Tag: current-events

The Truth Behind the Rising Price of Fuel

Why has the cost of oil gone so high after being so low? If you listen to the current administration, they received a problem from the previous administration with the amount of oil being produced and with the price being very low. In all fairness the previous administration had increased the amount of drilling and fracking, encouraged expansion in offshore drilling, and opened federal lands for exploration and production. The Keystone XL pipeline was started and approved and was underway being built, despite the cries from the environmentalists and the anti-fossil fuel extremists. The first day of this president’s administration was spent writing executive orders eliminating the executive orders written by the previous administration, to include canceling the XL pipeline closing all federal lands to drilling, eliminating fracking and refusing to give new leases and new permits to drill. The president has said that through his spokesperson and in person that it’s not his fault his main goal was to totally eliminate Covert 19 and stop the pandemic.  Without getting into the heated debate of was the response to the pandemic in closing everything down the proper way or should we have just left everything open. The economy slowed, the demand for fuel decreased because nobody was traveling. When demand decreases and supply goes up prices go down. Simple economics! But as we began to lift the restrictions on staying at home, and as businesses began to open, another issue arose. There was a lag in the supply chain. This caused the economy to fall even further, the demand for fuel both personal and in transportation of course increased as people begin to get out the supply of crude oil to make this fuel was still low because production had been halted. The administration says there are 9000 permits that could be drilled upon and brought in to help increase this shortage. The truth is that these 9000 permits granted the owners the right to explore and by leases there are further regulations and permits that need to be acquired to drill. This administration has made it known that they are against the fossil fuel industry, they have made it known that they want to see more renewable energy immediately in the form of solar, wind energy and other green sources.

Moving forward, the price of gasoline jumped over a dollar and ½ before Russia invaded the Ukraine. As the global partners along with the United States have enforced sanctions on Vladimir Putin for his illegal invasion of the Ukraine the oil supply has diminished even further. It is this administration’s attitude towards the US petroleum industry that keeps us from actively pursuing new supplies. This administration would rather do business with the Saudi’s, who won’t even take the president’s call, the mullahs of Iran, which continue to say death to the infidels and in the West, and the dictatorship in Venezuela who is a Putin puppet.

Canada has offered to sell us more oil through existing pipelines and requests the construction of new pipelines to which this administration has said no! All the ideals of the socialist ‘Green New Deal” will inherently harm this country’s economy. Socialism is not the best way to move forward. Before the COVID-19 pandemic this country was on the way to becoming energy independent. We had even begun to export surplus crude. Even during the early year of the pandemic, we were still energy independent and exporting access. After the inauguration within this short period of a couple of days we that all went away with one executive order after another undoing everything the previous administration had done to help stimulate and boost this economy. This administration’s agenda has taken us down a difficult road with lack of fiscal resolve and the Fed not reacting sooner we will now start to see inflation rise to the point that we go into another recession. We survived the last recession and came out better and if the American people decide that their last choice in the election was not the right choice and start using common sense to elect people to office that have a positive agenda and not be merely seeking more power, then we will have a quick recovery. It is obvious that we do not want to lift the sanctions on Putin and his oligarchs even if he gets out of the Ukraine totally. It is not for me to say that Vladimir Putin needs to be removed from power that is for the Russian people to decide.

How Facebook is Censoring Conservatives Points of View

Now before I upset everyone, let me explain what I am basing this on. I was replying to a friend’s Post and it is obvious that my friend and have a different political point of view. I am a Constitutional conservative and based from his posts I would say that he is not a republican and sides with the Democrats. It is just a guess as I have no verifiable proof.  In my Post I had stated that we are both entitled to our opinions and have the right to disagree. It is very interesting that when attempting to post my reply, three time, it said that they (The Facebook page) were unable to publish the post. Here are the attempts.

I know it is probably just a problem with the site, but it is one of those things that make you go Hmmmm!

The Mid-term Elections are Over

Good Morning America!

The Public has voted and the results are what they are. Now it is time to get to work. As one who exercised their right to vote, I can now say to those elected.”Remember what your duty is as an elected Public Servant”

Your are the peoples voice that elected you. You Must Decide if your are going to represent all of them or just the party that elected you.

When the House of Representatives elects the new Speaker, I urge them to do so with that in mind. Lead by example!

If you are in it to seek revenge for 2016 you should resign.

If you are in the house to make America stronger, Safer, and a better place to live, work with the others to do so in a civil and honorable manner.

You have the right to disagree as do I. But find enough common ground to work for the country not your self or a particular party.Yes that goes to Democrats, Republicans and Independents.

