Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The President in his State of the Union address illustrated the double standard between Clean Energy and Natural Gas.

He did so not a day to early.  The investment the USA has made into developing natural gas without the same investment in Clean Energy has placed clean energy industries in the path of danger of extinction. 
Herman K. Trabish
January 18, 2012

Will the Plunging Price of Natural Gas Ruin Renewables? (click title to entry - thank you)

Yes, says Warren Buffett’s policy guy: renewables have a policy option and a marketplace advantage.


...At a meeting of the five largest solar developers and the three largest turbine manufacturers last September, the manufacturers said they had no orders beyond June 2012 and the developers said they had no plans beyond November 2012 according to a Capitol Hill lobbyist that spoke with GTM. “Just nothing,” the lobbyist said. “It’s a cliff.”


Those companies faced the prospect of Congress allowing the lapse of the 1603 cash grant for the solar industry’s investment tax credit (ITC), the impending threat that Congress will not extend the wind industry’s crucial production tax credit (PTC) beyond this year, and the likely inability of federal trade regulators to stop Chinese anti-competitive practices.


Warren Buffett’s MidAmerican Energy has built nearly 600 megawatts of wind in the last two years. But, as MidAmerican federal policy vice president Jonathan Weisgall noted to GTM, “do we have plans beyond December 31 of this year for wind? No.” Because, Weisgall explained, “If the production tax credit is not extended, wind will probably not be the least-cost option.”...

The President's Annual address to Congress is tonight. I am looking forward to it.

...“It’s going to be a fighting speech,’’ (click title to entry - thank you) said Robert Dallek, a presidential historian and Boston University professor emeritus of history. “He’s going to lay out a contrasting agenda to what the Republicans, particularly Mitt Romney, has been saying about the use of federal power and the way the government approaches the economic difficulties that the country continues to face.’’...

He wore a nice tie last year, but, he needs to prove he is improving the economy by wearing a new tie, preferably one "Made in America" if it still exists.

Obama Speech to Embrace Manufacturing Rebirth as Job Creator (click here)

January 24, 2012, 8:31 AM EST
By Roger Runningen and Margaret Talev
(Updates with Plouffe starting in 10th paragraph.)
Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama tonight will lay out what he calls a “blueprint” for revitalizing the economy, emphasizing a rebirth for U.S. manufacturing, bolstering domestic energy production and training workers....

The President has pointed to the success of the auto industry in the USA as a footprint in manufacturing for Made in America.  We would like more.  In the year 2012 it is possible to have responsible manufacturing in the USA.  Manufacturing that does not endanger the health of employees or community. 

I went to the movies last night instead of tonight.  I saw "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close."  (click here)  Wow, what a movie.  It was a very healthy reminder of the dear people touched by the tragedy of September 11th.  It was told through the life of a very talented child.  In hindsight, I am grateful we took the time and care of the families.  It is easy to find oneself in this movie.

In 2010 Willard Mitt Romney paid $3 million in federal income taxes. That should be enough to buy him Florida.

Mitt Romney talks to the press after holding a round table on housing issues in Tampa, Fla., Jan. 23, 2012. (Emmanuel Dunand / AFP/Getty Images)


January 23, 2012, 10:44 p.m.

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney reportedly paid about $3 million in federal income taxes in 2010 on income of $21.7 million.

Romney's tax returns show most of his income came from investments. He also gave nearly $3 million combined to charitable causes and the Mormon Church, helping reduce his effective tax rate to less than 14%....


He paid an effective rate of 14% to the USA federal income tax.  I paid more than that and the amount I paid actually was felt in my household.  I guarantee Mr. and Mrs. Romney didn't feel a thing.  The Former Governor was also NOT WORKING for a living.

...Gingrich and his wife, Callista, paid $994,708 in federal taxes on gross income of $3,142,066 in 2010, according to copies of the couple's return. The 31.5% tax rate paid by the Gingriches is more than double the amount that Romney reportedly paid on his much larger income....

That is about the percentage, maybe slightly less, of income I paid in income.  I didn't have a $1 million credit account at Tiffany's though.  Actually, it was probably about 25%.  It just seemed like more. 


...Thirty years ago, (click here) Congress created the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to administer and enforce the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA)–the statute that governs the financing of federal elections. The regulation of federal campaigns emanated from a Congressional judgment that our representative form of government needed protection from the corrosive influence of unlimited and undisclosed political contributions. The laws were designed to ensure that candidates in federal elections were not–and did not appear to be–beholden to a narrow group of people. Taken together, it was hoped, the laws would sustain and promote citizen confidence and participation in the democratic process....

This is what is so very disturbing about the Robert's Court decision in "Citizen's United."  There are laws on the books existing over 30 years that REQUIRE the type of funding for the elections of the USA.  "The Federal Election Commission" was couped by the Robert's Court in the Citizen's United decision!

Mr. and Mrs. Adelson are providing the Former Speaker a fighting chance in the GOP primaries.

Adelsons donate another $5m. to Gingrich (click title to entry - thank you)
By GIL SHEFLER
01/24/2012 11:06

Donation brings casino tycoon and Israeli newspaper owner's contributions to Republican candidate to $10m. in two months.

...Adelson, who also owns Israel Hayom, one of the most widely read newspapers in Israel, is deeply involved in Israeli politics and is known for his staunch support of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Boston-born billionaire also donates millions each year to Jewish and Israeli causes. Last December he gave $5 million to Taglit-Birthright, which brings Jewish young adults from the Diaspora on a free trip to Israel. That same month he gave $25 million dollars to the Yad Vashem Holocaust museum in Jerusalem.

Adelson's net worth in 2011 according to Forbes magazine was $21.5 billion, making him the 16th wealthiest person in the world.


The four candidates for the Republican nominee for President all have superpacs.  Rep. Ron Paul is spending $1.4 million in Florida.  The superpacs are now the reality of American politics.  Unfortunately, the elections within the USA appear to be moving further and further from the reach of the average citizen.  This new 'allowance' by the Robert's Court is not only unconstitutional, but, a move against the sovereignty of the USA into the hands of the plutocrats.  More and more the American people have to begin to make election choices on the interests of removing plutocratic control of their government.


Read their lips, "No new taxes!"