Category Archives: Economy

Green energy farce…

Posted on 2012/02/23 by

Yesterday:

Make no mistake oh faithful of the blogosphere; rising fuel costs will have a dramatic and undoubtedly negative impact on an already struggling economy this Summer. Whatever anemic improvements and trumped up media hype surrounding any so-called recovery, as framed by this White House, will be consumed by massive inflation brought about by the price of oil and massive debt. It appears to be just one more nail in the coffin of the grand Obama experiment.

Ideology aside, it remains difficult for me to understand the mindset of “We the People” inthe face of such economic Armageddon. How can so many be so easily manipulated by the failed tactics of class warfare and division, spun by those who claim to champion the poor yet have done little but to keep them in a state of perpetual entitlement while enabling a George Soros funded and massive effort to secure their generational vote? How can so many of my time accept the watered down Obama version of our father’s American dream, and be content no less, to make that the foundation for their posterity?

I was debating these and other questions with a political rival recently at a Campaign 2012 event and we landed where we usually do, agreeing to disagree. But putting aside idealistic stuff for a minute, I asked him one more economic question at the end of our discussion which seemed to catch him a bit flat-footed. I asked: even if one were to subscribe to “Obamanomics”, how could one ever reconcile what has been spent these past 3 years against what has been gained? How will we ever pay it back? And how do we explain to our children that we’ve mortgaged “their children’s” future? Before he could answer I answered for him. “We can’t”.

The facts are simple. Unless we dramatically alter our national course, and move to fix what’s broken with a purpose and expeditious diligence, rooted in a common desire to leave a better country for our kids, all will be for not. Anyone, Republican or Democrat, Liberal or Conservative, who claims to love this country and yet refuses to recognize the perils of proceeding with ideological blinders firmly affixed, must be guilty of at the very least gross complacency and generational neglect. (I made those up for effect, but I’m serious…)

In the vein of intellectual honesty I will tell you, this is about change from the lowest to the highest levels, from your city councilman to the President of the United States. And at the risk of being accused of melodrama, do your homework and choose wisely this Fall. The vote you cast will have significant implications which are sure to affect you and your family directly.

Today:

I can’t think of a President who so effortlessly contradicts himself and does so with such emotional conviction. As if it makes it any less disingenuous. This fact is exasperated by modern media where his contradictions live eternal. Take for instance the many times then Senator Obama slaughtered the Bush Administration for $1.89 gasoline. Today we here the same man attacking Republicans for raising a similar issue,,, must be an election year… And get this, he wants to “double down” on green energy spending and promote the use of “algae” as alternative fuel… Yikes, what are they smoking over at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue?

Look, the problem is things are far worse today when taken in context, and yet the “main stream press” is devoid of (equal opportunity questioning “bashing”). Not once did gas prices come up in last night’s debate. Come on CNN, at least make some effort to look objective. Sadly, as we are finding out that the Keystone project would in fact generate millions of barrels of added oil productivity directly into the Midwest for U.S. consumers, and merely entertaining (broadcasting) the idea of drilling the vast resources available to us right here in our own country would scare the Saudis and company back down to about 70 bucks a barrel, we must acknowledge a simple truth. This Administration could care less about what you pay for gas. The tactic is obvious, that being to use inflated fuel prices as a means to promote their energy plan which will contribute readily to the downfall of America as we know it, and quick. Sigh…

NOTE: Clean green energy has a place in America’s future to be sure, just not next week…

 

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Campaign 2012, Economy, Environment, Fred Comella, Green Energy, Jobs, Politics, Right vs. Left, Socioeconomic | Tagged | 4 Comments

Projo rocks!!!

Posted on 2012/02/18 by

Every so often I will print a response to one of my articles or “letters to the editor” of the newspapers I write to, and then my rebuttal. They are interesting and sometimes even funny.  In this case it is my home state of Rhode Island and the Providence Journal. I simply can’t respond to all of them, but some just beg to be educated. Read on: (Last names omitted)

Anthony xxxxxxxx: Comella’s vendetta

Anthony xxxxxxxx: Comella’s vendetta

Comments 14 | Recommend 0

February 15, 2012 9:33 am


The tone and content of recent letters by Fred Comella suggest he has a vendetta against President Obama. He whines about about a whole litany of tribulations that include our financial woes and our soldiers fighting and dying. It wasn’t President Obama who started two illegal wars based on lies that will carry a price tag of over $1 trillion before they are finished, besides the tragic loss of life and suffering resulting from these conflicts.

