July 16, 2010
COLUMBUS: The big financial reform bill passed Congress. This is the Dodd-Frank bill I told you about last month. I thought they had passed it at 5 in the morning, but that was only a preliminary bill. They took another three weeks to see how much more they could pile on to it.
They got the bill up to 2300 pages, but they still could not find room for even a paragraph on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. How can they claim to reform Wall Street and prevent another financial catastrophe when the main culprits are left alone? That’s like saying, we will stop illegal immigration by patrolling the Mexican border, except for Arizona.
Next they are going to take on the electric power companies. See, this oil spill down in the Gulf made Congress so mad at Big Oil they are getting even by attacking Coal. Senator Kerry says we can’t tax the carbon in oil and gasoline now, so we’ll tax the carbon in coal. I guess he figures we would gripe if we see the price of gasoline increase at the pump, but an increase in the electric bill will slip through.
It appears that BP has capped the well. Once we know for sure there is no more oil leaking into the Gulf, vacationers will return to the beaches. There will still be millions of gallons of oil floating in the water, but people will react to a few tar balls the same as they do to jellyfish: we’ll put up with a little annoyance to enjoy the water and sandy beaches.
The heat has been in the news, and not just the Heat in Miami that signed LeBron James. It’s been so hot across the country Al Gore wishes he had scheduled a Global Warming conference this month. He could gather his doubters in a big convention center, turn off the air conditioning, and start talking. By supper time they would all be persuaded. And talking all day, Al would sweat so much he could go straight to sleep without need of a massage.
The NAACP is angry at the Tea Party, and the Tea Party is upset about the Black Panthers. The Constitution is in the middle, and you wonder how many have read it.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
(Many folks say) "‘Leave the Constitution alone.’ And that's mighty good logic. But here's something they forget. You or I can rightfully say we got where we are by these laws, but there's a lot of folks that haven't got anywhere under ‘em, you know. And the prospects ain't any too bright for 'em to get any further. So they might not be averse to some small change in the Constitution. They might say, ‘Yes, give us what you've got, and we'll say it's a perfect Constitution, too.’ See?
So it all gets back to just how good has the Constitution been to you? That's all it is. And nobody can answer that question but yourself. I would say that to the big majority, almost a unanimous majority over a long course of years, it's been a mighty fine old document, and any person will think mighty serious before he'll vote for any change in the Constitution." Radio, July 9, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Showing posts with label Oil Spill. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oil Spill. Show all posts
Monday, July 19, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Weekly Comments: Sen. Byrd helps state one last time #610
July 4, 2010
WESTON, West Va: Senator Robert Byrd left the Capitol Building for a final time last week. He was elected to Congress the same year Eisenhower was elected President, 1952.
As President, Eisenhower is remembered for building the Interstate Highway system. In West Virginia, Byrd is remembered for building everything else. Not quite, but he did arrange for a few buildings, including Social Security and FBI units, to settle in West Virginia when they ran out of space in DC.
I got to introduce him once in 1978 in Charleston when a wonderful group called Toastmasters gave him a Communication and Leadership award. He was the Senate Majority Leader at the time.
Byrd’s funeral was Friday in Charleston. When you look over the list of dignitaries who attended, including the President and Congressional leaders, you realize that, even in death, he managed to bring a few more federal dollars to his home state.
Down on the Gulf coast, a lot of beaches were deserted for the holiday. Usually hurricanes get the blame, but this year it’s BP.
I don’t want to get tarred and feathered for helping out BP, but if we expect them to pay all these Billions in costs, they’ve got to sell some gasoline, and people are boycotting BP filling stations. Here’s my idea: change the name of the stations from BP to Amoco. Americans like Amoco, which traces it’s roots to the Standard Oil companies of John D. Rockefeller. Henry Ford and Rockefeller did more to put Americans on the move than anyone. And Eisenhower helped them get there on smooth pavement without a stoplight at every intersection.
Did you know that President Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4? He has become kind of a patron saint to the Tea Party folks, not because of when he was born but what he did as President. Here’s how I summarized his record as he left office in March 1929:"Coolidge (becomes President) and does nothing and retires a hero, not only because he hadn't done anything but because he had done it better than anyone."
President Obama gave a speech on illegal immigration: "No matter how decent they are, the 11 million who broke these laws should be held accountable. We’re going to publish their pictures in the newspaper. Then we’ll expedite their hearings so they can vote in 2012." He didn’t really say the last part, but he was thinking it. The 11 million he referred to is an underestimate, and if he wrangles a way to make these folks American citizens without shutting down our borders, he’ll find out there’s 20 or 30 million by the time he leaves office.
