Oil Companies Looking for Pity

The oil companies have created a new ad campaign to battle the push for cleaner domestic fuels. The campaign is quite slick. An attractive woman dressed in business attire walks onto the set and tells us that 2/3 of America’s oil and natural gas come from North America. Did you catch that? She says, “oil AND NATURAL GAS.” That’s how she can use the 2/3 figure – because it includes natural gas. If she were speaking only of oil, she would have to say 1/3. If you go to the website that she mentions - energytomorrow.com - you can read the sob story of how new “energy taxes… could produce devastating effects on our economy.” Never mind the horrible effect that the ridiculous profits being reaped by the oil companies and the OPEC nations has had on our economy already. It’s time for the oil companies to pay up. It’s past time for us to stop listening to the lies from BIG OIL and break our addiction on foreign and domestic oil.

Paulson, Bernanke, & Bush Making Economy Tank

The proposed "economic stimulus package" from the Bush administration is "too little, too late" and actually exacerbates the underlying difficulties that Americans are currently experiencing. What is being proposed are tax cuts that will increase consumer spending, raise prices even further, and be of no assistance in the debt to asset ratio that is already hurting so many consumers caught in a severe mortgage crisis. It is a fact that higher prices in oil have already worked their way through the economy causing the consumer to pay higher prices for practically everything they need to survive. Meanwhile, higher wages are non-existent and healthcare costs also continue to climb.

What does the Bush "plan" actually provide to the average American taxpayer? Some analysts have suggested that most people will see a $250 tax break. Think about this. Two hundred fifty extra dollars in your tax return is not enough to make a mortgage payment. Even if the $250 is put back into the economy in the form of consumer spending, it will not stop the recession (which I believe began last quarter). When everything from groceries to automobile parts cost 30% more than they did 2 years ago, but wages have remained flat, there is no way to stop a recession from occurring. It certainly cannot be stopped by increasing inflation and sinking the dollar to new all-time lows against currencies of other industrialized nations. I don't know about you, but this is the first time during my lifetime that the Canadian dollar has traded at a premium to the U.S. dollar. Bush can talk all he wants about lowering taxes, but THERE IS NO GREATER FINANCIAL TAX THAT YOU CAN PLACE ON THE WORKING CLASS THAN INFLATION. And inflation happens when the dollar's value deteriorates - it takes more dollars to buy the same products.

So, what are going to about this? Are going to allow Bush & Co. to crap on us one more time, or are we going to scream bloody murder until they start addressing the real issues behind this recession? Remember, it was just 8 years ago that we had a balanced budget and no deficit spending. If we can have it under a Democrat as President, surely we can have it under a Republican if he sticks to the ideals of his party.

George Will - Out Of Touch With Reality

I just viewed this video:

It does not seem to matter how many of the facts hit George Will in the face. He still cannot understand their meaning. The only people doing better under George W. Bush are the wealthy, and not the regular top 25% of Americans, but the very top 5%. But Will remains "willfully" blind, saying that we have a healthy economy. Wrong. The "economy" is not just corporate earnings, George. The economy is how the average American is doing. If you and your neo-con buddies are all willing to completely ignore how the majority of Americans are faring, then you will soon find this country suffering another revolution, and it will not be a revolution based on political ideals but on financial realities. I suggest that the powerful, wealthy, elitists of this country wake up before the rest of us wake you up. The latter will be rather unpleasant.

More Garbage From China

Fisher-Price Recalling 1 Million Toys

Mattel announced that they are recalling 1.5 million - yes 1,500,000 - toys that were manufactured in China because of high lead levels in the paint. What is happening?! Talking heads here in the U.S. and government officials from China will tell you that its because of "poor oversight," "corruption," or "inability to keep up with rapid growth" in China's economy that are causing "problems" like this to occur. I don't think so. I believe that China has found a way of dumping their garbage in our country by putting it into products that they sell to us. It's rather ingenious, really. Manufacturing creates waste products. What better way to rid yourself of these wastes than to put them into the products that you will be exporting to other countries. Put that risk of disease and death upon another country's population. Increase their healthcare costs. Raise your own country's wealth and power by default. Our greatest threat is not from radical Muslim regimes like Iran but from the most populous and soon to be most powerful nation in the world. China has the intellect, will, and ability to infect our society with serious ills that will slowly but certainly degrade our health and our economy.

Glenn Beck - Another Republican Mouthpiece

I was just watching an interview between Glenn Beck and Whitehouse Press Secretary, Tony Snow that was more like a conversation between frat buddies. The only things missing were the rag wool sweaters and the bottles of beer. They were joking around about how the Democrats have become "hecklers" and are lacking ideas on how to better manage the war and the economy. This is absolutely ridiculous. The reason that Republican candidates are being heckled is that they refuse to even hear opposing ideas. They refuse to debate the ideas being put forward by Democrats. The only thing the Republicans can do is take personal potshots at Democrats because Republicans have no defense for their current policies which are killing our soldiers, killing our Constitution and killing our economy.

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