Vote against withdrawal
Donna Cotton speaks for many people in Glenburn and Veazie and has a very valid point (“Eyes are open,” Letters, March 12). Returning fiscal oversight to the member towns of RSU 26 is, in my mind, necessary and ethical. However, there is a far less drastic and painful method of doing so than withdrawal: rewriting the charter under which we operate to accomplish the same thing.
Any such document is written at a point in history. When times change or unforeseen consequences arise, it is incumbent on the organization to revisit and change it. Heck, if our U.S. Constitution had not been amended, this vice chairperson would not be able to vote, let alone hold office.
In other than fiscal matters, the RSU has achieved things that would have been much harder for our towns as standalones. We have pre-K so more students enter kindergarten well prepared. Our alternate education program allows students who would have slipped through the cracks to succeed. A recent presentation showed the amazing results when three towns’ teachers work together on curriculum.
I wrote this letter as a private citizen. However, in my official role at our last board meeting, I outlined this option and declared my full resolve to pursue it. I entreat Veazie and Glenburn residents to just this one time vote against withdrawal and join me in pursuing an option that would not divert money from education to legal fees or cause our towns to be bitterly divided between proponents and opponents.
Julia Emily Hathaway
Veazie
Marriage and government
As the marriage equality debate heats up, I am reminded of the wedding of a very good friend that almost did not take place. A hurricane was scheduled to make a direct hit on their planned outdoor wedding. Friends and family scrambled to find an indoor venue (a church) and work through associated details on extremely short notice.
What almost brought the wedding to a screeching halt, however, was not the impending storm. The morning of the big day, the minister refused to perform the ceremony. This was not on religious grounds or due to a question of faith, commitment or (perish the thought) sexual orientation. In all the hoopla, my friends had neglected to get a marriage license.
Without this blessing from the reigning government entity, the church official was unable and unwilling to unite this devoted heterosexual couple. So much for all those arguments that say that marriage is a contract with God.
The truth is that marriage is a government-sanctioned union. As such, let us go forth and skip the argument that marriage is exclusively for those of a chosen religious faith that have the potential to procreate. Marriage is a right that should be available to all regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or political party.
Ann Thayer
Yarmouth
Dem, but no Obama fan
I have voted in every presidential election since John F. Kennedy was elected, not always following party lines, and will continue to do so as long as I can make a mark.
I am very upset with the performance of our current president, but it seems that I am the only Democrat in this country that feels this way. I find it hard to believe that not one Democrat has stepped forward to challenge him. I feel that he has done more to damage the security and stature of this great country than any president in the past.
If there is something I am missing as to his usefulness as our leader, I would very much like to find out before the elections. As it stands right now, I will vote against him, even though the alternative choices would not be my choice at a less critical time for this country.
We need a president who will stand up to the other world leaders when they threaten us, who will put the safety and security of our country first, who will listen to the will of the people and who truly loves his country.
Timothy Smyth
Millinocket
Snowe’s Iraq legacy
Last year, I wrote a letter to the editor about Senator Snowe’s long string of votes to start and feed a hellish war against Iraq. She has now decided to not seek a fourth Senate term. The damage she did by backing Bush’s war dwarfs anything else she may have done with her time during her too-long tenure in Congress.
It’s nice that she’s finally on her way out; here’s hoping the same goes for abominable politicians who have started beating war drums, this time against Iran. All those vying for her vacant Senate seat should tell how they would vote on backing the attack on Iran that’s now being threatened by Israel, and seconded by its troops of toadies.
Marjorie Gallace
Camden
Save Efficiency Maine
It is a cagey, sly means to an end.
In January 2011, Gov. LePage said he would not change state laws and regulations that are “based in science and are common sense.” He promised not to destroy the years of environmental work that legislatures had crafted and made Maine the envy of many across the nation.
Promises, promises. Near the end of the second session of this Legislature, the governor has shown his true stripes.
He has given the public less than a week to respond to his effort to eviscerate the very successful Efficiency Maine Trust, an organization outside the political squabbling that has become our democratic process.
The one essential truth is that using less energy makes the most common sense for Mainers. By reducing wasted energy dollars through efficiency measures, people are more comfortable and spend fewer dollars on heating, enabling them to be involved in the local economy by choice. It is easily possible to save 25 percent of a household’s energy dollars and Efficiency Maine is providing that to thousands of homeowners and businesses.
Not only is the governor violating the trust by politicizing it, but he plans to open the funds to the general sweep. This is not based on common sense nor is it supportable by science.
Efficiency Maine Trust should remain a quasi-public entity so it can perform its mission to reduce energy use to help all Maine people. Call your legislators and ask them not to support the governor’s efforts in LD 1864.
Becky Bartovics
North Haven
Mr. Smyth, Osama bin Laden is dead and GM and Chrysler are alive. For 24 consecutive months we have added private sector jobs and the Dow has now risen 5000 points. Wall Street is re-regulated so that a crash like that in 2008 won’t happen again. Beginning in 2014 my business will have access to group health insurance pools for my employees comparable to what Congress has now. We have left Iraq and are leaving Afghanistan. I count all of these as the successes of a President who has the best interests of this country and all of its citizens at heart. The world has not respected America this much since the close of WW II.
– Osama Bin Laden – Obama finished the job that Bush started. Kudos to him.