Historic quote from Will Rogers: (on Independence Day speeches)
"Never was as much politics indulged in under the guise of Freedom and Liberty. They was 5 per cent what George Washington did, and 95 per cent what the speaker intended to do." DT #2782, July 5, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
WESTON, West Va: Senator Robert Byrd left the Capitol Building for a final time last week. He was elected to Congress the same year Eisenhower was elected President, 1952.
As President, Eisenhower is remembered for building the Interstate Highway system. In West Virginia, Byrd is remembered for building everything else. Not quite, but he did arrange for a few buildings, including Social Security and FBI units, to settle in West Virginia when they ran out of space in DC.
I got to introduce him once in 1978 in Charleston when a wonderful group called Toastmasters gave him a Communication and Leadership award. He was the Senate Majority Leader at the time.
Byrd’s funeral was Friday in Charleston. When you look over the list of dignitaries who attended, including the President and Congressional leaders, you realize that, even in death, he managed to bring a few more federal dollars to his home state.
Down on the Gulf coast, a lot of beaches were deserted for the holiday. Usually hurricanes get the blame, but this year it’s BP.
I don’t want to get tarred and feathered for helping out BP, but if we expect them to pay all these Billions in costs, they’ve got to sell some gasoline, and people are boycotting BP filling stations. Here’s my idea: change the name of the stations from BP to Amoco. Americans like Amoco, which traces it’s roots to the Standard Oil companies of John D. Rockefeller. Henry Ford and Rockefeller did more to put Americans on the move than anyone. And Eisenhower helped them get there on smooth pavement without a stoplight at every intersection.
Did you know that President Calvin Coolidge was born on July 4? He has become kind of a patron saint to the Tea Party folks, not because of when he was born but what he did as President. Here’s how I summarized his record as he left office in March 1929:"Coolidge (becomes President) and does nothing and retires a hero, not only because he hadn't done anything but because he had done it better than anyone."
President Obama gave a speech on illegal immigration: "No matter how decent they are, the 11 million who broke these laws should be held accountable. We’re going to publish their pictures in the newspaper. Then we’ll expedite their hearings so they can vote in 2012." He didn’t really say the last part, but he was thinking it. The 11 million he referred to is an underestimate, and if he wrangles a way to make these folks American citizens without shutting down our borders, he’ll find out there’s 20 or 30 million by the time he leaves office.
Historic quote from Will Rogers: (on Independence Day speeches)
"Never was as much politics indulged in under the guise of Freedom and Liberty. They was 5 per cent what George Washington did, and 95 per cent what the speaker intended to do." DT #2782, July 5, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Weekly Comments: What BP really wanted to tell Congress #608
June 20, 2010
COLUMBUS: Congress grilled Tony Hayward. By the tone of their questions to the president of BP, some of them literally wanted to put him on one of those big rotisserie grills where you roast a pig. Those Congressmen wanted a piece of him, preferably well done.
Years ago, I would sometimes make up a narrative for a Weekly Article. Last week if BP’s Hayward had said what he was thinking instead of what the company lawyers told him to say, I think the Congressional hearing would have been more honest and educational.
Congressman: How long do you think you will keep your job?
BP: I’m not spending even one minute thinking about keeping my job. We’re working to cap the well and then clean up the Gulf. By the way, how much time do you spend raising money to keep your job?
Congressman: Didn’t you take unnecessary risks with drilling this well? I demand an answer, Yes or No.
BP: Yes. We were forced, unnecessarily, to drill in water a mile deep. That’s an unnecessary risk. We prefer drilling on land, or in shallow water. On federal land, this well would have been capped quickly, put into production, and we would already be writing checks to the U.S. Treasury. Big checks.
Congressman: Why weren’t you personally overseeing the drilling of that well?
BP: We have drilled hundreds of wells every year for years around the world. I can’t keep an eye on each one.
Congressman (interrupting): I have had hundreds of pork barrel projects in my District, and I always keep close tabs on each one.
BP: At BP we don’t have a "grand opening" when a well is completed, and I don’t show up for photos. My job is to run a company. I have to balance a budget. Last year we took in $20 Billion more than we spent. How did you fellows do with your budget?
Congressman: Do you have technical assistants here today?
BP: No, it’s just me. They’re all working to stop the leak. That’s our main concern.
Congressman: I’m most concerned about the small business people along the Gulf coast.
BP. I’m concerned about the small people, too. We’ll make payments to all the small people who are harmed economically by the spill. Now, your President has imposed a 6-month delay in all off-shore drilling. Who will pay the laid off workers, and small businesses harmed by this unnecessary decision?
Now, that would have been entertaining. The well may be putting out 100,000 barrels a day (worth, conservatively, $5 million/day) so you know Mr. Hayward wants to stop the leak even if he did take a day off to watch a yacht race.
