Government "Death Panels" to Be Used in Medicare?

So it would appear that the word "Death Panels" have been replaced with "Efficiency".

According to an article in the New York Times, hospitals are going to be held to "Efficiency" standards for each individual Medicare Patient:

"WASHINGTON — For the first time in its history, Medicare will soon track spending on millions of individual beneficiaries, reward hospitals that hold down costs and penalize those whose patients prove most expensive.

The administration plans to establish “Medicare spending per beneficiary” as a new measure of hospital performance, just like the mortality rate for heart attack patients and the infection rate for surgery patients.

Hospitals could be held accountable not only for the cost of the care they provide, but also for the cost of services performed by doctors and other health care providers in the 90 days after a Medicare patient leaves the hospital.

This plan has drawn fire from hospitals, which say they have little control over services provided after a patient’s discharge — and, in many cases, do not even know about them. More generally, they are apprehensive about Medicare’s plans to reward and penalize hospitals based on untested measures of efficiency that include spending per beneficiary.

A major goal of the new health care law, often overlooked, is to improve “the quality and efficiency of health care” by linking payments to the performance of health care providers. The new Medicare initiative, known as value-based purchasing, will redistribute money among more than 3,100 hospitals.

Medicare will begin computing performance scores in July, for monetary rewards and penalties that start in October 2012.

The desire to reward hospitals for high-quality care is not new or controversial. The idea can be traced back to a bipartisan bill introduced in Congress in 2005, when Democrats and Republicans were still working together on health care. However, adding in “efficiency” is entirely new and controversial, as no consensus exists on how to define or measure the efficiency of health care providers.

The new health care law directs the secretary of health and human services to develop “efficiency measures, including measures of Medicare spending per beneficiary.” Obama administration officials will decide how to calculate spending per beneficiary and how to use it in paying hospitals."

So what will happen when your "spending per beneficiary" is used up?

Hmmmmm? (Cough Death Panels Cough)

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VIDEO: The Dark Side of Smart Meters

Believe it or not I found this on a Progressive Organization's website that is made up of residents that are against Smart Meters.

Funny how the Government and the Utility Companies are the only ones who think this is a good idea.

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DREAM Act Passes in Illinois

It would seem that Illinois's has passed new legislation that will act like a magnet for illegals looking for College assistance.

According to the Communist Party USA News, People's World, the Illinois version of the DREAM Act is just waiting for the Governor's signature:

"Illinois lawmakers passed a bipartisan bill May 30 that would assist immigrant youth throughout the state in paying for college. The measure, SB 2185, known as the Illinois DREAM Act, passed the Illinois House with a 61-53 vote. It passed the State Senate earlier this month and now heads to Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn's desk, where he is expected to sign the bill into law later this week.

"I believe everyone has the right to a first-class education, and the Illinois DREAM Act strengthens Illinois' commitment to ensuring education for all," Quinn said in a statement released by his office. "The legislation allows private funding to be used to help students pay for higher education and to train high school counselors to assist undocumented children [to] forward their educational careers. This legislation will support our next generation of scholars, business leaders and innovators, and I look forward to signing it."

The measure would establish a privately funded Illinois DREAM fund, administered by a volunteer staff commission, to make scholarships available to children of immigrants who graduate from state high schools. It will also train high school counselors and college admissions officers to be fully informed about educational resources and opportunities for immigrant students. The bill would also allow families to participate in the state's two college tuition savings programs.

The measure will not impose any cost on Illinois taxpayers and could benefit as many as 95,000 immigrant youth.

Lawrence Benito, deputy director with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, said the bipartisan vote was "truly historic." In a statement on the group's website, Benito added, "This vote is a victory for our state and an important step forward in recognizing the contributions of immigrants." Illinois is poised to become the first state to create a private scholarship fund for children of undocumented Latinos, he said.

The bill, the coalition said, shows Illinois "is not only an immigrant-friendly state but also a national leader on moving fair, humane and practical solutions forward."

This makes you wonder if the Politicians, and those involved in the Illinois DREAM Act, could be arrested under federal law for aiding and abetting criminals?

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DHS Turns "Minority Report" With New Screening Program

According to The Blaze:

"...a new Homeland Security program would subject Americans to pre-crime interrogations and physiological scans to detect people who are intending to commit a terrorist act...