– GM and Chrysler – Still in debt to the taxpayers, and still beholding to the unions. Ford didn’t take a penny and they’re doing great. The auto bailout was an unnecessary waste of taxpayer dollars.
– Under Bush, and prior to the Dems taking both houses of Congress, the Dow topped 14,000. So, if the roles were reversed in the White House, the left would be saying that the Dow is still down by 1,000.
– Obamacare will be deemed unconstitutional. Then the real fight will begin. It’s already done massive damage to the insurance industry and cost taxpayers hundreds of billions of dollars.
– Yes, we are out of Iraq, but we’ll be leaving Afghanistan in shame. In truth, we shouldn’t have been in there in the first place.
– World respect is up? Ain’t no way. We’ve never looked this weak.
Under Bush the Dow went from over 12k to just under 8k. Unemployment went from 5.6% to 8.3%. Obama has improved on both of these economic indicator.
The Dow went from a high of over 14,000 to under 8,000 while the House and Senate were controlled by Democrats. Since the left proclaims that the President has very little effect over the Dow, then the blame could go, in part at least, to the Democratically controlled Congress and their legislation. If you follow the timeline of the legislation that the 2006-2008 Congress put in place, and the scare it caused in the markets, you’ll find that Congress had a lot to do with the massive Dow drop. Of course, Bush was the President, and he did sign too many of the Dems bills into law, so he’s partially to blame. And, don’t forget who was a Freshman Senator from Illinois from 2006-2008.
Could you point out the instances where “the left” has claimed that the president has little impact on the DOW? I believe that the Dow is certainly an imperfect indicator, but all signs point to the Obama Presidency as being economically beneficial to America. The same cannot be said for the past president.
economically beneficial to America, but only if you have an active imagination.
Normally a good economy generates about 300k jobs monthly in order to keep even.
Recently we have had 100k to 200k jobs generated, about 30% less than needed to maintain an even UI rate. This means that about 100k people are falling off the roles monthly and are not being counted in the statistics any longer.
Well considering we lost 2 million jobs under the 8 years of Bush and we have added 2 million jobs under the first 3 years of Obama (numbers based on fiscal years with the most recent data being September 2011) I would have to say they are at least more beneficial than the Republican president.
First the republicans claimed Obama was destroying the economy. Now that we have had continued growth, they are claiming that Obama is not growing the economy fast enough. Pretty soon they will be saying the economy was not as bad as Obama said so he really didn’t do anything.
Don’t forget, the claim that the President doesn’t create jobs, the private sector does. But it was Obama’s fault that we had a high unemployment rate, not Bush’s.
LOL
Gentle Readers, do not fault EJ. In his mind Bush was only President from September 12, 2001 until May 1, 2003 (the day of “Mission Accomplished” in Iraq on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln). Everything before and after those dates is the Democrats’ fault.
It is hard for EJ to deal with the cognitive dissonance of President Obama’s success and his own dislike for the man. It is particularly hard for EJ to compare President Obama to his predecessor. This November will be extremely difficult for EJ when the President is re-elected by citizens who don’t share EJ’s myopia.
Don’t be stupid. If you’re not mature enough to dialogue directly with me, then don’t dialogue at all.
EJ, I am trying to salve your tender ego. The above post is a reply to you and a post to our mutual readers. Don’t let them think that you’ve lost your poise.
Saint chenard again. Our very own 1%’er telling us what and how other people think.
Remember name calling?
No names were called. Implied but not called… A tactic regularly used by chenard blown back in her face.
And Cheesecake has never read any of EJ Parsons postings. Hey Cheesecake, I have some land in Florida I want to sell.
Your insults make you look little.
Very classy… Would ‘the Jesus’ call people ‘stupid’?
What I find really funny is that while President Obama is in office the Dows jump is a product of his policies…
I bet if it was up under a Republican President the extremist leftists here would claim that “The Capitalist Dow is up on the backs of millions of unemployed.”
Consider the historical trends from 1949-2005 per a December 2006 study by Dr. Elliott Parker, University of Nevada-Reno, comparing performance of the economy under Democrats and Republicans:
Average unemployment rate: 6.0% R 5.2% D
Change in unemployment rate: +.3% R -.4% D
Change in real value of Dow 4.3% R 5.4% D
Change in real weekly earnings .3% R 1.0% D
Inflation (CPI) 3.8% R 3.8% D
Democrats have given us lower unemployment, a decline in unemployment (versus a rise under the Republicans), greater real growth in the Dow, greater increases in real weekly earnings, and an identical rate of inflation. Note that “real” means after adjustment for inflation.
Yes, I would attribute the above to the difference between the governing philosophies of both parties. This is too long a trend to be coincidental. If you dial it back to 1920, you would likely get a similar result. Our parents knew this, which is why FDR was revered by a majority of their generation (but not by my parents who were Republicans).
If you rank the Presidents since Truman for economic growth, the list in descending order is LBJ, Truman, JFK, Clinton, Reagan, Carter, Ike, Nixon/Ford, Bush I, Bush II.
Read it and weep for your party.
Off course a paid Obama “Truther” would have that data at her fingertips.
But that was not my point.. I repeat…..
I bet if it was up under a Republican President the extremist leftists
here you among them would claim that ……
“The Capitalist Dow is up on the backs of
millions of unemployed.”