This is Father’s Day, and also West Virginia Day. In 1863, after General Stonewall Jackson got killed at Chancellorsville in May, the western half of old Virginia gave up on the Confederacy and asked President Lincoln if they could split and join up with him. Lincoln agreed and signed the papers.
Ironically, 147 years later we’ve got a state already in the Union who asked the President for help, and instead he is going to sue them. Just another example of why, despite all our hopes and dreams, there may never be another Lincoln.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"(You have heard) Lincoln's famous remark, "God must have loved the common people because he made so many of them." You are not going to get people's votes nowadays by calling them common. Lincoln might have said it but I bet you it was not until after he was elected." WA #84, July 20, 1924
(At the end of a tribute on Mother’s Day... ) "Father had a day, but you can't find anybody who remembers when it was. It's been so confused with April the first." Radio, May 12, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Congress grilled Tony Hayward. By the tone of their questions to the president of BP, some of them literally wanted to put him on one of those big rotisserie grills where you roast a pig. Those Congressmen wanted a piece of him, preferably well done.
Years ago, I would sometimes make up a narrative for a Weekly Article. Last week if BP’s Hayward had said what he was thinking instead of what the company lawyers told him to say, I think the Congressional hearing would have been more honest and educational.
Congressman: How long do you think you will keep your job?
BP: I’m not spending even one minute thinking about keeping my job. We’re working to cap the well and then clean up the Gulf. By the way, how much time do you spend raising money to keep your job?
Congressman: Didn’t you take unnecessary risks with drilling this well? I demand an answer, Yes or No.
BP: Yes. We were forced, unnecessarily, to drill in water a mile deep. That’s an unnecessary risk. We prefer drilling on land, or in shallow water. On federal land, this well would have been capped quickly, put into production, and we would already be writing checks to the U.S. Treasury. Big checks.
Congressman: Why weren’t you personally overseeing the drilling of that well?
BP: We have drilled hundreds of wells every year for years around the world. I can’t keep an eye on each one.
Congressman (interrupting): I have had hundreds of pork barrel projects in my District, and I always keep close tabs on each one.
BP: At BP we don’t have a "grand opening" when a well is completed, and I don’t show up for photos. My job is to run a company. I have to balance a budget. Last year we took in $20 Billion more than we spent. How did you fellows do with your budget?
Congressman: Do you have technical assistants here today?
BP: No, it’s just me. They’re all working to stop the leak. That’s our main concern.
Congressman: I’m most concerned about the small business people along the Gulf coast.
BP. I’m concerned about the small people, too. We’ll make payments to all the small people who are harmed economically by the spill. Now, your President has imposed a 6-month delay in all off-shore drilling. Who will pay the laid off workers, and small businesses harmed by this unnecessary decision?
Now, that would have been entertaining. The well may be putting out 100,000 barrels a day (worth, conservatively, $5 million/day) so you know Mr. Hayward wants to stop the leak even if he did take a day off to watch a yacht race.
This is Father’s Day, and also West Virginia Day. In 1863, after General Stonewall Jackson got killed at Chancellorsville in May, the western half of old Virginia gave up on the Confederacy and asked President Lincoln if they could split and join up with him. Lincoln agreed and signed the papers.
Ironically, 147 years later we’ve got a state already in the Union who asked the President for help, and instead he is going to sue them. Just another example of why, despite all our hopes and dreams, there may never be another Lincoln.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"(You have heard) Lincoln's famous remark, "God must have loved the common people because he made so many of them." You are not going to get people's votes nowadays by calling them common. Lincoln might have said it but I bet you it was not until after he was elected." WA #84, July 20, 1924
(At the end of a tribute on Mother’s Day... ) "Father had a day, but you can't find anybody who remembers when it was. It's been so confused with April the first." Radio, May 12, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Weekly Comments: Shovel and pail can aid oil spill #607
June 13, 2010
COLUMBUS: President Obama has called the BP President to the White House for an Oil Summit. If he really wants to stop the oil gusher, he should also bring in the presidents from Exxon, Chevron, Shell and Conoco-Phillips.
These Big Oil presidents are scheduled to meet with Congress on Tuesday. That’ll be a bigger waste than the uncapped well. Congressmen will spend all day asking long-winded questions because they’re on television. There’ll be no time left for answers.
Instead, President Obama needs to get all these fellows huddled in a back room at the White House. He could say, "Give me your five best ideas on how to cap the well." There ought to be at least a couple plans that could work.
Folks keep raising the guess on how much oil is being spilled. Last I heard the well might be producing 50,000 barrels a day. If it was in your home state instead of a mile under water in the Gulf, can you imagine the headlines? It would be bigger the California gold strike in ‘49. Local officials would be dancing in the streets. The Governor would declare a holiday.