The system uses a computer program that studies physiological indicators of a person, such as heart rate and the steadiness of a person’s gaze, and then uses the data to make a judgment on whether that individual has “malintent”."

Just in case you haven't seen the movie Minority Report, it was based on a future where people were arrested before they committed a crime. Here is the movie trailer of Minority Report to give you a better idea:



Is it just me or has President Obama done more to remove our personal Freedoms and Privacy just by using 'safety' as an excuse?

The last time I saw this type of intrusive Government was when Bush signed the Patriot Act and that law that would force us to use those "Green" Light bulbs.

Geezz.. What in the statement "Leave Me Alone" do those in Government not understand?


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Joe Klein: "Obama Has a Better Relationship With the Troops Than Bush Did"

LOL

Hat Tip Breitbart TV

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Memorial Day Tribute

Great Memorial Day Tribute.

DNC Chair Clueless that Illegals (Undocumented Immigrants) in U.S. is a Crime

So THIS is who the Democrats chose to lead them to Victory? Really?

Hat Tip The Blaze

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Sarah Palin Rolls Into D.C. on Harley?

Fox News reports Sarah Palin came into D.C. on a Harley.

Hat Tip to Breitbart TV

AFL-CIO and CPUSA Relationship Grows: AFL-CIO Youth Group Representative Participated in Communist "Red School" Bus Stop

Several months ago I reported on the Young Communist League's (YCL) National "Red School Bus Tour". The "School Bus Stops" have included Los Angeles CA, New Haven CT and now Chicago Illinois.

But the YCL's 'School' isn't only limited to Communists. According to an article on the Communist Party USA News, People's World, a Youth Leader from the AFL-CIO was in attendance during the recent stop in Chicago:

"A representative from the AFL-CIO's youth group participated in a panel discussion and argued for the importance of unions and young workers' rights on the job."

The YCL members even had an AFL-CIO tour guide when they visted the Haymarket memorial on the last day of "classes":

"At the Haymarket memorial, Tim Yeager, secretary treasurer of UAW Local 2320 and member of the Illinois Labor History Society, gave a presentation about its significance and the conditions that led to the massacre itself."

There appears to be an increasing trend of the AFL-CIO and the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) working together in the past several years.

In Connecticut, an AFL-CIO state president accepted a CPUSA Award and even proclaimed his approval of the CPUSA working with the AFL-CIO during his acceptance speech.

In Missouri a University of Missouri Labor Studies professor, and AFL-CIO Business Representative, allowed a CPUSA Organizer to recruit in his class. He had also received a CPUSA award and attended other awards ceremonies. He even had gone as far as to become a member of the CPUSA.

The CPUSA has even held awards ceremonies at two AFL-CIO unions halls in St. Louis in the past several years.

Last year, the President of the AFL-CIO St. Louis Newspaper Guild was the main speaker at a CPUSA award ceremony. The same ceremony where the President , now Vice- President, of the Local American Postal Workers Union (AFL-CIO) accepted a CPUSA Award. Let me not fail to mention the fact that the St. Louis Newspaper's Guild is rife with CPUSA members and sympathizers. They even elected an avowed Communist, and CPUSA member, to be their Guild delegate to the AFL-CIO St. Louis Labor Council.

As you can see the relationship between the AFL-CIO and the CPUSA is not only strong in some areas of the country, like Missouri, but is continuing to grow.

While some may dismiss these connections as minor and unimportant...I would suggest where there is smoke there is fire.

And for the CPUSA to have been so thoroughly accepted by the AFL-CIO is proof that this 'relationship' isn't just a local trend....

But one that is most likely very widespread and possibly the 'Norm' for the AFL-CIO.

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GDP Misses Estimates, "Recovery" Slows

According to ABC News:

"Simon Constable says there's bad news in the U.S. GDP and jobs report."

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Greta: Why is Gas So Expensive?

Greta talks about why Gas is so expensive with FBN's Eric Bolling. 

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Public Health Doctor Warns About the Dangers of Smart Meters

More warnings, this time from a Doctor, about the Dangers of Smart Meters.

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s1029 "E Know" Bill to use "Electronic Permission Forms" in Order to Collect Your Data Via the Smart Grid

A few days ago I brought your attention to a bill now in Congress called S1029 or "E Know". I explained that I felt the bill was intended as a way to make it easier for you to sign away your privacy rights considering that the Smart Grid will be collecting information about everything from your Internet to Ice Cube Use. But in order for that to happen the utility company must first get your permission.