Am I right or wrong, extremist?
You’re getting a little hysterical.
I am pleased you enjoy my posts.
I don’t respond to strawman arguments. I have never decried any rise in the Dow. I recognized in my post that Reagan was the fifth most effective President in terms of economic growth since 1948 and outperformed Carter.
One other point…. If your study did not end in 2005…. it would look a lot different wouldn’t it.
It was not my study. Dr. Parker completed it in December 2006.
We will have eight more years of data in January 2013 after President Obama’s second inauguration and I don’t think the data comparison would shift any comparative figure to suggest that Republicans would outperform Democrats. The gap in unemployment rates would narrow, the gap in change in unemployment rates would widen, the gap in real Dow growth would widen, as would the gap in the change in real weekly wages. I don’t think the tie in inflation would shift.
Statistically, eight years of data will have only a marginal effect on 56 years of earlier data. A 3% difference in average unemployment rates between Bush’s second term and Obama’s first would close the gap by only .375%.
The lie that the democrats are the tax and spend party is so pervasive that I have had to quote similar statistics to some democrats. Republicans have consistently underperformed democrats in the economic sector, but have outperformed democrats in telling lies. Well, we dems can’t win em’ all.
Please, list a tax bill that the Democrats opposed. And then make a list of spending bills that the Democrats opposed. It’ll be a very short list.
The point is that taxes are the lowest in 60 years under Obama. It does not matter what particular tax anyone wants, as long as the average keeps declining. Corporate taxes are also at the lowest in 60 years. Whether you figure it as a percentage of GDP, personal income, or in relation to the DOW, it still comes out the same, lowest in 60 years under Obama.
Read this: http://newsbusters.org/blogs/noel-sheppard/2011/02/09/msnbc-sells-false-idea-taxes-are-lowest-60-years
You shouldn’t listen to MSNBC if you want anything close to the truth.
Both left and right tend to consult media that confirm their prejudices — I don’t particularly like MSNBC, or the further left Current TV, but Fox News is a propaganda machine like Vladimir Putin’s state run TV. We all need to broaden our perspectives. You, especially, have a narrow view, EJ.
I don’t know what message you were trying to convey with that link, except do not listen to the right wing. Nowhere did I find anything about the tax rate today not being lower than 60 years ago. All I can say is a corporate tax rate of 35% today is lower than 90% of the 1950s (under Eisenhower, a republican), at least by the math I was taught.
You left out Real GDP, arguably the most important indicator of a nation’s health. As an economist, the unemployment figures are a farce.
Additionally, exogenous variables (like the massive tech boom that benefited Clinton, and the OPEC shenanigans that crippled Carter) cannot be ignored.
Read Larry Greenberg’s post on 8/19/08 at Currencythoughts.com for the 40 year period from 1961-2001, which spans twenty years of Democratic presidencies and twenty years of Republican presidencies. Real GDP growth under Democrats is 4.1% but only 2.9% under Republicans. He excluded Bush II, who would have lowered the Republican average, as Bush II had not completed his second term.
Every post I have read for any period of time since 1920 always has produced the same result: average real GDP growth under Democratic presidents has been higher than under Republican presidents. Google it yourself.
Republicans institute policies that cause the economy to boom.
Democrats say “Look, things are improving. Elect us and we will spend all this new money on new giveaways.”
Democrats get elected taking advantage of prosperity and then institute policies and spending that kill the prosperity.
Voters get angry with Democrats over the worsening prosperity and elect Republicans to clean up the mess.
Republicans again institute policies that lead to prosperity again.
And so the cycle continues with democrats taking credit for republican policies that lead to prosperity and blaming republicans for periods of lower prosperity actually caused by democratic policies.
Oh yes, you mean like the tax cuts for the rich and two unfunded wars under Bush. Yessir, they really boosted the economy-for China.
An economic boost for China is more closely related to them Joining the WTO.
December 2001. Negotiated by a host of Presidents but most importantly Clinton.
“Let’s not let facts get in the way of my ideology” appears to be your guiding principle. I will try to stop throwing pearls before swine. Matthew 7:6.
Too bad that your “pearls” are all brown and soft….
17 posters disagree with you. It is sad that your party has become so divorced from reality and so wedded to ideology and insult. Tactically, it will help the Democrats in November.
When Bush was in office, and the Dow topped 14,000, the mainstream media gave credit to the entrepreneurial spirit of the market. When it took a dive, shortly after the Dems took over both houses of Congress, the mainstream media immediately blamed Bush. Typical double standard.
Of course…
Poor you, you poor conservatives, always the victim of the big bad media, boo hoo.
Again, EJ Parsons and facts… never the two shall meet.
Cheesecake is just another EJ Parsons. Facts do not matter… only their opinion matters.
So exactly what fact are you contributing?? None only opinion…. pfffftttt!!!
If it ever goes up under a republican president….
Bush did not know or care where Bin Laden was, according to his own words.
I hope more damage is done to the insurance industry, at least as much as they have done to Americans.
I love that the righties keep citing that “Dow at 14,000” figure. Have you already forgotten that was a false average based on fake inflated profits which caused the mortgage collapse and economic meltdown?
*Ossama bin Laden — President Bush lost his focus, dropped the ball, closed the bin Laden desk at the CIA, and gave up. President Obama made getting bin Laden a priority, and got him!