Meanwhile the environmentalists are battling the Chamber of Commerce. On TV every night the environmentalists tell how terrible the oil is along the coast from Louisiana to Key West. That scares away the vacationers. Then the local Chamber comes on and says, "No, the beaches in our town are clean, no oil in sight. Bring your family and enjoy our pristine sand."
This could be a great beach vacation season for families. Along with sun screen and beach chairs, make sure every kid has a shovel and pail. If the beach has no oil, they build sand castles. If there is some oil, the kids can put their shovels and pails to good use, cleaning a stretch of beach. They get to keep all the oil they can haul home.
The World Cup has started in South Africa. In the first three days, all the games either ended in a tie or a shutout. I don’t know much about soccer. I heard an expert say after the United States and England tied 1-1, that a tie was better than a win. So now I know even less than I thought. Here’s how the World Cup will be decided: any team that can’t score is eliminated. The teams that can score enough to tie their opponents will be declared Champions. A 10-way tie for World Cup Champion would be about perfect.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"After a football (soccer) game in Lima, Peru, five were killed. They only kill ten in a revolution down there, so two games equals one revolution. Up here we don't kill our football players. We make coaches out of the smartest ones and send the others to the Legislature." DT #1389, Jan. 5, 1931
"For five straight years (Uruguay) has had the champion football soccer team in the world, and they play any country. The referee stays inside a big wire net where the spectators can't get at him. Down here the people vote on whether they will hold a football game or a revolution, both equal in casualties." DT #1939, Oct. 21, 1932
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: President Obama has called the BP President to the White House for an Oil Summit. If he really wants to stop the oil gusher, he should also bring in the presidents from Exxon, Chevron, Shell and Conoco-Phillips.
These Big Oil presidents are scheduled to meet with Congress on Tuesday. That’ll be a bigger waste than the uncapped well. Congressmen will spend all day asking long-winded questions because they’re on television. There’ll be no time left for answers.
Instead, President Obama needs to get all these fellows huddled in a back room at the White House. He could say, "Give me your five best ideas on how to cap the well." There ought to be at least a couple plans that could work.
Folks keep raising the guess on how much oil is being spilled. Last I heard the well might be producing 50,000 barrels a day. If it was in your home state instead of a mile under water in the Gulf, can you imagine the headlines? It would be bigger the California gold strike in ‘49. Local officials would be dancing in the streets. The Governor would declare a holiday.
Meanwhile the environmentalists are battling the Chamber of Commerce. On TV every night the environmentalists tell how terrible the oil is along the coast from Louisiana to Key West. That scares away the vacationers. Then the local Chamber comes on and says, "No, the beaches in our town are clean, no oil in sight. Bring your family and enjoy our pristine sand."
This could be a great beach vacation season for families. Along with sun screen and beach chairs, make sure every kid has a shovel and pail. If the beach has no oil, they build sand castles. If there is some oil, the kids can put their shovels and pails to good use, cleaning a stretch of beach. They get to keep all the oil they can haul home.
The World Cup has started in South Africa. In the first three days, all the games either ended in a tie or a shutout. I don’t know much about soccer. I heard an expert say after the United States and England tied 1-1, that a tie was better than a win. So now I know even less than I thought. Here’s how the World Cup will be decided: any team that can’t score is eliminated. The teams that can score enough to tie their opponents will be declared Champions. A 10-way tie for World Cup Champion would be about perfect.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"After a football (soccer) game in Lima, Peru, five were killed. They only kill ten in a revolution down there, so two games equals one revolution. Up here we don't kill our football players. We make coaches out of the smartest ones and send the others to the Legislature." DT #1389, Jan. 5, 1931
"For five straight years (Uruguay) has had the champion football soccer team in the world, and they play any country. The referee stays inside a big wire net where the spectators can't get at him. Down here the people vote on whether they will hold a football game or a revolution, both equal in casualties." DT #1939, Oct. 21, 1932
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Weekly Comments: Will won’t trade column for a federal job #605
May 30, 2010
COLUMBUS: Before I get started, I want to get one thing straight. The Obama administration has not promised me a job to get me to stop writing this column. Not even a position on an advisory commission. Now, if they had offered a job on a commission (which they didn’t) the weekly pay would be exactly the same as I get from these Comments. Although they never offered a job to get me to quit, there may be a few times they wanted to shoot me.
The oil keeps on flowing from that BP well, at around 15,000 barrels a day. Wouldn’t you like to receive the one-eighth royalties on a well like that? I know we’re not supposed to see anything but the negatives from this disaster, but consider how many square feet of solar panels it would take to equal the oil from a well like this in a year? Or wind machines?