You have a duty to the country so let’s be clear , all legislation should be “Read thoroughly before it is voted on“!

Backroom politics, and shutting out the debate is not how an Honorable Representation is done.

To those of you that have been newly elected to Congress for the First time, Congratulations!

Remember what you ran on and promised to all those that you represent.

It’s now time to heal the divide, and that can only be down through civility, and respect for others.

Stop the hate speech and decisiveness. Stop the squandering of our Tax dollars on on obstructive search and destroy tactics.

I have a phrase that sometimes is misconstrued as condescending and arrogant, but in reality it is about as truthful  as it gets.

“If you don’t like the past and feel rejected, GET OVER IT! Move on, get passed the hate and descension. The world will not come to a screeching halt because you lost.

Learn from it and try to see what is more important.

Many that read this may be offended by that, but as I say, they too will get over it, eventually.

I wish the entire country a great day and better life.

 

Mid-Term Election Mania

The American public is inundated with the most horrible rhetoric I have experienced in my 40+ years of voting. In the national side how can you believe a party that is obstructionist and viciously attacked members of the opposing party in the press And have members that have called for violence / harassment of members of the opposition party. All politicians make campaign promises to the people that vote. Some promises can never be kept, some are kept, some are attempted but fail because they don’t get the support from both sides.

  1. At the state level I have watched an interesting set of issues. Mostly about education funding. I MUST STATE I SUPPORT EDUCATION, having said that, there are points that I take issue with. Calling for a strike by the OEA, was effective, to a point. The legislature, too little too late, took the Teachers, seriously and made progress toward fixing the issues. The teachers did get a raise and some funding for the classroom was restored. Where I begin to disagree was when the OEA leader continued to say it’s not enough. And basically continued to bargain in bad faith. “Bad faith how can you say that”? You may ask.
    She continued her criticism of what was offered and when it was met, she changed the goal.
    She lied to the public claiming she had a consensus of the Union membership, yet numerous members were never asked for their input.
    She gave the perception that she wold hold the legislature hostage until all demands were met by continuing to strike. That is nothing short of extortion!

Was education fixed? Not completely, it was started down the path to a better system.

Should they Strike again this year? My personal opinion is No. this election will change the makeup of the state government.

How do we fix the problem? That is a subject for another. Daily Dose of Common Sense!

When the Tail Wags the Dog

To begin with, I wanted to be known that I support education, full funding of the classroom, and an increase in teachers’ pay to bring us (the state of Oklahoma) from the bottom of the heap to at least equal to if not higher than the surrounding states. Education system in Oklahoma has long sense lacked proper funds. We rank 49th in the US for teacher salary. Which is sadly inadequate and has caused many quality educators to leave the state for the surrounding states, Texas being the biggest recipient, due to that low pay. Having stated my support for education I now have to say to the OEA, enough is enough. You called for a walk out with a list of demands that the legislature worked hard to meet. With landmark legislation raising taxes (sadly that it had to come to that title of landmark) the first thing they did was to pass a raise in pay. You asked for $10,000 a year, you are not satisfied with $6000 a year to begin with. Other legislation was passed to fully fund the raises unlike previous years where raises were given but never funded. But that still wasn’t enough for you to go back to the classroom. Now you demanded that all cutbacks in education were to be restored. You demand that the legislature restore the five-dollar tax on hotel stays to fund the classroom. You demand the elimination of the capital gains tax exemption. Your President has appeared on Facebook live giving the appearance of an angry person, demanding every need be met immediately. Her comments at the capital continue to make it look like the teacher’s union, OEA, is more interested in money then in education. I know this is not true, teachers are tired of being lied to by politicians that run on the principle of fixing the educational system yet failing to do so. When verbalizing my discussed with the continued walk out to a retired teacher of 40 years tenure, I was lectured that had she been able to she would have been at the capital with her peers. She was there in 1990 that got House Bill 1017 past but was unable to be there this time. She then told me that I shouldn’t blame the teachers for their actions when the disparity in pay is enormous. “It is amazing that we are 49th in the US in teacher salary, but 15th in the US for the salary of our legislators”. With that bit of information, I rethought my position, and began to look at the whole picture again. The title of this piece, When the Tail Wags the Dog, comes from the idea that a union should tell the legislative body of a state or of the US government how to do its job. The same analogy can be used in how insurance companies are successfully telling physicians how to practice medicine. It doesn’t work, and it actually causes more problems and increases costs while decreasing quality. Another issue is for the teachers to understand that their walkout was successful to a point, they are now approaching a point where the educational system will begin to lose federal funds, students will miss state testing deadlines, and the school year will be in jeopardy. Seniors in high school expected to graduate on time but now that may be delayed. This phrase was used on the steps of the state capital day after day after day “enough is enough”. Teachers the legislators have heard you, the public supports you, now it’s time to go back to work and do what you do best which is educate. Legislators it’s up to you to do the job that you were elected to do, you are public servants, you are no different in your profession as the teachers are in their profession! It’s high time that you start acting like a public servant more than an elitist. You were elected to do a job, you politicize the process pointing fingers across the aisle on both sides, were I grading your performance over the past 20 years I’m afraid I would have to give it an F minus. State legislators, it’s time to do what is right. Fully fund education here on out. Failure to do so will cause you to lose your jobs. Midterm elections are coming, and the movement is spreading. To our elected officials in the US government, I say the same thing. Get it done right. Quit playing petty politics with the security of our nation, balance the budget and reform the healthcare system. You want to find extra money to help balance the budget consider taking a pay cut, paying for your own health care, paying for your own retirement. And the state and federal entitlement programs to legislators. Folks you’re no better than the rest of us!

