Coal Industry

Republicans Refuse To Deal With Climate Change, Despite Heat Records Being Set!

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The nation and the world are facing the greatest Global Warming and Climate Change crisis yet, with the entire globe having the hottest week and month in recorded history!

This is causing fires in Canada; floods in New England; horrendous triple digit temperatures in much of the Southern and Western states; and equally alarming conditions in Europe and the rest of the world at large!

But any thought of limiting oil and gas and coal production; and taking any action to promote alternative energy policies is receiving deaf ears from Republicans in Congress, and right wing conservatives have no concern about the health dangers to millions of Americans, and will not cooperate on any joint action with Democrats.

If nations worldwide, and the nation from within cannot accept the need for extreme actions, then the whole planet, and American national security is facing an existential threat!

What Is Needed In November: Blue Wave (Democrats), Pink Wave (Women), Orange Wave (Men And Gun Safety), Green Wave (Environment)

Ronald 7 Comments

With the midterm elections less than four weeks away, it is clear that what is needed is not one “wave”, but four “waves”.

A “Blue Wave” is needed, the gaining of, hopefully, control of both houses of Congress, and the majority of state governorships and state legislative majorities.

But a “Pink Wave’ is needed by a mass uprising by women of all backgrounds, races, sections of the nation, to make clear that misogyny and abuse of women by conservatives and Republicans will no longer be tolerated.

There is also a need for an “Orange Wave”, promoted by Fred Guttenberg, the father of Parkland victim Jaime Guttenberg, on the need for a serious movement toward gun control and regulation, as we are losing tens of thousands of victims, many of them in schools and universities, and also many through suicide. This must include serious promotion of mental health initiatives, so that we do not have the constant massacres of innocent human beings, because of the lack of concern by the gun industry, which is only interested in profits.

And finally, a “Green Wave” is needed by those who care about climate change and the environment, determined to fight to prevent the destruction of the environment by coal companies, oil companies, natural gas companies, and corporations in general, who all think only of the profit motive now, and not the long range effect of what their companies are doing. And the struggle against the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of the Interior leadership must be fought with vehemence, as the future of America and the entire globe are at stake.

The Undermining Of Recruitment Of Qualified, Outstanding Candidates For Government Service Careers By Trump Administration

Ronald 9 Comments

The most tragic aspect, above all others, of the Trump Presidency is the undermining of recruitment of qualified, outstanding candidates for government service careers.

We need the best people in the younger generation to wish to serve in the diplomatic corp, and in the various government agencies that serve our population.

But instead, young people are looking elsewhere than government careers, and not only because of Donald Trump, but also because of the Republican Congress, which is out to make government service a type of work that people will not get adequate compensation and benefits, and also respect.

The Republican Party is anti government, except for their elite, privileged group which knows how to make deals with corporations and special interest groups, like the National Rifle Association and the oil and coal industries, and the pharmaceutical industry, and many others, who care not a whit for the public good anymore than the GOP.

So therefore, the goal is to avoid regulation, and convince people who are committed to such regulation, to be forced out and replaced by party hacks and industry goons.

So we are seeing massive resignations early of people who might have stayed longer in their government jobs, and the word is out, to avoid government service at all costs in the future.

This will undermine our government in both domestic and foreign policy, and make America a backward place, going back to the Gilded Age and 1920s mentality, as the Republicans and their allies, and our disgraceful President, work to destroy all of the New Deal and Great Society and Barack Obama legacy as well.

This is a setback which will affect most Americans for the rest of their lives, even if Trump were to leave office soon, as the Republican Party would be no better under Mike Pence or Paul Ryan in the short term.

But this is why it is essential that the Democrats, against great odds, must win control of both houses of Congress in 2018, and convince millions of young people, women, racial minorities, labor, and educated suburbanites, that Donald Trump and the Republican Party are anathema to the long term prosperity and security of the United States.

The hard work of changing this country back to the way it was before the 2016 election must be at full speed and with great earnest!

US, Due To Ignorance And Stupidity Of Donald Trump, Only Nation Against Paris Climate Agreement, As Nicaragua And Syria Sign Agreement

Ronald 5 Comments

The United States, under President Donald Trump, is the laughing stock of the world, as our country is now the only one that has broken with the Paris Climate Agreement, negotiated in 2016. and agreed to by President Barack Obama.

As part of his war on anything connected with Barack Obama, and accepting the corruption and ignorance of Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt and Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, Donald Trump has decided that there is no global warming or climate change crisis even though 97 percent of all scientists see the crisis, and we are seeing the results of global warming and climate change in our country, as well as worldwide.

Rather than plan for the future, Trump is embracing the coal and oil industry and the long term damage they are perpetrating, and insuring massive long range problems for America internally and on the world scene, with our nation’s head in the sand, repudiating scientific fact. and believing only in prayer as the solution.