Petroleum engineers say this oil gusher would be fairly easy to manage if it was on land or in shallow water. I believe them, but I’m not sure they ever had one spewing out this much oil. Everybody hopes, when drilling, they don’t hit a dry hole. But when you hit one with ten times or a hundred times the oil that was planned for, it can be a big a problem.
The government sure doesn’t know how to plug a well. (Stuffing it full of dollar bills won’t work.) But they could perhaps handle the clean up. The President should name a General or Admiral to head it, and bring in men and machines and boats, to collect the oil and keep it off the shores. Work with the Louisiana Governor, oil companies and others that have the materials and the knowhow to get it done. Don’t forget about the idea of using hay to soak up oil.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"(Presidential advisory) commissions are fine, but they turn in a lot of data about something that ain't so good. Now, Mr. Hoover (is a) conscientious, fine, hard-working man, and appointing a commission is not any crime. But it seems like a presidential commission don't get nothin' done. They don't really earn the breakfast that they give 'em at the White House the day they appoint 'em." Radio, April 30, 1933
"(President Warren G. Harding) spoke on Decoration Day at Arlington Cemetery... Mr. Harding said that, in case of another war that capital would be drafted the same as men. He put over a thought that, if carried out, would do more to stop Wars than all the International Courts and Leagues of Nations in the world. Of the three things to prevent wars, League of Nations, International Court, and this Drafting of Capital, this last one is so far ahead of the others there is no comparison. When that Wall Street Millionaire knows that... you come in to get his dough, say, boy, there wouldn't be any war." WA #29, July 1, 1923
"A sure certainty about our Memorial Days is as fast as the ranks from one war thin out, the ranks from another take their place. Prominent men run out of Decoration Day speeches, but the world never runs out of wars. People talk peace, but men give their life's work to war. It won't stop till there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war." DT #888, May 31, 1929
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Before I get started, I want to get one thing straight. The Obama administration has not promised me a job to get me to stop writing this column. Not even a position on an advisory commission. Now, if they had offered a job on a commission (which they didn’t) the weekly pay would be exactly the same as I get from these Comments. Although they never offered a job to get me to quit, there may be a few times they wanted to shoot me.
The oil keeps on flowing from that BP well, at around 15,000 barrels a day. Wouldn’t you like to receive the one-eighth royalties on a well like that? I know we’re not supposed to see anything but the negatives from this disaster, but consider how many square feet of solar panels it would take to equal the oil from a well like this in a year? Or wind machines?
Petroleum engineers say this oil gusher would be fairly easy to manage if it was on land or in shallow water. I believe them, but I’m not sure they ever had one spewing out this much oil. Everybody hopes, when drilling, they don’t hit a dry hole. But when you hit one with ten times or a hundred times the oil that was planned for, it can be a big a problem.
The government sure doesn’t know how to plug a well. (Stuffing it full of dollar bills won’t work.) But they could perhaps handle the clean up. The President should name a General or Admiral to head it, and bring in men and machines and boats, to collect the oil and keep it off the shores. Work with the Louisiana Governor, oil companies and others that have the materials and the knowhow to get it done. Don’t forget about the idea of using hay to soak up oil.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"(Presidential advisory) commissions are fine, but they turn in a lot of data about something that ain't so good. Now, Mr. Hoover (is a) conscientious, fine, hard-working man, and appointing a commission is not any crime. But it seems like a presidential commission don't get nothin' done. They don't really earn the breakfast that they give 'em at the White House the day they appoint 'em." Radio, April 30, 1933
"(President Warren G. Harding) spoke on Decoration Day at Arlington Cemetery... Mr. Harding said that, in case of another war that capital would be drafted the same as men. He put over a thought that, if carried out, would do more to stop Wars than all the International Courts and Leagues of Nations in the world. Of the three things to prevent wars, League of Nations, International Court, and this Drafting of Capital, this last one is so far ahead of the others there is no comparison. When that Wall Street Millionaire knows that... you come in to get his dough, say, boy, there wouldn't be any war." WA #29, July 1, 1923
"A sure certainty about our Memorial Days is as fast as the ranks from one war thin out, the ranks from another take their place. Prominent men run out of Decoration Day speeches, but the world never runs out of wars. People talk peace, but men give their life's work to war. It won't stop till there is as much brains and scientific study put to aid peace as there is to promote war." DT #888, May 31, 1929
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Weekly Comments: Farmers say hay is solution to oil spill #603
May 16, 2010
COLUMBUS: I heard today that the majority of people in Greece support the government’s attempts to rein in spending and keep from going bankrupt. You would never guess it from the pictures of all the rioters on television. Seems the only ones who get attention are the freeloaders who want something for nothing. They are not too keen on a 20 percent pay cut, and having to work past 53 before retiring on full salary.
