Voters

California passed a law allowing illegal aliens to have a driver’s license. The law takes effect January 1st, 2015. This is significant when looked at through a law passed in 1993. The problem, officials say, dates back to the 1993 federal Motor Voter Act, which requires states to offer residents the ability to register to vote when they obtain a driver's license or ID card. In some states, the driver's license and voter registration application are on the same form and the applicant simply signs. In small print, the form says applicants acknowledge they are U.S. citizens. In other states, voter registration is a separate form and applicants check a box. In either case, once signed, the forms are automatically sent to the county or state registrar of voters and the name is added to voter rolls. If a person does this and votes they will be committing a crime but of course they have already committed a crime when they came here illegally. If local politicians know that these people are likely to vote for their party will they just ignore the possibility that these people may vote.

Pensions reduced

I worked with pension plans over the years and most rules were established with the Pension Reform Act of 1974. That act provides that pensions must be evaluated each year to determine their safety which means is there enough money in the plan to pay off the retirees. If it is deemed that the plan is short which is called, ”underfunded” then more money must be put into the plan. If this is not done there are severe penalties. During the lame duck session of the last congress a large union pension fund appealed for and received relief from the requirement to properly fund their pension. A new law was passed saying that if they did not have the money they could instead reduce the promised benefits to both workers and present retirees. This did not make the news but you can bet those retirees know about it. Many people feel their pensions are guaranteed but this is no longer the case since other unions can now apply for this change.

Party of no

Here is an off the cuff comment by President Obama where he reveals what was going on in the senate the past 6 years. There are going to be some areas where we disagree. And, you know, I haven't used the veto pen very often since I have been in office, partly because legislation that I objected to was typically blocked in the Senate, even after the House took over. This illustrates the power of the press as most people are convinced that the Republicans are the party of no since the congress has not passed many bills. The Republican controlled house has sent 362 bills to the senate where they remained on Harry Reid’s desk and were not allowed to come to a vote in the Democratic controlled senate. He kept them from the floor so Obama would not have to veto bills he did not like. This is in the past. The new congress will be passing bills and sending them to the President for his signature and the President has said he will use the veto pen. If this happens will the press report the President as the party of no or will they continue to say it is a do nothing congress. Stay tuned!

Hypocrisy of climate change

Usually when there is evidence of hypocrisy the news media is all over it as they should be but in one current case they are silent and that is in regards to climate change. It is become move evident that those groups interested in climate change have ulterior motives and they involve money. Grants are awarded to those who write and research the dire consequences of climate change. Government monies are given to the solar and wind experiments and to promote electric cars. Developing countries see this as a way to redistribute wealth from rich countries. On line you can find thousands of articles promoting the catastrophic effects of global warming but you have to search diligently to find articles about moving from coal to oil to natural gas and even fewer articles on using carbon dioxide to mine methane hydrate. If these people were truly concerned about improving the quality of the atmosphere they would be moving toward a world-wide transportation system that ran on natural gas, (methane). All cars, trucks, buses, trains and planes could be running on natural gas and this would have and immediate impact on air quality. No more nitrates and sulfates that cause acid rain, no more heavy metals like lead and mercury and with the introduction of mining methane hydrate with carbon dioxide, no more global warming. Climate change has been politicized so that certain groups could make money and one of the most obvious examples is Al Gore who is now worth 100 million dollars. The idea that electric cars are the answer is nonsense. Even more ridiculous is battery operated semi-trucks and trains and can you imagine a 747 running on batteries. The answer is natural gas but the money there goes to the oil companies and not to the purveyors of climate change.

Lower income help

This will be a Merry Christmas for President Obama. The growth in the energy industry has finally turned the economy around despite efforts by the EPA to limit that growth by regulations. The lower energy costs have added to the profits of companies and the lower cost for gasoline has put about $1,200 per year in the hands of consumers. This is most important to lower income families and is the only improvement this group has seen despite claims by the President that he has been a champion of the middle class. The Presidents ratings are improving as people see the benefits of lower energy cost. Perhaps this may encourage the government to start promoting more fossil fuel development especially methane hydrate which can not only grow the world’s economy but can clean up the air and solve the problem of climate change. This is a win-win!

