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Sunday, August 31, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
A conversation about Water Transfer
(This was going to be told to the Hickory City Council if the subject came up last week)
Dick Morris, the political strategist, talks about the Matador, the Cape, and the Bull. Elected Officials represent the matador, the citizens represent the bull, and the inconsequential current events of the day represent the cape. Issues such as the water transfer and sinkhole represent “cape issues” in my opinion. They get everyone frothing, but in the end they carry no substance.
_______________________________________
I went to the Rhodes room at the county library to look up census numbers and found a folder on Water issues.
A 1965 Charlotte Observer article stressed that we would be out of drinkable water in 10 years. Obviously that didn’t happen.
A 1969 Hickory Daily Record article stated that Duke Power had hired the Engineering firm of O’Brien & Gere of Charlotte and they estimated that we could use 90,000,000 gallons per day without having an adverse impact on Lake Rhodhiss and Lake Hickory.
A 1975 Hickory Daily Record article showed that we were utilizing 21,440,000 gallons of water per day. Of that 10,323,000 gallons per day were being utilized by industry.
Article from the Hickory Daily Record on 8/25/2007 stated that we were using 16.5 mill gal per day and the city wanted us to cut back 3 to 5 %, and a later article said that they wanted us to cut back 5 to 10%, and yet another article stated that they wanted us to cut back 10 to 20 %. The Governor even stated that he wanted us to cut back 50% on our water usage.
Article in the HDR on 9/ 29/ 2007 stated that we had cut back usage from 19 mill gal per day to 14 mill gal per day.
These numbers show that we aren’t even using the same amount of water per day that we were using in 1975 and according to statistics we are nowhere near the limit. Please show me an independent engineering study that shows the dire need for all of this hyperbole.
_____________________________________________
The area we are arguing so fervently against is part of the Charlotte Metro Area. The Catawba River flows a lot further than down to the Charlotte area and we aren’t going to be able to stop the growth of communities downriver. Are we going to cry every time a commercial venture is proposed downstream? How are we going to feel when Marion and Morganton tell us that we are using too much water?
We’ve gotten all lawyered up and made enemies out of Kannapolis, Concord, and maybe even David Murdoch. We can’t expect other communities to follow our city’s example of controlled growth. Most communities understand the vital need to generate the kind of economic opportunity that increases the size of the pie for all of its citizens. It should not be the role of governments to hinder that.
The State of North Carolina is going to stand behind whoever or whatever generates more revenue for the state government. Like Bill Clinton stated 16 years ago, “It’s the economy stupid.”
Let’s quit worrying about symbolism and start worrying about substance. We can no longer afford to keep a myopic, small town mentality around here. There are over 40,000 people living in this town, 80,000 in the township, and we are nearing 400,000 people in the metro area. We will either aim for all out progress or continue down this road of stagnation.
The success or failure of this city depends upon bringing Major Industry back to the area. We have got to get back to manufacturing products. That is the issue that we should obsess about, that is the issue that should consume our thoughts. That is where we need to be.
The vitality of Hickory does not rest upon what happens 40 miles away. Let’s stop with the animosity towards our fellow communities and work on making this the innovative community it can and should be. You know Can’t never Could. Let’s be leaders and not followers.
James Thomas Shell
Dick Morris, the political strategist, talks about the Matador, the Cape, and the Bull. Elected Officials represent the matador, the citizens represent the bull, and the inconsequential current events of the day represent the cape. Issues such as the water transfer and sinkhole represent “cape issues” in my opinion. They get everyone frothing, but in the end they carry no substance.
_______________________________________
I went to the Rhodes room at the county library to look up census numbers and found a folder on Water issues.
A 1965 Charlotte Observer article stressed that we would be out of drinkable water in 10 years. Obviously that didn’t happen.
A 1969 Hickory Daily Record article stated that Duke Power had hired the Engineering firm of O’Brien & Gere of Charlotte and they estimated that we could use 90,000,000 gallons per day without having an adverse impact on Lake Rhodhiss and Lake Hickory.
A 1975 Hickory Daily Record article showed that we were utilizing 21,440,000 gallons of water per day. Of that 10,323,000 gallons per day were being utilized by industry.
Article from the Hickory Daily Record on 8/25/2007 stated that we were using 16.5 mill gal per day and the city wanted us to cut back 3 to 5 %, and a later article said that they wanted us to cut back 5 to 10%, and yet another article stated that they wanted us to cut back 10 to 20 %. The Governor even stated that he wanted us to cut back 50% on our water usage.
Article in the HDR on 9/ 29/ 2007 stated that we had cut back usage from 19 mill gal per day to 14 mill gal per day.