Ireland, Spain and Portugal are next in line to cut spending. In Britain the Conservatives welcomed the Liberal Democrats into the fold to work on a financial solution. So far they have agreed on one thing; they don’t want Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.
Elena Kagan appears to be on a clear path to the Supreme Court. She was born in New York City, graduated from Harvard Law, and is either a Catholic or Jew. So right there she meets 95 percent of the qualifications. She’s smart, and will please President Obama by siding with his liberal views. At the same time, it’s hard to believe no one born, raised and educated west of the Hudson River is qualified to be nominated for Supreme Court justice. For the next opening, let’s all get behind someone from, say, Texas, Oklahoma or Montana. It’s time for some Western wisdom on the bench.
In other news, tonight in the Miss USA contest Miss Oklahoma was asked her opinion on Arizona’s new immigration law. She supports the law. "I'm a huge believer in states' rights. So I think it's perfectly fine for Arizona to create that law." She came in second.
BP had a bit of success sticking a one-mile long drinking straw into the leaking well. Really, it’s bigger than a straw and may help get most of the oil pumped into a ship. There’s still over a million barrels of oil floating around the Gulf.
Here’s an idea I heard from a couple of farmers: soak up the oil with hay. Take hay bales left over from last winter, shred the bales and drop the hay from an airplane over the oil slicks. The hay would absorb the oil, leaving the water clear. It would float, and any oil-soaked hay that washes up on shore can be raked and baled and then burned in an electric power plant. (I bet you would never hear a down to earth idea like that from a New York City-born Harvard lawyer.)
Environmentalist have important concerns about off-shore drilling. But consider the amazing output from this single well. If there’s oil under the entire Gulf of Mexico like this gusher, maybe we should drain the Gulf and turn the whole area into a gigantic oil field. Build a dam from Florida to Cancun and pump out the water.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Flew right over that new Texas oil field that has made oil so cheap that it's cheaper to strike a dry hole." DT #1487, April 29, 1931
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: I heard today that the majority of people in Greece support the government’s attempts to rein in spending and keep from going bankrupt. You would never guess it from the pictures of all the rioters on television. Seems the only ones who get attention are the freeloaders who want something for nothing. They are not too keen on a 20 percent pay cut, and having to work past 53 before retiring on full salary.
Ireland, Spain and Portugal are next in line to cut spending. In Britain the Conservatives welcomed the Liberal Democrats into the fold to work on a financial solution. So far they have agreed on one thing; they don’t want Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.
Elena Kagan appears to be on a clear path to the Supreme Court. She was born in New York City, graduated from Harvard Law, and is either a Catholic or Jew. So right there she meets 95 percent of the qualifications. She’s smart, and will please President Obama by siding with his liberal views. At the same time, it’s hard to believe no one born, raised and educated west of the Hudson River is qualified to be nominated for Supreme Court justice. For the next opening, let’s all get behind someone from, say, Texas, Oklahoma or Montana. It’s time for some Western wisdom on the bench.
In other news, tonight in the Miss USA contest Miss Oklahoma was asked her opinion on Arizona’s new immigration law. She supports the law. "I'm a huge believer in states' rights. So I think it's perfectly fine for Arizona to create that law." She came in second.
BP had a bit of success sticking a one-mile long drinking straw into the leaking well. Really, it’s bigger than a straw and may help get most of the oil pumped into a ship. There’s still over a million barrels of oil floating around the Gulf.
Here’s an idea I heard from a couple of farmers: soak up the oil with hay. Take hay bales left over from last winter, shred the bales and drop the hay from an airplane over the oil slicks. The hay would absorb the oil, leaving the water clear. It would float, and any oil-soaked hay that washes up on shore can be raked and baled and then burned in an electric power plant. (I bet you would never hear a down to earth idea like that from a New York City-born Harvard lawyer.)
Environmentalist have important concerns about off-shore drilling. But consider the amazing output from this single well. If there’s oil under the entire Gulf of Mexico like this gusher, maybe we should drain the Gulf and turn the whole area into a gigantic oil field. Build a dam from Florida to Cancun and pump out the water.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Flew right over that new Texas oil field that has made oil so cheap that it's cheaper to strike a dry hole." DT #1487, April 29, 1931
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Monday, May 10, 2010
Weekly Comments: Greece, oil and immigrants affect US economy #602
May 9, 2010
COLUMBUS: Just when we get Wall Street and the stock market in a mood to grow, Greece goes bankrupt and knocks our finances in a tailspin. Spain and Ireland are teetering on the edge of a financial cliff. In France, a thousand farmers drove their tractors into Paris to protest the low price for crops and higher taxes. England held an election and nobody won, so the Queen might have to step in and earn her salary. I think Europe was better off when they were covered by the volcano ash cloud.
