12.14.07 |Permalink|Comments Off on Toothless Energy Bill Passes
US Congress – What Evil?
The Senate eviscerated the energy bill, taking out the long-term production tax credits, the renewable portfolio standard, and reducing the role of renewables dramatically. A disappointing outcome from a disappointing body. Here’s a professional story on the subject via Renewable Energy Access:
After a hard-fought battle on the political playing field, the renewable energy industries have suffered a difficult defeat. The Senate voted yesterday evening on an Energy Bill that left out the investment and production tax credits and a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), avoiding a Presidential veto but dramatically reducing the role of renewables in Congress’ energy plan.
The Bill passed by a vote of 85-12. It now goes back to the House for approval and then to the President to be signed into law. The White House issued a statement yesterday saying that it would accept the Bill.
Could these people really be this clueless? Or, could it be, that they’ve all lined their pockets so thoroughly that they’re incapable of taking action that benefits the American people? Just look at the income and net worth of our presidential candidates, many being Representatives in the House or Senators, to see that they are becoming wealthy and doing so at the expense of the people.
It’s disgusting, it’s immoral, and it’s not what the founders had in mind. But hey, at least the report on steroids came back confirming what everyone knows, that professional athletes use steroids. I’m glad that important business was handled – we all know there isn’t any other important business or challenging issues to address in this country.
We ought to fire the whole lot of these folks, on both sides of the aisle. They are useless.
In prior entries I looked at the individual net worth and incomes of the Republican and Democratic contenders for the Presidency. Now, let’s take a look at that data combined by estimated net worth and by estimated income to understand how representative our candidates are of the US at large. Caveats about the data and data sources are discussed in the individual entries about Democratic and Republican candidates.
As you can see, the candidates vying for the White House in 2008 are all at or above the median US Household Net Worth. It’s interesting to note as we think about these candidates as being representative of the population overall. Let’s see what it looks like when the candidates are ranked by 2006 income.
In Net Worth, at least one of the candidates was close to the people at large. In income, the lowest candidate still has 3.7x the earning power of the average US household according to data from the US Census Bureau. America is the land of opportunity and those with the most are perhaps the most likely to be able to sacrifice temporary income for public service, but I have to wonder, which candidate(s), if any, really understand what the average US household is facing? Are they aware of the struggles? It’s hard to tell, but with the wealth and income levels on this list, it’s not likely they understand from recent, first-hand experience.
If nothing else, it does make you think. Speaking of which, what do you think? Let your voice be heard, leave a comment below.
12.14.07 |Permalink|Comments Off on The Oil Endgame
This TED Talk by Amory Lovins filmed in 2005 is well worth the investment of 20 minutes. He has posted his book, The Oil Endgame, on a website with a free download. Check it out.
Is anyone the least bit surprised by the contents of the Mitchell report? I mean, really? This isn’t news..The only surprising thing is that there weren’t more players implicated than the few dozen named in the report.
People who are 6’6″ tall and weigh 260lbs are not naturally going to have 40″ vertical jumps and sub-4.4 in the forty speed. These are freaks of nature and rarely occur naturally. So baseball players have been using steroids, No Sh*t Sherlock! How about NFL, NBA, NHL, boxers, ultimate fighters, wrestlers, college football, track, and basketball? Does anyone really believe that these athletes are clean? Puh-leeze.
These are competitors at the top of their profession and they will do ANYTHING to stay on top. As the regulatory bodies that oversee sports wakeup and enforce bans, maybe the steroid usage will decline. Cycling seems to be testing constantly, yet cyclers still dope. People will always try to get an edge. Period.
Here’s a thought, is it time to simply have a set of “unlimited” class in sports where anything goes? That might be more sensible than trying to put the genie back in the bottle, if the genie can be put back in the bottle. Let’s make ’em legal and tax them heavily – that might actually reduce the demand.
My reaction to this? Yawn. Let’s hear actual news next time…
Welcome to Part II of our series on the personal finances of the presidential candidates from both parties. Yesterday I posted about the Democratic contenders, today we’ll get to the Republicans.
With the primaries coming up and selection time at hand, I thought it would be instructive to get a glimpse into the candidates personal finances. They’ve all filed disclosures with the Federal Elections Commission and the data this entry is based on those public disclosures. The only “funny” thing about it is, candidates are not forced to specify numbers, only select ranges for asset, liability, and income classes. When a number was not specified by the candidate, the mid-point of the class was chosen. Some of the classes are quite broad, particularly when the ranges increase to amounts over $100,000. So the data below are best presented as informed estimates of the candidates net worth and most recently reported income through the FEC disclosure process.
Mr. Tancredo is the least well-heeled of his colleagues, at least according to his FEC filings. He reported relatively few assets and relatively simple and clear cut income streams. With his present net worth, it’s difficult seeing that he personally will be giving much to his own campaign during primary season.
Estimated Net Worth: $800,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $232,000
Governor Mike Huckabee
Yes, according to net worth Governor Huckabee should be ordered first on this list. But when one takes in the income differential between Huckabee and Tancredo, it’s clear that Huckabee is working it and increasing his net worth at a faster rate. One other thing to note about Governor Huckabee, his base salary accounted for about 20% of his 2006 net income, he has an interesting array of honoraria and consulting fees that make up the bulk of his compensation.
Estimated Net Worth: $700,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $488,000
Representative Duncan Hunter
While Representative Hunter checks in with the net worth of a millionaire, he is the lowest paid (at least in 2006) of the Republican contenders for office. His assets, liabilities, and income streams were simple and straightforward to interpret (unlike some of his colleagues who seem to be “creative” in their endeavors.)
Estimated Net Worth: $1,500,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $179,000
Representative Ron Paul
As an internet darling, Representative Paul has been scrutinized closely. His filing showed an array of investments and assets that were reasonably simple and easy to understand. His portfolio is likely to be non-controversial and appears to be consistent with his age and income levels.
Estimated Net Worth: $2,300,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $295,000
Fred Thompson
Mr. Thompson’s wealth has been accumulated over the last few years, largely as a result of his acting in Hollywood. It’s clear that taking a position in public service will put a serious crimp in his income stream since it will be unlikely that he carries on his show business activities during that time period.
Estimated Net Worth: $8,000,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $9,000,000
Senator John McCain
As a long time public figure, Senator McCain has endured great scrutiny of his asset and income status. McCain, like Hillary Clinton, derives the largest portion of his assets and income from his spousal partner – it’s clear that the couple have amassed a large nest egg and continue to add to it on an annual basis.
Estimated Net Worth: $40,000,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $4,000,000
Rudy Giuliani
Despite a messy personal life (divorces and subsequent asset depletion) Mr. Giuliani has amassed quite a fortune in his post-Mayoral life. He is raking in the big bucks on the speaking circuit and is capable of writing himself a big check to help in his campaign, should he choose to do so.
Estimated Net Worth: $52,000,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $17,000,000
Mitt Romney
Mr. Romney has the dubious distinction of being the most wealthy contender from either party in this race. Not since H. Ross Perot ran for office has there been a candidate with as high a wealth level as Romney (though Perot was a billionaire vs. a simple hundred-millionaire.) It’s clear that Romney can provide substantial support to his campaign should he choose to do so. The primary source of this wealth is through his association with Bain Capital, a private equity investment firm.
Estimated Net Worth: $202,000,000
Estimated 2006 Income: $38,000,000
I hope this has been an interesting article, if you liked this content, be sure to check out the entry on the Democrats as well.