Senator Warren

While I don’t believe that Elizabeth Warren has much of a chance to be president, I feel she has some good ideas. As she moves away from the ridiculous idea that you can help the poor by taking money from the rich, (someone must have shown her the math), she first suggested that the big banks be broken up and now she is trying to close down the revolving door between Wall Street and the White House. These are both admirable goals and would help getting power back into the hands of the voters. There are 34 former Goldman Sachs employees in the Obama White House and there were just about the same number in the Bush White House and this is just one brokerage firm. Barack Obama: Obama owes his career to Goldman Sachs which was not only his biggest financial contributor when he ran for the Presidency, but was also his biggest contributor when he ran for the US Senate.

Oil price and Putin

The last new oil refinery in the US was built in 1977 although many of the more than 140 refineries have upgraded to add capacity. There is a 20,000 barrel per day refinery under construction in North Dakota to handle the oil from the Bakken Range. The last nuclear power plant was built in 1996 and since that time the US has stayed away from nuclear. There was an accidental release of radiation from the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island in 1979 and that was enough to scare people away from nuclear facilities even though no one was hurt. While the Obama administration is bragging up the energy led recovery their approach has been to push renewables like solar and wind. They have yet to open federal lands to drilling. America's future as the global fossil-fuel king is a reality while Barack Obama's green economy is simply a fantasy. Fracking on nonfederal land has turned the U.S. into the top petroleum-producing country in the world, having passed Saudi Arabia in late 2012. The new production of oil and gas in the United States has had an effect on the world scene. The Obama administration placed a series of restrictions on the Russian economy as punishment for the Russian invasion of Crimea and Putin laughed these off. When the price of oil dropped to $60 he quit laughing and now Obama is claiming that his strategy worked when in fact it was the US production of oil that brought down the price and put the pressure on Putin.

Closing the income gap

This is from an article on CNN today What does it take to make it into the top 1%? In 2012, it took at least $435,000 in adjusted gross income to be considered one of the fabled top 1% households, according to the latest data from the IRS. That's a healthy jump from the $389,000 it took the year before, especially considering how low inflation has been in recent years. The number of people admitted to this exclusive club: nearly 1.4 million households. Collectively, the top 1% made about 22% of all income reported in 2012, but paid 38% of total federal income taxes collected. For those who favor redistribution of income here is some data for you to mull over. If the top 1.4 million made $435,000 that comes to $600 billion. Now if we share that with the other 140 million working families each family would get $4,200. You cannot close the income gap by taking from the rich and giving to the poor because today, as has been the situation throughout history, there are too few rich and too many poor. The way to help the lower income groups is by offering them better paying jobs and a good place to start is by opening up the energy business.

Medicare cost

In 1965 the government came to me and said starting next month we will take money from your paycheck and use that to pay for your health insurance when you turn 65. I said never mind, I will buy my own insurance and they answered that I did not have a choice that this was the new law called Medicare. I then asked how much it would cost me and they said $3 per month and I said sign me up. I was making $600 per month and this was one-half of one percent so I could not beat that in the private market. I realized that something was amiss since this was too good to be true. At that time they estimated that the cost to the government in 30 years, about the time I would retire, would be a 9 billion dollars but in fact the inflation adjusted cost was 67 billion and the plan has been in the hole ever since. The reason they started with such a low premium was to get the votes needed to pass. Today the average person pays 10 % of their social security income into Medicare plus most have to buy a supplement in the private market to cover the cost that Medicare does not cover. Medicare is set to go broke in 2020 unless changes are made. The fact that Obamacare took 700 billion from Medicare by reducing fees paid to doctors and hospitals did not help matters. People my age got a good deal from Medicare but our children will not fare as well.

Trojan horse

Here is the result of the latest foray by a politician using the populist approach. Chavez took over with the promise to take all the money from the oil companies and redistribute it to the poor people. His family walked off with a small fortune but the rest of the country didn’t make out as well, If you ever had a desire to invest in oil rich Venezuela, you may want to hold your money. The government, first under the self-proclaimed revolutionary government of President Hugo Chávez and now under his handpicked successor Nicolás Maduro, has managed to squander one of the longest, greatest oil booms in history, not just misspending the oil windfall that at one point reached $133 per barrel, but also destroying the country's domestic economy. As a result, Venezuela teeters on the edge of default on its debt. There is an old adage from the time of the Trojan horse that says, “beware of Greeks bearing gifts”. Populism is a Trojan horse. They fell for this ruse in ancient Greece and people have been falling for it ever since.

