Bidenconomy: Heating Your Home Will Be A Lot More Expensive This Winter

By William Teach October 4, 2022 – 10:30 am

It’s not just Europe which is facing an expensive winter this year: so is the U.S. under the leadership (sic) of Joe Biden. On the brightside, we’re probably not going to get rationed, not going to go without, not have to rely on chopping down trees

It’s Going to Be a Lot More Expensive to Heat Your Home This Winter. Here’s What To Expect

Joe Biden Ice Cream AfghanistanWhen Deanna Schultz received the utility bills for the trailer where she lives in Rock Falls, Ill. this month, she was stunned at how expensive they had become. Her electric bill alone more than doubled, up $85. Now, with natural gas prices on the rise, she is concerned about heating costs, too.

“Last month I had $16 left after paying bills,” says Schultz, 50, a former teacher’s aide who has an autoimmune disorder that impacts how her body regulates temperature. “If I lose my [heating] I’m in trouble.”

Low-income Americans like Schultz face dangerous consequences of higher heating costs, but nearly everybody in the U.S. can expect to pay significantly more—often hundreds of dollars—on their heating and energy bills this winter—fueled by a global energy crisis and the fastest growing inflation in 40 years.

It’s interesting how almost none of the stories about inflation and such fail to mention the root cause, being the Chinese coronavirus, which anyone with a working brain will realize was released by accident, as the Wuhan institute doesn’t exactly have a great security record, or on purpose. Nor that Biden and the Democrats are doing little to help fix the problem, and actually doing things that hurt

Some 55.3 million Americans struggled to afford their energy bills in 2021, and it’s likely many millions more will face a crunch this year. Experts say the patchwork of assistance programs across the country may not have the funding to deal with an uptick in demand.

Instead of lots more funding, how about we do things that increase the supply of energy?

Heating bills are expected to increase by 17% across the country—costing about $177 more on average and reaching the highest cost in more than a decade, according to a Sept. 12 report by the National Energy Assistance Directors Association.

NEADA estimates that American households will pay $22 billion more in heating costs this winter than in the 2021-2022 season.

Oh, good.

But, how you heat your home and where you live will dictate how much your heating bills will increase.

  • For families that use natural gas for heating—roughly half of U.S. households—costs are expected to rise $243, up 34%, with bills hitting $952 on average.
  • Households that use heating oil may see costs rise $239, up 13%, to $2,115 on average.
  • Propane-heated households could pay $241 more, up 15%, to $1,828 on average.
  • Homes that get their heat from the electrical grid could see a more modest cost increase: up $86, or 7%, to $1,328.

The pinch is likely to be most severe in the Northeast, where oil and natural gas are the primary feeder fuels for electricity compared to other regions, further raising demand.

Guess what the Democrats are working hard to obliterate? Which is interesting, considering that the Northeast is a hive of liberalism. They’re literally voting to screw themselves.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which has put a strain on global energy supplies, is likely the main source of rising heating costs, energy experts say, but other factors could be at play, too. Electric companies used up a significant amount of their natural gas reserves this summer to power air conditioning as Americans needed to cool down from the third-hottest summer on record. And the supply hasn’t been able to keep up with demand.

Of course they’re blaming Russia, though the U.S. doesn’t get much in the way of heating oil or natural gas from Russia. The summer wasn’t that much hotter than normal. COVID and Biden/Democrat policies on restricting drilling isn’t mentioned.

Read: Bidenconomy: Heating Your Home Will Be A Lot More Expensive This Winter »

Posted in Democrats, Economy, Joe Biden | 7 Comments | Trackback URL

Bummer: UN Climate (scam) Chief Says Pledges Are Too Late

By William Teach October 4, 2022 – 7:15 am

Hey, I bet if all the climate apocalypse global elites pledge to make their own lives carbon neutral they could work to solve this. Make their own companies carbon neutral?

U.N. chief: Current climate change pledges ‘far too little and far too late’

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres issued a dire assessment Monday on the current world pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions causing climate change, saying they were “far too little and far too late” to keep temperatures from rising above a critical threshold.

“The collective commitments of G-20 governments are coming far too little and far too late. The actions of the wealthiest developed and emerging economies simply don’t add up,” Guterres said at a press conference at U.N. headquarters in New York City of the efforts to keep average global temperatures from rising 1.5° Celsius or higher above pre-industrial levels.

The world has already warmed by 1.2°C due to the greenhouse effect caused by mankind’s burning of fossil fuels, and studies show that that amount of warming is already having a profound impact on the planet, including making hurricanes stronger and worsening drought, heat waves, wildfires, and extreme rainfall events.