When Nicaragua and Syria embrace such an agreement, particularly Syria in the midst of a seven year civil war, it just shows how low our prestige and standing as a nation, and supposedly the leader of the world, has fallen.

The long term damage that can be expected, is alarming, and it will help to condemn Donald Trump in history, but somehow, one gets the feeling that Trump is not concerned about that, but rather, simply, total destruction of all of good work of the federal government and Republican and Democratic Presidents for the past century from Theodore Roosevelt onward.

Six Months Of Donald Trump: Neil Gorsuch, And Nothing Else Of Substance Other Than Executive Orders That Repeal Much Of 20th Century

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It has been six months since Donald Trump took the oath of office, and what does he have to show for it?

Well, there is Supreme Court Associate Justice Neil Gorsuch, approved by smallest margin since Clarence Thomas in 1991, and with changed rules, with the filibuster no longer applicable. Gorsuch would never have been approved if the filibuster still existed for Supreme Court nominees.

Other than that, nothing of substance, with the exception of a host of executive orders designed to destroy the Obama legacy and cut regulations dramatically in all areas of government, having a devastating effect on the progress made under Republican and Democratic Presidents going back to Theodore Roosevelt at the turn of the 20th century.

But no legislation has been passed, NONE!

Trump has been much better at dividing the nation, keeping his public opinion ratings under 40 percent, an all time low in the 70 plus years of Presidential ratings.

The promises have not been kept, as with the Mexico Wall, ending ObamaCare, Tax Reform, and Infrastructure Investment.

Trump has undermined environmental protections,

stripped labor protections,

made for high levels of stress for multiple millions on health care,

promoted high levels of corruption openly,

lied five times a day,

created a commission to investigate voter fraud that does not exist,

undermined respect for the law and the intelligence agencies and freedom of the press,

made wild and unsubstantiated accusations against Barack Obama,

created tension with our NATO allies,

been limited in his Muslim ban by the courts although winning a partial victory temporarily,

been far too friendly with Russia and Vladimir Putin,

failed to fill thousands of essential positions in the federal government and caused many bureaucrats to resign,

supported authoritarian dictatorships in many nations openly,

undermined our energy future by falsely claiming that coal has a long term future,

and promoted wealthy special interests on Wall Street despite his claims the would “clean the Swamp”.

His cabinet and other appointments are the absolute worst, most atrocious of any President, and the mean spirited, nasty nature of Trump and his cohorts has caused a loss of faith in the American future.

And all this and more, without, so far, any major international crisis, but with it lurking on the horizon, and the thought of how Trump will handle it when the crisis arises, is literally horrifying, and sure to cause loss of American lives!

Rural America Under Attack By Republicans And Donald Trump, Undermining Their Future

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It is ironic that Donald Trump has declared war on Rural America, the part of the nation which put him over the top in the Electoral College.

Rural America is dying, as its portion of the national population is rapidly declining, but they still have enough impact that they could help to put Donald Trump over the top, with the hope that his pledges to revive dying industries would occur, such as the coal industry in Appalachia.

Now these rural citizens are discovering that the so called Trump Health Care plan will cut their medical benefits dramatically, and close down rural hospitals, and therefore, insure many more deaths over time, all due to the obsession with destroying ObamaCare, rather than work to improve it.

Trump’s promotion of the race and religion cards skillfully manipulates the rural citizens of the South, Midwest and the Great Plains, and Mountain West to vote Republican, while their state legislatures continue to favor the elite wealthy, and cut back on education, health care, and protection of the elderly, sick, and disabled.

Donald Trump and his party are the most right wing they have ever been, and they are further undermining the future of Rural America, but only when the citizens finally understand what is happening, will there be any chance of bringing Rural America forward into the 21st century, while Trump and the Republicans are preventing any progress toward a more unified America.

Is it any wonder why more and more young people are fleeing the rural areas of the nation toward the urban areas, which have rejected the right wing philosophy of the GOP?

The hope is that over time the Republican Party will finally pay for its sins against Americans who are too naive and ill informed to recognize it in the present.

Right Wing Conspiratorial Hysteria Over Barack Obama Has Been Proved Totally Wrong!

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We are now entering the eighth and last year of the Barack Obama Presidency, with a new President to be inaugurated on January 20, 2017.

It is in many ways amazing how Obama has survived unprecedented verbal attacks for seven years, and the most threats to his life of any President since Abraham Lincoln.

His Republican opposition has been unrelenting in the promotion of right wing conspiratorial hysteria for the past seven years, and has had no shame in wishing upon him all of the most terrible tragedies and failures, rather than willingness to unite for the public good!