And after reading the text of s1029, the bill does indeed make it easier for you to give up your rights to privacy:

(1) IN GENERAL- Each electric consumer in the United States shall have the right to access (and to authorize 1 or more third parties to access) retail electric energy information of the electric consumer in--

‘(A) an electronic form, free of charge, in conformity with nationally recognized open standards developed by a nationally recognized standards organization; and

‘(B) a manner that is timely and convenient and provides adequate protections for the security of the information and the privacy of the electric consumer.

Third Parties? (Cough Government Cough)

So the Bill will allow you to give permission in an electric form rather than a paper form, therefore making it easier for you to just click an "I agree" button rather than having to read a long contract.

While that isn't the main goal of this bill (but a big part of it) this bill will essentially force all utilities to provide energy usage information to the consumer as soon as possible (within 48 hours). This will get the American People used to having the utility collecting all of their energy usage information (and sharing it with Third Parties) which will make the transition to the Smart Grid much easier.

Of course one may wonder why a Politician (Mark Udell Author of s1029), who strongly supports Pricing Carbon through a Cap and Trade program, would be so interested in pushing something like the Smart Grid while at the same time creating a bill that will make it easier for you to sign away the rights to your Energy Usage Information.....

Someone might think he has some kind of plans that would limit your Individual Carbon Creation....

Nah.. That's Crazy.

Isn't it...........................?

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Smart Grid and Electric Cars: Inevitable Future Because of Climate Change

Here is a video that was made by a company called Siemens.

The video below demonstrates how they think the Smart Grid and electric cars will interact in their concept of the Future and how eletric cars are inevitable because "The world is changing". (Look in the bottom right hand corner at the :42 second mark at the reasons they list for why the electric car will be what we all drive in the future.) Notice how the electric car will be constantly communicating with the Smart Grid letting the utility company know exactly where you are and when.

Personally this type of future is a Great Example of Big Brother in the Extreme and one I don't want.

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UMKC Labor Studies Professor Likes to Be Known as a "Professional Troublemaker"

Judy Ancel, Professor of Labor Studies at the University of Missouri Kansas City (UMKC), that is not only funded by taxpayer's but by unions as well, allowed an organizer from the Communist Party USA to recruit in her class. Judy was also caught on tape showing her students how to shut down non-union businesses while at the same time standing by and watching as her Co-Professor preached violent unions tactics and industrial sabotage.

After knowing all of that it shouldn't surprise you, according to an article on The Pitch, that Judy Ancel loves to be called a Professional Troublemaker:

"Outspoken Judy Ancel prefers to be called a professional troublemaker. She relishes confronting the status quo in all of her public roles. "There aren't very many role models for young people anymore, of people who visibly fought the system and won," Ancel says. The Chicago native is the director of labor studies for both the University of Missouri-Kansas City and Longview Community College, and the co-founder and coordinator for KKFI 90.1's Heartland Labor Forum radio program. She's been raising hell since high school, when she joined a civil rights demonstration led by her rabbi. "At first, I felt embarrassed holding a picket sign and walking down the street," she says. "But I guess I got used to it." Ancel has held plenty of picket signs since then, boldly taking on retail giants from Hallmark to Wal-Mart."

So it would seem that the University of Missouri would rather defend a Communist supporting, Anti-American, Self-Described Troublemaker... instead of replacing her with someone who may actually Teach Labor Studies and Support the Country of the State that helps pay her salary.

But then again... that might make too much sense...

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Communist Civil War: Houston CPUSA Calls for a "People's Trial" of the Chairman of the CPUSA, Sam Webb

It would seem not everything is all smiles and harmony in the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) and that there may be something of a civil war going on in their ranks.

Sam Webb, Chairman of the CPUSA, has worked hard to make the CPUSA more "public friendly" since he has been put in charge. Sam has called for the CPUSA to ally with the Obama administration and openly work with the Democratic party. Sam has even gone as far as suggesting a "watering down" of the Communist doctrine by rejecting Stalin.

But It would seem that Sam's "modernization" of Communism isn't sitting well with the hard core Marxist-Leninist of the CPUSA. And according to an article on the Houston CPUSA website, some Communists are calling to have Sam Webb, and the CPUSA Leadership, put on Public Trial for their treason to Communism.

