Yeay for Big Oil Companies!!!

I just wanted to share this AMAZING news with everyone!!!
ExxonMoblie just broke another profit record. AWWWW! How awesome is that?


Mccain Has Taken At Least $720,613 From The Oil & Gas Industry. According to a Public Campaign Action Fund analysis of campaign finance data provided by the nonpartisan Center for Responsive Politics Center, John McCain accepted at least $720,613 from the oil and gas industry since 1989. [Center for Responsive Politics via Campaign Action Fund]

At Least 15 Top McCain Advisers & Fundraisers Have Lobbied For Big OilJohn McCain has at least 15 people working for his campaign, either as top fundraisers or as senior campaign staff, that have lobbied for Big Oil. Here are a handful


Wayne Berman
National Finance Co-Chairman
Ogilvy Government Relations
Amerada Hess Chevron Texaco American Petroleum Institute

Charlie Black
Senior Political Adviser
BKSH
Occidental Petroleum Corp. Yukos Oil Chinese National Off-Shore Oil Corp.

Eric Burgeson
Fundraiser
Barbour Griffith & Rogers
BP *Burgeson resigned from McCain's campaign because of his lobbying ties

Kerry Cammack
Fundraiser
Cammack and Strong
Exxon Mobil

Frank Donatelli
McCain Pick as Deputy RNC Chair
McGuire Woods
Exxon Mobil


McCain's Tax Plan Gives Top Five Oil Companies $3.8 Billion A Year In Tax Breaks. According to a study conducted by the Center for American Progress, "The McCain plan would deliver approximately $170 billion a year in tax cuts to corporations, including some corporations that are very large and profitable. Just one of the proposals-cutting the corporate rate from 35 percent to 25 percent-would cut taxes for five largest U.S. oil companies by $3.8 billion a year." [Center for American Progress, 3/27/08]

McCain Voted Against Reducing Dependence On Foreign Oil. In 2005, McCain voted against legislation calling on the President to submit a plan to reduce foreign petroleum imports by 40 percent. [Senate Roll Call Vote #140, 6/16/05]

McCain Voted Against Renewable Energy Technology. In 2001, McCain voted against establishing tax credits for investments in renewable energy technologies, incentives for new energy efficient residential construction and tax deductions for increased energy efficiency in commercial buildings. The motion failed 43-56. [H.R. 1836, Vote #125, 5/21/2001]

McCain Voted Against Funding for Renewable Energy Programs. In 1999, McCain opposed an amendment that would increase funding for energy supply and research & development activities for renewable energy sources by reducing unnecessary Energy Department contractor travel expenses. McCain voted to kill an appeal made by the chair that this amendment was out of order, effectively voting to kill the amendment. The motion to kill the appeal (and thus the amendment) passed 60-39. [S. 1186, Vote #171, 6/16/1999]

Let's Talk Socialism

Perhaps people who claim to be qualified for the Presidency should take a class on the theories of government. Most semi-educated people know that all theories look good on paper, but clearly have their flaws, including democracy and capitalism.

“He wants to quote ‘spread the wealth around,’” McCain said “He believes in redistributing wealth, not in policies that grow our economy and create jobs and opportunities for all Americans. Sen. Obama is more interested in controlling who gets your piece of the pie than he is in growing the pie.”

To put it in context, Senator Obama said when questioned by Joe the Plumber:
“It’s not that I want to punish your success, I just want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they’ve got a chance at success too. My attitude is that if the economy’s good for folks from the bottom up, it’s going be good for everybody. If you’ve got a plumbing business, you’re gonna be better off if you’ve got a whole bunch of customers who can afford to hire you, and right now everybody’s so pinched that business is bad for everybody, and I think when you spread the wealth around, it’s good for everybody."

Socialism refers to a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole. Socialists mainly share the belief that capitalism unfairly concentrates power and wealth among a small segment of society that controls the capital, and creates an unequal society. All socialists advocate the creation of an egalitarian society, in which wealth and power are distributed more evenly.

My point is, nowhere did he say that he planned on nationalizing his plumbing business, controlling the land that his business is on nor the capital that is accumulated and spreading that around to everyone. He is simply pointing out that business is bad for everyone right now and EVERYONE could benefit from having a little MORE. Let's think about the reasons why small business is suffering. Is it because of the banks on Wall Street? Well, it is now that it's messing with people's retirement funds and investments. People aren't CONSUMING, they are not shopping, the are saving and conserving. Don't you find it odd that Campbell's Soup stock is rising during these poor economic times but major retailes like Circuit City are on the brink of liquidation? Small businesses are closing their doors because nobody is walking through them, not because the government nationalized their wealth.