And right wing radio and Fox News Channel has been totally despicable in encouraging right wing lunatics, and inciting them to create a constant stress and threat on the 44th President of the United States.  They would not be happy until he was either forced from office or dead from an assassin, and there is still clear concern that our President faces endless threats at a time when the Secret Service has been found wanting, and in need of drastic updating, reform, and new leadership!

For any American to have believed the conspiracy theories and gloom and doom loaded on Barack Obama, it is instructive to look back at some of what has been predicted and has NOT happened!

  1. Barack Obama will cancel the elections of 2016 and rule by martial law, and put his enemies into FEMA camps.  This is totally laughable!
  2. Barack Obama will take everyone’s guns away.  Yeh, sure, instead we have more guns and gun ownership than ever before, and more deaths from guns than automobile accidents!
  3. Barack Obama will destroy the American economy, with the highest gas prices ever, dramatic increase in unemployment and inflation, the collapse of the stock market, and the promotion of the end of the capitalist system. Instead we have 5 percent unemployment, doubling of the stock market, low inflation, and capitalism is alive and well, thank you!
  4. Barack Obama is a Muslim who will advance the cause of the Muslim jihadists, and allow the downfall of Christianity in America. Yeh, sure, instead we have more Muslims killed by Obama’s drone usage than under George W. Bush, and Osama bin Laden was killed!
  5. Barack Obama will destroy the oil and coal industries in his  mad quest to promote the “phony” issue of climate change. Yeh, sure, the energy industries are making record profits!
  6. Barack Obama will destroy heterosexual America by his promotion of gay rights, same sex marriage, and transgender rights.  Laughable, but heterosexual marriage divorces are up, and more Americans have broken marriages than the total number of same sex marriages!
  7. Barack Obama will take away the civil liberties and civil rights of Americans through government snooping on the private lives of Americans. Yeh, sure, as the NSA is limited in its ability to fight terrorism by government restrictions put upon them!
  8. Barack Obama will undermine law and order in this country through promotion of the agenda of extremist African Americans demands.  Yeh, sure, the idea that Obama is a black radical because he speaks up about growing number of police killings of unarmed black men is laughable!
  9. Barack Obama will destroy the nation through open borders immigration of people from Mexico and Central America.  Yeh, sure, as Obama has had more deportations of illegal immigrants than under George W. Bush!
  10. Barack Obama will undermine the nation of Israel and refuse to support the security of that nation.  Yeh, sure, as Obama provided the IRON DOME system and has given Israel more foreign aid than any President of the United States before him!
  11. Barack Obama will promote the expansion and aggression of the Russians under Vladimir Putin.  Yeh, sure that is why Putin embraces Donald Trump, and has actually cooperated with the American government on Middle East issues, and knows NATO is working to protect Ukraine, due to the tough stand of Obama!
  12. Barack Obama will promote a one world government led by the United Nations.  This is totally ridiculous, not even worth commenting on, as totally delusional!

It is time for the ill informed and uneducated population of America to stop their ignorance, learn the truth, and start to show appreciation of the historic nature of Barack Obama in the Presidency, and to wish him well in his final year in the White House.  His ranking in history for his accomplishments, his dignity, his class, his compassion, his common sense, and his courage in the face of adversity will make him appreciated in the future in a way appropriate for his performance in office!

Climate Change Policy Under Ronald Reagan And George H. W. Bush Now Dismissed By Republican Party And Its Presidential Candidates

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Both President Ronald Reagan and President George H. W. Bush, when President 22-35 years ago,  were well aware of the growing dangers of climate change, and spoke up on the issue and called for changes in policy.

But since the elder Bush left the White House in 1993, the Republican Party has turned against science and reality, and the party is strongly and vehemently against any action on the growing environmental crisis, undermining any efforts to deal with the growing evidence that the globe is threatened in the next 25-50 years and beyond.  Republican Presidential candidates have refused to address the issue, and Congressional leaders ignore it completely.

Lack of action will lead to an ever growing wave of revolution, terror, and bloodshed as those who are already poor and deprived rise up in reaction to the reality that climate change will affect them more directly and sooner, without the ability to escape the horrors of flooding, drought, and the effects of growing temperatures affecting hurricanes, tornadoes, and other weather phenomenon.

It is clear that action must be taken to prevent the energy industries—oil, coal, natural gas—from focusing only on profits, and ignoring the long range effects of their industries on climate and weather changes.  The promotion of wind, solar energy and safe nuclear energy, and the newest technologies to prevent massive damage from the energy industries, must be pursued!

This is one of the top challenges facing the next President, and it is evident that only if a Democratic President is in the White House in 2017. will anything be done on this crucial matter!