Here is the article:

"Response to Sam Webb’s paper on “A party of socialism for the 21st century…”

This document has also been posted as a comment to Sam Webb’s article “A party of socialism in the 21st century: What it looks like, what it says, and what it does which appeared in Political Affairs www.politicalaffairs.net

By the CPUSA Houston club

The CPUSA Houston club met on 2/6/11 for its monthly meeting. Naturally one of the most important points of discussion was Sam Webb’s new vision of the party as presented in his recent article “A party of socialism in the 21st century: What it looks like, what it says, and what it does.” Most found the document confusing and contradictory. Confusion and contradiction are the classic tools used by the right wing to discredit Communists and the working class.

Many important points were made by club members. One of the first questions that came up was “Do xenophobia, nihilism, anti-communism and blatant self-destruction have any place in the program of the CPUSA?” These are fairly serious charges and should be examined one by one.

Xenophobia

Certainly Webb is correct that there is more opposition to anything “foreign” from the nutty nuts on the right. Does this mean that the party should capitulate to this way of thinking and formally jettison anything that might be taken as “foreign” from our ideology? He maintains that “Leninism” might be seen as “foreign” and should be removed from our ideological positions. From this logic, also Marxism, socialism, a revolutionary party and class struggle might be seen as “foreign” concepts and should be expunged as well. What does this line of thinking mean for internationalism, support for immigrant’s rights struggles as well as world peace? Back in the 60’s, the John Birch Society used to put up billboards along the highways demanding “Get U.S. out of the U.N.” Should the party embrace this thinking since the right wing view it as “pure” and not “foreign”?

One has to wonder what would have become of the great U.S. civil rights struggle led by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. if he had decided to abandon Mahatma Gandi, since he was “foreign”? What if the leaders of the Haymarket uprising had been run off since they were German socialists and anarchists and were therefore “foreign”? What if Fidel Castro had sidelined Che Guevara since he was “foreign”? What if organized labor in this country silenced Joe Hill since he was “foreign”? By the way, Marx and Engels are just as “foreign” as Lenin and are equally detested by the wealthy elite.

If Leninism is seen as “foreign”, then that is a major failure of the party to educate people about what Leninism means.

Dropping Leninism from the party in any kind of formal way is not only dishonest, and self destructive but is “foreign” to the thinking of most party members.

Nihilism

The nasty stench of nihilism can also be detected in Webb’s long discourse which he, himself, describes by stating “Readers will surely note inconsistencies, contradictions, silences and unfinished ideas.” The scary part is that top CPUSA leadership seems to have finished their ideas on the party and intends to finish the party. Webb damns our party ideology (the same ideology on which a great history of working class struggle has been built) as “too rigid and formulaic, our analysis too loaded with questionable assumptions, our methodology too undialectical, our structure too centralized, and our policies drifting from political realities.” These are serious charges and Webb fails to back up his thinking with any facts. It appears that Webb is advocating nihilistic idealism and rejecting materialism. Adolf Hitler, Glenn Beck and Bill O’Reilly could not have slammed the party more effectively.

Webb’s nihilism does not stop here. He predicts war, climate disaster and all manner of apocalyptic catastrophes which could prevent any forward movement of the working class. He certainly does not provide any answers as to how working people can fight back against these overwhelming forces. He opines “After all, there is no direct or inevitable path to socialism. Nor is the working class going to simply ‘rise up’ at some appointed time and fight for a society of justice.” With a CPUSA cowering in the corner, where can the working class seek leadership and guidance?

From this line of thinking should our new slogans be “Workers of the world, come to your senses! Your chains are better than starvation!”? and/or “What do we want? Nothing! When do we want it? Whenever!”

Anti-Communism

Again, it is appalling that the ugly face of anti-communism appears at our top leadership. One Houston member pointed out “If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, it probably is a duck.” Webb is using the ideological weapons of right wing opportunism and liquidationism to mount an anti-communist assault on the party of the working class.

We have theory as a guide to action based on scientific socialist principles discovered by Marx, Engels and Lenin as well as others. The uniqueness of our party is that our theory (Marxism Leninism) is interconnected, interdependent and coherent as well as flexible and fluid to meet the challenges of an ever-changing world. We have a method of analysis (dialectical materialism), practice (historical materialism) and organizational principles (democratic centralism – democracy and unity of action). Without theory, we have no vision that is based on sound foundations, leaving us to flop around aimlessly. Without a path forward based on material conditions, we grow frustrated and ineffective. Without organizational cohesiveness, our force is greatly diminished, easily split and made to work at counter purposes. What Webb proposes is to discard those elements which make us a revolutionary party.

