It makes no sense.  Actually, it makes absolute sense to those that seek the truth or are slightly educated.  If America’s fiscal health was really that important to Republicans and Democrats, there would be no oil subsidies. It’s a big one, about $40 billion a year in subsidies, tax breaks and loop holes.  And guess what?  It’s to the richest companies in the world, so I doubt that it’s going to put any of them out of business.

The argument of jobs is a mute point here.  Pain at the pump?  This isn’t a genius idea, but maybe that might drive a change in consumer behavior and increase demand for alternatives.  It’s basic supply and demand people, but that’s not what Republicans nor Democrats want you to believe.  And why is that?  Because those .01% that represent you in the White House get handouts from the energy industry.  They get campaign funds, appointed retirement positions, bogus board member positions, lobby jobs, and don’t forget a nice dividend in their stock portfolios when energy companies do well on your backs.

It’s time to wake up and stop believing what the White House wants you to believe.

And Paul Ryan, Romney’s new running mate, proposed a budget that does nothing to address this problem:

By CAPAF’s Daniel J.  Weiss and Richard W.  Caperton

House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan’s (R-WI) proposed FY 2012 budget resolution is a backward-looking plan that would benefit big oil companies at the expense of middle-class Americans. It retains $40 billion in Big Oil tax loopholes while completely eliminating investments in the clean energy technologies of the future that are essential for long-term economic growth.

This budget would lock Americans into paying high, volatile energy prices. It would ensure that millions of clean energy jobs are created oversees–not here in the United States. It is a path backward to Bush-Cheney Big Oil energy policies that cost jobs and harm American competitiveness. In short, the Ryan plan ensures that we lose the high-stakes competition for the $2 trillion worldwide clean tech market.

Ryan claimed in a Wall Street Journal op-ed that his plan “rolls back expensive handouts for uncompetitive sources of energy, calling instead for a free and open marketplace for energy development, innovation and exploration.” This is false. Ryan’s proposal actually violates his assertion in two ways. It maintains wasteful subsidies for Big Oil, while cutting valuable investments in the clean energy technologies of the future.

Let’s consider each of these in turn. First, Ryan’s plan would continue “welfare” for big oil companies.

Ryan was asked several times in a recent interview whether his plan would “eliminate tax breaks for Big Oil,” but he refused to answer. Evading an uncomfortable question was his acknowledgment that his budget hatchet leaves Big Oil tax breaks untouched . This is consistent with his recent vote to keep Big Oil tax loopholes as part of the FY 2011 spending bill, while cutting education, medical research, and clean-tech investments.

In addition to receiving $40 billion of unnecessary tax breaks, Big Oil does not pay its fair share of royalties for oil and gas produced from publicly owned waters. TheGovernment Accountability Office estimates that a loophole in a 1990s oil-and-gas law could deprive the treasury of $53 billion in lost royalties. In February, the House Republicans overwhelmingly voted against recovering these royalties. Although Ryan’s budget claims that it “stops spending money the government doesn’t have,” it does nothing to recoup these forgone funds. This is another gift for Big Oil, paid for by middle-class taxpayers who must suffer the consequences of other steep spending cuts.

– Daniel J. Weiss is a Senior Fellow and the Director of Climate Strategy and Richard W. Caperton is a Senior Policy Analyst with the Energy Opportunity team at American Progress.

High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) continues to lead the way to obesity in America. The government continues to subsidize it and farmers continue to grow it as a cash crop.

• It’s fertilizer is harmful for consumption and produces entire dead zones in our water ways.
• The government subsidizes a crop that is the leading cause of obesity which increases our health care costs in America.
• 8.2% of corn is turned into High Fructose Corn Syrup
• Are population is dying earlier from obesity.
• Our children are obese.
• Subsidized corn enables soft drink makers to sell at extremely low prices making them more appealing than water or real juice.
• It’s destroying our forests as farmers seek to expand their farming area to cash in on corn.

There is nothing healthy about the way corn is produced and processed in America.  So why do you think this is happening?

If it was an option, would you vote this way? Maybe it would send a message.

“Today I’m directing my administration to cut through the red tape, break through the bureaucratic hurdles, and make this project (Keystone Pipeline) a priority.”

Obama said this while standing without a tie at a podium that was surrounded by rows of green and copper-colored piping segments.

It’s campaign time for President Obama and he and the Democratic party are determined to win back voters disillusioned with the price of gas.  The price of gas impacts hundreds of millions of Americans and it’s a big issue during campaign season when prices rise.  What American’s don’t know is that fuel prices are determined by global markets that America currently has little influence on.

Watching the President stand in front of the piles of pipeline, it’s hard to believe this was the same President who said after the Gulf oil spill “we cannot afford not to change how we produce and use energy,” or who said as a Presidential candidate, “the age of oil must end in our time.”

Obama has come 180 degrees of his original message.  It happens with all Presidents eventually.  They realize they don’t have the political will, the personal will nor the backing of their party to make the change needed to create a better future for the United States.  I can’t just blame the President and the Democrats, I also blame the ignorant American people that refuse to look past themselves and the short term.  It’s amazing how much a parent seems to care about their child, yet they don’t do much to make it a better world for them.  It must be too difficult.

Sourced from Jeff Mason of Reuters

Sourced from Credo Action: Tell President Obama: Lead on climate, don’t cheerlead on Keystone XL

Last Thursday, the EPA announced that Dimock, PA’s water was safe to drink. But was it really safe?