For those of you reading this, you can agree or disagree with my opinion because that is your right. It is however my opinion, and I am allowed to express it. Feel free to comment for that is your right.

Strike 3 and They’re OUT!

I admire the teaching profession, it takes a special person to desire to help another person learn and truly be concerned when they see the difficulty a child has in grasping the concept. Some of the best teachers have discovered a way to make learning fun. In the state of Oklahoma, teachers have been underpaid for many years. They have utilized their First Amendment right to march on the capital for education reform improvement in the education system and now for an increase in teachers’ pay. While I agree totally that they need an increase in salary both in starting salary for a new teacher as well as an increase in salary and benefits for our veteran teachers, I do not believe that continuing with plans for a walk out after the legislature has finally worked and done their job to fund a raise is appropriate. To have the president of the OEA publicly state that the demands given the legislature were not all met, gives the impression that they are more interested in getting their way than performing their duty. I will reiterate that I am not against raising the pay of those that are educators. The politicians in the legislature of the state of Oklahoma have for the past 40 years failed to do what they were elected to do. It’s been the last three sessions, with a decrease in revenue leaving a large hole in the budget and requiring cutbacks from all services they continue to spin their wheels and pass laws dealing with driving in the left lane, texting while driving, while procrastinating on fixing the fiscal problems. This is totally unacceptable. The legislature for the state of Oklahoma needs to use “A Daily Dose of Common Sense” when prioritizing their approach to legislation. Band-Aids and duct tape to fix recurring problems are also unacceptable. I asked that the teachers use that same “Dose of Common Sense” and accept the increase that is being worked on and not walk out if it passes. Politics today has become a haven for special interest groups. While our representatives tend to listen to these groups, they should be listening to the masses that elected them. This is not an uncommon problem in both state and federal legislators. It is time to get political parties and political agendas out of our government. Elected officials need to serve the people that elected them, not the PAC’s that funded their campaign. To be fiscally responsible and the funding of our education system reforms in all areas of the system must be addressed. Duplication and wasteful spending must be eliminated. Raises two elected officials should cease until those officials efficiently fix the problems with the state budget. We now enter the wait and see phase of the threatened walkout. Should the salary increase that is currently being worked on pass, it wouldn’t be ethical to continue with the Strike. Should they decide to continue with the walkout/strike, it would give the impression that they are just like all the other special interest groups. They would be more interested in getting what they want over the needs of all the people. Of course, this is just my humble opinion.

Open Letter to the Oklahoma State Legislature

Today is March 24th and the State Legislature has failed to appropriately address the Financial situation of our State. The educators are demanding a pay Raise, the state employees are demanding a pay raise. The state infrastructure is in dire need of repair. Roads Bridges and Highways are deteriorating to a questionable state of safety.  I will stop with the Doom and Gloom.

First, I want it to be know that I do not expect the government to “FIX” everything and supply us with all our needs. What I do expect from our elected officials, also known as “Public Servants”, is to serve the Public and be consistently efficient. What were the Priorities of this session?  As I see it the following should have been done in order.