While most of the article was an attack against an imaginary left sectarianism, the most effective disruption of the CPUSA program has been from the right. This is easily demonstrated in our history – Jay Lovestone, Earl Browder, Committees of Correspondence, etc. Have we forgotten Mikhail Gorbachev and Alexander Yakovlev? How did their “new ideas” work out for them? Gorbachev and Yakovlev are some of the most despised people in the former Soviet Union. It is often said that those that do not learn from history are bound to repeat it. Have we learned nothing from the experience in the former Soviet Union where opportunists in the party gutted the CPSU until there was nothing much left to defend?

Liquidationism is the elimination of the party of the working class as an independent force, gutting its theory and purpose and blurring the lines of fundamental class conflict.

Webb has propelled the CPUSA onto the slippery slope of right wing opportunism, reformism, economism and finally liquidation of the party

Self Destruction

Continuing along the road chosen by Webb will only lead to the self destruction of the party. We are reminded of the boiling frog analogy. If a frog is placed in boiling water, it will jump out and save itself. This is what happened when Earl Browder proposed dismantling the party. Webb is being much more subtle and potentially much more effective in destroying the party. If you place a frog in cold water that is slowly heated, it will not perceive the danger and will be cooked to death.”

The future of the party and the working class

Obviously, anti-communism, xenophobia, and nihilism are poison to a working class party of action. It is up to the members, friends and allies as well as local clubs and district organizers to recognize the self-destructive path we are on and take concrete steps to get us back on course. Obviously, the tactics and strategies we use to fight the class struggle cannot be identical to those strategies and tactics used by Lenin, and Stalin. But to renounce them because the right wing might find them distasteful is unforgiveable. We must not throw out the baby and keep the bathwater. It is up to us to educate working people about our history and what our theory has to offer them in their everyday struggles against the real enemy, capitalism. If we renounce Stalin completely, then we are saying that his contributions to the defeat of German fascism and Japanese imperialism were wrong and we are renouncing the fact that he was a powerful ally of the U.S. in those global struggles.

Since the left and organized labor are in disarray, our party needs to seize the moment and reclaim our role as the vanguard party of the working class. No one is going to award it to us just because we’re good looking. We are going to have to earn it through struggle and victories for the working class.

We, the Houston club of the CPUSA, call on all members to demand an extraordinary National Convention to decide the future of the party. We are calling for a people’s trial of the Webb faction for its blatant and open betrayal of our Party Program and Constitution, mismanagement of party resources, disassembling of the party organizational structure as well as the right wing opportunism and efforts to liquidate the party. Such a trial should be easy to carry out since Webb and his small group of cronies have been very public about their treachery against the CPUSA. If found guilty of crimes against the working class and the CPUSA, they should be unceremoniously removed from office and the control of party resources should be wrenched out of their grasp. It is time to close this humiliating chapter of CPUSA history and move forward with a fully rejuvenated party."

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Obama's "Negative Press Czar" is Married to Top MoveOn.org Official

I must apologise to my regular readers for my sudden lack of consistency on my blog. I have taken up additional responsibilities that are cutting into my blogging time. I hope to be able to return to my usual routine in the future.

But since I have time to blog now, I thought you might find this interesting.

Recently this week the Obama administration created a new position by appointing Obama's online guru, Jesse Lee, to be his Director of Progressive media and Online Response. Or as I like to call it Jesse is the "Negative Press Czar".

Jesse will be responsible for crafting an online progressive outreach strategy as well as responding to negative or inaccurate stories about the President.

But isn't interesting that all of these progressives are interconnected.

According to an article on World Net Daily, Jesse Lee is married to a top official at MoveOn.org:

"Last April, Lee married Nita Chaudhary, a progressive activist.

Choudhary has led MoveOn's campaigns on the Iraq War and U.S. Constitution as well as running the group's fundraising program for MoveOn's 2008 electoral effort. She is MoveOn's campaign director for political action.

MoveOn is funded by philanthropist George Soros.

At MoveOn, Choudhary advocated against what she called "right wing extremists."

In an August 2009emailfrom the organization, Choudhary wrote, "Right-wing extremists have been crashing tons of events and trying to dominate the national debate."