While the use of coal and oil might have a small effect, it’s primarily natural variability

  • 1877-78: strong El Nino event warms global temperatures
  • 1880s-1910: small cooling, partially due to volcanic eruptions
  • 1910-1940s: warming, partially due to recovery from volcanic eruptions, small increase in solar ouput and natural variability
  • 1950s-1970s: fairly flat temperatures as cooling sulphate aerosols mask the greenhouse gas warming
  • 1980-now: strong warming, with temperatures pushed higher in 1998 and 2016 due to strong El Nino events

If anything, that underestimates. You had a huge jump in the temps in the 1930s, and the 50’s through 70’s was actually a bit negative. Then a big pause in the late 1990’s for around 16 years. And, depending on the dataset you look at, warming since 1850 can be as low as .8C. But, this is not about science, or, we wouldn’t see

Egypt: About 90 heads of state confirmed for COP27 climate summit

About 90 heads of state have confirmed attendance at November’s COP27 climate negotiations in Egypt where they will address issues including energy transition and food security at opening sessions, a senior Egyptian official said on Monday.

“We’ve received a large number of confirmations from around the world, I think the last count was about 90 heads of state but the numbers keep coming in,” said Wael Aboulmagd, special representative for the COP27 presidency, without mentioning specific countries.

Egypt is taking over the presidency of the U.N. climate talks from Britain, and will host the talks from Nov. 6-18 in the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh.

How many of them will be taking private fossil fueled jets, with large retinues of advisors and such to the swanky resort city? How many more will do the same? How many lower level Warmists will take long fossil fueled trips?

Read: Bummer: UN Climate (scam) Chief Says Pledges Are Too Late »

Posted in Climahypocrites, Global Warming | 22 Comments | Trackback URL

‘Climate Change’ Is Totally A Fact, Not A Cult Or Something

By William Teach October 4, 2022 – 7:00 am

You know the one thing that tends to be missing from screeds like this? Facts

Climate change: Not a leap of faith but fact

If you don’t believe in climate change, know now that it is not a leap of faith but clearly a leap of fact. Truly the time has come to jump on board.

Our globe is warming in palpable ways. Our wonderful southwest homeland, once summered in thermometer readings rarely above 105 degrees, now regularly sees heat upward of 110, 112 and 117. Our capitol city baked to 107degrees in what we often consider a fall month, September. In climate related disasters, cars are turned away from the road home, cars are melted in fires that currently rage in our near neighbor state of California and are drowned in floods in the South. And of course, more disturbing, and much sadder, it’s not just cars, people too are meeting their fates in the ravages of climate change both nearby, such as the recent death in our beloved Zion National Park and around the world.

Looking a bit further away, yet still here in the southwest, a drying up Lake Mead, the world’s largest reservoir, and a less than a 90-minute drive from St. George, has grimly revealed the human remains of individuals who have lost their lives recreating in this popular recreation site. Climate change and our historic drought have also impacted Lake Powell. Spanning areas in both Utah and Arizona, it has touched the lives of so many in southwest Utah. Now having reached its lowest level since its initial filling, it’s receding to reveal buried arches and the full magnitude of the iconic Lone Rock. Many who fondly remember boating and fishing around this iconic landmark will now find it’s open again to hikers.

None of that proves anthropogenic causation, just warming, as happens on and off during the Holocene. Heck, a lot is incompetence and land use. Personal experiences, including ones you’ve read about in far left outlets, are not proof of anthropogenic causation

With the leap of factual climate change must come human change. We must begin learning and practicing new everyday habits, implementing modifications, and acknowledging limitations to demonstrate a new understanding and alertness to our climate. Furthermore, we must begin advocating for these modifications.

So, what can we do? The ideas and steps are not new. Humanity must work toward the reduction of climate warming gases, like carbon dioxide and at the same time remove excess carbon from our atmosphere. We must commit to the reality that water in the southwest and elsewhere is a resource to be protected and stewarded in a manner that preserves it for clearly necessary use and the preservation of all life. Unwarranted, recreational, and ornamental uses must be carefully weighed against the heavy risks and toll they may very well inflict upon the dangerously uncertain supply.

Hmm, that sounds less like science and more like politics. A faith in their climate cult. Who is going to force those limitations? What if we do not want those limitations and modifications? What will you and the government do?

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Economist Predicts 40% Market Drop Under Severe Stagflation

By William Teach October 4, 2022 – 7:00 am

In fairness, you can’t blame this all on Biden: China is the main culprit for Wuhan Flu. Of course, Biden, along with so many Progressive Build Back Better leaders, are not only not helping, but, making things worse

Opinion: Stock markets will drop another 40% as a severe stagflationary debt crisis hits an overleveraged global economy

Biden Brain SlugFor a year now, I have argued that the increase in inflation would be persistent, that its causes include not only bad policies but also negative supply shocks, and that central banks’ attempt to fight it would cause a hard economic landing.

When the recession comes, I warned, it will be severe and protracted, with widespread financial distress and debt crises. Notwithstanding their hawkish talk, central bankers, caught in a debt trap, may still wimp out and settle for above-target inflation. Any portfolio of risky equities and less risky fixed-income bonds will lose money on the bonds, owing to higher inflation and inflation expectations.

