Category Archives: Energy

Gas price up Layoffs up Lies up, Democrats Rinos leftists installed corrupt Chi Comm Biden in White House, Imbeciles of America united

Gas price up Layoffs up Lies up, Democrats Rinos leftists installed corrupt Chi Comm Biden in White House, Imbeciles of America united

“And if all others accepted the lie which the Party imposed
–if all records told the same tale–then the lie passed into
history and became truth. “Who controls the past,” ran the
Party slogan, “controls the future: who controls the present
controls the past.”…George Orwell, “1984″

“You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”…Abraham Lincoln

“The imbeciles of America have united.”…Citizen Wells

 

Congratulations imbeciles.

  • Gas prices up!
  • Layoffs up!
  • Lies up!

Democrats, RINOS, Leftists and corrupt election officials joined forces to install corrupt Chi Comm Joe Biden in the White House.

Illegally.

In less than 2 months gas prices have skyrocketed locally 19 percent with no end in sight.

Pipeline layoffs have begun.

And lies from the Democrats, et al, already at all time highs are increasing.

A minimum wage of 15 % will cause more job losses.

Congratulations imbeciles, low and middle income people will be hit the hardest.

But you do not care.

The end justifies the means.

 

More here:

https://citizenwells.com/

http://citizenwells.net/

https://mewe.com/i/citizenwells

https://gab.com/citizenwells

https://rumble.com/user/CitizenWells

https://parler.com/profile/Citizenwells/posts

 

 

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Obama anti American energy policy aims to shut down more coal plants, Obama and stupid biased mainstream media continue global warming lies, Antartica lies exposed

Obama anti American energy policy aims to shut down more coal plants, Obama and stupid biased mainstream media continue global warming lies, Antartica lies exposed

“Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”…Barack Obama 
“The news media really “blew it” and provided an astounding demonstration of their monumental political bias and climate science incompetence in their reporting about this Antarctica related climate story.”…Larry Hamlin, Watts Up With That, May 28, 2014

“The (American) press, which is mostly controlled by vested
interests, has an excessive influence on public opinion.”… Albert Einstein

 

 

From Fox News June 2, 2014.
“Obama to announce controversial emissions limit on power plants”

“The Obama administration is set to announce a rule Monday to limit carbon emissions in thousands of fossil-fuel burning plants across the country, a cornerstone of President Obama’s climate-change agenda and his first-term promise to reduce such emissions by 17 percent by 2020.

The Environmental Protection Agency will ask existing plants to cut pollution by 30 percent by 2030, according to people familiar with the proposal who shared the details with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, since they have not been officially released.

The draft rule, which sidesteps Congress, will go into effect in June 2016, following a one-year comment period. States will then be responsible for executing the rule with some flexibility.

They are expected to be allowed to require power plants to make changes such as switching from coal to natural gas or enact other programs to reduce demand for electricity and produce more energy from renewable sources.

They also can set up pollution-trading markets as some states already have done to offer more flexibility in how plants cut emissions.

If a state refuses to create a plan, the EPA can make its own.”

Read more:

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/06/02/obama-to-announce-rule-to-limit-emissions-from-fossil-burning-plants-part-his/

From MSNBC May 12, 2014.
“Antarctica ice melt is ‘unstoppable’”

“Last week, President Obama warned that climate change is already here and not “some distant part of the future.” Now researchers at NASA and the University of California Irvine have found evidence that man-made global warming may have already caused some irreversible damage.

On Monday, NASA and U.C. Irvine released a joint report finding that a section of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet “appears to be in an irreversible state of decline, with nothing to stop the glaciers in this area from melting into the sea,” according to a statement on NASA’s website.

“The collapse of this sector of West Antarctica appears to be unstoppable,” said glaciologist Eric Rignot, one of the report’s lead authors, in the statement. “The fact that the retreat is happening simultaneously over a large sector suggests it was triggered by a common cause, such as an increase in the amount of ocean heat beneath the floating sections of the glaciers. At this point, the end of this sector appears to be inevitable.””

Read more:

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/west-antarctic-ice-sheet-melt-unstoppable

From Watts Up With That May 28, 2014.

“IPCC findings dispute ABC, CBS, NBC and BBC alarmist and flawed Antarctica sea level rise claims”

“IPCC report shows Antarctica has “negative contribution to sea level” over the 21st century

The recent ridiculous and scientifically flawed media claims of large Antarctica related sea level rise impacts due to “unstoppable” glacier ice loss supposedly reflected in two recent scientific papers looks even more absurd when these made up claims are compared against the Antarctica scientific findings of the UN IPCC AR5 WGI climate report.

Recapping the wonderfully informative reporting by the major “news” networks on May 12 about these two Antarctica ice loss studies we have:

NBC’s anchor Brian Williams asserting that these new studies reflect that sea levels would rise by 13 feet over the next 100 years because of the glacier ice loss which was caused by global warming and is unstoppable. Virtually nothing Williams said was reflected in what was contained in the new studies.

Williams failed to understand that the two studies did not say anything about sea level rise projections, made no mention that man made global warming was driving these glacier ice loss results and additionally appears to have ineptly borrowed his made up 13 foot number from a newspaper article (The Guardian which claimed a 4 meter sea level rise) which managed to confuse “feet” with “meters”. What impressive reporting by the NBC news anchor!!

But Williams was not alone in his zeal to invent the alarmist story line regarding the two new Antarctica studies. ABC’s anchor Diane Sawyer warned us that NASA had issued an “alert” about rising sea levels based on a 40 year study of glaciers in Antarctica that showed they were melting so fast is was unstoppable. She warned that low lying states like Florida would be hardest hit with sea level rise of 3 feet (another made up number) or more by 2100.”
“That’s right – the IPCC says that its Surface Mass Balance (SBM) models for Antarctica show that its projected future climate behavior causes sea level to decline not increase!