It wasn’t President Obama who gave a $700 billion tax break that mostly helped the top 1 percent. These events along with others sent our economy into a free fall. I wonder if the name George W. Bush rings a bell with Mr. Comella? President Obama did accomplish what Bush couldn’t: the extermination of Osama Bin Laden, who must have been Comella’s worst nightmare.

Comella seems to exist in a state of constant terror. With Bin Laden gone, his imagination appears to conjure other demons to dread.

Anthony xxxxxxxx
West Warwick

Now while I have been told that contributors letters to the Providence Journal should not attack the author but rather the content of his/her writing, it seems the Journal has made an exception in my case. Nonetheless, they have always been fair with me and printed many of my letters so I bear no ill will.

Regarding the content of Anthony’s letter, let me respond in kind and for the record. George W. bush enforced UN Resolution 1441, and subsequent resolutions with majority support of the Security Council and the U.S. Congress. Additionally, the Afghan War was initiated to seek out and destroy the forces which launched the attacks of 9/11. Once again facts are cast aside and replaced with (Bush hatred) and Left wing Rhetoric. Moreover, for all the Lefty vitriol concerning President Bush’s intelligence, he must have been pretty damn smart to fool all those Democrats of superior intellect in Congress. And I won’t even begin to address how many of those “lies” are now being vetted and proved correct. Frankly, the notion that our brave men and women have died in vain, as it seems Anthony is suggesting, is outrageous. I would add here that Seal Team 6 killed bin-Laden after receiving the “proceed” order from President Obama, and as initiated by yes, President Bush.

And would those tax breaks Anthony mentions be the ones President Obama has signed off on yet again this past year?

I am not asking that The Projo print this as simply a rebuttal, but rather in the vein which they have done so in the past, that of fairness. This is America and we are all entitled to our opinions, hence the Op-Ed page. And while I’m certainly not frazzled by the volume of email I receive, some of which can be “very negative”, sometimes the discussion begs both sides. I do not live in a “constant state of terror” Anthony, but I do fear my son’s America will look very different if this President’s policies are allowed to take root unchecked by our Republic, that’s all…

 

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Congress, Economy, First Amendment, Fred Comella, Media, Military, Politics, Right vs. Left | Tagged | 3 Comments

Inflation trigger…

Posted on 2012/02/14 by

I heard the President make a stunning assertion today claiming that gas prices were rising because of global demand and our “economic recovery”. He said this is the reason we must extend the payroll tax cut immediately. Now that extension and the measly $20.00 it attaches to your pay check every week is an entirely different argument all together. And in spite of the wheel barrel full of class warfare hate mail I’ll get on the matter I will move on.

Mr. President, gas prices are rising because of our dependence on foreign oil and your lack of will to do much of anything about it. Moreover, demand is actually down and supplies are up in February. Ya know, I seem to remember Nancy Pelosi chastising President Bush for $2.00 per gallon gas, yet your solution Sir, is an extra 20 spot for our troubles? Inflation is poised to rear its ugly head this summer unlike at any time in American history, and our leaders are flat-footed and clueless.

The nonchalant and frankly scary way this POTUS frames the critical issues of our time is truly unsettling and smacks of complete indifference and elitism. Even in the face of one of the most significant shovel ready energy projects to come down the pike in the last 20 years (Keystone Pipeline), President Obama has embraced the ideological wing of his party yet again by coming down on the side of the environmentalist nut jobs. Subsequently, as we look as his budget overall and the fact that most members of his own party won’t even vote for it, then we throw in the national debt, and unprecedented food and fuel prices coming to a city or town near you this summer, it is difficult to embrace our Presidents rosy assessment of our condition.

Truth “and” consequence are very often difficult medicine…

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Economy, Environment, Fred Comella, Green Energy, Jobs, Politics, Socioeconomic, The Middle East | Tagged | 3 Comments

Good news…

Posted on 2012/02/07 by

Still stinging from the Patriots embarrassing loss to the Giants Sunday night, I have decided to move past my disappointment with Mr. Brady for the moment and do some news.