The problem in Greece is the government overspent and overpromised. Greeks are guaranteed a high retirement income and they live a long, long time after they retire. The government has been living on borrowed money, and the younger folks are not thrilled at the prospect of paying off the debt and getting none of the benefits. So they decided to let Germany and the US bail them out. Seems the least we should get out of the deal is a few islands.
If you think Greece is an exception, look in a mirror. Nobody these days is overspending and overpromising more than the folks in Washington. Read what happens to Greece, and in about ten years you can read the same news story with Greece replaced by USA.
That oil gusher under the Gulf of Mexico is confounding the best efforts to control it. Still, I’ll put my faith in BP and the oil industry before I would trust the government to plug it.
Arizona continues to get hammered for wanting to enforce the federal immigration law. According to polls, two-thirds of the country agrees with Arizona, including young people, old folks, Democrats, and legal immigrants. In fact the only group that seems to be against it is television news folks. Oh, and one other: the NBA basketball team that plays in Phoenix. On May 5 they wore uniforms with the logo in Spanish, and announced to the country they would rather represent Mexico than Arizona. Maybe they should move south of the border. See if they can equal their multi-million dollar salaries as the Mexico City Suns.
This immigration issue won’t go away till we require foreign workers to have an ID, provide them seasonal work permits, and make the employers pay a fair wage. We need more legal immigrants, but not ones who break the law to get here. They should not expect to become citizens automatically. That has to be earned.
Immigration is a complicated matter, and not everyone will be happy with the result. I’ll remind you of a previous battle over illegal immigration, where Oklahoma is now located. The legal citizens at the time were Indians, and the illegal immigrants who sneaked across the border were white folks from Missouri and Kansas. The government in Washington sided with the illegals.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Greece is frying in her own fat." DT #2683, March 12, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: Just when we get Wall Street and the stock market in a mood to grow, Greece goes bankrupt and knocks our finances in a tailspin. Spain and Ireland are teetering on the edge of a financial cliff. In France, a thousand farmers drove their tractors into Paris to protest the low price for crops and higher taxes. England held an election and nobody won, so the Queen might have to step in and earn her salary. I think Europe was better off when they were covered by the volcano ash cloud.
The problem in Greece is the government overspent and overpromised. Greeks are guaranteed a high retirement income and they live a long, long time after they retire. The government has been living on borrowed money, and the younger folks are not thrilled at the prospect of paying off the debt and getting none of the benefits. So they decided to let Germany and the US bail them out. Seems the least we should get out of the deal is a few islands.
If you think Greece is an exception, look in a mirror. Nobody these days is overspending and overpromising more than the folks in Washington. Read what happens to Greece, and in about ten years you can read the same news story with Greece replaced by USA.
That oil gusher under the Gulf of Mexico is confounding the best efforts to control it. Still, I’ll put my faith in BP and the oil industry before I would trust the government to plug it.
Arizona continues to get hammered for wanting to enforce the federal immigration law. According to polls, two-thirds of the country agrees with Arizona, including young people, old folks, Democrats, and legal immigrants. In fact the only group that seems to be against it is television news folks. Oh, and one other: the NBA basketball team that plays in Phoenix. On May 5 they wore uniforms with the logo in Spanish, and announced to the country they would rather represent Mexico than Arizona. Maybe they should move south of the border. See if they can equal their multi-million dollar salaries as the Mexico City Suns.
This immigration issue won’t go away till we require foreign workers to have an ID, provide them seasonal work permits, and make the employers pay a fair wage. We need more legal immigrants, but not ones who break the law to get here. They should not expect to become citizens automatically. That has to be earned.
Immigration is a complicated matter, and not everyone will be happy with the result. I’ll remind you of a previous battle over illegal immigration, where Oklahoma is now located. The legal citizens at the time were Indians, and the illegal immigrants who sneaked across the border were white folks from Missouri and Kansas. The government in Washington sided with the illegals.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"Greece is frying in her own fat." DT #2683, March 12, 1935
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Weekly Comments: For a Kentucky Derby win, ride a thin horse #601
May 2, 2010
COLUMBUS: The BP oil well in the Gulf is causing havoc. It’s not the first time an oil gusher got out of control, but they say trying to cap this one is like trying to plug a volcano. It’s a shame we lost those 11 men, just like the 29 miners killed in West Virginia. We need some new safety procedures enforced to reduce the hazzards. But oil, coal and natural gas are incredible fuels and keep the country moving. For now, nobody but a hermit can live without them.