These numbers show that we aren’t even using the same amount of water per day that we were using in 1975 and according to statistics we are nowhere near the limit. Please show me an independent engineering study that shows the dire need for all of this hyperbole.
_____________________________________________
The area we are arguing so fervently against is part of the Charlotte Metro Area. The Catawba River flows a lot further than down to the Charlotte area and we aren’t going to be able to stop the growth of communities downriver. Are we going to cry every time a commercial venture is proposed downstream? How are we going to feel when Marion and Morganton tell us that we are using too much water?
We’ve gotten all lawyered up and made enemies out of Kannapolis, Concord, and maybe even David Murdoch. We can’t expect other communities to follow our city’s example of controlled growth. Most communities understand the vital need to generate the kind of economic opportunity that increases the size of the pie for all of its citizens. It should not be the role of governments to hinder that.
The State of North Carolina is going to stand behind whoever or whatever generates more revenue for the state government. Like Bill Clinton stated 16 years ago, “It’s the economy stupid.”
Let’s quit worrying about symbolism and start worrying about substance. We can no longer afford to keep a myopic, small town mentality around here. There are over 40,000 people living in this town, 80,000 in the township, and we are nearing 400,000 people in the metro area. We will either aim for all out progress or continue down this road of stagnation.
The success or failure of this city depends upon bringing Major Industry back to the area. We have got to get back to manufacturing products. That is the issue that we should obsess about, that is the issue that should consume our thoughts. That is where we need to be.
The vitality of Hickory does not rest upon what happens 40 miles away. Let’s stop with the animosity towards our fellow communities and work on making this the innovative community it can and should be. You know Can’t never Could. Let’s be leaders and not followers.
James Thomas Shell
Vitally Important Election Upcoming (Last Year)
Vitally Important Election Upcoming
(Published in the Hickory Daily Record in November 2007)
I want to talk about our upcoming election and how important that I feel it is for Hickory’s future. This area has come to the crossroads of our existence and over the next couple of years we are going to have to make crucial decisions that will have an impact on this city for generations to come.
Going on seven years, we have seen a lack of economic productivity that has had a negative impact on most of our citizen’s standard of living. The two most important issues that this community faces are the standard of living and underemployment. These two issues are directly related to one another and without addressing these key issues; we are just going to be continuously spinning our wheels in an economic rut that leads nowhere.
There are too many people that look at our economy as though it is an accounting ledger. Dynamic economies are not built upon a series of plusses and minuses. They are built upon exponential growth brought on by investors’ willingness to risk their assets in a region based upon what it has to offer. The bottom line is that investors are going to go where they think they can get the most bang for their buck.
It is more than evident that over the last couple of years we have had two elected officials within our city that do not understand the concept of economic development. Mrs. Sally Fox and Mrs. Jill Patton have constantly voted against measures that would help foster economic growth for the area and they have voted for measures that will cost businesses thousands to millions of dollars in profit.
A few examples are the fight against Lowe’s being built on NC 127, the attempted restrictions they wanted to place on Martin-Marietta’s granite quarry, and their contentious opposition to allowing businesses an extra three years to meet the new open storage codes.
Many of you might say “Good! Sock it to ‘em,” but the reality of the situation is that these type of efforts have a hard impact on a business’s bottom line and thus their decision about whether or not to invest in this area.
It also has a direct impact in your wallet, because businesses have two ways of dealing with decreasing profits. They can either reduce their expenses (and their biggest expense is typically labor) or increase the price consumers pay for their products and/or services. Either way, in the end, you pay.
To put our economy back on solid ground, we need major industry back in the area. We don’t need any more micro-managing, big government, bureaucrats on the city council. We have been lucky so far because these two individuals have not been able to push much of their burdensome agenda through. For the sake of our city and the area that it dominates, let’s keep it that way.
Mr. Bruce Meisner is running unopposed and in my opinion he has been very much pro-growth oriented. Mr. Brad Lail and Mr. Danny Seaver are not running unopposed, but I also believe that the record shows that both of these gentlemen have for the most part supported the vital interests of businesses in this area.
Much more needs to be done and in having personal conversations with Mr. Lail, I personally believe that he gets “It.” I may not agree with Mr. Lail on all positions, but having known him for years, I can appreciate those minor differences. Most of us know that he and his family have a major stake in the success (and also failure) of this region.
Without getting into the personal details of our conversations, I can tell you that he understands the need to hit a home run on the Major Industry front. He, like myself, being a product of the UNC higher education system understands the value of education. He also understands that a good economy is built from the bottom-up and not from the top-down.
I just don’t feel that Mrs. Nancy Willingham (his opponent) could understand Hickory and its needs. She has just recently moved back to Hickory after being gone for decades. How can she understand this city and what we have been through? Nothing personal, but it appears that she is only trying to ride her father’s coat tails.
