Email to B
Glad someone else is up too. I was just trying to write a post to my blog when I noticed an email. I set up the blog back in October but tonight's post is only my second one. I haven't felt inspired since that first night when I was totally pissed over something W said in the debate.
Is it just me, or is this country going to hell in a hand-basket? And doing so happily. Everyone is so busy seeking entertainment that they don't pay attention to what's going on around them. Debbie & I were having a conversation/debate last week, talking about the dipshits & how everyone seems OK with the current political situation. (Not everyone but I think you know what I mean.) How can so many people vote for an asshole who's only claim to fame prior to his political life was that he deserted the National Guard & bankrupted 3 corporations? (No one would have even considered him for office if it weren't for who his Daddy was.) How can so many people be so enamored of someone who "never gave a second thought" to executing more people than any US governor in history? How come people vote for a candidate whose policies are clearly in opposition to their own best interests? Who claims to be a Christian but acts in totally un-Christian ways? I just don't understand.
Scout & I have exchanged emails on the looming oil situation. Now that I think of it, that's what D & I were debating. It's just crazy. As a small business owner (which I am) I can deduct the entire price, up to $50,000, for any vehicle that weighs over 6000 pounds. Now anything that weighs that much is getting 15 MPG at best. On the other hand, if I buy a Toyota Prius that gets 60 MPG plus, I might get a maximum tax credit up to $2500, depending on my income (meaning that if I make too much I get nothing). How does that make sense? The heavy vehicle deduction was designed to help people in the farming & construction industries. Then some slick CPA figured out that he could apply it to any small business & the IRS let it pass. Now the auto industry is actually making SUVs heavier so they qualify for the deduction. Duh!?!?
I recently sent an email to my Senators & Congressman re. the Alaska oil fields situation. Only one of them bothered to respond--with a form letter. (To be fair, my email was also a mass form letter.) Kay Bailey Hutchison told me that she was concerned with the US's dependence on foreign oil. She said that the Alaska fields, according to experts, might yield up to 16 billion barrels of oil. This would be a significant help in moving us away from our dependence on foreign oil & she was dismayed that the energy bill did not include opening the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to drilling. I didn't respond but I wanted to tell her that even if there were 16 billion barrels that that meant only 8 billion were pre-peak and profitable for Big Oil. I didn't point out that many experts only predict 4-6 billion barrels. I didn't point out that we already consume 7 billion barrels of oil per year in the US and by the time we see any oil from the ANWR fields it would be less than 12 months supply. I didn't write back & say that increasing the CAFE standards by 4 MPG would more than make up for what we could pump out of the Alaskan wilderness. Would my comments make any difference to someone who's made up their mind?
Then there's the whole issue of our shrinking rights as citizens.
This is the shit that keeps me up at night.
How you doin'?
J
Is it just me, or is this country going to hell in a hand-basket? And doing so happily. Everyone is so busy seeking entertainment that they don't pay attention to what's going on around them. Debbie & I were having a conversation/debate last week, talking about the dipshits & how everyone seems OK with the current political situation. (Not everyone but I think you know what I mean.) How can so many people vote for an asshole who's only claim to fame prior to his political life was that he deserted the National Guard & bankrupted 3 corporations? (No one would have even considered him for office if it weren't for who his Daddy was.) How can so many people be so enamored of someone who "never gave a second thought" to executing more people than any US governor in history? How come people vote for a candidate whose policies are clearly in opposition to their own best interests? Who claims to be a Christian but acts in totally un-Christian ways? I just don't understand.
Scout & I have exchanged emails on the looming oil situation. Now that I think of it, that's what D & I were debating. It's just crazy. As a small business owner (which I am) I can deduct the entire price, up to $50,000, for any vehicle that weighs over 6000 pounds. Now anything that weighs that much is getting 15 MPG at best. On the other hand, if I buy a Toyota Prius that gets 60 MPG plus, I might get a maximum tax credit up to $2500, depending on my income (meaning that if I make too much I get nothing). How does that make sense? The heavy vehicle deduction was designed to help people in the farming & construction industries. Then some slick CPA figured out that he could apply it to any small business & the IRS let it pass. Now the auto industry is actually making SUVs heavier so they qualify for the deduction. Duh!?!?
I recently sent an email to my Senators & Congressman re. the Alaska oil fields situation. Only one of them bothered to respond--with a form letter. (To be fair, my email was also a mass form letter.) Kay Bailey Hutchison told me that she was concerned with the US's dependence on foreign oil. She said that the Alaska fields, according to experts, might yield up to 16 billion barrels of oil. This would be a significant help in moving us away from our dependence on foreign oil & she was dismayed that the energy bill did not include opening the Arctic Wildlife Refuge to drilling. I didn't respond but I wanted to tell her that even if there were 16 billion barrels that that meant only 8 billion were pre-peak and profitable for Big Oil. I didn't point out that many experts only predict 4-6 billion barrels. I didn't point out that we already consume 7 billion barrels of oil per year in the US and by the time we see any oil from the ANWR fields it would be less than 12 months supply. I didn't write back & say that increasing the CAFE standards by 4 MPG would more than make up for what we could pump out of the Alaskan wilderness. Would my comments make any difference to someone who's made up their mind?
Then there's the whole issue of our shrinking rights as citizens.
This is the shit that keeps me up at night.
How you doin'?
J
posted by Northstar Gone Lone Star at 11:15 AM
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