Continued Choudhary: "But MoveOn members won't let them succeed-we're pushing back with Real Voices for Change, an ambitious campaign to show that the overwhelming majority of Americans continue to support President Obama's plans for change."

Two months later, she sent out a blast email decrying "biginsurance" companies.

"We need to make sure Democrats who side with 'Big Insurance' face consequences with the voters back home," she wrote.

In a dispatch last June, Choudary warned against a "secret cabal" of "conservatives" trying to slash Social Security and Medicare.

Wrote Choudhary: "It sounds like something Glenn Beck would cook up: a powerful cabal of right-wing ideologues hatches a secret plan to force cuts to Social Security and Medicare, and they're on the verge of succeeding. But it's true.

"Right now, the stars are aligned for conservatives who've spent decades trying to cut Social Security — the heart of the New Deal.

"And instead of articulating a progressive response, Democrats seem frozen, like deer in the headlights," she wrote.

Choudhary previously was director of online organizing for the Voter Contact Department of theDemocraticNationalCommittee.

In 2007, she was a trainer at the MoveOn-created progressive New Organizing Institute boot camp.

The NOI board of directors includes Color of Change, an environmental group founded and run by Van Jones, Obama's former "green"jobsczar. Jones resigned in September 2009 after it was exposed he founded a communist revolutionary organization and called for "resistance" against the U.S. government."

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Take Your Toys and Go Home?: Liberal Progressive Storms Off Fox News Set

According toBreitbart TV:

"Simon Rosenberg, President of liberal think-tank NDN gets frustrated during a debate over Medicare reform. What does he do? He takes his ball and goes home."

U.S. Department of Energy Official on the Smart Grid: "We Are Going To Be Collecting Alot of Data"

At a recent Smart Grid Conference, U.S. Department of Energy Assistant Secretary Patricia Hoffman said that "We" (I assume she means the Government.) are going to be "collecting alot of Data" through the Smart Grid. (Around the 7:00 Mark)

She also says (In the First 4 minutes)She would like to see the United States become an Energy Conscience Society and wants to protect the environment by reducing our "footprint". (More like a Society Controlled through Energy..maybe Carbon Credits?)



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VIDEO: Vermont Wants to Avoid Smart Grid Resistance

Last week I wrote an article about how the Commissioner of Vermont's Public Service, Elizabeth Miller, is hoping for no resistance by consumers to the installation of the Smart Grid. Elizabeth Miller thinks if the consumers are just educated about the Smart Grid that they will accept it. Here is the video of her comments:

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Favoritism?: GM Government Owned and Senators Push for Electric Car Bill

Before the Obama administration bailed out General Motors there were those pointing out the dangers of such a venture. Those "Paul Reveres" could see what many could not, that when the Government has ownership of a private company that inevitably it will play favorites in the free market. (33% of GM is still Government Owned)

And now those Prophets of Doom have been proven correct.

According to an article on WBIR.com, there is a bi-partisan push in the Senate to pass a bill that favors electric vehicles:

"A bill introduced in the Senate would allow towns across the country to compete for federal dollars to deploy electric cars and build charging stations.

The proposal, introduced last week by Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander of Tennessee and Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon, isn't new - similar legislation introduced last year never reached the Senate floor. But the senators said this year's high gas prices favor passage.

"The price of gas is higher this year than it was last year, and the bill costs less this year than it did last year," Alexander told colleagues at a Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing Thursday.

Alexander said electrifying half of nation's vehicles would reduce foreign oil use by a third. Powering that many electric cars wouldn't be as difficult as it sounds, he added, because utilities have enough unused nighttime capacity to charge 43 percent of the nation's cars and trucks overnight, simply by plugging them into an outlet.

Nighttime electricity is "our greatest unused resource in the United States," Alexander said.

Merkley said electric cars pollute less and promote use of diverse fuel sources other than foreign oil. Such sources are less subject to price spikes than oil, he said.

Senators at the hearing also are considering a bill introduced last month by committee member Sen. Debbie Stabenow, a Michigan Democrat, that would fund electric-vehicle research and provide tax credits for businesses that buy electric or hybrid trucks. Industry representatives at the hearing told lawmakers that promoting electric technology for use in trucks and vans may be even more significant than promoting its use in passenger cars, which use much less fuel."

Isn't it interesting that the only American Car manufacturer that is really pushing the electric vehicle is the 33% Government owned GM?