Furthermore it explains this finding by saying:

“Projections of Antarctic SMB changes over the 21st century thus indicate a negative contribution to sea level because of the projected widespread increase in snowfall associated with warming air temperatures (Krinner et al., 2007; Uotila et al., 2007; Bracegirdle et al., 2008).” (13.4.4.1)”

“Additionally the IPCC AR5 WGI report also shows that the huge Eastern Antarctica area which is the largest ice mass region with 90% of the continents total ice mass, is in fact gaining ice mass by noting the following:

“The recent IMBIE analysis (Shepherd et al., 2012) shows that the West Antarctic ice sheet and the Antarctic Peninsula are losing mass at an increasing rate, but that East Antarctica gained an average of 21 ± 43 Gt yr–1 between 1992 and 2011. Zwally and Giovinetto (2011) also estimate a mass gain for East Antarctica (+16 Gt yr–1 between 1992 and 2001).” (4.4.2.3)

The UN IPCC AR5 WGI report doesn’t support at all and in fact offers clear scientific evidence to the contrary which both refutes and embarrasses the alarmist sea level rise claims made by the major news media and their “star” anchors concerning their ludicrous reporting on the latest Antarctica ice loss studies.”

Read more:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2014/05/28/ipcc-findings-dispute-abc-cbs-nbc-and-bbc-alarmist-and-flawed-antarctica-sea-level-rise-claims/

 

 

 

Obama hurts Coal production Americans and jobs, Climate change nonsense appeals to Obama’s core support from left, Jobs be damned, Obama et al agenda justifies means

Obama hurts Coal production Americans and jobs, Climate change nonsense appeals to Obama’s core support from left, Jobs be damned, Obama et al agenda justifies means

“if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them”…Barack Obama

 “Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”…Barack Obama 

“The end justifies the means, the template of the left.”…Citizen Wells

The common belief is that states like Wyoming and North Dakota have weathered the left wing socialist onslaught of Obama and the Democrats. Obama et al have done their best to negatively impact our oil and coal economies and therefore the overall economy and jobs.

North Dakota has the lowest unemployment rate at 3.2 percent and Wyoming, the top coal producing state, has an unemployment rate of 4.6 percent.

Obama, in an attempt to keep his core support, the left, has renewed his attempts to stifle coal production and use in this country, which will subsequently further cost Americans jobs.

From Fox News June 29, 2013.

“Coal-state Dems chisel away at Obama climate plan”

President Obama, in his weekly radio address, beseeched voters to get behind his climate change plan and punish politicians who don’t.

He may want to be careful what he asks for. Several of those lawmakers come from the president’s own party.

Coal-state Democrats have been as scathing as any Republican in reaction to the president’s plan, unveiled Tuesday in a speech at Georgetown University. The pushback was almost immediate, and a glaring signal of the trouble Obama may encounter as he charges ahead with new restrictions on coal-fired power plants.

Though Obama technically is going around Congress by having the Environmental Protection Agency impose the rules, moderate Democrats made clear they will pressure the administration from inside the party to scale back. They carry a simple message: The regulations will kill jobs, but working with the coal industry to improve its own clean-coal technology won’t.

West Virginia Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin, calling the president’s plan a “war on America,” delivered one of the most forceful rebuttals in an interview with Fox News.

“It’s just ridiculous. … I should not have to be sitting here as a U.S. senator, fighting my own president and fighting my own government,” he told Fox News. “I will continue to reach out, but I need a partner here. I don’t need an adversary.”

Manchin argued that the coal industry has the technology to reduce emissions. But he said the government, rather than work with the industry, is setting unattainable standards.

The cornerstone of Obama’s plan was a call for the first-ever regulations on emissions for existing power plants.

“Why is this economy going to be taking this hit? Why are jobs going to be lost, and they will be lost,” Manchin said. ”

Read more:

 http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/06/29/coal-state-dems-gird-for-battle-with-obama-over-climate-plan/#ixzz2XnU2NubX

Our problems with the economy and jobs did not start when Obama took office in January of 2009. The Democrats took control of both houses of congress in January 0f 2007.

Citizen Wells reported yesterday that the NC Employment to population rate dropped 6.1 percent since the Democrats took control of both US houses of congress in 2007.

Here are the Employment to population rates for the top 10 coal producing states for the same time period. This information may surprise you. It is definitely under reported.

Top 10 coal states    Drop in employment        Current
                      to population rate        Rate

Wyoming                5.2                      65 
West Virginia          3.1                      50.7
Kentucky               2.5                      56.8 
Pennsylvania           2.8                      59.1 
Texas                  2.2                      61
Montana                4.5                      60.4
Illinois               5.4                      59.7
Indiana                7.1                      57.2
North Dakota           2.2                      69.7
Ohio                   4.4                      59.1

These are scary numbers!

Is anyone in the mainstream media covering this?

Obama climate change initiative, Obama et al play God, Obama placates left for 2014 elections, We need jobs and an honest energy independence strategy

Obama climate change initiative, Obama et al play God, Obama placates left for 2014 elections, We need jobs and an honest energy independence strategy

“if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them”…Barack Obama

“Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”…Barack Obama 

“For all its soaring rhetoric, President Obama’s “jobs speech” last week didn’t demonstrate a lick of insight into why economies grow or how wealth is created. It was merely trademark Obamanomics: using government diktat to move money that’s over here, over there.

Having spent an hour the day before with Ron Liepert, the energy minister from the Canadian province of Alberta, I found it especially disturbing to hear nothing in the speech about reversing the administration’s anti-fossil-fuels agenda. Canada has recovered all the jobs it lost in the 2009 recession, and Alberta’s oil sands are no small part of that. The province is on track to become the world’s second-largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, within 10 years. Meanwhile Mr. Obama clings to his subsidies for solar panels and his religious faith in green jobs.”…Wall Street Journal September 12, 2011

 

 

When a person does not follow and obey God, they often take on the role themselves.

If you think about it, you will be reminded of people you know or have read about.

Such is the mentality of Barack Obama and his core supporters, the left.

Imagine, the mentality and spiritual void of changing the climate.

Of course this is another repackaging of “climate cooling” and “global warming.”

A more honest, more team like and more productive approach to our energy use, pollution issues and jobs dilemna is to work together, not use Orwellian, dishonest terminology and science, and take a balanced approach to real issues.

Our biggest problem is jobs followed by a need for energy independence.

We need team players not demigods.

An email sent from the Obama camp.

“Friend —

Today, President Obama announced the biggest steps to fight climate change that any president has ever taken — including the first-ever EPA limits on how much carbon pollution existing U.S. power plants can create.

Change can only happen when ordinary people join in and say we’ll do our part.

President Obama is doing his part — will you do yours?

You don’t have to consider yourself an environmentalist to care about this. If you care about leaving our planet in a better place for our kids and grandkids, then you’ve got skin in the game.

