I’m No Expert…

The Republicans have always had an uncanny ability to fool the American people and here we go again. Well they are at is again. In July,22 NY Times, Paul Krugman’s insight into the Republican’s new campaign to rewrite history and cleanse Bush policies of having anything to do with the current ec0nomic mess will have consquences if the American people fall for it again. Don’t miss this important read!!

 “Republicans aren’t trying to rescue George W. Bush’s reputation for sentimental reasons; they’re trying to clear the way for a return to Bush policies. And this carries a message for anyone hoping that the next time Republicans are in power, they’ll behave differently. If you believe that they’ve learned something — say, about fiscal prudence or the importance of effective regulation — you’re kidding yourself. You might as well face it: they’re addicted to Bush.”

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Everyone seems to agree that America needs to break, its addiction to oil. But for many the solution is to drill more oil wells here in the lower 48, Alaska and offshore, you knos “Drill Baby Drill.”  But that really doesn’t break our addiction, it only changes “dealers”. That’s like trying to quit cocaine by switching to a dealer closer to home.

I’m no expert, but these people don’t seem to have a clue. Even in the wake of the greatest oil disaster in history, they still think “Drill Baby Drill.”

Breaking our addiction from oil must begin with changing the mindset of Americans. Oil can be just one component of our energy. As we add other sources, such as renewables, we use less oil. More drilling only begets more more drilling! It’s time to break the viscious cyle of oil.

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As if you really need to ask. But Jonathan Powers, a veteran of the war in Iraq, reaffirms the reasons, probably adding a few you never thought of, and describes the consequenses of maintaining the status quo.

“This year, as Americans across the nation celebrate July Fourth with barbecues and fireworks, those most responsible for defending our independence, the military, will continue to fight two wars. And it is a shame that we will let yet another July Fourth pass us by without making substantial progress toward ending our unnecessary dependence on oil, a dependence that is funding the bullets that our enemies fire at our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.”  READ MORE

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The United States economy didn’t fail over night. It took years of wrong decisions, neglect, cutting banking regulations and so on to get us here. The “Bush” years specifically. You remember when the Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress.

But now, as midterm elections near, Republicans think it’s time for President Obama to take ownership of it and stop looking back at what caused it. Now I’m not exactly clear what they want him to take ownership of? The loss of millions of jobs that occurred at the end of the Bush administration? The collapse of the financial system that occurred primarily because of the rampant deregulation and internal Bush policies that had government financial regulators cozy up with Wall Street? The “tax-cut-and-spend” policy of the Bush years that turned a trillion dollar surplus into a half a trillion dollar deficit? Or Republican stonewalling and filibuster threats to bold recovery efforts unless they were scaled down? And let’s not forget the conservative’s genuine wishes for “Hope for Failure” to Obama’s recovery policies.

After two year in office Obama can take ownership, but remember where he started…at the bottom. The economy is slowly improving . But the rich are losing the tax cuts that is the foundation of our current deficit and not getting richer fast enough for Republicans. So the new Republican slight-of-hand strategy is to be make the American people believe our current situation is all Obama’s fault.

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Everyday millions of gallons of oil pour into the Gulf of Mexico, poisoning it’s wildlife and destroying the economy. Thousands of people are without work and permanently lost their livelihood.  The effects are just beginning to ripple to the overall economy. [Read more →]

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The Louisiana judge who struck down the Obama administration’s six-month ban on deepwater oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico has reported extensive investments in the oil and gas industry, according to financial disclosure reports. Read More

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For decades environmentalists and those “bleeding heart liberals” warned of environmental disaster should we from fossil fuels, oil spills in particular. Opponents insisted leaks such as the one we face in the Gulf were virtually impossible. Besides they were carefully “self-regulating” and taking all precautions and safe guards. Even now supporters of our fossil-fuel based society argue that this is just one off shore oil rig while there are hundreds operating safely. But it only takes one to see an ecosystem destroyed, not to mention the economy of a large portion of the country. And unfortunately we are just seeing the beginning of this disaster. The ramifications this may not be know for years. [Read more →]

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Everyone feels the anger and outrage at BP for this disaster. Many are even getting angry at the government for not stepping in and doing, well no one is sure what!. But as I watch the footage of the leak and listen to all the attempts to plug the well, what I feel is a real sense of helplessness. Not for just myself, but for the overall situation. What I’m not hearing are things that BP is not doing. There are no experts coming on the talk shows discussing what BP should do to stop the leak. No one seems to have a better idea. And that makes me feel helpless. The idea that they are doing everything that could be done and nothing is working. Most everyone is looking to the relief wells to stop this disaster. But what if the relief well don’t work. No one is guaranteeing they will.

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The release of new hi-res video released shows more oil spilling out of pipes than was estimated by BP. Now BP estimates a worst case scenario as high as 250,000 barrel of oil per day. So if BP hopes to capture 20,000 barrels of oil per day, that’s only a fraction of what is being released.

The government fines BP based on the amount of oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico, so it was in their best interest to low ball the estimates and hide the new hi-res video.

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BP announced it plans on capturing 20,000 barrels of oil/day from the leaking pipe with its newest containment cap. That’s great! But for the last few weeks BP estimated 12,000 – 19,000 barrels of oil/day were being released from the leak. I’m no expert, but that’s 1,000 barrels more than they said was leaking. Makes you wonder about the truth.

They may not know how much oil is being released into the Gulf of Mexico. What’s worse, they may not know how to stop it. The other day Admiral Allen of the Coast Guard said that even if the relief wells work, at best they are two months away. Note the scary words in that sentence…”even if”.

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