Thursday, June 27, 2013

BloggeRhythms 6/27/2013

While gullible Dem’s continually buy the hype, smoke and bilge shoveled at them by their political leadership, the longer those leaders remain in office, the more underlying truths come out, exposing the self-serving frauds for what they really are.
 
In that regard, several more evidences of cronyism, deceit, fabrication and perhaps outright abuses of power, surfaced in the past few days.
 
Doug McKellar of Fox News on-line writes that, “For the second time in as many months, a senior IRS manager on Wednesday invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self incrimination, fueling perceptions of an agency in  crisis.”
 
The article reports that, Greg Roseman, a Deputy IRS Director, “spearheaded the awarding of the IRS's  largest contract in history to a company owned by a close friend of his, an action that is prohibited under government contracting regulations.”
 
Braulio Castillo’s company, Strong Castle, Inc., won several contracts totaling almost $500 million for IRS IT services “in part on the basis of his friendship with Roseman and by qualifying for two minority programs that allow disadvantaged applicants a better chance of winning lucrative government contracts.”
 
But here’s the incredible part: “He won entrance into another minority set-aside program run by the Veterans Administration that gives disabled vets certain advantages in federal contracting. His disability? An ankle twisted during football at the US Military Academy Prep School 27 years ago.”
 
Then, another item, this one posted by Fox’s, John Roberts, says that, Tom Steyer, a billionaire hedge fund manager, "warned the president not to "trade" action on greenhouse gases for approval of Keystone XL, prior to the incumbent’s pronouncement Tuesday that the pipeline would only be approved if it produced no net change in greenhouse gas emissions.” 
 
Steyer’s a “big Obama donor” who has launched a summer-long social media campaign "We Love Our Land," with a goal to kill Keystone and keep Canadian oil bottled up in the tar sands. He said, “We really cannot afford 40 to 50 years of development of a humongous oil reserve that's twice as bad -- soup to nuts -- as normal crude," at a gathering at the National Press Club. 
 
However, apparently critics have accused Steyer of hypocrisy, because as it turns out, “Twenty-seven years ago, he founded Farallon Capital, which built much of its wealth on shrewd investments in fossil fuels. Farallon made millions for its investors, and left Steyer with a net worth estimated by Forbes at $1.4 billion.”
 
But even more rapacious than that, “One of Farallon's biggest holdings is in U.S. pipeline company Kinder Morgan, which has plans to expand a major competitor to Keystone -- the TransMountain pipeline. It carries tar sands oil from Edmonton to British Columbia's west coast for export to Asia. If Kinder Morgan gets approval for the expansion, TransMountain would carry 900,000 barrels of tar sands oil every day.”
 
And Gee Whiz! what a surprise: “That's more than Keystone XL,” so who’s kidding who? 
 
Then, out of curiosity, while writing about the financially-based collusion between the incumbent and two wealthy friends and supporters, I looked up another: Warren Buffet. Because he certainly fits the mold perfectly of someone who’d sell his soul to the devil for another quarter, and here’s what I found that I should have already known.
 
According to Jim Efstathiou Jr. of Bloomberg on-line back on January 23, 2012: “Warren Buffett’s Burlington Northern Santa Fe LLC is among U.S. and Canadian railroads that stand to benefit from the Obama administration’s decision to reject TransCanada Corp. (TRP)’s Keystone XL oil pipeline permit.” 
 
According to Mr. Efstathiou, “With modest expansion, railroads can handle all new oil produced in western Canada through 2030, according to an analysis of the Keystone proposal by the U.S. State Department.” 
 
Krista York-Wooley, a spokeswoman for Burlington Northern, added, “Whatever people bring to us, we’re ready to haul. [So]  If Keystone XL “doesn’t happen, we’re here to haul.” 
 
And then, as a topper, the article states: “The rail option, though costlier, would lessen the environmental impact, such as a loss of wetlands and agricultural productivity, compared to the pipeline, according to the State Department analysis. Greenhouse gas emissions, however, would be worse.” Which means that by defeating Keystone to further enrich Buffet, the incumbent's not only deceiving the public, but completely ignoring his own rhetorical warnings. 
 
So, here we have something I’ve mentioned several times before, and did so again Tuesday, after the Incumbent’s declaration of war against totally fictional climate change. If you want to know what this administration’s all about, forget the politics because they don’t matter to him a whit. Skip the daily speeches and meaningless babble, canned platitudes and rhetoric too. Because all you really have to do, is follow the money like the old adage says. Because the White House runs just like Chicago, where the highest payoffs to those at the top always win, no matter the issue involved.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

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