So right now, answer President Obama’s question: Say you’ll do your part to fight climate change:

http://my.barackobama.com/Stand-Up-Against-Climate-Change

Thanks,

Lindsay

———-Original Message———-
From: Barack Obama
Subject: Today: What I need from you

Friend —

I told Congress in February that if they didn’t take action to fight climate change, then I would.

Today, I announced a plan of action to make good on that promise.

My administration is taking steps to cut carbon pollution, prepare our nation for the unavoidable impact of climate change, and put America’s best and brightest to work to solve this issue on a global scale.

One thing we know is we’ll face a well-organized and well-financed opposition by the special interests that profit from keeping things the way they are — and there are members of Congress who fundamentally deny the science on this issue.

But we cannot stand by any longer.

I need to know you’ll fight alongside me. Say you will.

Over the next few months and years, I’m going to need the millions of OFA supporters who understand that we have a responsibility to future generations to fight climate change to join me, and be a force of change in your communities.

We owe it to our children and grandchildren to take action — and now is the time.

Today, I’m here to tell you I am committed to doing my part.

Say you’ll do yours:

http://my.barackobama.com/Stand-Up-Against-Climate-Change

Thanks,

Barack “

Chinese oil firm in biggest takeover of Canada Nexen Inc., $ 15.1 billion acquisition, Oil sands shale gas western Canada, Ottawa last deal of its kind

Chinese oil firm in biggest takeover of Canada Nexen Inc., $ 15.1 billion acquisition, Oil sands shale gas western Canada, Ottawa last deal of its kind

“Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”…Barack Obama 

“Canada has outperformed the U.S. since then. In 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund, Canada grew at 3.2% versus 2.9% in the U.S. In 2011, the IMF estimates Canada will grow at 2.9%; unemployment is now 7.3%. The IMF’s U.S. growth forecast is 2.5% this year, and U.S. unemployment is 9.1%.

One explanation for Canada’s more robust growth is its strong commitment to energy, which has become more valuable in U.S. dollar terms under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s inflationary policies. Alberta is now producing two million barrels per day but expects that number will grow to four to five million within a decade.”…Wall Street Journal Sept. 12, 2011

“For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is richer than the average American, according to a report cited in Toronto’s Globe and Mail.

And not just by a little. Currently, the average Canadian household is more than $40,000 richer than the average American household. The net worth of the average Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202, compared to around $320,000 for Americans.”…US News  July 18, 2012

 

From People’s Daily Online February 27, 2013.

“Chinese oil firm in biggest takeover”

“CHINA’S dominant offshore oil producer has completed a US$15.1 billion acquisition of Canada’s Nexen Inc, winning a key international platform for its global expansion.

The closing of China’s largest overseas takeover comes seven months after it was first announced.

CNOOC Ltd’s acquisition of Nexen, which has oil sands and shale gas in western Canada and conventional exploration and development in the North Sea and the Gulf of Mexico, will increase the Chinese firm’s production by 20 percent and its proven oil and gas reserves by 30 percent.

Yang Hua, CNOOC’s vice chairman, said Nexen was attractive because it had a diversified product portfolio and the majority of its assets were in politically stable regions.

CNOOC, which failed in its US$18.5 billion bid for Unocal Corp in 2005 due to the United States’ political opposition, started to track Nexen as a potential target the same year, Yang told Xinhua news agency.

In 2011, CNOOC acquired struggling Canadian oil sands producer OPTI, becoming a partner with Nexen in the Long Lake project in Alberta. The OPTI deal paved the way for the Nexen acquisition, Yang said.

Moody’s Investors Service said the ratings and stable outlooks of CNOOC and its parent will remain unchanged after the closing of the Nexen deal.

Senior analyst Simon Wong said the acquisition would “strengthen CNOOC Ltd’s position as one of world’s largest independent exploration and production companies and further diversify its product portfolio, in spite of its weakened credit metrics.”

Canada granted its approval in December after CNOOC agreed to various conditions. CNOOC made commitments regarding transparency, disclosure, commercial orientation, employment and capital investment that “demonstrate a long-term commitment to the development of the Canadian economy,” Canadian authorities said.

But Ottawa indicated this was the last deal of its kind it would approve by saying it wouldn’t allow foreign state companies to control the nation’s oil sands.

The Committee on Foreign Investment in the US approved the deal earlier this month, clearing the last major hurdle for the acquisition to succeed.”

http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90778/8144674.html

 

 

Sequestration impact on Federal Education Programs, Automatic across the board reductions in discretionary programs, Obama stimulus and failed energy spending helped create huge deficit

Sequestration impact on Federal Education Programs, Automatic across the board reductions in discretionary programs, Obama stimulus and failed energy spending helped create huge deficit

“Why was Obama in constant contact with Tony Rezko in 2004 when Rezko was conspiring with William Cellini to use TRS, Teacher Retirement Fund, assets for political gain and personal enrichment?”…Citizen Wells

“What do you think a stimulus is? It’s spending – that’s the whole point! Seriously.”…Barack Obama

“…and Socialist governments traditionally do make a financial mess. They [socialists] always run out of other people’s money. It’s quite a characteristic of them.”…Margaret Thatcher

Much is being said about the impact of sequestration on federal education spending.

From the NEA.

“Impact of Sequestration on Federal Education Programs – State-by-State

Across-the-board cuts known as “sequestration” are scheduled to go into effect on March 1, 2013 unless Congress acts.  These cuts – nearly $3 billion for education alone —  would result in:

  • Services cut or eliminated for millions of students.
  • Funding for children living in poverty, special education, and Head Start slashed by billions.
  • Ballooning class sizes.
  • Elimination of after-school programs.
  • Decimation of programs for our most vulnerable—homeless students, English language learners, and high-poverty, struggling schools.
  • Slashing of financial aid for college students.
  • Loss of tens of thousands of education jobs—at early childhood, elementary, secondary, and postsecondary levels.

http://www.nea.org/home/52610.htm

Sequestration defined.

From Idea Money Watch.

Q. What is sequestration? (Pronounced se″kwes-tra´shun)
A. Sequestration is a fiscal policy procedure adopted by Congress to deal with the federal budget deficit. It first appeared in the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings Deficit Reduction Act of 1985.

Simply put, sequestration is the cancellation of budgetary resources — an “automatic” form of spending cutback. (Learn more here.)
 Q. Why is sequestration important now?

A. The Budget Control Act of 2011 (BCA) established a 12 member Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction  (or “super committee”)  charged with reducing the deficit by an additional $1.2 – $1.5 trillion over ten years. The BCA also included a sequestration hammer should the super committee fail, a provision intended to “force” the super committee to act.