The jobs report is on the tongues of every pundit out there, so I’ll throw in yet another two cents. Republicans are going to have to accept the reality that the latest jobs numbers are damn good news in some ways. If we analyze the Bureau of Labor Statistics numbers for the last quarter, and extrapolate out the trend going back to about the fall of 2009, we can clearly see some movement in the right direction in the areas of Science and technology, engineering, construction and services, to include a pretty good uptick in retail for fiscal 2010-2011. It is noteworthy that in a recovery that has muddled along at what can only be described as a snail’s pace, these types of “numbers inside the numbers” do show improvement. What I mean by this, is putting aside for a moment that the work force has shrunk considerably, and that 24 million Americans remain significantly “underemployed”, the U.S. economy is doing what the U.S. economy always and eventually does, rolling over and coming about, despite whatever Washington is doing to “muck it up”. Some of my readers may recall my writing on this very notion around the time of the great “stimulus debate”.

Appropriately however, I think the Republicans should do their own homework and not get caught bad mouthing any good we can take from very bad times. There is plenty to focus on in the areas of inflation, fuel costs, European financial chaos, our own debt here at home, and how these factors will inevitably impact future jobs reports. But the fact remains that many who have struggled to find work to feed their families and hold on to their homes have found it, and this is absolutely good news…

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Campaign 2012, Congress, Economy, Fred Comella, Jobs, Right vs. Left, Socioeconomic | Tagged | Comments Off on Good news…

Read between the numbers…

Posted on 2012/02/03 by

I think it’s important for those on the Left side of the argument to understand they may not count me among those who refuse to see any good for simple hatred of the opposition.

Today’s unemployment numbers are truly something to be happy about. They reflect a trending in the right direction and come with internal statistics indicating higher rates of pay. This is all good news, and frankly long overdue. The stock market responded accordingly and it was truly refreshing for this Capitalist to see the engine that is our economy at least running.  Happy?

Now for the qualifier:

While we should embrace any good news coming out of this economy with open arms, it is important to apply the proper context. Using yesterday’s post as a benchmark, nothing has really changed. I would add that any employment uptick must first be balanced against the factors of a shrinking work force, those no longer looking for work, and the ratios of months on unemployment for workers in 2008 vs. 2012, (Obama’s “new norm”). When you figure in the CBO’s projections for the next two years, which are partly based on the separate but applicable economic factors of debt and spending, it is very clear that real recovery is not yet around the corner.

As a caveat, it is important to understand our economy and what makes it tick. As I have written many times, the Obama entitlement spending spree and stimulus did little to stimulate anything, but rather created a few government jobs that cost on average $175,000.00 per employee. What we are really seeing in this jobs report is the natural ebb and flow of an economy that will come back on its own “in spite of” any efforts on the part of Washington.

So while I’m happy to know there are folks who have finally found work and can now get back in the game, and that the American economy is as resilient as I knew it was, I remain realistic and even a bit skeptical in my appraisal of this little employment number nugget today. The road to lasting and meaningful recovery that will promote long-term hiring and an “expansion” of the work force to at least what it was pre-recession, is a long one to say the least.

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Economy, Jobs, Media, Politics, Right vs. Left, Socioeconomic | 2 Comments

This President’s “new norm”…

Posted on 2012/02/02 by

With hope of banking and debt stability in Europe, and the stock market and “some” leading economic indicators showing anemic signs of life here at home, there are those including our President who would have you believe our nation is on the mend. Insomuch as many of us would like to believe that, reality is unfortunately something very different.

The recent Congressional Budget Office report has leading economists warning of a very real scenario for the United States. Ironically, the one thing which stood out for me in the report besides the references to rising fuel costs, inflation and localized budget shortfalls, was  the Congressional watchdog agency predicts that even if the “Bush Tax Cuts” were to fade away, any budget windfall would not plug the enormous hole in our economy. Actually, it would not even come close. The CBO cites inflation in all categories, the aging population as it relates to the cost of the health care overhaul and a host of other entitlement programs to include Social Security and Medicare as the main reasons. But it also adds that the estimated $800 billion dollars in added revenue the federal government would receive by eliminating those tax cuts would not keep the national debt from soaring to $21 trillion dollars in less than 10 years, thus setting off a chain reaction of economic nightmares. The CBO is now officially calling our record deficits “unsupportable” and warning of the dire consequences of inaction on the part of our leaders in Washington.

