Power Failures

So let me get this straight. The Environmentalists/Liberals put restrictions which restrict our local oil production over the last 30 years without implementing a plan to replace that energy with alternatives, and now that oil prices are through the roof, it's somehow Bush's fault?

No, if using petroleum products is truly the evil it is being made out to be, we need to look in the mirror for the finger pointing. If, as Americans, we were interested in paying the premium associated with the alternatives over the last 30 years, they would have been developed, and found their way to market. Now that we finally appear to be interested, the alternatives will be developed--but expecting a short term transition to them is unrealistic.

This notion that implementing a plan now to invent our way out of high fuel prices is 30 years too late. Converting our society to alternatives will take 3 times longer than drilling for our own oil, so the only responsible plan has to include BOTH harvesting our own oil to the extent possible, as well as an aggressive effort in developing alternatives. The funding for the R&D should come from selling oil out of our strategic reserve--not from decreased military spending.

why should the president do anything because he's getting rich from it. It's about the oil.

Bush and his cronies are laughing at the rest of us all the way to the bank. The energy industry refuses to innovate and nothing new will come from this country. But soon another country will be home to energy innovations and they will eventually kick our rear end. The days of the U. S. as the major world power are almost over due to the greed and short-sightedness of our energy companies, the ignorance of their puppet politicians, and the selfishness of the American public.

Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.

Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.

So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.

Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?

Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.

So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.

McCain's plan SUCKS.

It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/04/29/mccain_unveils_health_care_pla.html?nav=rss_email/components

Believe me, Obama is not inventing anything new. AMOCO has been producing not only oil, but got into green energy about 8 years ago. AND there are wind farms popping up all over. The news reports will never tell Americans that the Bush administration has made leaps and bounds in the green energy field, but history will record it.
ALSO, domestic drilling has already begun. So folks, we could be at the end of the energy crisis very soon.

Zakaria ignores a rather important point. Neither Japan,nor Germany,nor Britain,are as litigous as the United States[which ranks first among all nations in lawsuits] As a result,even the exploitation of technologies deemed ''green''are subject to litigation by environmental organizations. Over at the Center for Biological Diversity website,what we see is a roll call of ''suit filed'',''suit filed'',''suing to block'',''preparing to sue'',all down its pages.
Solar plants in Arizona . Wind farms in California and the East Coast. Soy farms on federal lands. Any and all attempts to either drill for what we have in fossil fuels,or even going the way of renewable energy are being stalled and fought by literally squadrons of enviro litigators ,lawyers and organizations,often pitting one against another. Obviously,in such a climate,to turn a phrase,nothing is getting done in such a means as it would begin having an impact on the nations energy woes.[So bad,in fact,that the founder of GREENPEACE,left the organization after being branded a heretic,for airing his opinion that such lawsuits and litigations were having an adverse effect on gaining energy independance].

The power grid is a major concern, as almost nothing works without electric power: trucks and cars that depend on fuel that is pumped with electric motors, airports, communications, home heating, automated building systems, air conditioning, etc. And the Peak Oil crisis threatens the power grid. For a complete explanation see this free 48 page report that can be downloaded, website posted, distributed, and emailed: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html

This is documented in a free 48 page report that can be downloaded, website posted, distributed, and emailed: http://www.peakoilassociates.com/POAnalysis.html

Bush had, and has, an energy policy and it hasn't worked because there hasn't been a willingness to be open to anything but the "party" line. No ability to work with those who hold different opinions, and an over reliance on polarizing politics for political gain has prevented both parties from working together on so many problems.
Senator McCain, humbled by his experience as a torture captive in the Viet Nam War, has been willing to work for the nation first, not the political party; that has been a very hard thing to do in such a polarizing environment, and it has won him much respect and the ability to work together to resolve problems rather than use them to beat each other up based on what political party you are in.
The politics of the political parties now has democrats who lionized McCain and strongly considered having him run for vice-president on an unity ticket in 2004 are attacking him now simply because he is running for president as a republican.
An energy policy that works should be the goal, but it isn't, winning the election is.

lillea: YOu couldn't be more wrong. Although the Democrats control the House and the Senate, it takes more than a simple majority to pass legislation and the Republicans have continued to block any legislation that deals with energy reform. Bush has no desire to conserve energy since his oil pals are the ones getting rich. No one has sabotaged our economy you idiot - we are all suffering. You need to find out how government works before you post something as idiotic as your posting.

Market forces will eventually prevail, and there won't be any doomsday scenarios. (BTW, a couple acres and the "ability to defend themselves"? Things would end up more like "The Road Warrior".) Let the EU and other nations make massive investments, many of which won't pan out. And keep the Feds out of it, until real problems make real solutions clear.

As far as more drilling goes, I think that's a bad idea. It will simply delay what's coming, assuming B.O. (Big Oil) can start drilling soon enough, and there are other uses for oil than fuel.

We are a democracy, in spite of what some claim, and democracies don't do things until everyone feels a certain level of pain. Rising energy costs and the side-effects of carbon based fuel are starting to get people's attention, and things are already starting to change.

As far as being #1 on the list of nations with energy policies: The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.

Why would Bush do anything now?? All he'll do is nothing, the same as if you vote MCDumb, and that is continue to rape the American public, excluding the rich, of course!! Their idiology is never to fix anything to make things better for the average American!! After all, that would be conceding to the Constitution and what our founding fathers had planned for this great country, for all to enjoy, not just the chosen few!!!