Despite the threat of sequestration, the super committee failed. Announcing its inability to reach an agreement on November 21, 2011, the members of the bipartisan committee stated  that “after months of hard work and intense deliberations, we have come to the conclusion today that it will not be possible to make any bipartisan agreement available to the public before the committee’s deadline.”

So, as established in the BCA, sequestration was triggered when the super committee failed to reach an agreement. Sequestration generates automatic cuts for each of nine years, FY 13-21, totaling $1.2 trillion. Sequestration was originally scheduled to take effect on Jan. 2, 2013. However, it was delayed for two months – until March 1, 2013, by the deal struck on New Year’s Eve, called the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.

Now, without Congressional action to prevent sequestration, the first round of cuts will take place on March 1, 2013.

The 2013 cuts apply to “discretionary” spending and are divided between reductions to  defense ($500 billion) and non-defense ($700 billion). 

Q. What must occur in order to avoid sequestration?  


A.
 Sequestration can only be avoided if Congress passes legislation that undoes the legal requirement in the BCA and that President Obama will sign before March 1, 2013.

While advocacy efforts to prevent sequestration are beginning to spring up, the strongest efforts focus on preventing the deep cuts to defense spending.


Q. Can the Executive Branch reconfigure sequestration cuts?


A. 
No. The cuts are automatic, across-the-board reductions to all discretionary programs unless exempted by the BCA. (A list of exempt programs is available here
.) The Executive Branch will have no authority or ability to redistribute the cuts.

http://www.ideamoneywatch.com/main/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=60&Itemid=72

$ 3 billion in education cuts because our spending is out of control.

How did that happen?

Here is part of the reason.

A $840 billion Obama stimulus program.

From The Foundry October 18, 2012.

“The 2009 stimulus set aside $80 billion to subsidize politically preferred energy projects. Since that time, 1,900 investigations have been opened to look into stimulus waste, fraud, and abuse (although not all are linked to the green-energy funds), and nearly 600 convictions have been made. Of that $80 billion in clean energy loans, grants, and tax credits, at least 10 percent has gone to companies that have since either gone bankrupt or are circling the drain.”

“So far, 34 companies that were offered federal support from taxpayers are faltering — either having gone bankrupt or laying off workers or heading for bankruptcy. This list includes only those companies that received federal money from the Obama Administration’s Department of Energy and other agencies. The amount of money indicated does not reflect how much was actually received or spent but how much was offered. The amount also does not include other state, local, and federal tax credits and subsidies, which push the amount of money these companies have received from taxpayers even higher.

The complete list of faltering or bankrupt green-energy companies:

  1. Evergreen Solar ($25 million)*
  2. SpectraWatt ($500,000)*
  3. Solyndra ($535 million)*
  4. Beacon Power ($43 million)*
  5. Nevada Geothermal ($98.5 million)
  6. SunPower ($1.2 billion)
  7. First Solar ($1.46 billion)
  8. Babcock and Brown ($178 million)
  9. EnerDel’s subsidiary Ener1 ($118.5 million)*
  10. Amonix ($5.9 million)
  11. Fisker Automotive ($529 million)
  12. Abound Solar ($400 million)*
  13. A123 Systems ($279 million)*
  14. Willard and Kelsey Solar Group ($700,981)*
  15. Johnson Controls ($299 million)
  16. Brightsource ($1.6 billion)
  17. ECOtality ($126.2 million)
  18. Raser Technologies ($33 million)*
  19. Energy Conversion Devices ($13.3 million)*
  20. Mountain Plaza, Inc. ($2 million)*
  21. Olsen’s Crop Service and Olsen’s Mills Acquisition Company ($10 million)*
  22. Range Fuels ($80 million)*
  23. Thompson River Power ($6.5 million)*
  24. Stirling Energy Systems ($7 million)*
  25. Azure Dynamics ($5.4 million)*
  26. GreenVolts ($500,000)
  27. Vestas ($50 million)
  28. LG Chem’s subsidiary Compact Power ($151 million)
  29. Nordic Windpower ($16 million)*
  30. Navistar ($39 million)
  31. Satcon ($3 million)*
  32. Konarka Technologies Inc. ($20 million)*
  33. Mascoma Corp. ($100 million)

*Denotes companies that have filed for bankruptcy.”

http://blog.heritage.org/2012/10/18/president-obamas-taxpayer-backed-green-energy-failures/

WE warned you.

Obama is doing to the US education system what he and his cronies did to Illinois.

From Citizen Wells March 29, 2012.

“Obama, Blagojevich and their cronies used the citizens of Illinois, Teachers Retirement System, hospitals and taxpayer dollars for their own benefit.”

“2003: “Of the five funds, the one in the sorriest shape is the Illinois Teacher Retirement System, which provides the pensions for suburban and downstate teachers. Its ratio of assets to liabilities stood at a mere 52 percent last year, so poor that it was considered among the five worst-funded plans in the country.”

“In 2002, the year after Obama made the pitch, the Illinois Teacher Retirement System reported an 18% increase in assets managed by minority-owned firms. Ariel’s share grew to $442 million by 2005.

In 2006, after the federal investigation became public, the teacher pension board severed its relationship with Ariel, concluding that Ariel’s investment returns were insufficient.”

“In addition to lining their own pockets, the money gained through the scheme was funneled to the campaigns of Blagojevich and Obama. Prosecutors have identified two $10,000 payments that were made to Obama’s US Senate campaign through straw donors Joseph Aramanda and Elie Maloof, which originated from a kickback paid by investment firm, Glencoe Capital, to secure approval for a $50 million deal.
Aramanda and Maloof also each gave Obama $1,000 for his failed run for Congress in 2000. Once Obama became a US Senator, Aramanda’s son was granted a coveted intern position in Obama’s Senate office in Washington during the summer of 2005, based on a request which the Obama’s camp has admitted came from Rezko.”

“Mr. Obama also recently pointed to his work on the Illinois pension issue as a model for what he would do as president to promote minority-owned companies.”