Look folks, no one is praying for light at the end of this tunnel more than I. But the sad reality is this Administration has taken a bad situation and made it far worse, with ideological politics and unprecedented spending. Moreover, for all their talk about saving the country from another “depression”, they have actually set us up for a disaster the likes of which will make the depression of the early 20th century look mild. The cost of this little experiment in socioeconomic restructuring has failed miserably and the numbers show it. And while Americans are being told the “recovery” is on track just slower than expected, the housing market is crippled, fuel costs are rising, unemployment is expected to stay in the 8% range with a real number closer to 15%, wage earners are making less than ever before, every man women and child in America is shouldering close to $50,000.00 of the national debt, the federal reserve is printing money with nothing to back it up, and we will once again run a $1 trillion operational deficit, with servicing interest on the national debt actually eclipsing what is spent on Medicaid.

So when some politician points to the paper tiger that is the stock market today, bear in mind this is a bunch of speculative paper, backed up by less tangible assets than at any time in its history. Thankfully, I hear folks becoming more and more attune to the truth about where we really stand and what it means to our children.

I thought this would add an interesting twist to this post. I heard an exchange between an internet caller and the POTUS the other day where a women asked the President why her husband couldn’t get a job in the engineering field when the President has spoken so much about how many of these jobs are out there. Now as I have said time and again, I feel President Obama is in way over his head. However, I will leave it up to you to listen to the exchange and tell me if he doesn’t sound like a man who has very little real world experience, and even less in the actual job market. Keep in mind then, how can we ask that he or his administration “feel our pain”?

[yframe url=’http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aj3HOmL0OJs’]

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Campaign 2012, Congress, Economy, Fred Comella, International, Politics, Right vs. Left, Socioeconomic | Tagged , , | Comments Off on This President’s “new norm”…

Find your own iceberg Mr. Polar Bear, this one’s mine…

Posted on 2012/01/26 by

No questions please!

So frightened are the Progressive Environmentalists and their friends in the “main stream” media, about the questionable data implicating civilization in all of our planetary woes by way of “fossil fuel” consumption, that they are now pressuring states to include in their respective public school curriculums, a kind of “climate change denial” course. Huh? I guess this must be meant to convince our young ones not to be swayed by the “naysayers” and to fully embrace what is being “taught” them by way of the complicit academics.

Putting aside for a moment the mounting evidence that much of the rhetorical “global warming” pabulum being spoon fed to our children has been at the very least exaggerated, and some cases even down right manipulated to suit a particular political agenda, one has to ask: Can we send our children to school any longer without fear of them being indoctrinated as opposed to educated?

Listen up parents! It’s time you do your homework and make sure that your children are getting the facts. There are literally thousands of legitimate and noted scientists offering qualifying information about the effects of carbon emissions on our planet and its atmosphere. Dozens of agenesis have put forth challenges to the science of “global warming” but have been rebuffed by the “main stream” media when attempting to make their case. Only when one of the environmentalist hacks gets caught red-handed “cooking” the books are they forced to tell the story. Only when entire data collection firms are outed for manipulating results at the behest of agenda driven lobbies and their political enablers, do we learn the truth about the real numbers and the reality that goes with them.

Truth be told, I catch a lot of flak for some of my stances past and present concerning the “human footprint”. I think there is in fact much we can do to ensure a cleaner planet for our posterity. Having said that, the intentional mischaracterization of mans impact on this planet, combined with a clearly agenda driven approach to the problem and to the degree which it may or may not exist, does nothing but threaten our economy and ultimately our very way of life. Notably, the recent “push back” by Americans, as described by those who walk in the “evolutionary science circles”, is simply a reflection of doubt, not necessarily about the information, but about how and by whom it is being compiled and subsequently passed on to our children.

Additional note: It befuddles me the way in which Progressives continually portray themselves as purveyors of the debate, and then do everything in their power to silence the opposition?

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Congress, Economy, Environment, Fred Comella, Green Energy, Media, Politics, Right vs. Left, Socioeconomic | Tagged , | 2 Comments

My fellow Americans…

Posted on 2012/01/24 by

The President of the United States is sure to tell Congress tonight that the “state of the union” is improving. He’s done this several times already. But here’s what he will really be saying:

Now here's what I really mean....