*GM and Chrysler — Romeny said “Let Detroit go bankrupt!” Obama saved GM and Chrysler and with them the auto parts suppliers, the taxpayers are getting paid back ahead of schedule, and both GM and Chrysler are hiring.
(Good for Ford — they sold off Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Jaguar before the 2008 economic mess, and Volvo in 2010, giving it enough cash to weather the storm — good luck or good timing on Ford’s part).
*Bush left Obama with a stock market and a national economy that was in a nose dive. Both Bush and Obama took steps to save Wall Street and thus Main Street as well. The economy is turning around, which is good for all of us. I believe that Obama has taken the right steps to stimulate the economy, and we are now seeing the results.
*The Affordable Care Act, ObamaCares, most of which has not yet taken effect, will save us money and give us better coverage as time goes on — unless a Republican majority on the Supreme Court scuttles the provisions that make the plan work — provisions that were originally proposed by the Republicans.
*You and I apparently agree that President Bush shouldn’t have invaded Iraq, something I said at the time (but you probably didn’t). President Obama has done the best that anyone could have done about this Bush mistake.
*Because of our strength in dealing with bin Laden and other terrorists, our success in alliance with Britain, France, and the Libyan rebels, the stongest sanctions ever against Iran, the successes of the surge in Afghanstan (still a mess there), our withdrawal from the Iraq mess, and Obama’s willingness deal intelligently with other nations, we have greater respect around the world. Under Bush we tried “tough but stupid.” That lost us respect, and Obama is gaining it back.
EJ, we always give the person of our own party the benefit of the doubt — that’s true of liberals and true of conservatives. We also increasingly pay attention to those media outlets that confirm our prejudices, again true of both right and left. But I’m always surprised at how you spin things and are unwilling to see any good in our president.
You spin left. I spin right. And I have no personal beefs with Obama as a person. As a President, however, he is a partisan in every way, and that’s no way to rule a split nation.
Obama has time and time again tried to work with Republicans. In fact the Private insurance mandate was a Republican issue that Obama championed. The only partisans are the ones who insist that Obama is partisan at the same time attacking him for everything they do, including implementing their ideas.
Obama locked the Republicans out of the entire healthcare debate, until he realized that he needed a couple of Senators to get things passed. Then he only met with them once.
Obama has said repeatedly that he will get his agenda through with or without Congress.
And if you actually listen to him on the campaign trail instead of drooling with his every word or laughing at is lame jokes, you’ll realize that he is a partisan through and through.
So partisanship is bad when the Democrats do it but it is good old American participatory politics when the Republicans do it.
Bush compromised way too much. Obama could at least try to compromise. He could start by telling his head front man, Sen. Reid, to bring the 30 House bills to the Senate floor for a vote. Then he could send back the cool million he got from Bill Maher. That’s for starters.
EJ], I understand you have a tenuous grasp history. However, even you must be able to acknowledge the reality that the Individual mandate was originally pushed by the Republicans in the 1990’s. The Health Care act is full of compromises made with the right. It reflects their wants and wishes as much as the Democrats. Now I will agree that he has done some things that aren’t popular with the right (effectively getting rid of Reagans buddy OBL is just one example off the top of my head). The problem is, the conservatives in this country don’t seem to grasp that they will not always get their way. I’m sorry if that’s a shocker to you, the world doesn’t revolve around your whims and dreams.
You may be right, but my comment was accurate. The only time Obama has even let a Republican in the room is when he needed their support.
Exactly how did President Obama split this nation? Almost any answer you give is going to expose your basic racism. If I were you I wouldn’t answer the question. LOL
You have racism on the brain. As for the nation, it has been solidly split into left and right camps for nearly 2 decades, and it has nothing to do with race. It has everything to do with conservatives vs. progressives, and their completely different ideologies.
Yes I do have racism on the brain. I just saw the re-nig bumper sticker. To say I am stunned at the overt racism would be a mild statement. The fact that this is out there is an indication of just how racist this Obama antagonism has gone. And I’m sorry but your conservative branch of the Republican Party is the one encouraging and promoting racism. We’ve worked for so many years to rid the country of racial bigotry and here it is being promoted on bumper stickers and t-shirts.
No, you’re wrong. It’s people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and many others on the left that keep the racism going because that’s how they make their living. It’s perpetrated by those that want to protect the President from having to face the truth of his many failures by throwing the race card. Granted, there is a touch of racism on the right, but the majority of it comes from the left.
wrong answer all false figures and the US has become the laughing stock since the community organizer started
Gotten that head out of the sand, ostrich?
Too busy trying to keep Barrack out of my pockets, But come election time I will no longer have to worry, Would much rather have my head in the sand than where your head is, is it true that the sun dont shine there?????
President Obama has cut your taxes and those of 95% of Americans — and you complain that he’s in your pockets! Come on, pay attention please! And your crudities do not make you look either civil or intelligent.
Obama cut payroll taxes, not income taxes. And by cutting payroll taxes, he has added to the inability of the Social Security to survive, because payroll taxes are the life-blood of Social Security. And cutting payroll taxes only benefits those of us that work.
The Making Work Pay tax cut was a tax cut or tax credit, as appropriate, that applied to income tax returns for 2009 and, I believe, 2010. The 2011-2012 payroll tax cut directs that the money from income tax receipts be transferred to the Social Security Trust Fund. As an actuarial matter, that tax cut has not endangered Social Security at all.