Read more:

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/tag/obama-doing-to-us-what-he-did-to-illinois/

Obama high gas price solution, Use less oil, Energy costs cripple business jobs homes economy, Obama lies and warnings, If they want to build coal plants they can but it will bankrupt them

Obama high gas price solution, Use less oil, Energy costs cripple business jobs homes economy, Obama lies and warnings, If they want to build coal plants they can but it will bankrupt them

“For the well-off in this country, high gas prices are mostly an annoyance, but to most Americans they’re a huge problem, bordering on a crisis.”…Barack Obama May 2008

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,”…Barack Obama May 2008

“if they want to build [coal plants], they can, but it will bankrupt them”…Barack Obama

You were warned….

By Obama.

From WCSC February 20, 2013.

“”Gas prices continue to be an ongoing problem,” said Obama. “I’m proud of the fact that under my administration, oil production is higher than it has been in a decade or more. We have seen a doubling of fuel efficiency standards on cars over the next several years, so that is saving people money at the pump.”

The president said one of the things that must happen in order to lower gas prices is to make the “overall economy use less oil.”

“Unfortunately because of world-wide demand, oil prices are going to keep going up and down until we put in place some of the energy saving proposals I talked about in the State of the Union,” Obama said.”

http://www.live5news.com/story/21289844/president-obama-

2012 National Federation of Independent Business October Survey

“MOST IMPORTANT PROBLEM: 2012

1.  Rising Cost of Health Care Insurance
2.  Uncertainty over Economic Conditions
3.  Energy Costs
4.  Uncertainty over Government Actions
5.  Unreasonable Government Regulations
6.  Federal Taxes on Business Income
7.  Tax Complexity
8.  Frequent Changes in Federal Tax Laws and Rules
9.  Property Taxes
10. State Taxes on Business Income”

http://www.nfib.com/research-foundation/surveys/small-business-economic-trends

From Citizen Wells July 29, 2012.

Gas prices are going back up and currently average $ 3.49 in the US. One of the biggest reasons gasoline prices have not risen further is the downturn in the US and world economies.

From the NY Times June 13, 2012.

“Mark Juull, a construction contractor for public and residential housing, has something to be thankful for in this sluggish economy: With global commodity prices falling, he’s saving $200 a week on fuel for his three trucks and finding deals on aluminum, lumber and roof shingles, which are typically made from petroleum.”

“Over the last month, global oil prices have declined by about 12 percent, while corn, copper, lead, cocoa and coffee have all dropped by 5 percent or more. Prices of corn, cocoa, oats, cotton, rubber, coffee, aluminum, silver, zinc and nickel are all more than 20 percent lower than a year ago.

Gasoline prices are falling precipitously, too, down nearly 20 cents over the last month alone, to a national average of $3.54 a gallon on Wednesday. That is nearly 45 cents below the high for the year reached in early April. The average household consumes 1,200 gallons of gasoline a year, so every dime shaved off the price of gas translates into a $120 annual savings, according to the Oil Price Information Service.

“The world economy is in risk of a recession and on that possibility, commodity prices weaken,” said Allen L. Sinai, chief global economist for Decision Economics, a consulting firm. “Lower inflation comes with weakening economies.”

Oil is among the commodities that have fallen in price the fastest despite continuing tensions in the Middle East and the tightening sanctions on Iran. OPEC production has been soaring in recent months because of mushrooming crude exports from Iraq, an almost total resumption of exports from Libya since the fall of the Qaddafi dictatorship, and a concerted drive by Saudi Arabia to push up production. At a meeting in Vienna on Thursday, OPEC is expected to decide to keep production steady despite weakening prices.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/business/economy/weak-economys-mixed-blessing-falling-commodity-prices.html

In 2009 when Obama took office, gasoline averaged around $ 1.85 a gallon. Here is a chart of gasoline prices for the last 3 years.

A long time commenter here brought this to my attention.

From WND February 16, 2012.

“The Obama administration, despite the nation’s economic woes, effectively killed the job-producing Keystone Pipeline last month. The Arab Spring is turning the oil production of Libya and other Arab nations over to the Muslim Brotherhood. Iraq is distancing itself from the U.S. And everyone recognizes that Iran, whose crude supplies are critical to the European economy, will do anything it can to frustrate America’s strategic interests. In the face of all of this, Obama insists on cutting back U.S. oil potential with outrageous restrictions.”

“Part of Obama’s apparent war against U.S. energy independence includes a foreign-aid program that directly threatens my state’s sovereign territory. Obama’s State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to the Russians. Yes, to the Putin regime in the Kremlin.

The seven endangered islands in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea include one the size of Rhode Island and Delaware combined. The Russians are also to get the tens of thousands of square miles of oil-rich seabeds surrounding the islands. The Department of Interior estimates billions of barrels of oil are at stake.

The State Department has undertaken the giveaway in the guise of a maritime boundary agreement between Alaska and Siberia. Astoundingly, our federal government itself drew the line to put these seven Alaskan islands on the Russian side. But as an executive agreement, it could be reversed with the stroke of a pen by President Obama or Secretary Clinton.

The agreement was negotiated in total secrecy. The state of Alaska was not allowed to participate in the negotiations, nor was the public given any opportunity for comment. This is despite the fact the Alaska Legislature has passed resolutions of opposition – but the State Department doesn’t seem to care.

The imperiled Arctic Ocean islands include Wrangel, Bennett, Jeannette and Henrietta. Wrangel became American in 1881 with the landing of the U.S. Revenue Marine ship Thomas Corwin. The landing party included the famed naturalist John Muir. It is 3,000 square miles in size.

Northwest of Wrangel are the DeLong Islands, named for George Washington DeLong, the captain of USS Jeannette. Also in 1881, he discovered and claimed these three islands for the United States. He named them for the voyage co-sponsor, New York City newspaper publisher James Gordon Bennett. The ship’s crew received a hero’s welcome back in Washington, and Congress awarded them gold medals.

In the Bering Sea at the far west end of the Aleutian chain are Copper Island, Sea Lion Rock and Sea Otter Rock. They were ceded to the U.S. in Seward’s 1867 treaty with Russia.

Now is the time for the Obama administration to stand up for U.S. and Alaskan rights and invaluable resources. The State Department’s maritime agreement is a loser – it gives us nothing in return for giving up Alaska’s sovereign territory and invaluable resources. We won the Cold War and should start acting like it.”

http://www.wnd.com/2012/02/obamas-giveaway-oil-rich-islands-to-russia/

And now we learn.

From Patriot Update July 28, 2012.

“After Obama Blocks Pipeline, China Readies $15.1B Canadian Oil Deal”

“When President Barack Obama blocked the Keystone Pipeline, Republicans said the move would encourage Canada to pursue oil deals with China instead of the United States and cede a massive chunk of North American oil assets to the communist nation.