Is the EPA putting people’s health in jeopardy?

The EPA refused to release the test results to the public or the media, so Water Defense and Josh Fox went to Dimock ourselves and obtained the test summaries directly from the families. We found that the results showed explosive levels of methane and dozens of toxic chemicals used in the fracking process (which are NOT safe to drink!) Watch our new video with Dimock residents here.

Despite the EPA’s attempts to downplay their own science, these results vindicate Dimock residents who have for years bravely spoken out about how natural gas drilling poisoned their water.

Finally, we have the proof. Not only that, but we have the law on our side; Pennsylvania code requires water this dangerous to be replaced. But we need EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson to take action and demand that the State of Pennsylvania do its job by providing these families with access to safe water.

Please call EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson at 202-564-4700 and tell her to compel the State of Pennsylvania to provide long-term water replacement for the Dimock residents.

These results highlight an escalating water crisis afflicting people across Pennsylvania. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Pennsylvania citizens are coping with water that’s been poisoned by gas drilling. Next week, we’re going to launch a new campaign to demand action on the growing water crisis in Pennsylvania, and expose the grievous human toll of gas drilling nationwide.

But first we need to make sure that Dimock residents have long-term access to clean water. Please call Administrator Jackson at 202-564-4700 and demand long-term water replacement for Dimock.

Make no mistake about it, these test results were a major victory. And we would never have gotten there without your help. Since December, Water Defense has been providing weekly water deliveries to Dimock residents after the DEP let Cabot off the hook for providing water. If hundreds of people had not come forward with donations to keep those deliveries going, the families in Dimock would have been forced to sign nondisclosure agreements in order to receive safe water. Right now the EPA is still delivering water to four families, but seven other families are still depending on your help. As we keep the pressure up on the EPA to take action, please donate here to fund these ongoing water deliveries.

Sourced from Water Defense - via http://www.waterdefense.org/

As the 6 month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement creeps into early morning Sunday, more arrest stories start to surface.  Some are initially exaggerated, but some are serious.  José, a #OWS protestor, had his head smashed into a storefront door window during an arrest by NYC police officers.

In the video at 3:50 you will see the officers push the man, known as José, into the glass door. With the both his hands behind his back, I am not sure if the aggressiveness was needed.  What do you think.  Add your opinions in the comment section.

On the 6 month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement, occupy protestors swarm the streets of NYC and congregate again in Zuccotti Park.  NYC police officers raided the park, cleared out the protestors and arrested a few in the end.  Around midnight on Saturday night, early Sunday morning Cecily McMillian was running through the crowd and elbowed what appeared to be a police officer in the face.  The ordeal was caught on video tape by an onlooker.  The video doesn’t show her seizure, but we do see her initial action and the retaliation by the NYC police officers.

Updated March 18, 2011  12:00pm EST

Detailed video while she was having seizure and the many minutes that followed.

Gerald Zirnstein first coined the term “pink slime” in a memo to his bosses at the USDA when he advised them to not allow these trimmings in human food. As we know, the USDA is an organization that is easily persuaded by lobbyists and big business, like all of US government. His boses told the scientists, hired by the USDA to protect our food and health, that pink slime would be allowed and it didn’t require disclosure.

Pink Slime USDA Certified Meat

Gerald, now a whistleblower, claims that 70% of our ground beef in the grocery store contains pink slime. As a scientist, he knows it’s not good for us. Gerald grinds his own meat at home.

A Corrupt USDA

ABC writes:

ABC News has learned the woman who made the decision to OK the mix is a former undersecretary of agriculture, Joann Smith. It was a call that led to hundred of millions of dollars for Beef Products Inc., the makers of pink slime.

When Smith stepped down from the USDA in 1993, BPI’s principal major supplier appointed her to its board of directors, where she made at least $1.2 million over 17 years.

The Senate rejected the Republican Highway Bill amendment Thursday that would have ignored the Obama administration’s decision to postpone the Keystone Pipeline. Construction would have started immediately as part of the Highway Bill.

Fifty-six senators voted in favor of the amendment — four short of the 60 required for approval.

There is a clear division in the Democratic Party with Unions supporting the Keystone pipeline and environmentalists against it. The fight is far from over.

Whaling in the Faroe Islands in the North Atlantic has been practiced since about the time of the first Norse settlements on the islands. It is regulated by Faroese authorities but not by the International Whaling Commission as there are disagreements about the Commission’s competency for small cetaceans. Around 950 Long-finned Pilot Whales (Globicephala melaena) are killed annually, mainly during the summer. The hunts, called “grindadráp” in Faroese, are non-commercial and are organized on a community level; anyone can participate. The hunters first surround the pilot whales with a wide semicircle of boats. The boats then drive the pilot whales slowly into a bay or to the bottom of a fjord.

Pilot Whales and Bottlenose Dolphins are both captured during the kills and provide meat to the community, meaning it’s not sold in stores. The Faroese argue it’s a tradition lasting several centuries and their kill is rather humane compared to the lives that pigs, cattle and chickens live in the West. Pilot Whales live free their entire lives until the kill, in which may only submit the whales and dolphins to several minutes of extreme trauma and pain.

The Faroese Ministry of Health has since issued and advisory against eating whale meat as it now contains unhealthy levels of mercury and other poisons.