We know nothing about this lady’s platform. At this crucial point, in our city’s history, can we take that chance? I am sorry, but we cannot afford anymore of the social elite, anti-business mentality, like that of Mrs. Fox or Mrs. Patton on the council, and we can’t elect someone just because her father was mayor four decades ago.
The alternatives are clear. We can vote for pro-growth candidates that will support an agenda that will turn our economy around, sooner rather than later, or we can take our chances by voting for a nostalgic candidate. A candidate that might just throw us into the mire of bureaucratic mess that I believe Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Patton represent.
A strong, healthy, dynamic economy feeds off of itself. When people make more money, they spend more, businesses prosper, property values increase, and there will be increased revenue for our local government to improve Hickory. We can then afford a new university, nicer schools, better parks, better recreation, and all of the other amenities afforded to a robust economy.
In my opinion, the choice is yours. Do we want a responsive government that helps businesses succeed or do we want a burdensome government that chases businesses away? Will we remain at an economic standstill or will we give pro-growth candidates a mandate to move our region forward?
James Thomas Shell
(Published in the Hickory Daily Record in November 2007)
I want to talk about our upcoming election and how important that I feel it is for Hickory’s future. This area has come to the crossroads of our existence and over the next couple of years we are going to have to make crucial decisions that will have an impact on this city for generations to come.
Going on seven years, we have seen a lack of economic productivity that has had a negative impact on most of our citizen’s standard of living. The two most important issues that this community faces are the standard of living and underemployment. These two issues are directly related to one another and without addressing these key issues; we are just going to be continuously spinning our wheels in an economic rut that leads nowhere.
There are too many people that look at our economy as though it is an accounting ledger. Dynamic economies are not built upon a series of plusses and minuses. They are built upon exponential growth brought on by investors’ willingness to risk their assets in a region based upon what it has to offer. The bottom line is that investors are going to go where they think they can get the most bang for their buck.
It is more than evident that over the last couple of years we have had two elected officials within our city that do not understand the concept of economic development. Mrs. Sally Fox and Mrs. Jill Patton have constantly voted against measures that would help foster economic growth for the area and they have voted for measures that will cost businesses thousands to millions of dollars in profit.
A few examples are the fight against Lowe’s being built on NC 127, the attempted restrictions they wanted to place on Martin-Marietta’s granite quarry, and their contentious opposition to allowing businesses an extra three years to meet the new open storage codes.
Many of you might say “Good! Sock it to ‘em,” but the reality of the situation is that these type of efforts have a hard impact on a business’s bottom line and thus their decision about whether or not to invest in this area.
It also has a direct impact in your wallet, because businesses have two ways of dealing with decreasing profits. They can either reduce their expenses (and their biggest expense is typically labor) or increase the price consumers pay for their products and/or services. Either way, in the end, you pay.
To put our economy back on solid ground, we need major industry back in the area. We don’t need any more micro-managing, big government, bureaucrats on the city council. We have been lucky so far because these two individuals have not been able to push much of their burdensome agenda through. For the sake of our city and the area that it dominates, let’s keep it that way.
Mr. Bruce Meisner is running unopposed and in my opinion he has been very much pro-growth oriented. Mr. Brad Lail and Mr. Danny Seaver are not running unopposed, but I also believe that the record shows that both of these gentlemen have for the most part supported the vital interests of businesses in this area.
Much more needs to be done and in having personal conversations with Mr. Lail, I personally believe that he gets “It.” I may not agree with Mr. Lail on all positions, but having known him for years, I can appreciate those minor differences. Most of us know that he and his family have a major stake in the success (and also failure) of this region.
Without getting into the personal details of our conversations, I can tell you that he understands the need to hit a home run on the Major Industry front. He, like myself, being a product of the UNC higher education system understands the value of education. He also understands that a good economy is built from the bottom-up and not from the top-down.
I just don’t feel that Mrs. Nancy Willingham (his opponent) could understand Hickory and its needs. She has just recently moved back to Hickory after being gone for decades. How can she understand this city and what we have been through? Nothing personal, but it appears that she is only trying to ride her father’s coat tails.
We know nothing about this lady’s platform. At this crucial point, in our city’s history, can we take that chance? I am sorry, but we cannot afford anymore of the social elite, anti-business mentality, like that of Mrs. Fox or Mrs. Patton on the council, and we can’t elect someone just because her father was mayor four decades ago.
The alternatives are clear. We can vote for pro-growth candidates that will support an agenda that will turn our economy around, sooner rather than later, or we can take our chances by voting for a nostalgic candidate. A candidate that might just throw us into the mire of bureaucratic mess that I believe Mrs. Fox and Mrs. Patton represent.