My fellow Americans, I believe that our nation must be one with other nations and that we have enjoyed far more success than we are rightfully entitled to. Our exceptionalism has come not as a result of hard work, sacrifice and entrepreneurial initiatives born of God-given freedom and liberty, but rather at the expense of the rest of the world, and it is high time we pay the price. My intention is to transform our nation using the European model of big government and featuring entitlement as the primary mind-set of the people. I will continue to push for “reforms” which create a larger and more vocal entitlement class who know only protest and class warfare as answers for their lot in life, and who have little or no interest in success based on diligence and effort. I will tell Americans that $48,000.00 in debt to each and every child born this day, and a “real numbers” national debt of $202 trillion is a small price to pay for our place in the world, and I will demonize Capitalism as the root of all evil and the free market enterprise as merely a tool of the rich. I will re-write history to convince the impressionable youth of our nation that we are the problem and must suffer for all of our transgressions. I will reach into the classrooms of the youngest of them and use manipulated, inconclusive and false data to make them cry about that which in many cases we are powerless to control. I will tell them there is no God and that if they believe there is, they must keep it to themselves for fear of offending. I will explain inaccurately that Columbus was a murderer and that he brought only disease to the continent, and I will teach them that Communism is just another form of government and not responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of innocent people.

And finally my fellow Americans, I will do all of this under the banner of “hope and change”. I will ostracize and vilify all who oppose me as bigots, racists, homophobes, and out of touch. I will deny the very intent of the Framers and finally wash away all remaining memories of a government “of the people, by the people, for the people…

NOTE: This is merely an attempt to invite the broader debate. But it is also a reminder that to continue down our current  path with the proverbial/ideological blinders of either side of the argument firmly affixed, is tantamount to slamming the door in our children’s faces. We need to return to searching for the things which bind us…

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Congress, Economy, Education, First Amendment, Fred Comella, Green Energy, Health Care, Jobs, Political Correctness, Politics, Religion, Right vs. Left | Tagged | 4 Comments

Here we go…

Posted on 2012/01/20 by

Choose wisely...

If it’s not clear to most voters, it should be. This year’s Presidential Election cycle is sure to be one of the most vitriolic and hateful in American history. Let’s face it, there is much at stake. The election of Barack Obama as President was extraordinary in that the Progressives made inroads like never before. Socioeconomic revisionism rode in under the banner of “hope and change”, eloquently expressed by an articulate albeit teleprompter coached candidate who also happened to be half black. The Independent vote had found their candidate, the die was cast and there was no looking back. Cut to 2012 and the Progressive Left is empowered like never before. Moreover, they have found an additional voice in a whole new and angry entitlement class firmly affixed to the government nipple and loving every minute of it. Aggravated by the young and misguided who are most always fools for the moment, and with the country in economic upheaval, the battle for our foundational beliefs, American exceptionalism and the “one nation under God” entrusted to us by our Forefathers is in full swing.

The decision you make this year will affect the lives of millions, born and unborn for generations. We owe it to them to hold tightly to the things that made us unique and special in the world. Hard work, entrepreneurism, self-reliance and above all the God-given freedom to pursue, “life liberty and happiness” are all in play. Choose wisely my fellow Americans for we may not get a “re-do” this time around. Let us as one nation, one culture and one people, turn away from what history has shown us time and again, and that is there is no substitute for liberty which can be provided by government, and that government must always be “of the people, by the people, for the people”.

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Campaign 2012, Economy, Education, Fred Comella, Political Correctness, Politics, Right vs. Left, Socioeconomic | Tagged | Comments Off on Here we go…

Smack down…

Posted on 2012/01/12 by

I’m not quite sure how better to say or write it, but the numbers continue to speak for themselves. Once again, any minuscule economic improvement is almost immediately followed by the inevitable reality smack down when it comes to the Obama economy. As I predicted, jobless claims for benefits are up sharply this week. But much more alarming are the “continuing claims numbers”, which are also up again from 3.61 to 3.63 million, the highest per capita number of any American Presidency.

I think what frosts me more than anything though, is hearing the Democrats trying to cast this economic nightmare in a positive light. Abysmal retail sales at the end of the holiday shopping season only reinforce the sad reality of a failing economic plan which threatens to set our nation back 20 years. My God, how can anyone put politics in front of so menacing a situation as this???

Posted in "Patriot64", America, Campaign 2012, Economy, Fred Comella, Jobs, Politics, Right vs. Left | Tagged , | Comments Off on Smack down…