Do I take it that you no longer work and have not benefited from the payroll tax cut? If so, be thankful that my tax dollars are supporting your military retirement.
The making work tax credit no longer exists. In the 2010 tax year it expired. Basically we borrowed money for the payroll tax cuts. It matters not how it arrived on the books it still needs to be paid back.
A purchase of T-bills by the Social Security Trust Fund creates a legal obligation every bit as binding as the same purchase by Chinese banks.
I am glad that you are implicitly supporting a repeal of the Bush tax cuts, as that will begin closing much of the current annual deficit. That President before Bush actually gave the Mad Cowboy a balanced budget with those tax rates. What was his name?
Got racism?
race has nothing to do with it, just dont like socialist agenda.
Pray, tell me which figure is false. Is it the rise in the Dow or the consecutive months of private sector job growth? Sadly, you still don’t realize that your taxes have been lowered under President Obama.
The only taxes lower at this point are payroll taxes.
Let me introduce you to the past perfect tense (“have been lowered”). It refers to a continuing period of time in the past ending with the present. Unless you are suggesting that the Making Work Pay tax cut has had to be repaid by our poster with an overtaxed brain, I repeat my 100% correct post: “your taxes have been lowered under President Obama.”
Think before you type.
more of your fictional figures, but we expected it on an election year, watch a little fox news if you are interested in the facts, I can slide your tv remote down that hole your head is in for you. How are you liking your gas prices???? Voters dont care for them GOODBYE OBAMA!!!!
The cost of the test for hydrophobia is really quite reasonable even if your health insurer won’t cover it.
“…..watch a little fox news if you are interested in the facts”
Classic.
I almost “Fox News’d” my pants when I read this.
Thank you
The world is laughing at- and utterly amazed by – the clown circus primaries of the Republicans. That is what is laughable.
What an unintelligent post.
Having relatives in the UK I can tell you President Obama is not a laughing stock in the UK.
Talk to people out in the world and you might get a better idea of what they think of us. Obama, like all politicians in Washington have only their next election on the radar. Don’t be fooled for a second. R’s or D’s it makes no difference. President Obama and his wife were very well off financially before he became CIC. Good for them. Now how about getting some of their relatives off of the public dole and have their expenses taken care of by them personally. They should also be paying for these little excursions that their children are having. I don’t like it when either party calls out the faults of the other when they are guilty of doing the same thing.
On Afghanistan, why are we still there? The pull out plan should have been in place the second that OBL was killed. This is all about politics and power, plane and simple. the top generals are just as guilty because I can guarantee you that they won’t tell the president what he wants to hear in fear of losing their positions. Generals after all, are politicians at that level.
Timothy Smyth – Obama is already bought and paid for, and he’s doing the will of his handlers. Anyone that would oppose him in the election would be branded as a racist. The Democratic Party of today isn’t at all what it used to be when you started voting. That party is long gone, and it’s been replaced by elitists that only care about power. They left you a long time ago. But, you’re more than welcome to join the real Americans in the Tea Party.
We think of your Tea Party as “The Last Refuge of a Scoundrel Party.”
You think wrong. That’s a description of the 99.
Only 1% of Americans are patriotic in your world? Hmmm.
Is it your 1%?
I couldn’t agree more…well stated.
Ah yes, Real Americans as in really stupid Americans who apparently believe all the right wing lies they’re told on a daily basis. Yes, by all means, let’s give special credence to what the most ignorant amongst us say. And let’s hear it for the Republican War on Women, conducted by middle aged white men, whose goal is to drag women back to the 1950’s, very much against their will. There will be hell to pay in November and I wouldn’t want to be a conservative congressmen when women rise up and send them packing.
I love it! The war on women. Guess you guys are realizing that you have worn out the race card, so now it’s on to the gender card. Another divide and conquer routine brought to you by the so called party of unification.
Apparently you are not aware of the new laws requiring invasive sonograms (aka RAPE), allowing employers to fire any woman using birth control, removing funding of women’s health providers, attempts to defund women’s health programs, etc., etc.
A card well and validly played. Can beat any card you have.
Yeah, pointing out that one party is creating laws that infringe on the rights of women and make them less equal isn’t about dividing. They’re fighting against legislation that harms women, that isn’t divisive.
You’re literally trying to argue that up is down.
harddaysnight must have been up all night studying for blood test.
The race card is alive and well. The sale of “renig” t-shirts is booming.
Whose goal it is to drag women back to the 1950’s? Is that what they tell you on MSNANBCNN? I can’t help but laugh at that, but, excuse me while I go suck the blood out of poor homeless children in a dark alleyway with a bendy-straw.
Indoctrinated.
In Tea Party Legislatures all over this country over 1,000 bills have been introduced since 2010 reducing women’s rights. It’s a fact no matter what Fox tells you.
I don’t watch any channel exclusively. I get all my news from here, there, and wherever but mostly the internet. Most of the “Tea Party” like every other political party, has been hijacked by special interests. How long was it before Sarah Palin and other neo-cons started getting involved in the Tea Party for votes? They don’t care, they just want what you got. That’s all a political party really is, a group of people trying to $kr3w another group of people in one way or another.
