Day: January 6, 2015

It’s Official…114th Congress Begins

And with that I will predict the outcome…..YAWN!  Same song…..new dancers.

But first, Gov of Virginia gets 2 years……his presser he thanked Jesus for his support…..all I can do is shake my head…..hope his cell mate is Baby Bubba the love sick anarchist.

And now let us turn to the new Congress….which is not so new….same parties playing same games while the people burn……

The 114th Congress has convened with solid Republican majorities in both houses, Mitch McConnell as the new Senate majority leader, and John Boehner retaining his gavel in the House despite a Tea Party challenge. In what the AP calls “a day of pomp, circumstance, and raw politics,” Joe Biden swore in new senators while Boehner loyalists moved to cut off what Politico seems to think is a small but growing opposition within his own ranks. Things to know about the 114th:

  • Legislation: The GOP is looking to hit the ground running with legislation that approves construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, weakens ObamaCare, extends funding for Homeland Security at the cost of blocking President Obama’s executive action on immigration, and cuts spending. More here.
  • About that Keystone legislation: The White House wasted no time today in saying it would veto the Keystone bill in its current form.
  • McConnell slid into his dream job: Per the AP, he said that “a lot of hard work awaits,” but that “many important opportunities await too.”
  • Harry Reid stayed home: Reid, who hurt himself exercising last week, missed seeing McConnell take his old job. He “is in Washington, but on orders from his doctors he will not come into the office so that his injuries can continue to heal,” a spokesman said, per Politico.
  • Newbies: The Senate has 13 freshmen, while the House has 58, notes the AP.

Be honest….what do you think will be different this time?

I see more assault on middle class…..women…..voters and a waste of time and money.

 

What Goes Up, Must Come Down

The story of 2014 and now into 2015 is the drastic drop in oil prices and thus in the price of gas……(and the peasants danced!)

Americans are delighted at the drop in gas prices….most could care less what the reason may be…..just that it continues to drop….but for those that care are asking just what the Hell is going on?

Let me try to assist in clearing up the muddy atmosphere…..

Wonder whether gas prices will hold at their incredible $2.20 national average? Based on today’s news, filling up the tank won’t get harder over the next few weeks, the Wall Street Journal reports. US oil prices dipped below $50 a barrel for the first time in nearly six years, breaking a psychological barrier and sending a message: the high-supply, low-demand, low-price perfect storm will only continue. Here’s more:

  • Why: Plentiful worldwide oil production—including historic US highs, reports Bloomberg—ran into a weak global economy last year, lowering oil prices. Saudi Arabia, which produces oil more cheaply than many rivals, opted to maintain its market share by keeping the oil pumping. Prices dropped by 50%.
  • What it may mean: “[It] is very plain for all to see that oil supply growth exceeds oil demand growth and from a producer point of view this imbalance has to be rectified,” says the CEO of broker PVM, the Financial Times reports.
  • Upshot 1: The number of US rigs drilling for oil has dropped for the past month. Many say US shale-oil drilling stopped being profitable at roughly $60 per barrel: “We’re certainly in new territory here,” says a portfolio manager.
  • Upshot 2: Analysts say we’re near bottom but could hit $40 a barrel before a rebound in a couple of months. Some traders are even betting on $20 oil, Marketwatch reports.
  • Upshot 3: Cheap oil could cause geopolitical disruption in nations like Venezuela and Libya, and limit Vladmir Putin’s global ambitions, an analyst tells Fortune.

The one possible end to this story is the demise of OPEC……to some this will be a good thing…..but to others they see a recession coming and the possibility for a world reaction to that down turn.

Your Tax Dollar At Work

Americans will come to the rescue of Israel every time……blindly they will accept anything and everything that Israel does….all in the name of protecting “people of the book”……and of course there is the WW2 thing that gives them a sympathetic ear……my grand father always said…”if you are looking for sympathy try a dictionary between shit and syphilis”…..

Awhile back I wrote a piece about an American company, Re/Max, that was profiting from the land stolen from Palestinians to build settlements

Look around your neighborhood at homes for sale and you will undoubtedly see RE/MAX’s ubiquitous signs sporting red, white and blue hot air balloons. What started out as a mom-and-pop office in Denver, Colorado in 1973 is now a corporate giant, with some 100,000 sales agents in over 90 countries. RE/MAX claims to have “the largest business volume in the world,” adding an average of 1.6 new franchises each day. Its yearly revenues surpass $150 million, derived from fees from its franchisee, annual dues from agents, broker fees, and franchise sales.

Disgusting that a corporation from a “democracy” would stoop so low as to try and turn a profit off of stolen land…..as disgusting as it is….it is NOT surprising.

I bring this up because the American taxpayer will be supplementing the building of illegal; settlements………

Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon have announced they will divert some $18 million from the nation’s military budget, which includes money provided as direct military aid from the United States and others, to settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank.

The US provides billions of dollars in direct military aid annually, including both cash and weaponry. That money goes into the general military budget, which is where the funding for the settlement is coming from.

Your taxes are being used to fund the theft of land from the Palestinians…….you people are idiots!  You hate the government for the public domain where your property can be taken from you….but are okay when it happens to someone else…..

Of you are concerned about the taxes you pay….should you not be concerned on how they are spent?