Fixing the Gulf

Actually, I'm at a loss for how to clean up the oil spill. I'm not a marine biologist or an engineer. I wish that I could stop the oil spill and clean the water. I wish that this crisis would highlight the need for clean and alternative energy. I wish that the guilty parties, BP and, more importantly, all of us who are addicted to foreign oil, would see that our lifestyle is unsustainable and that we are only hurting our economy and our environment.

I wish, but hoping and blogging are about as much as I can do. Perhaps if I were divine I could do more. Perhaps a deity could and would help. I know. Let's pray.

Now in all honesty, I don't want to make fun of this notion. If people want to pray for help, then I'm all for it. But this seems to be taking it a bit far. Nothing wrong with a day of prayer. Nothing wrong with asking for help and looking for solace. There is something wrong with the idea that the efforts of "mortals" are futile and that we must rely on divine intervention. The problem there is that divine intervention isn't coming and if we sit around and wait on it, nothing will get done. Like every problem in history, the gulf oil spill was caused by mortals, and like every problem in history, it will be fixed by mortals.

So, Louisiana, pray. And I hope others pray with you. But please, for everyone's sake, don't count on god. Count on human ingenuity and willpower because this is our problem, and we have to fix it.

Joe Barton - Representative of the American People?

Recognize this clown? In case you don't (and there's no reason you should) his name is Joe Barton. Joe, who like many of my other favorite Americans, does not deserve to be referred to as Mr. or, in his case, Congressman, is just that, a Congressman from Texas. Perhaps it is no surprise that the state with the strongest connection to the oil industry elected a former oil engineer to office, and perhaps it's no surprise that Joe still cares more about protecting big business than the people, but you'd think he'd know better than to say it out loud. After all, the people we elect may be scumbags, but they're hardly idiots right? Wrong.

Joe has an issue with BP $20 billion compensation fund, set up to help alleviate the suffering of Americans who have been affected by the nation's worst environmental disaster (more on that in a few moments). Says Joe,

"I think it is a tragedy of the first proportion that a private corporation would be subjected to what I would characterize as a shakedown -- in this case a $20 billion shakedown," Barton said.

"I do not want to live in a country where any time a citizen or a corporation does something that is legitimately wrong is subject to some sort of political pressure," the 13-term congressman said. "That…amounts to a shakedown. So I apologize."

Chew on that America. One of our elected officials has just apologized to the corporation responsible for the worst environmental disaster in our history for...get this...for setting up a fund to help the victims. If you don't find that appalling, go make sure you still have a pulse.

It is worth noting that Joe and fellow Republican (surprise!) Roy Blount of Missouri are the only members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee that receive six figure campaign donations from the oil and gas industry. I'm going to reiterate that Joe is a former oil industry employee.

The only word that comes to mind here is shameful. One of the people we have elected to protect us has shamefully put the interests of a major corporation over the well-being of the people of the United States of America. I'm embarrassed.

Another funny story, Congressman Parker Griffith, an Alabama Republican, thinks cigarettes are a greater environmental threat than the oil spill. Where do we find these people? Are they all exports from Arizona? Come on Republicans, surely you're better than these guys...Rand Paul...I'm out of gas for today.

'Zona strikes again

Fox News and Arizona have something in common, they're both fun. Fun in the sense that one can visit either place and be entertained by the constant inanity.

Like mindless lovers drawn to each other as mosquitos to a porch light, Fox and Arizona have developed quite a relationship recently. Arizona's xenophobic laws provide the fodder for Fox's fear-mongering.

Most recently, Fox has reported that Arizona lawmakers are trying to deny citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born in the US.

As with many items I read on Fox News and ideas that come from Arizona, this initially put me at a loss for words. I guess sometimes I just don't know how to react to stupidity. After some reflection, I've found some amusing paradoxes and juicy tidbits.

1) This whole immigration fiasco reeks of the tea party - America's public enemy #2 (that's right tea party, you're still better than Bin Laden). In fact, "tea party darling" Rand Paul is a fierce supporter of this idea, but Rand Paul apparently doesn't favor civil rights for African-Americans either, so his are ideas null and void. The ultimate hypocrisy here is that denying citizenship to the children of illegal immigrants born on American soil is BLATANTLY unconstitutional. If the new health care law is somehow unconstitutional, I'd like to see how the tea party is going to make this idea stick. In fact, I'd like to see how they're going to justify the hypocrisy. I'd also like to see Rand Paul fail miserably in his Senate bid, but I'm pretty sure that's a foregone conclusion. Smile America.

2) That this idea comes from a group of people who worship the constitution is funny enough, that the very same group advocates smaller government makes the whole thing even more comical. I guess no one in the tea party bothered to sit down and think about the logistics of this whole operation. Let's say that at least one parent must show proof of citizenship in order for a birth certificate to be issued (this is the language the bill's proponents put forth). Would it not take a federal agency to verify that information? Wouldn't it be a lengthy and expensive process to go through the massive database of American citizens and find a single person? If this agency weren't policed well enough, wouldn't it be susceptible to corruption? These people don't only want the government to stay out of their lives, they want the government to act like big brother policing the lives of others.

3) What if this bill becomes law? Will illegal immigrants stop having children? Will parents and child be deported immediately from the maternity ward? If no birth certificate is issued and the parents and child leave the hospital doesn't that mean there is just one more undocumented illegal alien running around in Arizona? Is this really what they are shooting for over there? Has ANYONE thought about this? I mean seriously, what is in the water in 'Zona?