A strong, healthy, dynamic economy feeds off of itself. When people make more money, they spend more, businesses prosper, property values increase, and there will be increased revenue for our local government to improve Hickory. We can then afford a new university, nicer schools, better parks, better recreation, and all of the other amenities afforded to a robust economy.
In my opinion, the choice is yours. Do we want a responsive government that helps businesses succeed or do we want a burdensome government that chases businesses away? Will we remain at an economic standstill or will we give pro-growth candidates a mandate to move our region forward?
James Thomas Shell
Thursday, August 28, 2008
We Need More Energy
We Need More Energy
(Published in late August 2008 in the Hickory Daily Record)
It’s sad when Paris Hilton makes more sense than government leaders. PickensPlan.com and AmericanSolutions.com have plans that do exactly what she espouses in her commercial. Read them and think about joining them.
Most everyone agrees that our current energy policies are unacceptable. Demonizing fossil fuels will not solve the problem. Look around you Plastic, Glass, Metal, Fiber, and Silicon all need Oil and Coal to produce. There is no Utopian alternative available. Admitting to having a problem is the first step towards solving it. We will have to utilize carbon-based energy for many generations to come. We have and will continue to become more efficient in its usage. The population continues to grow and immediate elimination of fossil fuels will lead to grave consequences.
We currently produce around 6% of our energy using renewables. We aren't going to find the other 94% overnight. I love Wind Turbines, Solar Panels, Hydro Electric, Nuclear, etc. and hope we find true breakthroughs soon, but I refuse to fall victim to the green rhetoric that is contributing to the stagnation, litgation, and burdensome regulation of our economy.
Creation and expansion of energy resources creates value. Our government (which is us) would be paid fees and royalties for the right to drill, which should be invested in renewable energy projects. Economics 101 shows that increased supplies of energy will bring prices down. It’s a win-win.
We must keep energy money in the USA, because it protects national security, keeps the dollar strong, and supports quality high tech jobs. As stewards of the planet, we are all environmentalists. We can responsibly use its bountiful resources.
James Thomas Shell
(Published in late August 2008 in the Hickory Daily Record)
It’s sad when Paris Hilton makes more sense than government leaders. PickensPlan.com and AmericanSolutions.com have plans that do exactly what she espouses in her commercial. Read them and think about joining them.
Most everyone agrees that our current energy policies are unacceptable. Demonizing fossil fuels will not solve the problem. Look around you Plastic, Glass, Metal, Fiber, and Silicon all need Oil and Coal to produce. There is no Utopian alternative available. Admitting to having a problem is the first step towards solving it. We will have to utilize carbon-based energy for many generations to come. We have and will continue to become more efficient in its usage. The population continues to grow and immediate elimination of fossil fuels will lead to grave consequences.
We currently produce around 6% of our energy using renewables. We aren't going to find the other 94% overnight. I love Wind Turbines, Solar Panels, Hydro Electric, Nuclear, etc. and hope we find true breakthroughs soon, but I refuse to fall victim to the green rhetoric that is contributing to the stagnation, litgation, and burdensome regulation of our economy.
Creation and expansion of energy resources creates value. Our government (which is us) would be paid fees and royalties for the right to drill, which should be invested in renewable energy projects. Economics 101 shows that increased supplies of energy will bring prices down. It’s a win-win.
We must keep energy money in the USA, because it protects national security, keeps the dollar strong, and supports quality high tech jobs. As stewards of the planet, we are all environmentalists. We can responsibly use its bountiful resources.
James Thomas Shell
Do Something
Do Something
(Published in the Hickory Daily Record in August 2008)
Where is our economic and social justice when it comes to the problems we face in this country? We the people of the United States own this country. Our representatives, who are supposed to work for us, are blocking us from getting what we mandate. In corporate America they would be fired for such insubordinance.
An example is the current energy crisis. I don’t believe that many of our legislators truly understand how dramatic this situation is. Billions of dollars are leaving our country daily, while the dollar continues to weaken, and rogue nations are propped up by insane policies. The bureaucracy has cooked the books to the point of telling us that everything’s fine and we aren’t in a recession. If they want to live in fantasyland that’s ok, but don’t do it at our expense.
It’s time for the bickering to cease and action to begin! Most of this country’s issues are not complex, but many of our legislators are ruining our future by putting their personal interests ahead of national interests. What they are doing is treasonous. I often wonder if an Economic Depression would be enough to reign in their arrogance.
The Declaration of Independence states, “…governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it…”
We deserve representation. Much of what King George was doing 232 years ago is being done to us today by a federal government that has lost perspective. The bureaucracy has created a class amongst itself. They have forgotten that they have their jobs at the discretion of the citizens and seem to believe that we are here for their disposal.