Election Dissection

So - I have to thank the good folks at CNN for giving us a football like play by play of every single thing that goes on during the election. I know listen to talk radio every morning, noon and night that I am in my car and I last week I fell asleep watching Wolf Blitzer on Friday night.

I am forced to ask myself this. What happened to my youth?

Perhaps I am a late bloomer when it comes to idealism and wanting to save the world from disaster. That probably should have come ten years ago when I first started college. Ah well. I am thankful that I care enough about this country to pay attention to what is going on and I am a strong enough individual to not vote strictly down party lines. While I am a fierce Obama/Biden ticket supporter, I am choosing to vote for a moderate Republican for a House seat and plan to re-elect a Lake County District Board member who voted exactly how I would have. I find that people get so hung up on one, two or many irrelevant facts when it comes to picking candidates. I also find that people are only ever concerned with the Presidential picks, but could care less about Congress - BIG MISTAKE!

But, since we are on the topic of Presidential politics, I have a few opinions that I would like to share with my 3 readers:

• It is no surprise to anyone that Fox News likes to pretend like the roll down the middle, but they lean ( I mean lay down) to the right. Bill O'Reilly decided that since so many people in the country aren't "real Americans" that we would just start telling the terrorists who it was OK to bomb. That's right. He said that it would be OK to eradicate San Francisco because it wasn't part of the "real America". And they have the nerve to call Obama a terrorist? W.O.W. What's more frightening is that there are those out there who agree with this.
• I am tired of Republican VP candidates pretty much telling me that I am Anti-American because I am not voting for their ticket. Does anyone read history?? Republican government has historically catered to the rich and big business. Clearly giving tax breaks to those large corporations has not helped them create U.S. jobs, but it has helped their CEO's line their pockets. And to call someone who wants to spread tax breaks among the middle-class Americans a socialist. Ummmm.....Your President and Secretary of the Treasury just unleashed a nearly $1 Trillion bailout of Wall Street. Is that not socialism? Spreading OUR taxpayer wealth to the......oh yes. Wealthy. Gotcha.
• I applaud John McCain for removing the microphone from folks who call Obama an Arab and those that are "terrified" of him becoming President. (I think that is the real McCain. I do think that he is an honest and decent person, I just think he has horrible advisors and campaign managers and made a catastrophic mistake in Sarah Palin). HOWEVER, he denounced the fact that Obama is an Arab, which he is not, but did so by saying he's a "good family man" as if being Muslim or Arab is a bad thing. Is there nobody who has a problem with this? What if Muslims ran this country and were talking nonsense about Christians on a national stage (I'm talking to you Rush Limbaugh)? Oh, but that could never happen right? Tell that to Jesus. He was a minority believer once too.
• Taxes. Stop talking about them. We live a life of luxury here in America no matter how you slice it. Somebody has to pay for it. I think those that live in more luxury should have to pay more for it. If you are wealthy enough to own multiple homes, have private jets and spend $25k night for a private island vacation, then you can afford to chip in a little more for our national infrastructure. Nobody is telling the wealthy to make less money or taking away something that they can't live with out.
• Last but not least. I certainly hope, that no matter who anyone votes for, that they are doing so because they think that person is the best hope for getting this country out of the colossal craphole that we are in. Not because they are black, old, a woman, Arab, a Christian, pro-life, pro-choice, or because they like the tie they wore at the last debate. Focus on the issues at hand. Too bad there wasn't a decent third party candidate....
• Ron Paul '08

Thanks for reading my rants. I am just feeding into the negativity that I see out there every day. One word misspoken and everyone erupts! This has become a world where we have to Fact Check every single comment made. Truly guilty until proven innocent. I imagine our forefathers are rolling around in their graves at the moment.

Please vote. It's your right that was so hard fought for. Have some respect for our predecessors.

Peace.

What now?

