By DR. LARRY MOSES
No one asked me but… America has the agricultural capability to produce enough food to feed the entire world. This fact makes one wonder why one must eat imported food.
However, while I was contemplating that strange fact, it was also brought to my attention that America is now importing coal. Coal. America has enough coal within its own borders to fuel the power plants of America indefinitely. We have been called the “Saudi Arabia of Coal”. But thanks to American economic theorist and their love of the global market, there has been a 230% jump in the importation of coal since 1999.
As eco-nuts push to close coal operations in America, causing the loss of thousands of jobs, power companies are looking overseas for coal supplies. According to the Energy Information Administration of the US Department of Energy, if present trends continue, the US will be a net importer of coal by 2013.
Alabama Electric Cooperative, recently imported 220,000 tons of coal from Venezuela. Yes, this is the Venezuela of Hugo Chavez, the notorious American-hater. We are pumping jobs and dollars into his economy as we close mines in America.
Tighter air pollution regulations are hiking demand for low-sulfur coal, which is in abundance in the Powder River Basin of Wyoming. However, a spokesman for CPS Energy of San Antonio says the company imported 150,000 tons of coal from Colombia because of problems with rail delivery from the powder-river coal area. How can it be more difficult to ship coal from Wyoming than from South America? You load it on a rail car and send it 1200 miles south. How hard can that be?
South American coal has found its way as far up the East Coast as Salem, Mass., where Dominion Resources, based in Richmond, Va., operates a coal-fired power plant that uses low-sulfur coal to meet emissions goals. This replaces coal available in West Virginia coal mines costing jobs and economic loss to the state.
Energy security experts say the rapid rise of coal imports is not a big problem, because many other alternatives exist for power generation. Gal Luft, executive director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security in Washington stated, “If we have our back to the wall, we can always fall back on the coal reserves we have here in this country.”
That same argument was used years ago to shut down American oil drilling. We shut down local oil wells to tap cheap foreign oil; however, as gas prices soared, the eco-nuts have successfully lobbied the federal government to not allow the resumption of oil drilling in the United States. Does anyone doubt that the same thing will happen to the coal industry if we allow it to shut down?
By the way, our back is to the wall. Has Mr. Luft looked at the unemployment and economic state of the country recently? It is time to quit worrying about the economy of other countries and begin to worry about America.
No one asked me but…. At a recent Department of Justice conference, the participants were served $16 muffins, Beef Wellington hors d’oeuvres ($7.32 per serving), and 8-ounce cups of coffee costing $8.24 each. This may help explain why the country is $14 trillion in debt. However, it got me looking for other reasons
Between 1997 and 2003, the Defense Department purchased, but did not use, 270,000 commercial airline tickets at a total cost of $100 million. The Pentagon could have, but never did, get a refund for these fully refundable tickets.
Auditors also found 27,000 transactions between 2001 and 2002 in which the Pentagon paid twice for the same ticket. The department would purchase the ticket directly and then reimburse the employee for the cost of the ticket. These additional transactions cost taxpayers $8 million.
Over one recent 18-month period, Air Force and Navy personnel used government-funded credit cards to charge at least $102,400 for admission to entertainment events, $48,250 for gambling, $69,300 for cruises, and $73,950 for exotic dance clubs and prostitutes.
Last year, the Pentagon announced it would spend $5.1 million to build a new 18-hole golf course at Andrews Air Force Base in suburban Maryland, which already has two. Golf Digest reported there are 19 military golf courses around Washington, D.C. Why a new golf course? One Pentagon official was quoted as saying, “a lot of golf gets played out there. On Saturday mornings, people are standing on top of each other”.
Farm subsidy checks totaling $1.3 billion were mailed to urban zip codes during the past decade. New York City “farmers” pocketed $7 million during the past decade, Washington, D.C. “farmers” $10 million, Los Angeles “farmers” $10.7 million, Minneapolis “farmers” $48 million, Miami “farmers” $54.5 million, and Phoenix “farmers” $71.5 million. Among those on the take, to the tune of $1.3 million: 47 “farmers” in Beverly Hills, California.
Employees of the Department of Agriculture (USDA) made $5.8 million of personal purchases with their government-issued credit cards. Taxpayer-funded purchases included Ozzy Osbourne concert tickets, tattoos, lingerie, bartender school tuition, car payments, and cash advances.
The feds spent $19.6 million annually on the International Fund for Ireland, on projects like pony-trekking centers and golf videos. $440,000 is spent annually to have attendants push buttons on the fully automated Capitol Hill elevators used by Representatives and Senators. The Pentagon and Central Intelligence Agency paid $11 million to psychics to provide special insights about various foreign threats. The Department of Education spent $34 million supposedly helping Americans become better shoppers and homemakers. The National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH) spent $70,029 to see if the degu, a diurnal South American rodent, can help us better understand jet lag. This same organization spent $77,826 to study “Coping with Change in Czechoslovakia”, $100,271 to see if volunteering is good for older people, $124,910 to reduce “School Phobia” in children, $161,913 to study “Israeli reactions to SCUD Attacks during the Gulf War”, and $187,042 to study the quality of life in Hawaii.
The Economic Development Administration spent “anti-poverty” funds to help build a $1.2 million football stadium in Spartanburg, South Carolina. During the summer, it serves as a practice facility for the National Football League Carolina Panthers, and the rest of the year, it is the home field of Wofford College, which has a $50 million endowment.
This is the tip of the iceberg. Medicare and Medicaid fraud has not been addressed. It would take a full newspaper to catalogue the waste in government.
Thought of the week…“No snowflake in an avalanche ever feels responsible.”
-Voltaire