Theodore Roosevelt And Gifford Pinchot Turning Over In Their Graves At Republican Party War On National Parks And Other Environmental Concerns!

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The Republican Party a century ago had leaders who cared about the environment, and promoted conservation as a basic national policy.

Governor and later Senator Robert LaFollette, Sr. of Wisconsin; Senator George Norris of Nebraska; US Forestry Service Director and later Governor of Pennsylvania Gifford Pinchot; and President Theodore Roosevelt, all of them progressive Republicans in domestic affairs, made the promotion of national and state parks and monuments a priority. They set a standard for Democrats who followed their lead, including Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson, Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and now Barack Obama, who just announced three new national park designations in California, Nevada, and Texas. Obama has added 260 million acres and 19 national monuments in office, making him one of the great leaders on that endeavor. We should also mention Republican President Richard Nixon, who despite many faults and shortcomings, did enough to be rated number two among Presidents on the environment, by a conservation group.

Additionally, we were fortunate to have such outstanding Secretaries of the Interior as Harold Ickes under FDR; Stewart Udall under JFK and LBJ; Walter Hickel under Nixon; Cecil Andrus under Carter; and Bruce Babbitt under Clinton to emphasize the importance of the environment in all of its manifestations.

But the Republican Party of present times is anti conservation, anti environment, fights the concept of global warming and climate change, and has allowed itself to come under the influences of wealthy energy interests that would love to mine uranium in the Grand Canyon; destroy native American and paleontological sites; and conduct fracking for natural gas, despite the vast dangers to health and safety, including water pollution and greatly increased earthquake activity, as in Oklahoma, for instance. The Koch Brothers have had a particularly deleterious effect on the issue of the environment. And Republican Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma is the worst possible enemy of the environmental movement in Congress, and is head, by seniority, of the Senate committee that deals with the subject.

The failure to see the importance of preserving our natural treasures is mind boggling, and those groups involved in promoting the environment know they have a massive challenge to keep what was given to us, and until the 20th century, was being gutted by rapacious capitalists in the oil, coal, natural gas, uranium, and lumber industries who only saw, and still see, only the almighty profit motive, including lack of concern for danger to wildlife!

Carly Fiorina: The Republican Female Alternative To Hillary Clinton! No Match For Hillary Clinton!

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The Republicans have their obligatory woman candidate for President in former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, and hope to gain the women’s vote with her competing in the primaries.

Instead of Michele Bachmann, who anyone intelligent knew was more of a joke than anything else in the 2012 Presidential race, we have a woman who certainly has more brains, but not much else.

The odds of Carly Fiorina ending up on the national ticket in 2016 for President or Vice President are highly unlikely for many reasons, but one stands out—her lack of any political experience.

Were Carly Fiorina to become the Republican Presidential nominee, she would have to overcome the reality that she would be only the second Presidential nominee in history, after Republican Wendell Willkie in 1940, to be on a national ticket, not counting third party Presidential nominee Ross Perot in 1992 and 1996.

But there are more obstacles to overcome, such as her personality and her viewpoints on major issues.

Fiorina is not exactly Ms. Charming, and is actually extremely arrogant, snobby, elitist, with a sense of entitlement that borders on obnoxious. She thinks she is very smart, which she may be in the business world, but she wears it as she goes about her daily life, and it is not exactly appealing.

Fiorina comes across as someone who we cannot resist, as she says she is above 90 percent likely to run for President, quite an egotistical, insufferable statement, which makes one want to say: “OK, Carly, if that is the case, what are you waiting for then? Go ahead and announce!”

The fact is that Carly Fiorina made enemies as CEO of Hewlett Packard, made many enemies in the corporate world, and would be very hard to work with, as she thinks she has all of the answers to everything, and that we are blessed to be in her presence. She was so “popular” that she was fired from Hewlett-Packard, and given a “golden parachute” upon leaving, making her extremely wealthy, and therefore, totally unconcerned about other women who are not as fortunate as her! She has been rated one of the ten worst CEOs ever in American history, making many enemies and critics.

Carly Fiorina showed her true nature when she ran for the Senate in California against Barbara Boxer in 2010, losing by ten points. And she has now shown her true lack of concern for the drought issue in California, by stating it is not part of climate change, but simply the result of “liberal environmentalists’ who have harmed industrial development while working to save endangered species, a totally outrageous, asinine statement. She had accepted big contributions from both oil and coal industry lobbyists during her Senate campaign, and takes the typical Republican view on most issues.

Fiorina has gone on the attack against Hillary Clinton with relish, but it is clear that while Hillary Clinton has faults, her record of experience and abilities far surpasses Carly Fiorina in every measurement.

So let’s just say, Carly Fiorina is no match for Hillary Clinton!