Common sense allows for the belief that we are all unique individuals and therefore we are going to have differences of opinion on important issues. But, we cannot allow those differences to create this bitterness that will not allow us to progress as a society. We should immediately act on issues where we share similar beliefs and work diligently to see where we share common ground on the most divisive issues.
I refuse to believe that we are all so different that we cannot agree on anything of substance, but that is how we are currently being governed. America the Super Power has become its own worst enemy. Our complacency and unwillingness to move forward in this new age will destroy all we have inherited.
It is disrespectful to previous generations to squander what they worked hard, sacrificed, and fought to give us and immoral to pass on our gluttonous debts to generations that have yet to be born. Do you realize how easily our liberty can slip away?
James Thomas Shell
(Published in the Hickory Daily Record in August 2008)
Where is our economic and social justice when it comes to the problems we face in this country? We the people of the United States own this country. Our representatives, who are supposed to work for us, are blocking us from getting what we mandate. In corporate America they would be fired for such insubordinance.
An example is the current energy crisis. I don’t believe that many of our legislators truly understand how dramatic this situation is. Billions of dollars are leaving our country daily, while the dollar continues to weaken, and rogue nations are propped up by insane policies. The bureaucracy has cooked the books to the point of telling us that everything’s fine and we aren’t in a recession. If they want to live in fantasyland that’s ok, but don’t do it at our expense.
It’s time for the bickering to cease and action to begin! Most of this country’s issues are not complex, but many of our legislators are ruining our future by putting their personal interests ahead of national interests. What they are doing is treasonous. I often wonder if an Economic Depression would be enough to reign in their arrogance.
The Declaration of Independence states, “…governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. That whenever any form of government becomes destructive to these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it…”
We deserve representation. Much of what King George was doing 232 years ago is being done to us today by a federal government that has lost perspective. The bureaucracy has created a class amongst itself. They have forgotten that they have their jobs at the discretion of the citizens and seem to believe that we are here for their disposal.
Common sense allows for the belief that we are all unique individuals and therefore we are going to have differences of opinion on important issues. But, we cannot allow those differences to create this bitterness that will not allow us to progress as a society. We should immediately act on issues where we share similar beliefs and work diligently to see where we share common ground on the most divisive issues.
I refuse to believe that we are all so different that we cannot agree on anything of substance, but that is how we are currently being governed. America the Super Power has become its own worst enemy. Our complacency and unwillingness to move forward in this new age will destroy all we have inherited.
It is disrespectful to previous generations to squander what they worked hard, sacrificed, and fought to give us and immoral to pass on our gluttonous debts to generations that have yet to be born. Do you realize how easily our liberty can slip away?
James Thomas Shell
Put America's Interest above Parties
Put America's Interest above Parties
(Published in the Hickory Daily Record on 7/14/2008)
On July 7, 2008, Lee Brinson wrote about how many of us – apparently only conservatives – have not done our homework on the oil issue. I’m a disenchanted Republican that disdains much of the leadership in my party.
In 1994, the GOP was placed in charge of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years, because they proposed a real agenda. Republicans wasted the opportunity to truly reform our bloated government. Instead of implementing “The Contract with America” one step at a time, they overreached and achieved very little other than welfare reform.
Over the next 12 years they compromised to the point of abandoning their core principles. While the current Republican Party is unrecognizable, the Democrats have kowtowed to the extreme elements of their party to the point where our country is economically stagnated by a sea of taxation, regulation, and litigation.
We can’t grow our economy without energy. I’d love to do it with Solar Panels, Windmills, Hydroelectric, and Nuclear energy, but go do some homework and see who has stood in the way of those resources. There have to be tax incentives and fast tracks to foster research and development. Tax incentives are also needed to make alternatives affordable to the average consumer. Will the shortsighted tax revenue lust of our bloated bureaucracy allow for this to happen?
In the meantime, Fossil Fuels are the lifeblood of our economy and the high prices of fuel are ruining it. The quickest route to getting the economy back on track would be to get fuel prices down to a reasonable level. If the world market sees that we are taking comprehensive steps toward an energy solution, then the current Oil Bubble will burst and we will see oil below $100 a barrel in a matter of days.
Mr. Brinson, it will take nowhere near 10 years to get oil out of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. I’d also like for you to understand that the oil companies are not drilling on the current set asides, because the geologicals say there is no oil there. Should they drill where scientific research says there is no oil? Your homework seems to be the regular Cliffs Notes talking point memoranda spouted out every day on television.
I would like to ask you, would you rather be sending millions of dollars to dictators or keep that money here and support the high paying, high tech jobs that would go along with it?