I actually shed a tear last night when the US Men's Volleyball Team cruised to a gold medal victory at the Beijing Olympics. Was it in response to the tragedy to triumph story? Perhaps a little. But more than that, my tears fell because it was the final event I watched in the 2008 Summer Olympic games. I have spent the last 2.5 weeks glued to NBC watching countless hours of competition. From swimming and divings to double skulls and rowing, my dedication to cheering on Team USA from my couch never wavered. I was up until 12:45am watching Nastia Lukin win the Women's Gymnastics All-Around and cursing the terrible over-judging of the Chinese gymnasts. Empathizing with Shawn Johnson's parents after she won the Gold on Beam. I felt like I was actually IN the water cube for every single race that Michael Phelps swam in - cheering and jumping up and down in my living room or local bar - getting teary-eyed when I watched his Mom fall into her seat after his amazing finish in the 100m Fly. Rocking back adn forth like I was rowing to gold with the US 8 Women Team. I never went to bed before the sign off of my beloved Bob Costas. Now, what am I to do with my time? Probably get more sleep and accomplish more around the house. Post-Olympic life will be boring I'm sure. Here's to London 2012.

Peace.

Hmmmm.....

I figured it was about time I wrote about something useful, but I am not feeling that deep this evening. I'm watching the news and listening to them babble on about the bad storms we had last night. And guess what everyone???!! You can go to cltv.com and BLOG about it! WOW! Are you kidding me? I have to say, that while I have a blog of my own, I'm not taking up someone else's space. It kills me all of these people who post comments on news stories, sports stories, the latest tragedies of our beloved Hollywood starlets. I'm not sure about you, but I work. While I take the normal liberties of checking email, IM'ing friends, checking in on Facebook and reading random newsstories throughout the day - it does not consume my day. Well, it doesn't consume most days. How on Earth do these people find the time to post messages on every single freaking story. Better than that - they have actual conversations and arguments with one another. Most people posting comments are stupid. Not joking - read the comments some time. There is usually one or two normal people in there, but the rest resort to using improper grammar, poor spelling and writing cuss words to effectively get across their point in the written word. You stay classy message board posters. You stay classy.

OMG....if I have to watch one more stupid Luna carpet commercial, I think I'm going to chuck my remote at the 50"er 15 feet in front of me. This last commerical makes me wish the advertising team would be re-evaluated. It also makes me wish we would have gone with Empire. But that FREE ROOM is just unbeatable!

Anywho, like I said. Nothing really to blog about that is of any importance whatsoever. So, I will finish with a wedding well with for my friend Stephanie who is getting married on Saturday. Love you much and thank you for honoring our nearly 20 year friendship by allowing me to hold a special position in your wedding. I can't wait for the beautiful day!

Peace.

A show nobody watches but should.

Ok, so Jeff and I started watching a show last year on USA called Burn Notice. It is freaking hilarious. If you haven't seen it, it's about this spy who has been "burned" by the CIA. They essentially dump him in Miami with no money, destroy his credit, and sort of erase his existence. While he is trying to find out who 'burned' him, he does these odds and ends PI jobs. And it's funny as hell. He has two quircky side-kicks, Fiona and Mike who also provide great entertainment. He is like Hortaio from CSI Miami, but more awesome. Instead of tilting his sunglasses down and saying something stupid, he flashes a cute smile and says something hilarious. A line that made me laugh last night:

"So, you've never written a bad check, huh? Didn't they used to call you Bad Check Barry?"

It's a show for everyone. Beatiful people, intelligent storyline, good lines, guns, bombs, spies and more. It's worth a shot on USA Thursday nights.

Have a great weekend. I'll wave to you from the bleachers tomorrow at Wrigley.

Word.

GAVIN DEGRAW R.U.L.E.S.

Oh my gosh!
So, as I was tooling around the Summerfest site the other day, seeing if there was anyone worth checking out before my super awesome Tom Petty/Steve Winwood concert starts and what do I find? What is it that I find? That is right.....THE Gavin DeGraw is playing a general admission show tonight.

So, natrually, I have to prepare myself. I know every single word to his Chariot CD and I am proud of it. But, he had a new CD come out on May 6th that I forgot to buy, so I'm currently listening to Rhapsody online learning all of his newer songs so that I'm ready for my "I'm the biggest Gavin fan" contest that I will be holding with the other people at the show. I should actually say that I am the 2nd biggest Gavin fan because truth be told, my good friend Melissa turned me on to him in 2004. Nonetheless, I will be number one fan in the Midwest :)

T-Bone

Word!!!!! :)