Eminent Domain (land taking at reduced prices) -
Who Owns? - Who Pays?
On Monday, February 23, 2009, T. Boone Pickens, a wealthy oil billionaire hosted a 2 and 1/2 hour National Clean Energy Power Summit http://www.pickensplan.com/index.php, along with the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, Harry Reid, the Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Senator John Podesta, Former President Bill Clinton, Former Vice-President Al Gore, Secretary of the Department of Energy, Steven Chu, Senator Wurth, along with representatives of labor unions, Owens Corning, and Walmart. In total 28 "important" people at the big table. Their mission is to form a coalition and consensus across America to put in place a National Power Grid or a "Unified National Smart Grid" whose purpose is to supply energy, to build a new economy on green, renewable energy and, primarily, reduce our dependence on foreign oil in the interest of our national security.
What is green energy? It is the geothermal systems that use heat from under the ground to heat water systems that in turn provide the energy to warm houses, businesses, etc., along with solar and wind energy. These are renewable sources of energy. There is no questions about it, we need renewable sources of energy and we need a National power grid or grids to supply that energy. With that said, we, also, need to make sure that, once again, considering the powers at the table (summit), that the poor, elderly and disabled or Differently Abled citizens, along with the masses are not left out. We certainly had no one at the table representing the Poor or Disabled. Why is this important?
Let's not forget that President Obama just signed into law the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus package) for almost 1 trillion dollars. Wealthy people (like T. Boone Pickens, etc.) will now apply for taxpayer dollars and low interest taxpayer loan dollars to build a grid of windmills and solar energy cells down the center of the country or three different grids (east, west and Texas). Well, in order to do this, instead of a Nationalized green system that serves the good of all (for example: Cleveland Municipal Power, people owned power supported by Kucinich to provide competition and low cost power), T. Boone Pickens wants to have private citizens (like himself) build it with tax payer dollars and then own it or his heirs own it (he's is 85 years old). Then, he will sell the energy that we paid for with our tax dollars back to us. In order to do this, he needs a whole lot of land down the center or across our country that is currently owned by other citizens. For the most part, citizens like you and me (some farmers, elderly, disabled, and poor citizens).
Now, I'm not against eminent domain (the constitutional taking of land for government purposes for the public good) when it is for the public good (schools, fire stations, etc.), and, as long as the public has an interest and owns the facilities, and, as long as the individuals are aptly compensated for the taking of their land against their will. This needs to be done with full and complete disclosure. (The word "eminent domain" was not used in the summit but referred to as having access across America for transmission lines.)
I am against wealthy billionaires, whoever they may be, trying to sell the concept of the taking of land for private purposes with our own tax dollars so that they and their heirs can solely benefit while we all beg to to be served and have to pay back by way of taxes the monies and interest on the bailouts and stimulus packages and, then, have to pay for services for solar and wind energy that we paid to construct in the first place and will be paying for by way of taxes for years to come.
This is not new, privately discovered technology. This is old technology. If the government is going to fund it, then the people should own it and benefit from it, just like Cleveland Municipal Power (saving this public utility almost cost Congressman Kucinich his life). We now have to pay for liquid rock (oil), and next, instead of paying for liquid rock, we will have to pay for the sun and wind energy, after our public tax dollars have already funded it. If the government has seen fit to nationalize the banking system for security purposes (make no mistake about it, regardless of what they call it, it has already happened), surely, the public utilities are as much of a vital national security interest as the banks and should not be left to the wealthy to own at the expense of the tax payer and the private land owner.
When I voiced this concern to Mr. T. Boone Pickens in an email, the response I got back was "It’s important we focus on what we’re trying to get in, not the parts we don’t want some other guy to get." Make no mistake about it, T. Boone Pickens, along with the other corporate participants, serve their own self interests and care about the masses to the extent that they receive a benefit.
