Safety of Pipelines

A recent letter inspired me to do some research regarding the safety of pipelines. The first barrel of oil traveled through the Alaska pipeline in 1977 The only significant spill occurred as a result of an environmentalist’s blowing a 1-inch old in the line at Steele Creek in February 1978 at a loss of approximately 16,000 barrels.  The pipeline was shut down again in January 2011 when a leak was discovered the basement of the booster pump at Pump Station 1 where repairmen recovered 10 gallons of spilled oil. There may well have been other accidents, but apparently none that made the news.

The Exon Valdez which spilled 750,000 barrels into Prince William Sound's Alaska. Every year around 225 large trucks carrying approximately 8,500 gallons of oil and gas are involved in fatal traffic accidents.  That totals as many as ½ million gallons a year. I couldn’t find any specific information about accidents involving trains carrying oil and gas, but it is probably also significant.

The viscosity of the oil pumped through Keystoe Pipeline does require that dangerous chemicals have to be added to make it pumpable, but all considered the EPA’s own worst case scenario suggests that 1200 barrels may be spilled over the course of the 50 year expected life of the pipeline (See http://watercenter.unl.edu/downloads/2011-Worst-case-Keystone-spills-report.pdf)

We may not like the idea of pipelines, but it’s pretty obvious that environmentally it’s one of the safest to move it from point to point.

Liberals violating first amendment rights in the separation of church and state

         Those on the left are accusing the Catholic church of violating first amendment rights by refusing to comply with the health care mandate that requires them to provide coverage for birth control and the morning after pill in the health insurance policy the church organization provides. 

         I wonder if people on the other side of the issue can see that it is they who are imposing their religious views on the Catholic Church.  They are the ones who are violating first amendment rights.  The choice people have been forcing my Catholic cousin to financially support Planned Parenthood which aborts thousands of babies every year.  Kathleen’s heart breaks when she thinks of those babies.

       Now you may think she’s silly, that it’s not a baby; it’s just tissue, but can you see that you are forcing her to violate her moral conscience, her religious liberty by forcing her to support something she so adamantly opposes?

        No one is proposing that we outlaw either contraception or the morning after pill.  All we’re saying is that people who are morally opposed to the idea should not be expected to pay for something they abhor.

The Social Security Scam

       You’ve probably seen the email forward that suggests we are getting ripped off by our government.  Surprise!  The second time I got it I did the calculation and decided, “Pretty close.”  I forwarded it to my genius son who verified it.

       Assuming we averaged only $30,000 a year, had we bought an IRA that paid only 4 percent with the money our employers contributed to the Social Security trust fund over the 40 years we worked we’d have an $800,000 nest egg which would pay us $26,000 a year for 30 years, assuming we’d live to 95. 

The email ends, “The folks in Washington have pulled off a bigger Ponzi scheme than Bernie Madhoff ever had.”  My son says it’s worse than a Ponzi scheme, because “with a real Ponzi scheme you have a choice.  With Social Security you have a gun in your face forcing you to participate.  A Ponzi schemer, thief that he is, does not have the unlimited power of the government over his victims.”

Colorado River Tea Party Dinner Debate

       The Colorado River Tea Party group had a debate watch dinner party last night.  It was great, about 100 people, and in spite of the fact that once again the debate is moderated by a liberal jerk who is intent on asking questions that make the candidates look like empty headed idiots, they did quite well, turned most of the questions into real issues.      
        I have been waiting for someone to take Santorum down a notch or two because of his serious big government creds. It happened last night, his backing of Specter against Toomy,  the Tea Party candidate. Santorum also supported the bridge to nowhere, all the bailouts, Planned Parenthood, no child left behind, and he voted 5 times to raise the debt ceiling with no caveat to cut spending.
        And his excuses were quite lame. Specter was a power broker who could influence judicial votes, no child was in support of Bush and the party, planned parenthood because it was part of a big spending bill that needed to pass. All of them credible reasons, but reasons that dug deep holes for him last night. His conservative creds are all based on social issues and we need someone who is serious about fiscal issues. 
         The other three all did well, although I wish they wouldn't let those liberal moderators trap them into focusing on non issues rather than talking about real problems. Gingrich was great on clarifying issues: "You're asking the wrong question." "The issue isn't that simple..." When the moderator posed a question that he said was complex, Gingrich said, "That's not complex. The answer is simple." He and Ron Paul were having some fun. Ron Paul was blunt as usual.  Of Santorum he said, “Well, he’s a fake.”  Romney was serious and on target.

Obama's accomplishments

         I am quite certain that I could never convince Sally Sheridan that her deductions with regard to Obama’s successes are faulty, but I am compelled to respond. She would vote for him again on the basis of his accomplishments, first of all because he saved the American auto industry.  

      Not quite.  As I pointed out in my last letter, although General Motors is owned by the US taxpayer most of the company success has grown in foreign markets.  The Cadillac is made in Mexico, the Buick Regal in Germany, the Buick Riviera in China and according to Made in America Foundation GM violates import rules on many of the other models by stripping labels which are supposed to show where parts like the engines and transmissions are made.

         Obama’s car, the Chevy Volt costs $50,000 and has a real driving range of about 25 miles.  Most estimates say that every Volt costs the American Taxpayer $250,000, and now in his new budget the president proposes a $10,000 tax break for people who buy it.  That’s $10,000 we tax payers will give to those notorious one per centers because they’re the only ones who can afford a Volt.