Energy is integral to making the economy grow. If you truly want a bright future for generations to come, we must dispose of the rhetoric. I agree that we need to be more efficient in our energy usage, but we cannot conserve our way to the energy independence that would be best for our nation’s security.
The last thought I would like to leave you with is that this country is not about being a Republican or Democrat, it is first and foremost about being an American. The two-party system is full of a bunch of greedy politicians getting rich and powerful at our expense. May I ask you, what have they done lately that make them so worthy of defending?
(Published in the Hickory Daily Record on 7/14/2008)
On July 7, 2008, Lee Brinson wrote about how many of us – apparently only conservatives – have not done our homework on the oil issue. I’m a disenchanted Republican that disdains much of the leadership in my party.
In 1994, the GOP was placed in charge of both houses of Congress for the first time in 40 years, because they proposed a real agenda. Republicans wasted the opportunity to truly reform our bloated government. Instead of implementing “The Contract with America” one step at a time, they overreached and achieved very little other than welfare reform.
Over the next 12 years they compromised to the point of abandoning their core principles. While the current Republican Party is unrecognizable, the Democrats have kowtowed to the extreme elements of their party to the point where our country is economically stagnated by a sea of taxation, regulation, and litigation.
We can’t grow our economy without energy. I’d love to do it with Solar Panels, Windmills, Hydroelectric, and Nuclear energy, but go do some homework and see who has stood in the way of those resources. There have to be tax incentives and fast tracks to foster research and development. Tax incentives are also needed to make alternatives affordable to the average consumer. Will the shortsighted tax revenue lust of our bloated bureaucracy allow for this to happen?
In the meantime, Fossil Fuels are the lifeblood of our economy and the high prices of fuel are ruining it. The quickest route to getting the economy back on track would be to get fuel prices down to a reasonable level. If the world market sees that we are taking comprehensive steps toward an energy solution, then the current Oil Bubble will burst and we will see oil below $100 a barrel in a matter of days.
Mr. Brinson, it will take nowhere near 10 years to get oil out of the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge. I’d also like for you to understand that the oil companies are not drilling on the current set asides, because the geologicals say there is no oil there. Should they drill where scientific research says there is no oil? Your homework seems to be the regular Cliffs Notes talking point memoranda spouted out every day on television.
I would like to ask you, would you rather be sending millions of dollars to dictators or keep that money here and support the high paying, high tech jobs that would go along with it?
Energy is integral to making the economy grow. If you truly want a bright future for generations to come, we must dispose of the rhetoric. I agree that we need to be more efficient in our energy usage, but we cannot conserve our way to the energy independence that would be best for our nation’s security.
The last thought I would like to leave you with is that this country is not about being a Republican or Democrat, it is first and foremost about being an American. The two-party system is full of a bunch of greedy politicians getting rich and powerful at our expense. May I ask you, what have they done lately that make them so worthy of defending?
Is Conservatism Dead
(Previously Unpublished, submitted to the Hickory Daily Record in June 2008)
As a philosophical conservative, I sadly feel that we have been successfully marginalized as a bunch of yahoo, God fearing, gun toting Neanderthals by the left. It is ridiculous. To label conservatives this way smacks upon the same intolerance that liberals profess to disdain.
Personally I have chosen the conservative philosophy because I believe in individual liberty and self-determination. People need to take responsibility for themselves, their actions, and the consequences of those actions. True conservatives are natural environmentalists, because we use all resources and assets wisely. I believe progressive developmental plans will allow us to take care of the environment without doing it at the expense of social and economic progress, as well as personal freedom. We can achieve a balance!
Personally, I believe that God gave us dominion over this planet and wants us to use its bountiful resources to improve Mankind. I refuse, as an American, to feel guilty about the circumstances that have been granted us. We should revere our ancestors for what they have left us. It is not our fault that other countries have chosen conflict and dictatorship over peace and prosperity. The Third World’s circumstances have been created by the sins of corruption, greed, and jealousy.
Politics is heartbreaking for conservatives these days. On the national front it is more than obvious that we have no voice. The three candidates still remaining are all liberals. In my opinion they stand for nothing. Except for the war on terror, there is hardly any appreciable difference between these candidates.
We are on the precipice of an economic calamity and yet we hear nothing about what the candidates would do to fix it. It is all shame politics. Sound bites and slogans far outweigh action; promises made lead to promises broken or forgotten. I do not want to vote for anyone because of my contempt for another.
The Republican Party that has been our home for years has been hijacked by a bunch of elite country clubbers that seem to be more worried about image rather than substance. They have compromised their principles to try and win some sort of popularity contest. Conservatives don’t look to raise taxes and waste money like the current Republican leadership. That is what has caused the chasm between the working class and the Republican Party and it must be addressed.