Now, with China’s state-run oil company CNOOC poised to cut a $15.1 billion deal–the largest ever foreign acquisition for a Chinese company–with Canadian oil company Nexen, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are in full backpedal mode.

In a draft letter to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), Sen. Schumer writes:

I respectfully urge you, in your capacity as chairman of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), to withhold approval of this transaction to ensure U.S. companies reciprocal treatment.

Similarly, Rep. Pelosi is now sounding alarms of concern. In a statement, Pelosi spokesperson Drew Hamill said:

This deal prompts great concern about the Chinese government’s continued attempts to use its state-owned enterprises to acquire global energy resources.

Saying “I told you so” offers little solace to concerned Republican lawmakers.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/july-29-2012-gas-prices-up-obama-energy-policy-rewards-friends-punishes-americans-alaska-island-giveaway-to-russians-keystone-pipeline-canada-china-oil-deal/

Solar activity organic farming cause global warming, Sun and earthworms harming planet, UN and Dutch studies, Obama and left to ban earthworms?

Solar activity organic farming cause global warming, Sun and earthworms harming planet, UN and Dutch studies, Obama and left to ban earthworms?

“Now, I‟d love to stand here and debate the science of global warming. The media of course long ago declared that debate over – global warming is a planetary emergency, we‟ve got to change the way we live now. I‟ve followed this debate closely for over 15 years. I read everything I get my hands on. I‟m an engineer, so I tend to be skeptical when journalists hyperventilate about science – “World coming to an end – details at 11”. My research convinces me that claims of a scientific consensus about global warming mislead the public and policy makers – and may reflect another agenda.”…Keith O. Rattie April 2, 2009

“Save the earthworm.”…Citizen Wells

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

From Fox News February 1, 2013.

“Report shows UN admitting solar activity may play significant role in global warming”

“The Earth has been getting warmer — but how much of that heat is due to greenhouse gas emissions and how much is due to natural causes?

A leaked report by a United Nations’ group dedicated to climate studies says that heat from the sun may play a larger role than previously thought.

“[Results] do suggest the possibility of a much larger impact of solar variations on the stratosphere than previously thought, and some studies have suggested that this may lead to significant regional impacts on climate,” reads a draft copy of a major, upcoming report from the U.N.’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

The man who leaked the report, StopGreenSuicide blogger Alec Rawls, told FoxNews.com that the U.N.’s statements on solar activity were his main motivation for leaking the document.

“The public needs to know now how the main premises and conclusions of the IPCC story line have been undercut by the IPCC itself,” Rawls wrote on his website in December, when he first leaked the report.

Rawls blames the U.N. for burying its point about the effect of the sun in Chapter 11 of the report.”

Read more: 

http://www.foxnews.com/science/2013/02/01/report-show-un-admitting-solar-activity-may-play-significant-role-in-global/#ixzz2Jw1fuCtN

From WUWT February 3, 2013.

“Worms guilty of climate problem”

“Forget the whole debate around global warming. Because it is all the fault of the worm.

Organic farming cause more greenhouse gases, but also what can of worms. Right earthworms, which improve soil fertility, the greenhouse gas emissions from soil to speed up. And not such a bit as well. Note that research teams of four different international universities, including those of Wageningen. The study was made public Sunday.

Earthworms increase emissions of carbon dioxide from soil on average by 33% and that of nitrous oxide by 42%. That’s because of the hustle and bustle of the critters, preventing the gases can more easily escape to the atmosphere.”

“Greenhouse-gas emissions from soils increased by earthworms

Ingrid M. Lubbers, Kees Jan van Groenigen, Steven J. Fonte, Johan Six, Lijbert Brussaard & Jan Willem van Groenigen

Abstract

Earthworms play an essential part in determining the greenhouse-gas balance of soils worldwide, and their influence is expected to grow over the next decades. They are thought to stimulate carbon sequestration in soil aggregates, but also to increase emissions of the main greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide. Hence, it remains highly controversial whether earthworms predominantly affect soils to act as a net source or sink of greenhouse gases. Here, we provide a quantitative review of the overall effect of earthworms on the soil greenhouse-gas balance. Our results suggest that although earthworms are largely beneficial to soil fertility, they increase net soil greenhouse-gas emissions.”

Read more:

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/02/03/if-you-thought-global-warming-is-a-can-of-wroms-you-were-right-earthworms-found-to-increase-ghg-emissions/#more-78745

Folks, gather up as many earthworms as you can before Obama and the left try to ban them too.

Obama gas prices facts September 17, 2012, 2 dollars more per gallon under Obama, Crimping consumer spending, Slowing already weak US economy

Obama gas prices facts September 17, 2012, 2 dollars more per gallon under Obama, Crimping consumer spending, Slowing already weak US economy

“Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”…Barack Obama 

“The price of gas has risen 2 dollars since Obama took office. This has impacted the price of consumer goods, groceries, the economy and jobs. Please explain to me how we are better off now than when Obama took office.”…Citizen Wells

“The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command. His heart sank as he thought of the enormous power arrayed against him, the ease with which any Party intellectual would overthrow him in debate, the subtle arguments which he would not be able to understand, much less answer. And yet he was in the right! They were wrong and he was right. The obvious, the silly, and the true had got to be defended. Truisms are true, hold on to that! The solid world exists, its laws do not change. Stones are hard, water is wet, objects unsupported fall towards the earth’s centre. With the feeling that he was speaking to O’Brien, and also that he was setting forth an important axiom, he wrote:

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.”…George Orwell, “1984″

From the Boston Globe September 16, 2012.

“Higher gas prices are crimping consumer spending and slowing the already-weak U.S. economy. And they could get worse in the coming months.

The Federal Reserve this week took steps to boost economic growth. But those stimulus measures are also pushing oil prices up. If gas prices follow, consumers will have less money to spend elsewhere.

The impact of the Fed’s actions ‘‘is likely to weigh on the value of the U.S. dollar and lift commodity prices,’’ said Joseph Carson, U.S. economist at AllianceBernstein. ‘‘We would not be surprised if (it) fueled more inflation in coming months, squeezing the real income of U.S. workers.’’

Americans are already feeling pinched by high unemployment, slow wage growth and higher gas prices.

Consumers increased their spending at retail businesses by 0.9 percent in August, the Commerce Department reported Friday. But that was largely because they paid more for gas. Excluding the impact of gas prices and a sizeable increase in auto sales, retail sales rose just 0.1 percent.

