Do You Get Sweaty Palms At The Pumps?

There has been much hullaballo over the price of fuel and where we can throw the blame. That misogynist clown  Representative Alan West(R) of Florida would like to blame President Obama for his $70 tab to fill up his 2008 H3 Hummer. Yeah, a damn H3 Hummer and the man is shocked it cost so much to fill the tank. Wow.

Others would like to blame Iran and the instability they are causing by forging ahead with their nuclear program. Plenty more are throwing the blame on Wall Street with the speculators. Could it be just pure old supply and demand? Well, what the hell  is the reason I almost vomit and break out in sweats at the pumps?

Wednesday, oil futures (what the hell are those) spiked 2% in one day to it's highest levels in 9 months. Yet, demand has not increased enough to warrant this surge in price. It would seem that supply and demand is not the root of this problem. The demand in the US alone is the lowest since September 2001.

So, let's look at that crazy son of a bitch Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the President of the Islamic Republic of Iran, can we stick some blame on him? Last week members of the European Union imposed a ban on Iranian oil effective July 1, as well as froze the country's central bank assets. The US has also said they would black list suppliers using Iranian Oil if they go ahead with their nuke programs.

This EU banishment is no big deal, because Iran can still deal with the Saudi Arabians, and Russia to get their oil. Iran produces about 2.5 million barrels of black gold per a day with 500,000 barrels sold to the United Kingdom and France. The rest goes to China, India, South Korea, and Japan. All but South Korea have stated they will cut imports by 10% because of increased sanctions by the United States.

Iran is the second highest supplier of crude behind Saudi Arabia in the OPEC nations, however they contribute very little to our market. The instability over their nuclear program and the west's reaction to it however, does cause some concerns on the market. All stated, we can take them off the table as our sole cause for ballooning gas prices.

Let's discuss Barack Obama, are these prices his fault? I mean hell it is his fault the economy tanked in 2009 even though he had barely taken office.. AND DON'T YOU TRY TO TELL US ANY DIFFERENTLY.

Time to call a spade a spade, the Keystone XL pipeline being denied access through our nation has nothing to do with fuel prices in the great US of A. Obama's policies are focused on renewable sources of energy. The GOP has turned this into a beaming lightening rod with voters. They say these policies alone are reason for such a rise in price and they won't stop until we "drill baby drill". There is little President Obama or any president for that matter can do to bring down fuel prices in the near term. Domestic oil production has grown since 2009, but that alone is not going to help us become more energy independent. So when the GOP candidates say "drill 'er 'til she's dry" they don't understand that flooding the market isn't going to help make prices cheaper if the demand isn't there. The President's policies are an attempt to lead us towards more energy independence, so we won't have to rely on foreign nations for our fuels.

Wall Street speculators, how about these vultures? This McClatchy article  aims the laser pointer towards them as being one of the key issues in oil prices. Give the article a look and judge for yourself.

Coins For Chemo

We were raised in a town with give or take, 4200 people. It is a very close knit community where everyone knows your dirty business and we try to help each other out when the chips are down. We are Mainers, its how we do.

In the past few years we have lost three vital industries with the closing of a shoe, furniture, and wood product factory.What are our fellow bubs doing to make ends meet?

1. Moved to find new employment
2. Rely of government assistance (gasp!)
3. Ask fellow bubs for assistance.. or "pan handling"

I don't mean "pan handling" as in someone homeless with their dog on the street looking for a few bucks for a small french fry, I mean someone who is SICK and has NO HEALTH INSURANCE to pay for their care. I met a woman last week, she was in her late 30s with a sign and donation can.

Today driving home from work, I saw this  young lady once again. It wrenches my gut to see somebody in this predicament. What have we as a society come to that we allow this to happen? A young person with a life ahead of them, begging for coin to pay for chemo.

There has been talk for years about the need for universal health care in the United States. Seeing what I saw last week and today, I believe the time is now.

The cost of health insurance has ballooned while the benefits have stayed the same or decreased. As of 2008 the average single adult paid an average of $648.00/month for private health care coverage. Compare this to $320/month for MaineCare (Medicaid) It cost twice as much to insure someone through private insurance as opposed to government sponsored insurance.

The questions remains, why can we not add a tax of 1.5% on top of the 1.5% paid to medicaid and have all Americans covered with universal health care? This would translate into more money in people's pay check as they would not be paying their percentage of private health care.

How many more people will be begging for chemo? How many more people will be begging to live?

WE STAND FOR UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE

What's In A Name?

GOP : Greed. Oppression. Piety

We've heard many a catchy definition for the acronym GOP, many give us a giggle.  Now, the proper acronym for these three letters is : "Grand Old Party" to describe the Republicans. Yeah, like a special club membership where your dues include selling your soul and the tears of small kittens.

G : Greed - It is all about those "Benjamins" baby! Also, see :  Ayn Rand et al

O : Oppression - Keep you working in your low paying, lacking benefits employment all the while making profits as share holders and taking out a life insurance policy once you are afflicted with the bird flu or some other ailment.

P : Piety - Praises GOD for their good fortune and telling you said GOD will never give you more then you can handle (let's call a spade a spade, GOD isn't the reason you are getting sh*t health insurance). Using GOD by preaching his good works in the Bible yet not applying them outside the church. False piety if you will, but piety just the same. As with most things on this page, we have a stunning sense of humor and love good satire.

Now before you share this on your wall and your GOP lovin' cousin takes issue, this name doesn't signify everyone who writes GOP on their voter registration. The vile we are speaking of are those in power, those who hold the cards on Wall Street and pull the puppet strings in government. Your cousin is another post, at a later date.

Intellectual Allies unite!!