It was cited that Russia almost let the people of Ukraine freeze to death by cutting off their energy, and, that it was a national security interest to reduce our reliance on foreign resources. Well, I might remind everyone, that right here in the United States of America, in the state of Michigan, it was not too long ago that 93 year old Martin Schur, a World War II veteran, froze to death in January, 2009 after his electricity was shut off. Martin Schur was $1,000 behind on his utility bill. Allowing private citizens or corporations to own a necessity of life just creates a foreign entity on our soil. An entity you can't escape and are beholding to whatever they want.
Our elected officials deserve a lot of credit for bringing these energy issues to the table, and, I have no problem with paying T. Boone Pickens and others like him a fair wage for his work on a PUBLIC power grid owned by the people for the good of the people. But, and it is a big but, we need to adequately compensate those whose land will be taken with a fair market value (not the current intentionally caused depressed value) and ensure that the people of the United States of America will own the grid and the power. If wealthy billionaires want to own the power grid, they need to build it with their own dollars.
Contact your Congressional Representatives (http://www.house.gov/)
and your Senators (http://www.senate.gov/) and
President Obama (http://www.president.whitehouse.gov/)
and let them all know that we need to protect the masses from the greedy.
Next Week: Living Within Your Budget: Does the System Want or Allow You to?
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Friday, February 27, 2009
Friday, February 20, 2009
Poverty and the Differently Abled and Elderly!
Too often, the elderly and disabled (those that are Differently Abled) are forced to live in poverty conditions, mostly by system design. It is the moral shame of America. While some of the Differently Abled Citizens are gainfully employed, there are many more unable to work or unable to find gainful employment. Some that work are paid well below the poverty line or can only get part time hours and work with no less effort and no less wants or desires than our able bodied citizens. Those that must rely on Supplemental Social Security Income or Medicaid receive less than $600 per month, and, many receive a lot less. You see, for the most part, our society does not place much value on those that are not able bodied citizens. Supplemental Social Security Income or Medicaid does not refer to the lazy, it refers to the blind, deaf, severely hearing impaired, mentally ill, mentally challenged, the physically challenged, etc. Before you judge, remember you are an accident away from being Differently Abled!
The financial pie in this country is only so big. That's the whole job of the federal reserve. The federal reserve makes sure that the financial pie does not get too big. One half (50%) of the pie is allocated by system design to the top wealthiest 1% of the population. That leaves only one half a pie for the other ninety-nine percent (99%) of people. Forty percent (40%) of the remaining half financial pie is then allocated to the next ten (10%) percent of wealthy Americans. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that the remaining 10% of the financial pie is allocated to what is left of the eighty-nine (89%) of the population.
In simpler terms, if there is $1,000 for 100 people to survive in total, in the American capitalist society, 1 person would get $500.00, 10 people would get $400.00 and the remaining 89 people would get $100.00 to split amongst themselves or $1.12 each. You see, the theory in America is that the top wealthiest citizens are somehow better, brighter, smarter, harder working, etc. than the rest and, they will then take their wealth and create jobs for the masses and, the wealth will trickle down. Well, the problem with this theory is that the top wealthiest citizens, along with the next 10% of wealthiest citizens, for the most part, are not only smarter, etc., they, also, happen to be more morally bankrupt, more greedy, more corrupt, etc. The wealth almost never trickles down, and if it does, they conspire along with the politicians to raise prices on those things the masses need, so they don't get too wealthy.
You see, who would fight their wars? Who would do their manual labor jobs? Who would do their dangerous jobs (i.e., coal miners, welders, police officers, etc.)? Your feeling of enslavement is not imaginary. It is designed by the wealthiest American men and women from the best families. You know, families like Stanford, Madoff, Lay, etc. Oh, these wealthy people donate to charitable (mostly their own) foundations where they donate just enough money to causes to buy them more bang for their buck; a good name and a "good" appearance of a moral value system. They just don't donate enough to make a real difference for the masses. Occasionally, they will raise up a minority person or group for appearances' sake, but, by and large, it is without any real meaning. One has to look no farther than the make up of Congress to see that!
