Kenneth M. O'Brien
Now here is a definition of irony.
Everybody is raising holy hell about cutting the budget.
We spend about a trillion dollars per year fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined with military and humanitarian assistance to a wide variety of foreign countries.
A good portion of the taxpayer money that is spent is to prop up regimes with about as much in common with American ideals as Charley Sheen has in common with Laura Bush.
Recent events in the near east, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Jordan, etc have driven this home with clarity that has not been seen since we paved the way for the Iranian revolution, and the taking of American Embassy hostages, with our support for Shah Reza Pahlavi and his own version of the Gestapo, SAVAK.
But, in cutting the budget we are not concerned with our supposed ideological commitment to human rights.
Rather, we are focused upon squeezing our own citizens who need the benefit of our own government.
Nothing brings this home clearer than the proposal to cut federal funds to the LIHEAP Program.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) that provides fuel assistance to elderly and low-income citizens currently enjoys $5.1 billion in funding, but under the new budget it would be cut to $2.5 billion.
As many citizens have struggled with surviving one of the most devastating winters in recent memory, the focus is on cutting assistance to the neediest while spending tax dollars on oligarchs who will inevitably cause us more problems in the future.
One of the few sources of help that remains is Citizens Energy, a non-profit program run by Joe Kennedy that provides 100 gallons of heating oil to the needy at no cost. In 2009 Time Magazine reported that the service had expanded to more than 200,000 families in 23 states.
All of the fuel assistance that is provided by Citizens Energy is provided by one source – CITGO. And guess what, CITGO is wholly owned by Petraoleos de Venezuela. And that means that, ultimately, it is run by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.
As anyone who has seen the recent TV ads by Citizens Energy knows, CITGO was the only oil company that responded to the call to contribute to this program. Keep in mind that this is so despite the numerous and enormous tax breaks accorded to other oil companies by our friends in Washington.
Now, I can hear the cries from certain of my conservative friends. Those cries boil down to the simple-minded, bumper-sticker populism of the pageant walkin’ ex-half governor of Alaska, “Drill, baby, drill.”
Well, go ahead and drill.
And, then, the piddling amount of oil that is produced relative to world oil production in, what, three years maybe, will reduce prices by virtually nothing.
Why?
Because all that oil you drilled, Baby, will belong to major oil companies. And it will dribble into a pool that they control on a worldwide basis. It won’t stay here!
Everybody is raising holy hell about cutting the budget.
We spend about a trillion dollars per year fighting wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined with military and humanitarian assistance to a wide variety of foreign countries.
A good portion of the taxpayer money that is spent is to prop up regimes with about as much in common with American ideals as Charley Sheen has in common with Laura Bush.
Recent events in the near east, Tunisia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Jordan, etc have driven this home with clarity that has not been seen since we paved the way for the Iranian revolution, and the taking of American Embassy hostages, with our support for Shah Reza Pahlavi and his own version of the Gestapo, SAVAK.
But, in cutting the budget we are not concerned with our supposed ideological commitment to human rights.
Rather, we are focused upon squeezing our own citizens who need the benefit of our own government.
Nothing brings this home clearer than the proposal to cut federal funds to the LIHEAP Program.
The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) that provides fuel assistance to elderly and low-income citizens currently enjoys $5.1 billion in funding, but under the new budget it would be cut to $2.5 billion.
As many citizens have struggled with surviving one of the most devastating winters in recent memory, the focus is on cutting assistance to the neediest while spending tax dollars on oligarchs who will inevitably cause us more problems in the future.
One of the few sources of help that remains is Citizens Energy, a non-profit program run by Joe Kennedy that provides 100 gallons of heating oil to the needy at no cost. In 2009 Time Magazine reported that the service had expanded to more than 200,000 families in 23 states.
All of the fuel assistance that is provided by Citizens Energy is provided by one source – CITGO. And guess what, CITGO is wholly owned by Petraoleos de Venezuela. And that means that, ultimately, it is run by Venezuelan strongman Hugo Chavez.
As anyone who has seen the recent TV ads by Citizens Energy knows, CITGO was the only oil company that responded to the call to contribute to this program. Keep in mind that this is so despite the numerous and enormous tax breaks accorded to other oil companies by our friends in Washington.
Now, I can hear the cries from certain of my conservative friends. Those cries boil down to the simple-minded, bumper-sticker populism of the pageant walkin’ ex-half governor of Alaska, “Drill, baby, drill.”
Well, go ahead and drill.
And, then, the piddling amount of oil that is produced relative to world oil production in, what, three years maybe, will reduce prices by virtually nothing.
Why?
Because all that oil you drilled, Baby, will belong to major oil companies. And it will dribble into a pool that they control on a worldwide basis. It won’t stay here!
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