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      Whether Obama has ended the wars in the Middle East remains to be seen.  I would remind Sally, however,  that the wars in Iraq were not in retaliation for 9/11. The first was at the request of Kuwait in response to the Iraqi invasion,  the second because Sadaam refused to comply with the terms of the surrender.

       She also admires Obama for having   “overseen 23 consecutive months of economic growth.”  We began tracking quarterly economic growth in 1947.  Obama is the first president who failed to achieve even one quarter of growth of at least 4 per cent.  Obama managed 3.9 in the first quarter of 2010, but growth has been sliding since then. According to this morning’s Sun, the unemployment rate in Yuma is over 20 percent.  Nationally only 64 percent of adult Americans are active in the labor force.  That wonderful 9 percent rate only counts people looking for work, not all of those out of work. 

            “He has made healthcare affordable for me and all Americans.” We haven’t seen what the effects of Obama care will be, but costs rise for whatever product the the government subsidizes.  My duplex rented for $225.  When Section 8 housing vouchers were available, the same apartment rented for over $600 a month. The reason healthcare is so costly is a result of government interference.  Read the book Code Blue.  Government interference in health care has been disastrous worldwide.

              Obama hasn’t saved the housing market either. According to this morning’s Sun, $4.9 million in Yuma properties, up 68 per cent from last year, go on auction block on Thursday.  The city of Detroit was unable to unload the thousands of tax delinquent homes, so now you can buy a house there for $500 if you agree to live in it for at least three years. 

             One thing that could have saved Obama would have been the approval of the Canadian pipeline.  I really think he wants to increase the unemployment numbers because he wants more people dependent on the federal government. It must be intentional.  He sees what’s happening in Europe.  He’s not dumb.

Warren Buffet, Jabberwok or Bandershatch?"

That President Obama honors Warren Buffet by naming his new millionaire’s tax in his name is wrong in so many ways.  Yes, Warren Buffet did say that millionaires like himself should pay more taxes.  Why then has he been fighting the IRS for 11 years trying to avoid paying the Billion, yes that’s the Billion dollars he owes the IRS in past taxes.  Another Geithner.  Does the president always side with tax cheats?

Then, according to The Financial Times, the income tax increases Buffett suggests will not apply to him because most of his wealth is in the form of unrealized capital gains, which don’t count as taxable income or capital gains of the sort he proposes to raise taxes on. Furthermore Berkshire Hathaway, by far Buffet’s biggest corporation, doesn’t even pay dividends.  The Buffet Rule does, however, affect most of his competitors, so he still stands a chance to achieve his life-time goal, which according to his wife Susan said in a 2004 interview with Charlie Rose was to become the richest man in the world. 

 So why does Warren Buffet even pretend to support the president?  First of all, the millionaire who gets in bed with the president takes home the bacon. .  American tax payers are being fleeced to make a millionaire richer. Is it a coincidence that by killing the Keystone Pipeline Buffet wins?  He owns the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad that ships the oil.  Dick Holland, Buffet’s partner denies the influence peddling, says Buffet hasn’t talked politics with anyone for at least five years.  Yeah, that’s a story you can take to the bank.

 Buffet says that he doesn’t make that much money off oil shipments, but either way it means we pay, according to the Huffington Post, 60 cents more per barrel, twice as much for gas at the pump.

That’s not the first time the grandfatherly Buffet benefitted from government largess.  The $700 billion bailout of U.S. banks saved his $5 billion investments in Goldman Sachs.   After buying the BNSF in 2009, Buffett increased his investment in lobbying from $1.2 million a year to $9.8 million a year,.

In short, crony capitalism pays off in big ways.  It insures Buffet’s fortune, protects him from ambitious people like you who might join him on the ladder of success.  It’s lonely up there and he likes it that way.  

“Beware the Jabberwock, my son!  Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun the furious Bandersnatch!”

Disrespecting the President

          I confess a good deal of ambivalence about the photograph of Governor Jan Brewer pointing a finger at President Obama.  I admire our governor, but the image illustrated a profound disrespect for the office of the presidency

          Then I watched the ire of the pundits, and I regained my equilibrium.  Outrage! Brian Williams said, “Who have you ever seen talking to a president like this?” Well, Mr. Williams, you for one. 

          I don’t remember the date, but I clearly remember many of his hostile interviews with President Bush.  Williams was “in his face” the whole time.  I am quite certain that if those tapes were replayed you see fingers almost up our president’s nose.  Williams berated him for his mishandling of Hurricane Katrina suggesting he was so out of it he couldn’t even understand the mishandling of his mishandling.  He laughed at Bush’s reference to Albert Camus, clearly suggesting that Bush hadn’t the grey matter necessary to understand the French philosopher.

          Remember when the Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at our president?  The press corps was delighted.  They played the scene over and over giggling it up, roaring with laughter.  They called the Iraqi a hero. No one was outraged.  One reporter female journalist said, "This is your goodbye kiss, you dog.”

          Remember how Obama supporters booed President Bush at Obama’s inauguration?  Now that was unprecedented. And at the 2004 State of the Union, Democrats roared with boos and catcalls, heckling President Bush when he talked of the Patriot Act and again when he talked about the crisis in Social Security.

President Bush was called a dunce and an idiot and a liar.  Harry Reid called him both a liar and a loser.     One Democrat said that young men were dying In Iraq for the amusement of the idiot in the Whitehouse. 

          I still don’t like the picture of Governor Brewer’s finger at President Obama’s nose, but I wish the press corps would be more even handed about when they “get their undies in a bundle.”  Thank you Sarah Palin.