  1. Balance the Budget for FY 2018 and FY 2019. The “How” is the hard part. With a decrease in revenue that has caused a huge shortfall for the past 2 years, it is irresponsible to continue to think that cutting the budget is the only way to fix the issue. It would more prudent to eliminate waste in the government. That would solve part of the problem but not all.  To put everything back (referring to crucial services) and fully fund the necessary programs, there must be a dramatic increase in revenue. This must be done judiciously with prudence and care. Raising Personal State Income Tax is not an option. Raising State sales Tax is not a great option but may be needed. What other revenue sources are there? Gross Production Tax Would hit our largest source of revenue. That is the problem with a single source economy. We need to seek more industry and make it more diverse. While the increasing of taxes would be contradictory if we were able to increase the tax base we could Lower Personal Income Tax or even become a “No Personal Income Tax” state. That would put more money in the consumers pocket and make the state more enticing to new industries. Alternative energy is a hot market and incentives to bring more into the state would also increase the base corporately.
  2. Clean up the Department of Human Services: reduce the amount of fraud of state services. Complete the reduction of welfare dependency that was started. Stop paying benefits to undocumented aliens. Enforce the laws as written!
  3. Reform the corrections system to cut down overcrowding and work diligently to enforce the current laws.
  4. Current Laws need to be reviewed and excessive regulation can impede progress. Have Law’s that are duplicate are impractical and redundant. Example; trying to regulate common sense are impractical. Making it illegal to texted and drive is already covered by the Law of “Failure to devote full time and attention”. The latter could be used for the wide abuse by anyone that is doing something other than paying attention to driving. i.e.: eating while driving, texting while driving talking on cell phone while driving, putting on makeup, shaving, reading a book, newspaper or anything else while driving. As I said common sense. I think the most important fact is that we need to enforce what is already on the books. Reduce the confusion by not attempting to legislate common sense. “Slower traffic keep right is an excellent example of correctly making the driver aware that driving below the speed limit in the left lane is not legal. Why make it necessary to make signs saying, “Do Not Impede Traffic in The Left Lane”.

These are just some examples of Prioritizing and using common sense to legislate and run the government. That would be in an ideal world. The biggest stumbling block is Politics. Democrats, republican, independent, Tea Party. Are labels just as Liberal and Conservative. Who cares about what party gets credit when the Body does what is best for the people not just some people but all people.  Enforcing the Laws that are on the books efficiently and fairly.

Just a thought Oklahoma

Happy New Year America

The stroke of midnight came and went. 2013 snuck in the side door and the country is told that the leaders have come to some sort of agreement to “AVOID” the “FISCAL CLIFF”.  My first thought is “How much is this going to cost me and the rest of the middle class?” I suppose we will have to wait for them to pass it before we can read what is in it. Do you ever get tired of all this nonsense?  Forget labels for a while, no republican, democrat, or independent. Consider everyone equal for a few moments, there is no “Rich, Poor, Middle class, Upper class, or Lower class, just people! Americans (What a concept), Yes we are all Americans looking for the opportunity to live the American Dream. Now define what the “American Dream” is. That is where the vision starts to become blurred. I know what it means to me, but what does it mean to you? Is it the same for the person that has been elected to lead this Country or State or City? That is where Politics enters, and labels start being applied. The game is to try to get one set of people to believe that another group is against them and trying to take everything away from them. What would happen if we as Americans (yes it is a label to) simply refused to play the class against class game? What if we made sure that those people that we entrusted to “represent us” in government understood that they work for all of us! Some may have gone to a prestigious college but that does not mean they are any better than anyone else in America is. Speaking of labels, here is a label that most politicians and bureaucrats try to avoid, deny, or distance themselves from it. A very old label has been around for centuries. Politicians put us all into classes; we are either in the Lower class (Poor), the Middle class (Backbone of the economy), and the Upper class (Rich). Which class do politicians put themselves? Depending upon the definition being used at the time they will all try to claim that they are the middle class and understand the needs of the middle class. In reality, they truly believe they are in a separate class not mentioned. Before I go further, I will state that not everyone in politics plays this game so you understand that I am not using the broad brush a politician would use to label an entire segment of society. The Politicians that are in this class are easy to spot and very easy to detect based on their set of rules by which they play. This segment is the “Elite class”, or as it has known throughout the centuries the “Ruling Class”. Pretty Harsh terms, yet look at the results of legislation that exempts them from laws and rules that the rest of us have to follow. Take away those exemptions and their special benefits and I wonder if we would always be peering over the edge of that “Fiscal Cliff”. I have something to say to every elected official that feels that respect comes with the title. Respect is earned. The office you hold is not permanent. Every Politician is one election away from being unemployed. To all Americans I say, “May you have a Safe and Prosperous 2013”.