Perhaps more telling is where Americans spent less. Consumers cut back on clothing, electronics and at general merchandise outlets — discretionary purchases that typically signal confidence in the economy.

Gas prices have risen more than 50 cents per gallon in the past two months. The national average was $3.87 a gallon on Friday. Most of the increase took place in August, which drove the biggest one-month increase in overall consumer prices in three years, the Labor Department said Friday in a separate report.

‘‘Consumers were not willing to spend much at the mall since they are feeling the pump price pinch,’’ said Chris Christopher, an economist at IHS Global Insight.

Weaker retail sales will likely weigh on growth in the July-September quarter. Economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch slashed their third-quarter growth forecast to an annual rate of only 1.1 percent, down from 1.5 percent. That’s not nearly fast enough to spur more hiring, which has languished since February.

The Fed is hoping to kick-start growth with a series of bold steps announced Thursday that could make borrowing cheaper for years.

It plans to spend $40 billion a month to buy mortgage bonds to make home buying more affordable. It also pledged to keep short-term interest rates near zero through at least mid-2015.

And Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the Fed will continue its efforts — and intensify them if necessary — until the job market improves ‘‘substantially.’’

The announcement ignited a two-day stock market rally that sent the Dow Jones industrial average to its highest level since December 2007, the first month of the Great Recession.

But the Fed’s actions also helped move oil prices briefly above $100 a barrel Friday for the first time since May. They fell back slightly, but were still up 74 cents to $99.04 a barrel in mid-afternoon trading.

Carson noted that the Fed’s previous rounds of bond-buying pushed up commodity prices and fueled greater inflation. That weakened the ability of U.S. consumers to spend and likely slowed growth, he said.

He expects the same thing to happen again.

The Fed’s moves can push up oil prices in several ways. The Fed creates new money to pay for its mortgage bond purchases. That increases the amount of dollars in circulation and can lower their value. Oil is priced in dollars, so the price tends to rise when the dollar falls. That’s because it costs more for overseas investors to purchase dollars to buy oil.

Lower interest rates also push investors out of safer assets, such as bonds, and into riskier investments, such as oil, in hopes of a greater return. And if the Fed’s moves accelerate growth, that would increase demand for oil and gas and also raise their prices.

Higher gas prices are eating up a bigger share of Americans’ incomes than in previous years. Spending at the pump accounts for 8.2 percent of the typical family’s household income, according to Fred Rozell of the Oil Price Information Service. That’s just below last year’s 8.3 percent.

Those represent the biggest slice of household income spent on gas since 1981. The typical household spends about $342 per month on gasoline. Before gasoline prices began rising in 2004, households spent less than $200 per month, Rozell said, under 5 percent of median income.”

Read more:

http://www.boston.com/business/news/2012/09/16/rising-gas-prices-crimp-americans-spending/HYCdhf6O46tUDYlRneQ7qN/story.html

From Citizen Wells March 17, 2012.

 

Inflation has been downplayed as well. Anyone visiting a grocery store for the past several years has watched food prices skyrocket, mostly due to rising gasoline prices.

From America’s North Shore Journal March 17, 2012.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) keeps track of the average retail price for a number of common items as a U.S. city average. Let’s take a look at a few. We used the price for the month President Obmam was inaugurated, January 2009, and the last month of data available, December 2011. The items are sorted in descending order by the percentage increase of the price during the Obama administration.

Obama Obama
Item Unit Jan 2009 Dec 2011 I/D Perc
Gasoline, unl reg gal $1.787 $3.278 $1.491 83.44%
Fuel oil, #2 gal $2.509 $3.777 $1.268 50.54%
Ground beef lb $2.357 $2.921 $0.564 23.93%
Sugar, white lb $0.569 $0.703 $0.134 23.55%
Bacon. Sliced lb $3.730 $4.550 $0.820 21.98%
Cookies, Choc chip lb $3.114 $3.682 $0.568 18.24%
Spaghetti & macaroni lb $1.131 $1.306 $0.175 15.47%
Eggs, A lrg doz $1.850 $1.874 $0.024 1.30%
Electricity kwh $0.126 $0.127 $0.001 0.79%
Lettuce, iceberg lb $0.944 $0.947 $0.003 0.32%
Milk, whole gal $3.575 $3.565 -$0.010 -0.28%
Potatoes, white lb $0.676 $0.666 -$0.010 -1.48%

CPI Food 2009-2011

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/03/17/obama-change-in-gas-and-food-prices-higher-gas-prices-threaten-economy-jobs-added-millions-of-jobs-and-job-seekers-lost-won-whip-obama-now/

Gas prices for the latest month.

Only a fool would believe that they are better off now than when Obama took office.

***  Noteworthy comment ***

“CW “Only a fool would believe that they are better off now than when Obama took office”

Citizen Wells,
Some are better off now. The Communist party of America is better off. The Islamic people are better off. China is better off. The union pensioners of General Motors are better off. The Teachers unions are much better off. The drug dealers have been supported by millions of new disabled or unemployed americans with federal money to spend, are better off. The media, taking billions in government money are better off and still talke for Obama (perhaps save the newspapers). Those whom rely upon others to work while they receive government money, including aliens, are better off.

Since taking over congress in 2007, then the Presidency and Congress in 2009, I and most Americans are not better off. We have lost most of our life’s earnings and retirements. Some have lost their homes, and many their jobs. They have trouble, after paying taxes on their lower salaries, of giving their children a chance at better education. We are now forced, unless muslem, to purchase products from the government and support government union workers as well as GM union workers while they further add burdeon to our lives. The US Constitution, US jobs, US manufacturing, US middle class, we have been thrown under the bus. The United States isn’t better off, but many democratic party special interests have made out well.”

Pete

Obama gas price facts August 6, 2012, Canadians embrace oil jobs, Canada unemployment rate falls to 7.2 percent, Canadians richer than Americans for first time

Obama gas price facts August 6, 2012, Canadians embrace oil jobs, Canada unemployment rate falls to 7.2 percent, Canadians richer than Americans for first time

“For the well-off in this country, high gas prices are mostly an annoyance, but to most Americans they’re a huge problem, bordering on a crisis.”…Barack Obama May 2008

“We can’t drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times … and then just expect that other countries are going to say OK,”…Barack Obama May 2008

“Because I’m capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it — whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers.”…Barack Obama 

Obama’s “energy policy”, aka Chicago style pay to play politics, is destroying this country’s economy and jobs. Citizen Wells has kept you informed about the impact of high gas prices.