A lot of folks are saying we ought to stop off shore drilling; there’s too much risk. But, for a moment put aside the damage to the Gulf region. This well is producing 200,000 barrels a day! Most farmers and ranchers would be thrilled to have a well producing 2 or 3 barrels a day. It make no sense to ignore the potential of these offshore sites.
In the Kentucky Derby, Calvin Borel won again by staying on the rail. This year he rode Super Saver. Thanks to Calvin they need to add another statistic on the Racing Form: width of the horse. I think his secret is that he only rides extremely thin horses. Then he can squeeze through a sliver of space against the rail that no other jockey would even consider.
The Arizona illegal immigration law got a lot of people riled up. All this hollering seems to be about a person having to show ID once in a while. But we all show ID to board a plane, cash a check, vote, enter the Capitol, and even to donate blood at Red Cross.
This new law is the same as a Federal law that’s been around since Roosevelt signed it in1940. Only difference is that Arizona intends to enforce theirs.
Just suppose you bought tickets to the Kentucky Derby, or a baseball game in San Francisco, or a Broadway play in New York. You arrive to find someone sitting in your seats and they refuse to budge. Naturally this would upset you and you would find an officer, show your tickets, and insist the freeloaders be removed. The officer walks with you to your seats, and says to you, "Sorry, I’m not allowed to ask these folks to show a ticket, or any ID. In fact when we opened today, half the seats were occupied because no one guarded the entrances last night. You and the other ticket holders are out of luck." So think awhile before you jump on Arizona and start a boycott.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"No business in the United States is as cockeyed as the oil business. If ever a business needed a dictator it is them." DT #2115, May 15, 1933
"If you think this ain't going to be the worst winter for unemployment we ever had, just count the number in these college graduation classes. Immigration is not our biggest problem, it's surplus diplomas." DT #1526, June 14, 1933
"I am here in Iowa looking over the future Californians. We are just picking the best. We are not letting them all come like they used to; it's restricted immigration now." DT #491, Feb. 22, 1928
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
COLUMBUS: The BP oil well in the Gulf is causing havoc. It’s not the first time an oil gusher got out of control, but they say trying to cap this one is like trying to plug a volcano. It’s a shame we lost those 11 men, just like the 29 miners killed in West Virginia. We need some new safety procedures enforced to reduce the hazzards. But oil, coal and natural gas are incredible fuels and keep the country moving. For now, nobody but a hermit can live without them.
A lot of folks are saying we ought to stop off shore drilling; there’s too much risk. But, for a moment put aside the damage to the Gulf region. This well is producing 200,000 barrels a day! Most farmers and ranchers would be thrilled to have a well producing 2 or 3 barrels a day. It make no sense to ignore the potential of these offshore sites.
In the Kentucky Derby, Calvin Borel won again by staying on the rail. This year he rode Super Saver. Thanks to Calvin they need to add another statistic on the Racing Form: width of the horse. I think his secret is that he only rides extremely thin horses. Then he can squeeze through a sliver of space against the rail that no other jockey would even consider.
The Arizona illegal immigration law got a lot of people riled up. All this hollering seems to be about a person having to show ID once in a while. But we all show ID to board a plane, cash a check, vote, enter the Capitol, and even to donate blood at Red Cross.
This new law is the same as a Federal law that’s been around since Roosevelt signed it in1940. Only difference is that Arizona intends to enforce theirs.
Just suppose you bought tickets to the Kentucky Derby, or a baseball game in San Francisco, or a Broadway play in New York. You arrive to find someone sitting in your seats and they refuse to budge. Naturally this would upset you and you would find an officer, show your tickets, and insist the freeloaders be removed. The officer walks with you to your seats, and says to you, "Sorry, I’m not allowed to ask these folks to show a ticket, or any ID. In fact when we opened today, half the seats were occupied because no one guarded the entrances last night. You and the other ticket holders are out of luck." So think awhile before you jump on Arizona and start a boycott.
Historic quotes from Will Rogers:
"No business in the United States is as cockeyed as the oil business. If ever a business needed a dictator it is them." DT #2115, May 15, 1933
"If you think this ain't going to be the worst winter for unemployment we ever had, just count the number in these college graduation classes. Immigration is not our biggest problem, it's surplus diplomas." DT #1526, June 14, 1933
"I am here in Iowa looking over the future Californians. We are just picking the best. We are not letting them all come like they used to; it's restricted immigration now." DT #491, Feb. 22, 1928
Randall Reeder
Will Rogers Today http://willrogerstoday.com
614-477-0439 willrogers@aol.com
Need a Speaker? Hurry up and hire me before I die... again.
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