The problem is, Ceegen, the original Tea Party, which might have originally had good intentions bought into the hijackers crap, listened to Glenn Beck’s nonsense, attended his rallies, voted for Palin and indulged in a considerable amount of racism when President Obama was elected. The racism got so bad Sen. Obama had to give a speech on the topic.
Ah the ole’ racism card. Yeah it’s everywhere, not just in the Tea Party. It’s a plague. But to say certain people are racist, because they oppose Obama? Not so much. I don’t think Obama is doing a good job, and the Federal Reserve just keeps printing money away. I’m actually just kind of sick and tired of the whole thing, and I don’t think it matters who is in power, the world is a crazy place and “crazy” happens all the time. Where this leads us, who knows?
Pat, you are of course right. It is quite possible to to dislike his policies. However, when one sees bumper stickers saying “Don’t renig in 2012” one has to acknowledge racism is a factor.
Well, yeah, but I can’t controll what other people say or do. This is why I very much dislike associating people by group labels. I think punishing a whole group of people, is wrong and evil. It’s why I try very hard not to even group people by political ideology… Try very, very hard not to.
I learned that you can’t change human behavior no matter how much punishment you threaten or rewards promised. Unless the person wants to change, they will not. Racism isn’t any different, and people rarely look beyond what they are able to see. It is a sad thing to see.
We will send these Tea Party Republicans home in burqas this November. It’s too bad that Bishop Santorum is unlikely to lead the lemming pack over the figurative cliff.
They have offended women, the working people, the elderly, the unemployed, all non Christians, and now they want to offend those who like pornography, the only real base they had left.
They even offend many Christians and other people of faith.
What in heck is a “real American”?
A white male over 50 or his cowering wife.
Personal experience Golden Girl?
Maybe he means people like Michael Kobulnicky (is that a “real American” name?), a leader in the San Francisco Tea Party. Or maybe Orly Taitz, another with a “real American” name, who is accusing Obama of having been born in a foreign country. BTW, she is Russian.
I bet that EJ Parsons wife is just like amconservative’s. Not allowed to speak, vote or think for themselves.
If you want to ignorantly attack me, then go ahead. But, leave my wife out of your comments. Only a low-life would make a comment like that. You should be ashamed. And those that Liked you comment should be also.
Your comments are indicative of a low-life though. No one is a real American but people who agree with you? That’s disgusting. YOU should be ashamed.
A Real American……
Loves the country more than himself….
Cherishes independence more than dependence on the government or others…
Loves freedom and is willing to die defending it for all Americans…
Willing to defend his family and country against all enemies, foreign or domestic…
Detests tyranny…
Helps those that need the help…
Respects all others…
Upholds morals while shunning moral relativism…
Doesn’t sound much like you then.
That’s because you don’t know me. All you know about me is that you disagree with me, and you can’t handle people that disagree.
I can’t handle people that I disagree with? That’s pretty hilarious coming from the guy saying that those he disagrees with aren’t real Americans. You seem quite comfortable smearing entire groups people you don’t know and now you’re going to screech about being on the receiving end of that same behavior? That’s hypocrisy.
We know you EJ. Your words on this forum do show us what you really are and its not nice.
I have to agree with you on this. Attacking family members because of a post is a low blow.
It isn’t acceptable but, you know what? After reading post after post of EJ’s condemning morality and Amcon’s moral condemnations for everything and everybody except a very, very, very narrow ultra conservative political and religious code eventually one loses patience and says something hurtful. However, you are right. Just because someone is stupid in no cause to cast aspersions on their wives. Perhaps their wives have Ph.D’s in psychology and understand their husbands. Who knows.
Thats Gingrich.
Santorum, Romney, and Paul also fit the bill. Think of them as the four horsemen of the Apocalypse: Gingrich, Famine; Paul, Death; Santorum, War; Romney, Pestilence.
Believe it or not this is something I fear. This new breed of anti-Christ scares me.
When Palin used the term “real Americans” she was talking to an all white, older, mostly male crowd that had on GMLTF buttons. So I guess real Americans are older white males that have sexual ambitions they can’t fulfill. LOL
GMILF?
You don’t remember those buttons? Governor I’d Most Like to F***. They were not little discreet buttons either, big, red and noticeable.
Ha ha, no I don’t remember. I thought it was Grandmother etc. LOL
It may have been grandmother. When was Bristol’s baby born?
Democrats ARE real Americans. Your comment is disgusting.
There are a lot of Democrats in the Tea Party.
You are so far detached from reality. Also, don’t try and pull back from your statement. You clearly stated that Democrats as a party aren’t real Americans. That is disgusting and hateful.
I wrote. “The Democratic Party of today isn’t at all what it used to be when you started voting. That party is long gone, and it’s been replaced by elitists that only care about power. They left you a long time ago. ”
You can’t possible deny the fact that the Democratic Party of old was far different from what is posing as the Democratic Party of today. And it might be your opinion that the modern day DP might be working for the American people, but that’s a hard point to prove. They’re working solely for themselves. Of course, I might add, that the establishment Republicans, aka RINOs, are just as bad.
How convenient that you left out the part about real Americans. The discussion isn’t about whether political parties change, they obviously do. We’re talking about your hateful and divisive rhetoric. You engage in this behavior CONSTANTLY and then try and portray yourself as some moral authority on all matters. You’re the one who is bad.