From Citizen Wells July 29, 2012.

“Gas prices are going back up and currently average $ 3.49 in the US. One of the biggest reasons gasoline prices have not risen further is the downturn in the US and world economies.”

“In 2009 when Obama took office, gasoline averaged around $ 1.85 a gallon. Here is a chart of gasoline prices for the last 3 years.”

“The Obama administration, despite the nation’s economic woes, effectively killed the job-producing Keystone Pipeline last month. The Arab Spring is turning the oil production of Libya and other Arab nations over to the Muslim Brotherhood. Iraq is distancing itself from the U.S. And everyone recognizes that Iran, whose crude supplies are critical to the European economy, will do anything it can to frustrate America’s strategic interests. In the face of all of this, Obama insists on cutting back U.S. oil potential with outrageous restrictions.”

“Part of Obama’s apparent war against U.S. energy independence includes a foreign-aid program that directly threatens my state’s sovereign territory. Obama’s State Department is giving away seven strategic, resource-laden Alaskan islands to the Russians. Yes, to the Putin regime in the Kremlin.”

“After Obama Blocks Pipeline, China Readies $15.1B Canadian Oil Deal”

“When President Barack Obama blocked the Keystone Pipeline, Republicans said the move would encourage Canada to pursue oil deals with China instead of the United States and cede a massive chunk of North American oil assets to the communist nation.

Now, with China’s state-run oil company CNOOC poised to cut a $15.1 billion deal–the largest ever foreign acquisition for a Chinese company–with Canadian oil company Nexen, Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) are in full backpedal mode.”

https://citizenwells.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/july-29-2012-gas-prices-up-obama-energy-policy-rewards-friends-punishes-americans-alaska-island-giveaway-to-russians-keystone-pipeline-canada-china-oil-deal/

Not only are Obama’s policies stalling the economy with the high price of gas, they are killing jobs in the oil industry. Our friends to the north are not so foolish.

From the Wall Street Journal September 12, 2011.

“Canada’s Oil Sands Are a Jobs Gusher”

“For all its soaring rhetoric, President Obama’s “jobs speech” last week didn’t demonstrate a lick of insight into why economies grow or how wealth is created. It was merely trademark Obamanomics: using government diktat to move money that’s over here, over there.

Having spent an hour the day before with Ron Liepert, the energy minister from the Canadian province of Alberta, I found it especially disturbing to hear nothing in the speech about reversing the administration’s anti-fossil-fuels agenda. Canada has recovered all the jobs it lost in the 2009 recession, and Alberta’s oil sands are no small part of that. The province is on track to become the world’s second-largest oil producer, after Saudi Arabia, within 10 years. Meanwhile Mr. Obama clings to his subsidies for solar panels and his religious faith in green jobs.

U.S. unemployment is high because capital is on strike. Short-term offers to coax investors into taking new risks aren’t going to cut it when they have been forewarned that the president intends to pay for it all by raising taxes in the out years. The market dropped over 300 points the day after Mr. Obama’s speech.

On the regulatory front the picture is even gloomier. Much of America’s vast untapped energy potential lies dormant because Mr. Obama’s regulatory watchdogs have spent the past three years throwing sand in the gears of the permitting process for exploration and exploitation on federal lands. Separately, TransCanada has been trying since September 2008 to get a permit to build the Keystone XL pipeline from Alberta to the Gulf Coast. The Environmental Protection Agency has so far blocked it.

TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline could mean 118,000 American jobs, if the U.S. government ever issues the permit.

A glimpse of what all this has cost the U.S. economy can be seen by looking north to Canada, where animal spirits have been unleashed in the energy sector. Canada’s close economic ties to the U.S. have traditionally meant that when the U.S. gets the sniffles, Canada gets swine flu. This time it’s been different. Part of the reason is that Canada’s housing market was not poisoned by a federal government push to put unqualified borrowers into homes they could not afford. After the 2008 collapse of the housing bubble in the U.S., the Canadian financial sector remained strong.

That alone was not enough to protect Canada from the effects of the U.S. recession. The manufacturing sector was hit hard, and in the first quarter of 2009 the economy contracted by an annualized 7.9%.

Yet Canada has outperformed the U.S. since then. In 2010, according to the International Monetary Fund, Canada grew at 3.2% versus 2.9% in the U.S. In 2011, the IMF estimates Canada will grow at 2.9%; unemployment is now 7.3%. The IMF’s U.S. growth forecast is 2.5% this year, and U.S. unemployment is 9.1%.

One explanation for Canada’s more robust growth is its strong commitment to energy, which has become more valuable in U.S. dollar terms under Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke’s inflationary policies. Alberta is now producing two million barrels per day but expects that number will grow to four to five million within a decade.”

Read more:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904836104576560933917369412.html

From US News  July 18, 2012.

“For the First Time, Canadians Now Richer Than Americans

The average Canadian household is worth about $40,000 more than their American counterparts”

“The net worth of the average Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202.
While Americans might enjoy throwing politically-charged barbs at their neighbors to the north, Canadians now have at least one reason to be smug.

For the first time in recent history, the average Canadian is richer than the average American, according to a report cited in Toronto’s Globe and Mail.

And not just by a little. Currently, the average Canadian household is more than $40,000 richer than the average American household. The net worth of the average Canadian household in 2011 was $363,202, compared to around $320,000 for Americans.

If you’re thinking the Canadian advantage must be due to exchange rates, think again. The Canadian dollar has actually caught up to the U.S. dollar in recent years.

“These are not 60-cent dollars, but Canadian dollars more or less at par with the U.S. greenback,” Globe and Mail’s Michael Adams writes.

To add insult to injury, not only are Canadians comparatively better-off than Americans, they’re also more likely to be employed. The unemployment rate is 7.2 percent—and dropping—in Canada, while the U.S. is stuck with a stubbornly high rate of 8.2 percent.

Besides a strengthening currency and a better labor market, experts credit the particularly savage fallout from the financial crisis on the U.S. economy and housing market, which torpedoed home values and gutted household wealth. According to the report, real estate held by Canadians is worth more than $140,000 more on average and they have almost four times as much equity in their real estate investments.”

Read more:

http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2012/07/18/for-the-first-time-canadians-now-richer-than-americans