Too many times I have seen an ambivalent and uncaring wealthy class unwilling to take a hit to their own standard of living, all at the expense of the middle class. It seems to be more important for politicians and business executives to lead gluttonous lifestyles than to accomplish meaningful goals.
You want examples? What about trade agreements such as NAFTA? Companies are given every reason in the world to ship their jobs away. How are we supposed to compete when there is no level playing field as far as wages and environmental issues are concerned? Executives don’t seem to mind. Heck, they get to go on whirlwind world vacations and write it off as a business expense, as though they’re doing real work.
Look at toy maker Mattel. Last year 21 million toys made in China had to be recalled due to substandard practices. The company lost $46 million in the first quarter this year compared to a $12 million dollar profit for the same period last year. The company’s stock has lost over one-third of its value and this is directly attributable to the fallout from those imports. I don’t believe this would have happened if those toys had been made in the USA.
What about all of the high priced executives of now bankrupt or imploding companies? They run the company into the ground, leaving with their golden parachutes, and the company’s employees are left with no job and maybe no severance pay or pension. What has our government done to stop this?
If all of this doesn’t help business executives continue their prima donna lifestyles, then our Federal government has created an immigration policy that leaves the borders wide open so that businesses can keep worker wages artificially low. This exploitation of the labor force naturally increases short-term profits and thus fattens executive bonuses. There are consequences when these practices go bad, but rarely do the people making these decisions pay the price. It’s usually the stockholders and employees that get the shaft.
Also, I can’t see why politicians are ignorant to the fact that every major recession since the 1970s has been contributed to by a petroleum crisis. Yet, what has been done to alleviate our dependence on imported oil? Zero, sip, nada!!! It is due to total negligence and incompetence that we are in the position we are today. This situation could have been averted, but that would have taken forethought and common sense. Instead a political crisis has been created by inaction and it has been done purposefully to create a political football.
Now Hillary and Obama want to complain about Oil companies’ greed. So they have this bright idea that their mentor Jimmy Carter first dreamed up during the Oil crisis he created in 1979. Let’s have a windfall profits tax. Did you know that government already gets twice the revenue as the Oil companies on a gallon of gas? How would these two geniuses keep the Oil companies from just tacking this new tax onto already steep prices? The answer is, they can’t.
From January to March the average price of gas (in NC) was around $3.20. Of that about $2.20 was the crude oil component, State taxes and fees were on average 30 cents and the Federal tax is 18 cents. Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs, Refining, and Profits account for the rest, which is 52 cents. Of that 52 cents approximately 20 cents goes to bottom line profit. Oil executives are not going to lower their profit margins in the name of a government scheme. In my opinion, a windfall profits tax would be the fastest path to $5 gasoline.
The key to fixing the problem is simple. US companies must produce more oil. Demand keeps rising, yet there are fewer resources (refineries and wells) coming online. ANWAR and the continental shelf must be developed and refineries must be built. Create alternative energy source incentives. Hydro, Nuclear, Solar, and Wind are but a few of the alternatives. Every little bit of reduction in usage of petroleum counts and allows for further development of technology. Quit putting Band-Aids on this open wound.
The current Real Estate debacle is much the same. The government’s backing of bad loans, bad lending policies, and lack of oversight are what led to the bubble and subsequent bust. It will take some time, but Real Estate will come back in the next few years. However, none of our nation’s problems will get any better until the shortsighted, consciousless schemers are made to suffer negative consequences for their manipulations.
It is our government’s job to look out for everyone’s best interest. It’s supposed to be a government of, by, and for the people. The politicians are too worried about their personal welfare and not the public’s best interests. Right now, we have a government going to the highest bidder. These days I sure wish there was an alternative to the two-party system. The solutions are simple, but the political machine has gone bonkers. It’s too bad that it appears nothing short of a cataclysmic event will fix our political system.
As a philosophical conservative, I sadly feel that we have been successfully marginalized as a bunch of yahoo, God fearing, gun toting Neanderthals by the left. It is ridiculous. To label conservatives this way smacks upon the same intolerance that liberals profess to disdain.
Personally I have chosen the conservative philosophy because I believe in individual liberty and self-determination. People need to take responsibility for themselves, their actions, and the consequences of those actions. True conservatives are natural environmentalists, because we use all resources and assets wisely. I believe progressive developmental plans will allow us to take care of the environment without doing it at the expense of social and economic progress, as well as personal freedom. We can achieve a balance!
Personally, I believe that God gave us dominion over this planet and wants us to use its bountiful resources to improve Mankind. I refuse, as an American, to feel guilty about the circumstances that have been granted us. We should revere our ancestors for what they have left us. It is not our fault that other countries have chosen conflict and dictatorship over peace and prosperity. The Third World’s circumstances have been created by the sins of corruption, greed, and jealousy.