Yes, join EJ Parsons and the rest of the racist, homophobes and bigots who looked the other way when GWB really bankrupted this country.
Ann Thayer, it will be interesting to read how the right wing bible thumpers put a spin on your letter. Darn those facts again.
Right wing bible thumpers create their own reality. When pressed, they create their own Bible, reading out the passages that would make them hypocrites.
Becky Bartovics, the republicans are not interested in reducing energy consumption. They all have the delusion that we can just drill forever, even though we only have about 3% of the world’s oil.
Obama says 2%. You say 3%. A recent study says nearly 60%. Two of you are wrong. And from the data I’ve read, I’ll go with the most recent study.
I’d cancel that National Enquirer subscription EJ. Next you’ll be telling us you saw Elvis.
They are only counting what they call “proven reserves”. Proven reserves can be defined anyway you want. The oil taken from Brakken for instance may not be counted at all depending on the study, because of non-traditional drilling methods.
Like anything its the way you count it.
Shale oil:
The entire world for instance is estimated to have technically recoverable reserves of 2.8-3.6 trillion barrels. The US has the largest reserve estimated at 1.5-2.6 trillion barrels.
That number with other reserves included certainly agrees with EJ”s 60% number.
Do you mean shale oil? Those reserves (Colorado Plateau), known for a century were reinvestigated in the 80s when crude prices went up. When it dropped back down, everything was shuttered. So many problems and high costs that nobody is seriously reevalutating even with tgoday’s prices.
If you mean shale gas, that’s a different issue.
That which was not counted during the 80’s because the technology was not available to to extract it is now available and much cheaper than in the 80’s. Yes we are talking the same deposits I believe. Canada is recovering it and by doing so has grown to the worlds third largest oil producer. We dilly dally and pretend figures based on old technology and old data mean something.
New technology? Shouldn’t you automatically be against it and scoffing at those for it? Call them elitist? Bunk science? Etc?
Of course not. You probably don’t accept it because it was not developed by the government but it actually works.
No, what I don’t accept is the inconsistency of neocons.
What is it about my appreciation of technology that bothers you? I have made my living by employing the correct technology at the right time. That’s what thinking people do.
I clearly said it’s the inconsistency that bothers me.
Tell me then… How am I inconsistent? (This should be good.)
It’s obvious to those who are principled. As soon as I get more specific (I was already clear), you’ll obsessed over word choice and bend over backwards with twisted logic explaining why A is sooooo monumentally different from B. Then of course everyone who doesn’t see so isn’t a thinking individual or whatever other condescension you come up with.
Tell me exactly what technological advancement that have I not fully embraced. The fact is you can’t, so make up irrelevancies.
You picked the wrong “Neocon” to foist your ignorance on this time.
LOL, my prediction of how you’d respond is pretty spot on it seems ;)
You predicted nothing. But you still rely on lies.
No, I don’t.
The area of an oil reservoir considered proven includes those portions delineated by drilling and defined by gas-oil or oil-water contacts, if any, and the immediately adjoining portions not yet drilled, but which can be reasonably judged as economically productive on the basis of available geological and engineering data. In the absence of information on fluid contacts, the lowest known structural occurrence of hydrocarbons controls the lower proven limit of the reservoir.
Crude oil: estimates include oil that can be produced economically through application of improved recovery techniques following successful completion of pilot testing. Estimates do not include:
oil that may become available from known reservoirs but is reported separately as “indicated additional reserves”;
oil, the recovery of which is subject to reasonable doubt because of uncertainty as to geology, reservoir characteristics or economic factors;
oil that may occur in untested prospects; and
oil that may be recovered from oil shales, coal, gilsonite and other such sources.
http://www.opec.org/library/Annual%20Statistical%20Bulletin/interactive/2004/FileZ/definition.htm
The most recent OPEC definition of Oil Reserves.
This definition is pretty funny since you are likely using shale oil in your car.
Your comments are simply in error. We are recovering shale oil from the bakken reserve right now.
I suspect the 60% figure is the percentage of oil we use which is produced in the US, not the percentage of world oil we have. It is probable that you misread it. What is your source?
Not at all. Read my post or go look it up yourself.
According to the CIA World Factbook, the US has 2.2% of the world oil reserves, so again, what is your source?
He likely does not have a source or he misread his source and does not want to admit it.
Read the post…. They just don’t count it.
Read my post.
From an independent source: http://www.instituteforenergyresearch.org/2012/03/13/exposing-the-2-percent-oil-reserves-myth/
Your post will not mean much to folks like this.
They heard about “Peak Oil” once and though the whole theory has been proved false cling to it like their whole lives depend on it. They don’t understand first what “proven reserves” means and what technological and political changes impact that number.
All it mentions is the US. It does not use the same information for the rest of the world. I would assume the same could be said about new technologies and the higher price of oil making the equivalent available to the rest of the world, since it is mostly international oil companies, not just American, doing the research and drilling.
I checked out the board of directors and the staff EJ. They are either conservative Republicans, conservative Republican lobbyists for the petroleum industry or conservative Republican preachers. This is not a reliable source.
I guess if I posted a link to moveon.org then it would be good enough for you.
There are many more sources that support the fact that Obama is deceiving the American people, but what’s the sense of posting them. You’re gonna’ believe what you want, even if you know you’re wrong.