Sen Warren

The Dodd-Frank banking bill is once again in the news. This was the bill that was supposed to, among other things, make the banks less likely to bring down the economy in the event that they failed. In fact these big banks just got bigger. Dodd-Frank pushed tons of new paper work and requirements on the banks but did little to keep the system from once again causing havoc in the economy. The common belief of Dodd-Frank can be summed up as follows:  Was just a P.R. stunt which didn’t really change anything  Increases the risky derivatives holdings of the banks  Makes the “too big to fail” banks even bigger  “Will NOT stop the next financial crisis from coming“  Is all holes and no cheese … a placebo for a sick economy The recent budget passed by the house makes the bill even less effective at controlling how banks invest their funds and thus faced strong opposition by Senator Warren who has consistently tried to restrict how these banks can operate. This is a good cause for her unlike her desire to equalize income by taking from the rich and giving to the poor. Simple math proves the futility of this approach. She should stick with more control of banking.

Export oil

As the country cries out for higher paying jobs the energy industry lies poised to answer the call. If the government were as anxious to expand drilling as they are to waste money on solar projects the economy would rapidly expand. Aside from the peripheral jobs that drilling provides, the lower cost of fuel is causing people to go back to bigger cars which means more profits for the auto industry. The airline business profits rise as the cost of jet fuel declines. Industries, particularly manufacturing industries, see their energy cost decline and thus add to their profits. All of these extra profits encourage industries to expand and thus new jobs. For home owners the price of natural gas remains low and the cost of heating oil is coming down. Because getting approvals for new refineries has been so difficult most oil companies have just expanded the capacity of existing facilities which are now close to their limits. Since the US is now producing more oil than it can refine the time has come to lift restrictions on oil exporting and allow the boom in production to be sent to foreign markets. The next step is to allow new refineries to be constructed so that the US can be completely energy independent. While this is going on the restrictions on liquid natural gas ports should be removed so the US can export the vast quantities of natural gas now available because of new drilling techniques. Both Europe and Asia are crying out for this supply of natural gas which means lower prices for their energy and cleaner air for their cities.

Torture

The Senate report on CIA interrogation techniques was released today showing that the government used what is called torture to gather information in an attempt to prevent additional attacks after 9/11. After this attack most everyone assumed there would be more attacks and the CIA was to keep the American people safe. The CIA was roundly criticized for not having advanced knowledge of this attack. While these torture methods were stopped several years ago the government felt it necessary to show the world what was done in order to gain the high moral ground that the United States feels it deserves. What is not mentioned is the fact that the United States continues the practice of rendition which is taking suspects outside the country for interrogation. These suspects are taken to places like Egypt for questioning and what goes on there is not revealed but most suspect that torture is involved. Recall the man who was captured in Libya and charged with bombing our embassy and how he was kept on a ship outside the country for several weeks while the FBI interrogated him. While this is going on the United States continues drone attacks where people thought to be terrorist are killed and often time innocent bystanders are sacrificed. There was even a case where an American citizen was targeted and killed by a drone attack without any trial. The ACLU, that bastion of all things good and right, have complained about these drone strikes but their complaints are more in the form of a whimper than a roar.

Discipline at home

The hot topic in the news this week is the video of the police taking down a black man for selling illegal cigarettes and his subsequent death. It has sparked a well needed discussion about police tactics and a lot of talk about training police to deal with blacks. If additional training helps then it should be done along with police wearing cameras. The basic idea is that police approach black males differently than other groups and the question is why. Why do they see black males differently? Some say it is institutional prejudice by police but I propose that may not be the main reason. For example 2/3rds of male students expelled from school are black even though they represent only 13% of the population. Does this mean that teachers as well as police have a built in prejudice against young black males? I offer another possibility for both situations. Young children are supposed to learn some basic lessons from their parents that will help them get along in society and one of these is respect for authority. When a young man learns that important lesson at home he will be more likely to respect the teachers, coaches, supervisors, police officers and other authority figures. Understand that when I say respect teachers I do not mean the person but the respect is for the position of teacher. To respect the teacher as a person they must get to know the person and then make up their mind. It is like the military where you salute the uniform not the man or where you respect the office of the presidency. Have police figured out that they are treated differently by young black men and then they respond in kind? If that is the case perhaps that is a good starting point by changing the ways all parties react.