Politics is heartbreaking for conservatives these days. On the national front it is more than obvious that we have no voice. The three candidates still remaining are all liberals. In my opinion they stand for nothing. Except for the war on terror, there is hardly any appreciable difference between these candidates.
We are on the precipice of an economic calamity and yet we hear nothing about what the candidates would do to fix it. It is all shame politics. Sound bites and slogans far outweigh action; promises made lead to promises broken or forgotten. I do not want to vote for anyone because of my contempt for another.
The Republican Party that has been our home for years has been hijacked by a bunch of elite country clubbers that seem to be more worried about image rather than substance. They have compromised their principles to try and win some sort of popularity contest. Conservatives don’t look to raise taxes and waste money like the current Republican leadership. That is what has caused the chasm between the working class and the Republican Party and it must be addressed.
Too many times I have seen an ambivalent and uncaring wealthy class unwilling to take a hit to their own standard of living, all at the expense of the middle class. It seems to be more important for politicians and business executives to lead gluttonous lifestyles than to accomplish meaningful goals.
You want examples? What about trade agreements such as NAFTA? Companies are given every reason in the world to ship their jobs away. How are we supposed to compete when there is no level playing field as far as wages and environmental issues are concerned? Executives don’t seem to mind. Heck, they get to go on whirlwind world vacations and write it off as a business expense, as though they’re doing real work.
Look at toy maker Mattel. Last year 21 million toys made in China had to be recalled due to substandard practices. The company lost $46 million in the first quarter this year compared to a $12 million dollar profit for the same period last year. The company’s stock has lost over one-third of its value and this is directly attributable to the fallout from those imports. I don’t believe this would have happened if those toys had been made in the USA.
What about all of the high priced executives of now bankrupt or imploding companies? They run the company into the ground, leaving with their golden parachutes, and the company’s employees are left with no job and maybe no severance pay or pension. What has our government done to stop this?
If all of this doesn’t help business executives continue their prima donna lifestyles, then our Federal government has created an immigration policy that leaves the borders wide open so that businesses can keep worker wages artificially low. This exploitation of the labor force naturally increases short-term profits and thus fattens executive bonuses. There are consequences when these practices go bad, but rarely do the people making these decisions pay the price. It’s usually the stockholders and employees that get the shaft.
Also, I can’t see why politicians are ignorant to the fact that every major recession since the 1970s has been contributed to by a petroleum crisis. Yet, what has been done to alleviate our dependence on imported oil? Zero, sip, nada!!! It is due to total negligence and incompetence that we are in the position we are today. This situation could have been averted, but that would have taken forethought and common sense. Instead a political crisis has been created by inaction and it has been done purposefully to create a political football.
Now Hillary and Obama want to complain about Oil companies’ greed. So they have this bright idea that their mentor Jimmy Carter first dreamed up during the Oil crisis he created in 1979. Let’s have a windfall profits tax. Did you know that government already gets twice the revenue as the Oil companies on a gallon of gas? How would these two geniuses keep the Oil companies from just tacking this new tax onto already steep prices? The answer is, they can’t.
From January to March the average price of gas (in NC) was around $3.20. Of that about $2.20 was the crude oil component, State taxes and fees were on average 30 cents and the Federal tax is 18 cents. Distribution Costs, Marketing Costs, Refining, and Profits account for the rest, which is 52 cents. Of that 52 cents approximately 20 cents goes to bottom line profit. Oil executives are not going to lower their profit margins in the name of a government scheme. In my opinion, a windfall profits tax would be the fastest path to $5 gasoline.
The key to fixing the problem is simple. US companies must produce more oil. Demand keeps rising, yet there are fewer resources (refineries and wells) coming online. ANWAR and the continental shelf must be developed and refineries must be built. Create alternative energy source incentives. Hydro, Nuclear, Solar, and Wind are but a few of the alternatives. Every little bit of reduction in usage of petroleum counts and allows for further development of technology. Quit putting Band-Aids on this open wound.
The current Real Estate debacle is much the same. The government’s backing of bad loans, bad lending policies, and lack of oversight are what led to the bubble and subsequent bust. It will take some time, but Real Estate will come back in the next few years. However, none of our nation’s problems will get any better until the shortsighted, consciousless schemers are made to suffer negative consequences for their manipulations.
It is our government’s job to look out for everyone’s best interest. It’s supposed to be a government of, by, and for the people. The politicians are too worried about their personal welfare and not the public’s best interests. Right now, we have a government going to the highest bidder. These days I sure wish there was an alternative to the two-party system. The solutions are simple, but the political machine has gone bonkers. It’s too bad that it appears nothing short of a cataclysmic event will fix our political system.
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