Next, you say, but we have a vote. Do you? When you go to vote, do you ever ask yourself who draws the boxes and inserts the names for whom you vote? Sure you have a choice between Candidates R and D, but what if you want X? Well Candidate X is not in the box and does not have the funds to be well known enough to have his name written in by enough people at the ballot box. Candidate X has not yet sold his soul to the system. The real vote and power is in who draws the box! The wealthy draw the box. The electoral college ensures the wealthy will control the box. Who selects the people for the electoral college? The wealthy do.
Change you say. When all of the players are the same, and when all of the fights and debates are all about the same old issues, is there really any change? While you may get to spend your $13 per week for the next year that may enable you to take your family to McDonald's, the wealthiest of Americans took their bonuses of several million dollars a piece, subsidized by your tax payer dollars, and then supported congressman to gripe about your $13 per week allotment and the possibility that you may get universal health care (corporate welfare - they get to keep more of the profits at tax payer expense). When you hear wealthy people talk about the horrors of redistribution of wealth, make note that they don't mind redistributing the wealth of the common man by way of tax subsidies, tax breaks, corporate tax credits, bailouts, stimulus, etc. It is time we redistribute the wealth to the masses.
It is not about Republican versus Democrat. It is about those that have versus the rest of us. Their greed and arrogance is appalling. Is it no wonder the nation is struggling to survive! We need to make sure our President hears our voices and give him the voice and support he needs to effect real change: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ We deserve and will settle for nothing less!
Next week: Solar and wind energy at the expense of the masses. Who wins, who loses?
The financial pie in this country is only so big. That's the whole job of the federal reserve. The federal reserve makes sure that the financial pie does not get too big. One half (50%) of the pie is allocated by system design to the top wealthiest 1% of the population. That leaves only one half a pie for the other ninety-nine percent (99%) of people. Forty percent (40%) of the remaining half financial pie is then allocated to the next ten (10%) percent of wealthy Americans. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to determine that the remaining 10% of the financial pie is allocated to what is left of the eighty-nine (89%) of the population.
In simpler terms, if there is $1,000 for 100 people to survive in total, in the American capitalist society, 1 person would get $500.00, 10 people would get $400.00 and the remaining 89 people would get $100.00 to split amongst themselves or $1.12 each. You see, the theory in America is that the top wealthiest citizens are somehow better, brighter, smarter, harder working, etc. than the rest and, they will then take their wealth and create jobs for the masses and, the wealth will trickle down. Well, the problem with this theory is that the top wealthiest citizens, along with the next 10% of wealthiest citizens, for the most part, are not only smarter, etc., they, also, happen to be more morally bankrupt, more greedy, more corrupt, etc. The wealth almost never trickles down, and if it does, they conspire along with the politicians to raise prices on those things the masses need, so they don't get too wealthy.
You see, who would fight their wars? Who would do their manual labor jobs? Who would do their dangerous jobs (i.e., coal miners, welders, police officers, etc.)? Your feeling of enslavement is not imaginary. It is designed by the wealthiest American men and women from the best families. You know, families like Stanford, Madoff, Lay, etc. Oh, these wealthy people donate to charitable (mostly their own) foundations where they donate just enough money to causes to buy them more bang for their buck; a good name and a "good" appearance of a moral value system. They just don't donate enough to make a real difference for the masses. Occasionally, they will raise up a minority person or group for appearances' sake, but, by and large, it is without any real meaning. One has to look no farther than the make up of Congress to see that!
Next, you say, but we have a vote. Do you? When you go to vote, do you ever ask yourself who draws the boxes and inserts the names for whom you vote? Sure you have a choice between Candidates R and D, but what if you want X? Well Candidate X is not in the box and does not have the funds to be well known enough to have his name written in by enough people at the ballot box. Candidate X has not yet sold his soul to the system. The real vote and power is in who draws the box! The wealthy draw the box. The electoral college ensures the wealthy will control the box. Who selects the people for the electoral college? The wealthy do.