Filing Obamacare

I am now receiving my study information to get ready to prepare taxes for the people at the senior center and this year I have a new 20 page booklet, Publication 5157 to inform me on how to file Obamacare. Good luck to those who file on their own

Poor reporting

This past week it was revealed that an extensive article in “Rolling Stone Magazine” regarding a gang rape at the University of Virginia was not true. A young writer went looking for a rape victim in order to emphasize this serious campus problem and allowed her desire to make a point to cause her to lose her objectivity. Now those defending her are saying she may have been wrong on this case but that does not diminish the overall problem. In fact, whenever you have a false accusation it adversely affects the issue. This is mindful of the case some years ago regarding Tawana Brawley. This was a young woman who made false claims of rape and Reverend Al Sharpton came into prominence standing on the court house steps defending her and when he discovered she made up the whole thing he said she may have lied may this happened to many others who did not lie. Reputations were made and lost on this affair and there is no going back after this happens.

Utah

The federal government owns more than half of the land in Utah and the state has filed a law suit to regain ownership. I find this interesting because part of the Green River Formation lies in Utah and this is an area containing large amounts of oil and natural gas. If the state succeeds in this endeavor the state would quickly move to open the area to drilling. While this is going on the government just issued the second permit to build a Liquefied Natural Gas Port to increase exporting of natural gas. As Europe gains access to US natural gas their dependence on Russia gas is lessened. There is a danger here in that, unlike the minor sanctions placed on Russia, the lower price of oil and increased volume of gas may cause Putin to cause and international incident to raise the price.

Modern medicine

I have been blessed with good health and have avoided any close contact with the health industry until these past few months when my wife has suffered from some health related problems. During this time I have met face to face with a number of doctors and I am struck by their apparent lack of understanding of human nature particularly as it relates to their own business. The arrogance with which they present their diagnosis and treatment is astounding when you consider the past history of the medical experts. It was only in the 1850’s when they finally came to the conclusion that spontaneous generation was not a scientific explanation. For those not familiar this was the concept the meat could turn into flies spontaneously. These world renowned experts watched as a piece of meat sat on the table and after a few days maggots crawled out and turned into flies. It was also about 1850 when Dr. Lister declared that the physicians were killing their own patience and he was just about run out of town by the established medical hierarchy. He then proceeded to spray his office and patients with carbolic acid and greatly reduced the infection rates and proved his point. Can you imagine how future experts will look back on chemotherapy and radiation! When I was going to school we had laws. Newton’s Laws of Motion, the laws of thermodynamics and the law of gravity. We don’t have laws anymore as quantum physics destroyed all of these laws and everything that the experts thought they knew. All of that happened within a few short years. We now have evidence that the same object can be in more than one place at the same time. We can show that the effect can precede the cause. Experiments can prove that just looking for something causes it to be just where we look and that it isn’t there when we are not looking. These concepts baffle the scientist but they are nothing compared to trying to understand how the human mind works. Now enter the physician, who totally ignoring the great mystery of how the mind operates, declares as the result of some test what is going on in the inner actions of the patient. My wife has a long established relationship with her chiropractor and she has great faith in his ability to take care of her as an individual and a new physician meeting my wife for the first time declares that what he has told her is not correct based on some test. Does this physician understand that the test he is running today may be proven unreliable or even inaccurate in a few years down the road? It is time that the modern day physician came to understand that the human mind can do a lot more in curing health problems than they can and their job is just to assist the natural curing process. They should put their diploma in the bottom draw of their desk and sit down with the patient and start by asking a lot of questions instead of rushing into the room pontificating on high about their latest test results.