Today, Fox News and Arizona tempted me too much. I couldn't resist. The asininity overwhelmed me and I felt compelled to bash someone for it. Barring any more theatrics from our friends on the far, far, far right, I'll be back to advocating green energy in the next post. Today, I'm just advocating sense and morality.

Credit Card Culture

Economists will tell you that credit cards are bad for your fiscal health. They allow you to buy now and pay later meaning that they lead to debt. Debt is bad. Ask the tea party. And yet, despite the fact that everyone knows that credit cards are bad, we use them anyway. Many people own multiple credit cards, some of those people using one card to pay off another. Easy money, lots of things, and debt. Those are the things credit cards get you.

What lessons can credit cards teach us about our society and our politics? Unfortunately, it seems that too many Americans have, perhaps unconsciously, applied credit card mentality to our nation's problems.

With a credit card, you can buy now and pay later. We know the downside to this, but what is the appeal? Well for one thing, you can get more stuff. Why pay for that TV now when I can have it and something else? I'm going to pay for both of course, I'll just do it later. No need to worry now, I'll worry later. One can begin to see how this mindset, while appealing, could be troublesome. Delayed responsibility...debt...

Somehow or another, our society has started to fall into this trap. Delaying responsibility has led our government's debt to pile up, while in the meantime we've been refusing to fix our nation's problems, leaving them for future generations to handle.

Credit card culture led the Bush administration into carrying out two foreign wars while simultaneously cutting taxes, an unheard of and unprecedented mistake. Credit card culture is responsible for decades worth of inaction on important issues like climate change, and credit card culture is the reason that many Americans are furious about the new health care law, which does exactly what you can't do with a credit card, spend now in order to save later.

If debt is bad then America needs to evaluate not only its spending practices - I'm not talking about good spending like the stimulus package or health care, I'm talking about the asinine decision to lower takes during TWO wars - but also our accountability practices. People consumed with the idea of government spending often point out that later generations will have to pay for our fiscal irresponsibility. They have a point, but as a 24 year old who will be paying taxes for years to come, I'd rather have to pay taxes because problems were solved than owe nothing but find myself facing a host of huge issues. Perhaps, because of the actions of the Obama administration I'll have fewer things to worry about in the future. I certainly hope that's the case, but the absence of accountability and the prevailing credit card culture that has led to it make me nervous.

Let's make America better today, and tomorrow, and in the future by taking some responsibility. Let's solve today's problems today instead of posturing, delaying and refusing to acknowledge the truth. Let's put our credit cards away and stop putting off the inevitable.

Going green in the EU

After successfully navigating around Normandy for the past week, I've returned to America with a wealth of new knowledge about WWII, an overwhelming sense of pride for what our soldiers did to combat evil during that war, an even healthier appreciation for how difficult the battle for Europe was, and, interestingly, a few Euro ideas about going green.

France is a country around the size of Texas (give or take) with a population of roughly 65 million people - perhaps 40 million more folks than live in Tejas. Yet while driving along the highways of France I noticed perhaps six or seven trucks, or about a quarter as many as I saw leaving the airport in Dallas upon my return stateside. Additionally, I was informed that about 80% of France's electricity is generated in nuclear power plants, and most of the rest comes from wind farms which are impossible to miss as they stir peacefully in France's lush countryside.

So what am I getting at? Texans need trucks and Parisians don't - that's probably true. Texas is not the United States while France is France - also true. But there are things going on in France that would work here if we gave them a shot. Nuclear power, for example, is a big step. If France can provide 50 million people with nuclear generated energy then so can we. While imperfect, nuclear energy is a vast improvement over dirty ole coal. Kudos to team Obama for already pushing new nuclear plants.

But if there is really one thing we should be doing, it's wind energy (and solar and hydro, etc, etc, etc). Driving through France's countryside, I witnessed some massive and impressive windmills. I mean these things were huge, and they're not unsightly (hear that Cape Cod?). If my man T. Boone Pickens is right and America is the Middle East of wind energy then we should have thousands of these turbines running from the Dakotas down to Texas. If an oil spill isn't enough to push us over the environmental precipice then I can't imagine what it will take.

Let's make America better today. As we try to prevent our gulf coast from turning black, let's go ahead and take steps to make sure we don't have to clean up our skies. Let's invest in the technology that will create American jobs, American products and a clean world for everyone. If it works in France, it'll work in America.

Traveling abroad

Good morning readers. For the next 10 days I will be traveling in France and will be unable to post. Please do not be discouraged as I will return mid-month to engage you further. In the meantime, continue to believe that the world's best country will only become better if we take the right steps. Avoid Arizona and gas-guzzling cars. Maybe you could even take this opportunity to invest in green energy since the oil we need to power our vehicles is currently ravaging our southern coastline. Most of all, hold out hope. Smart people believe in us. Our generation is the generation of change and, I believe, the generation that will push America into the future and help us realize our potential to become the best country that we can.

While in France, I will be visiting Normandy and the beaches where thousands of Americans gave their lives to combat and defeat evil. Because of their sacrifices, we are better today. The best thing we can do to honor their memory is strive as they did to make our country a nation that espouses the ideals they died to protect. By doing so, we'll make America better.