask them, will tell you they are against waterboarding. Ask those same Americans if they know exactly what it is and they cannot tell you except they heard it was something bad.

I'm here to tell you that I have found out what this form of interrogation is and found it to not be torture at all. Interrogation is nothing but a mind game anyway and waterbording is a form of a mind game. If it gets people to talk and it does not physically harm another the person being interrogated, then it should be used.

Waterboarding, if done properly is a good, none lethal, non harmful way to extract information from an individual. And waterboarding has been proven to be far less harmful mentally than other forms of interrogation such as sensory deprivation.

Want to know more about waterbording? Go here:
How Stuff Works
Wikipedia
Waterboarding.org

The Week End Report Feb 9 and 10

The Week End Report.

This is really disturbing. It seems Ohio is trampling on its own state constitution in order to keep Federal money flowing to its coffers. But the issue is that the cost of the new law would far outstrip any amount of money the state would be eligible for from the Fed, some law enforcement authorities say.

The controversy is so big that there are judges in some of Ohio's counties that refuse to enforce the law. They issue stays from their bench as cases reach their courtrooms. It also looks like there have been over 80 civil challenges to this new law since it too effect back on Jan 2, 2008.

It is a law rewritten in order to comply with the Federal Adam Walsh Child Safety Protection Act. This law in and of itself is a huge constitutional bug a boo. But Ohio is taking this law a step further. It seems that this law would also be retroactive. This means that if a deal was made prior to this law and you did what you were called to do under the old law, you can forget it. That deal would be thrown out, you would still be convicted under the old law but would now have to abide by the new law no matter what your previous deal was. It could mean that if you were a juvenile sex offender, you would have to register for life.

It could be that if you followed the law and bought a home in a “legal” area under the old law, you may be forced to move under the new law. It could mean that if you bought some porn, you could be arrested and convicted of pandering and then would have to have special license plates for you car, have to register as a sex offender and would be barred from living in many places in the state and would have to get permission before you could move out of the state. Just for buying some porn?

Even I have to agree with the ACLU on this one. Even some child protection groups are working with the ACLU to fight this law. Its ridiculous. It tramples on individual rights. It crushes the state constitution. It enacts retroactively and it slaps the US Constitution to the curb. This is a bad law period and its a threat to individual liberty in all states.

Read more about it here:

The Plain Dealer

The Guide

The Toledo Blade

The Chronicle-Telegram

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It looks like the Tax Rebate is a done deal. The main problem with this thing is that people who do not pay any taxes are getting a "rebate". Now that is like you walking into a Best Buy, picking up a rebate form for buying a big screen LCD TV and sending it in without ever buying the TV.

Its not a rebate, its a redistribution of wealth and you and I are all paying for it. Not to mention such a tactic is really unlikely to boost the economy. If it is a good idea to let the American people keep more of their money to keep the economy going now, why is not just plain good policy to let the American people keep more of their hard earned money all the time?

Find out if you qualify and how to qualify for this rebate. By the way, of course I am going to keep my rebate and probably invest it instead of spend it willy nilly.

CNN Money

IRS

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The housing slump. This is not a crisis. More than 95% of mortgages out there are being paid. So that means less than 5% are in some form of default. Now there are two ways to get out of this mess for that 5%. First, you bought the dang house now pay for it. Doesn't matter that you may have to give up lattes at Starbucks. Pay for the house. Whatever happened to personal honor and integrity when putting your signature on a note?

Second, you banks out there know what a mess you help create so why not buck up and go to the table and help those people in trouble. You will save yourself a lot of money in the end. You will protect your profits in the end. And you will keep the market from being flooded with empty homes which only drags down the value of all homes in that area. Think about it.

A bonus third. Keep the Fed out of it. They will only screw things up and make things worse. When was the last time the Fed was able to directly help a poor situation? Exactly, never. Let the market correct its mess. Don't bog down the industry with more regulation, how will that help? Stay out of it. Job growth is still there. Unemployment is still low. The economy is not in a recession or a tailspin so don't force it down the tubes. Let it be and it will work itself back to health in a few years.

In the mean time...people pay your bills. That will do more to help the economy than anything else the Fed can do.