Change you say. When all of the players are the same, and when all of the fights and debates are all about the same old issues, is there really any change? While you may get to spend your $13 per week for the next year that may enable you to take your family to McDonald's, the wealthiest of Americans took their bonuses of several million dollars a piece, subsidized by your tax payer dollars, and then supported congressman to gripe about your $13 per week allotment and the possibility that you may get universal health care (corporate welfare - they get to keep more of the profits at tax payer expense). When you hear wealthy people talk about the horrors of redistribution of wealth, make note that they don't mind redistributing the wealth of the common man by way of tax subsidies, tax breaks, corporate tax credits, bailouts, stimulus, etc. It is time we redistribute the wealth to the masses.
It is not about Republican versus Democrat. It is about those that have versus the rest of us. Their greed and arrogance is appalling. Is it no wonder the nation is struggling to survive! We need to make sure our President hears our voices and give him the voice and support he needs to effect real change: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/ We deserve and will settle for nothing less!
Next week: Solar and wind energy at the expense of the masses. Who wins, who loses?
Saturday, February 14, 2009
SissCoKids Blogs About Health Care
Posted February 14, 2009
We need a National Single Payer Health Care System for all of us. This system would allow all to have health care and to take the profit out of the system. Right now a good portion of our benefit premiums goes toward supporting the insurance companies, increasing the cost of health care for all, with no real health benefit. We need to purge our third party administrators and insurance companies from our Health Care System in the United States.
Take the time to tell Congress that House of Representatives' Bill HR 676 needs to be passed.
Link to contact your Representatives at the U. S. House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/ Link to contact your Senators at the U. S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/ Link to sign a petition for a National Single Payer Health Care System:
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum935.php This needs to be passed before it is too late and before Congress decides on a bill that doesn't take care of all Americans.
So many times we heard from our citizens that are Differently Abled that they can't take a part time or full time job for fear of losing their Medicaid or Medicare benefits. So many times, especially lately, we hear from family, friends and clients that they've just lost their job or are in fear of losing their job and their health care. This problem could be yours tomorrow. You are an accident away from being disabled or Differently Abled! Look no farther than our United States Soldiers that went away healthy men and women, only to return needing benefits and services, most of all, many of them sadly enough, Heath Care.
Contact your United States Representatives and Senators today:
http://www.house.gov/ http://www.senate.gov/ Sign the petition to support a National Single Payer Health Care System: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum935.php
A national single payer health care system would go a long way in aiding our economic recovery. Citizens could seek preventative care or less than critical care from physicians, saving our emergency rooms for what they do best, emergency and critical care. What we do for the least of those, we do for the good of all.
We need a National Single Payer Health Care System for all of us. This system would allow all to have health care and to take the profit out of the system. Right now a good portion of our benefit premiums goes toward supporting the insurance companies, increasing the cost of health care for all, with no real health benefit. We need to purge our third party administrators and insurance companies from our Health Care System in the United States.
Take the time to tell Congress that House of Representatives' Bill HR 676 needs to be passed.
Link to contact your Representatives at the U. S. House of Representatives: http://www.house.gov/ Link to contact your Senators at the U. S. Senate: http://www.senate.gov/ Link to sign a petition for a National Single Payer Health Care System:
http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum935.php This needs to be passed before it is too late and before Congress decides on a bill that doesn't take care of all Americans.
So many times we heard from our citizens that are Differently Abled that they can't take a part time or full time job for fear of losing their Medicaid or Medicare benefits. So many times, especially lately, we hear from family, friends and clients that they've just lost their job or are in fear of losing their job and their health care. This problem could be yours tomorrow. You are an accident away from being disabled or Differently Abled! Look no farther than our United States Soldiers that went away healthy men and women, only to return needing benefits and services, most of all, many of them sadly enough, Heath Care.
Contact your United States Representatives and Senators today:
http://www.house.gov/ http://www.senate.gov/ Sign the petition to support a National Single Payer Health Care System: http://www.peaceteam.net/action/pnum935.php
A national single payer health care system would go a long way in aiding our economic recovery. Citizens could seek preventative care or less than critical care from physicians, saving our emergency rooms for what they do best, emergency and critical care. What we do for the least of those, we do for the good of all.
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