midterms

no, i'm not talking about midterm tests. although i'm sure that was figured out by the name of this blog. anyway, moving on. for the next two years of this country's history, i see complete and utter incompetence at the federal level of government. why? because the "tea party" element will hold a gun to the head of anyone who does not view government as operating in the way they'd like it to. (2nd amendment, right?) so although only a mere 4% of the country would consider themselves part of the tea party, they will have a far greater effect on government. from the sound of their rhetoric, the country will have had enough of them at the end of two years. cut medicare (hi rand paul)? privatize social security (sharron angle, we see you too)? that's going to be a tough sell as the first baby boomers are reaching 65 this year. and while something definitely needs to be done about those two entitlements in the near future, holding the entire government hostage is not how democracy works. this country was founded on the philosophy of serving the interests of the majority while retaining the rights of the minority. not for the minority to hold the majority hostage to their will.

why is bp being victimized?

I hear that plenty of protests against BP are planned for today calling for the government to take over the operation and seize all of BP's assets. I would like to know what the incentive is in that. Currently, the government is holding BP liable for the cleanup operations as well as damages. But if the feds were to take BP's assets, then clearly BP would no longer be able to be held liable without assets. Then, that would mean the government would be responsible for the cleanup and damages. *shudder* That sounds like a recipe for double disaster.
Secondly, I'm a bit puzzled as to why there is so much anger directed at BP. BP is a business. Businesses generally supply whatever is in demand. Last I checked, oil was very much in demand. So even if the leak is gushing 20,000 barrels of oil a day, that's only 1/1000 of the national daily usage. What am I saying? BP is drilling for oil through a 3 mile thick piece of earth that is a mile under the ocean because they know we will buy the oil once they bring it up and to market. Much pressure and blame is being heaped upon BP for allowing/causing the spill, but I would contend that anyone making that charge need only to look in the mirror to find BP's partner in crime. They wouldn't be digging for oil if it wasn't in demand. Sure it's easy to be an armchair environmental strategist and blast BP, but when it comes down to it, how many people will actually cut their oil usage willingly without complaining?
Since it's an election year, I don't see much progress happening on the front. But after the elections are over, maybe some level heads will show up on the state levels/Washington and we'll see some progress on the issue.

hola

from now on, i'll be putting any of my musings that are political on this blog instead of the other one. as i don't put out all that many as it is, this will probably become the blog with the most posts on it and i figured i'd put a new layout on this one as well. but anyway, beyond that, there isn't going to be much different.