Makes you wonder if these little pieces of legislation are just another attempt to play "favorites" in the Free Market..

But the Federal Government would NEVER interfere in the Free Market by playing favorites would they?

Ok.. ok Stop laughing..

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Scott Brown Betrayal?: Bill to Make It "Easier" For You to Allow Utilities to Collect Your Private Info Through The Smart Grid

I broke the story several weeks ago about all of the detailed information that will be collected on you through the Smart Grid which is described in Priority Action Plan 10 (PAP-10) created by the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB) and the EPA. From recording your Internet usage to how many ice cubes you make, the Smart Grid is to become one of the most intrusive technological "advancements" in the history of the United States.

After the story broke, one of the most common questions I received was: "How will the utility company be allowed to collect such detailed information on my personal energy use?"

Well according to Reliant, a company that is a member of NAESB, You, the consumer, must give the utility permission to collect such information.

The Comment is on line 87 of the Comments sheet that was created during the drafting of PAP-10:

Smart Grid Comments

In order for you to give permission, normally it would require your signature on a contract that will allow the utility company to collect the very detailed information about your energy use.

But thanks to (Tea Party Elected) Republican Scott Brown, Democrat Mark Udall and a Bill called "E Know S1029", it may be easier for the utility company to collect that information. According to the Pr Newswire they are even trying to sell this bill as something that will help you:

"The Demand Response and Smart Grid Coalition (DRSG) welcomes the introduction of new legislation in the US Senate that would empower electricity consumers to better manage their energy use and reduce their energy bills. Sponsored by Senator (D-CO) and co-sponsored by Scott Brown (R-MA), the Electric Consumer Right to Know Act (S 1029)—or "e-KNOW"—would establish the right for electric consumers to more easily access their electric usage information—including in real time—and to benefit directly from the new information generated by the smart grid.

"This is a very exciting bill and we applaud Senators Udall and Brown for introducing it," said , President of the DRSG. "Research shows that consumers who get better information about their electricity usage become more energy efficient overall—to the tune of 5 – 15% more efficient. With e-Know in place, consumers will not be in the dark about how much they are spending or saving. Whether the goal is cutting carbon emissions or shrinking energy bills, consumers will have the power of information that they are used to getting in all other aspects of their lives and business activities."

"Many consumers want to use energy more efficiently but can't," continued Delurey, "because they don't know how much they are actually using. When the bill arrives at the end of the month it's too late to turn off lights or ease-up the air conditioning at the beginning of the month."

What is terribly ironic about this bill is that it is totally unnecessary. If all the Smart Grid did was tell the consumer detailed information about their energy usage they wouldn't need this bill or any other bill in order to receive it because the information would be displayed on a screen in your own home.

So if you don't need this bill to know your own energy usage why are they trying to pass it?

The first sentence of the next paragraph in the article hints at the real reason for this bill:

"The e-Know bill also would give consumers the right to authorize access to their usage data by companies that facilitate home energy efficiency. Furthermore, it would allow consumers to access information directly from home energy management systems and other energy-management products that are independent of the utility's electric meter. Finally, the legislation would ensure that the right to consumer-data access is technology neutral, allowing consumers to choose how they get and use their consumption information."

As I stated before, the utility company needs your permission to gain access to your private energy usage information, but it might be difficult for them to get your signature on a contract that allows them to know every aspect of your energy usage life. So the always "helpful" politicians created this bill to help make it easier for you to "grant" that permission.

Notice how the political establishment is trying to sell you on the idea that this bill will give you a "Right" to share your personal information. I was under the impression that we already have that Right if we choose to exercise it.

Isn't Scott Brown just wonderful in his efforts to give us a "Right" which we already have?

That is what I call "Dazzling You with B.S.".

Now the Text for this bill has not been published yet. But in the next several days I will be writing a follow up article either proving I am right.. or that I'm sadly mistaken.

One final note about the DRSG coalition that is pushing this "Bill" with the help of traitor Scott Brown. The Members of the DRSG coincidentally include the company in bed with the Obama Administration, General Electric (GE), and some companies that are also members of the NAESB who helped draft PAP-10.

Isn't it great that a "Tea Party" elected Politician is trying to Dazzle you with B.S. so that the Utility, and possibly the Government, will be able to know all the private information about your personal energy usage?

That is what I Call "Change" A Progressive can Believe in ....

And "Change" a True Defender of Liberty Can Fear.

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