EJ your sources are always pressure groups. You are attracted to them like flies to a corpse. Try a newspaper source. Almost any newspaper is more reliable than a lobbying group. Move on is a political action group. I wouldn’t use it as a source either.
You don’t care about facts, so stop pretending like you do.
Romney in his book last year (or 2010?) also stated the US had 2.4% of the world’s oil.
Of course, someone must have shaken the etch-a-sketch since he has changed what he now says.
Sally Did you check my links.
Please note first the definition of reserves and what that entails. Then check out the other links. Tell me why you think it is that the oil we currently are pumping from the bakken formation is NOT counted among the reserves. Could there be others? … why do only political definitions matter over that of geologists?
I don’t have an opinion here. I was just running my usual check on EJ’s sources. I’m keeping a running tally.
Definition of AD HOMINEM
1
: appealing to feelings or prejudices rather than intellect 2 : marked by or being an attack on an opponent’s character rather than by an answer to the contentions madeCould you possibly address the FACTS rather than attacking the messenger.
Pay attention Mr. Government. I was not attacking EJ. I stated that his source was not reliable. That is not a personal attack.
Your ad hominem attack was not against EJ. (this time). It was against his source of information. You never addressed the facts at all. When you do not like someones facts you routinely dismiss their source with an ad hominem attack.
Mr. Government. ad hominem (Latin for “to the man” or “to the person”), short for argumentum ad hominem, is an attempt to negate the truth of a claim by pointing out a negative characteristic or belief of the person supporting it.
Sources cannot by definition be dismissed in an ad hominem attack because they are not persons.
His angry hateful bored heart.
Yeah, search until you find the “data” that supports your narrative. Great job.
I didn’t have to search. It has been in the news over the past couple of weeks.
Fox is not news. Fox is propaganda.
Its actually been all over the news since the bakken started producing.
It’s the same EJP. You constantly dismiss news as liberal media bias or whatever else, but when you find something you like, oh well those are just the facts! It’s ridiculous and inconsistent.
If you are going to count oil in shale and natural gas from fracking, then you can’t ignore that those things exist throughout the world, putting our share of energy back around 2-3%.
China is sitting on enough natural gas energy to sustain their economy for 200 years, they just need the infrastructure to pull it out of the ground.
Again the comments were on oil reserves.
Interesting article in that “daily Bible” of the conservatives, the Wall Street Journal for Sat. 3/17 (“No relief in sight at pump”). As should have been obvious, fuel supply and costs are not simple (as many would have us believe). Refinereis are being closed on the East coast, becasue they can’t make money. Reason? They have to import high grade, high priced foreign crude and don’t have access to cheaper mid-continent crude due to inadequate pipelining. The simplistic hand-wavers forget about real availability of crude, not just finding proven reserves.
The Bloomberg News, an economic mag, reported that economists calculate that 20-30% of the price of oil is due to speculators. Oil companies sometimes respond to the increase in oil price caused by speculators by withholding oil from the market in anticipating of the higher price, which compounds the problem. Some where I read a post suggesting put a tax on speculators to slow down the amount of increase they cause.
The lack of refineries and the under use of the existing refineries is a serious problem. The oil being produced cannot be refined fast enough to match current production, so it is being stored.
According to articles I have read, there is probably adequate pipeline, although maybe not to the refineries most ready to take on more oil. The pipelines, like the refineries, are also not being used at full capacity.
Then there are the pipeline builders like Enbridge (TransCanada) which has had repeated and frequent spills over the last 10 years. The result is they have difficulty getting a license to build more pipelines.
Add to that fact that gasoline is one of our largest, if not the largest, export. Much of what we do make is shipped overseas.
Which is why sanctions on Iran hurt them. They do not refine their own gasoline.
Julia Hathaway, Ann Thayer, Becky Bartovics; good letters.
I find it hard to laugh at such stupidity, but i agree it is hilarious/sad. One should not make fun of the developmentally challenged even if they are old Republicans, faking their religion to prey on peoples fear of god, terrorists, gays and welfare queens.
Ann Thayer, Thank you for your letter. I will be so happy when the vote is over. As a woman who is in a loving and devoted forever relationship with another woman I will be glad when the vote is done. Being called horrible names by people who claim to be the children of God is so heartbreaking. People dont realize that SSM has been around for 11 years in some places with no issues. People are so hateful. I pray everyday for their peace. Thank you again for your letter. Please, dont argue and call names. When others do it please thank them for their input and move on. It isnt worth fighting them. They arent listening. If you have something to say, facts or otherwise just say it but dont go back and forth with hatred. God bless and have a great day.
Loving the comments, only thing missing is the woman from MDI to chime in and give her 2 cents worth…..
Which one is she?
She’ll be along soon enough. :)
She is in love with me, and she wont admitt it,,,
Tim Smyth: What was it you expected President Obama to accomplish? Were you expecting a return to a mythological time without taxes, debt, crime, immigration and war? Were you expecting President Obama to bring you prayer in school, white supremacy, one income families , humble women and US domination of the world?
Who do you think will can make that magical world happen for you?
Majorie, good letter.
You are speaking up, Timothy Smyth, and perhaps other D’s will heed your assessment of this non-leader.
Becky B: I guess you must be part of the Pingree/Sussman clan, from the statements you made.
And all this time I thought hominem was grits. Well, I be!