How do these predictions stack up? First, Team Transitory clearly lost to Team Persistent in the inflation debate. On top of excessively loose monetary, fiscal, and credit policies, negative supply shocks caused price growth to surge. COVID-19 lockdowns led to supply bottlenecks, including for labor. China’s “zero-COVID” policy created even more problems for global supply chains. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent shock waves through energy and other commodity markets. (snip)

It is much harder to achieve a soft landing under conditions of stagflationary negative supply shocks than it is when the economy is overheating because of excessive demand. Since World War II, there has never been a case where the Fed achieved a soft landing with inflation above 5% (it is currently above 8%) and unemployment below 5% (it is currently 3.7%).

Nouriel Roubini goes through quite a few different problems facing the U.S. and the world, mostly the 1st World, which results in

But U.S. and global equities have not yet fully priced in even a mild and short hard landing. Equities will fall by about 30% in a mild recession, and by 40% or more in the severe stagflationary debt crisis that I have predicted for the global economy. Signs of strain in debt markets are mounting: sovereign spreads and long-term bond rates are rising, and high-yield spreads are increasing sharply; leveraged-loan and collateralized-loan-obligation markets are shutting down; highly indebted firms, shadow banks, households, governments, and countries are entering debt distress.

If I was into conspiracy theories, I would think this is something that the U.S. and global elites want. Nah, right? Because they would never take advantage of the middle and working class when a huge worldwide problem (cough…COVID…cough) hits to institute their authoritarian agenda, right?

Anyhow, while we’re on economics, here’s another big problem

A huge number of ‘Zombie’ companies are drowning in debt. This CEO sees a reckoning as interest rates soar

Zombies are real. Well, at least “zombie companies” are real.

Loosely defined as economically unviable firms that need to borrow to stay alive, an era of cheap money and high-risk investing has fueled the rise of the walking dead in the business world over the past decade.

David Trainer, the CEO of the investment research firm New Constructs, believes there are now roughly 300 publicly-traded zombie companies.

And with interest rates soaring, money isn’t as cheap as it used to be, which means zombie companies are facing a reckoning that will affect both investors and the economy as a whole as recession fears mount.

How many are there?

Goldman Sachs recently estimated that some 13% of U.S.-listed companies “could be considered” zombies, which it called “firms that haven’t produced enough profit to service their debts.”

But in a study last year, the Federal Reserve found that only roughly 10% of public firms were zombie companies in 2019 using slightly more rigorous criteria. And in an even more confusing turn,Deutsche Bank Strategist Jim Reid conducted a study in April 2021 that found that over 25% of U.S. companies were zombies in 2020. (snip)

Trainer and his team have built a list of roughly 300 publicly-traded zombies that they closely track, and while most of them are smaller firms, some have been in the public eye of late.

Stocks like the online car retailer Carvana and the once-high flying stationary bike maker Peloton made the list, along with the meme-stock favorites AMC and GameStop.

Carvana doesn’t surprise me, especially since they are offering way, way too much to buy cars, and stores keep getting suspended to operate by states. Nor does Peloton, which over-produced during COVID, and recently laid off a lot of people. AMC, as in the movie theaters, was a surprise, and could see most or all of their theaters go goodbye. Gamestop was also a surprise, but, I guess people do not have to rely on stores for games anymore. This could see a lot of companies fold and a lot of people lose their jobs. As some point out, though, this will free up a lot of capital that will stop going to zombie companies and go to ones which can turn a profit.

Read: Economist Predicts 40% Market Drop Under Severe Stagflation »

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NC Voters Aren’t All That Interesting In ‘Climate Change’ For Mid-terms

By William Teach October 3, 2022 – 3:00 pm

It just goes to prove yet again that people might care about the climate crisis scam in theory, but, in practice? It’s low hanging fruit when compared with real issues

How important is climate change to NC voters in the 2022 midterm elections?

At a public meeting in Leland last month, officials with Chemours glowingly discussed the chemical company’s plans to expand its operations at the Fayetteville Works complex. Outside, nearly 200 protesters sent a different message to the officials of the company that for decades, along with its predecessor DuPont, dumped toxic “forever chemicals” into the Cape Fear River, contaminants that eventually made it into the drinking water of thousands of downstream residents.

The outrage against Chemours that has gripped the Cape Fear region since 2017 when the StarNews first brought the contamination to light has been powered by a drumbeat of new accusations and state actions against the company and new information about the health dangers posed by PFAS (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances) like GenX.

Throw in a string of national and worldwide natural disasters that scientists say are fueled by manmade climate change and it would seem that environmental activism would be a driving issue at the ballot box going into the upcoming midterm elections.

Well, no, candidates and political scientists say.

Sadly, real environmental issues end up in the same category as climate apocalypse, since a) most of the nuts are in the same group, and b) the cult has made environmental issues the same as climate doom. I’m concerned about those forever chemicals. Not climate Ragnarok.

State Rep. Deb Butler, a Democrat who represents Wilmington in the N.C. House, said there are plenty of kitchen table issues, from inflation and the state of the economy to the future of public education and women’s reproductive rights, that are dominating the conversation this election season.

“That’s certainly at the top,” she said of the abortion question that’s divided the country for decades and became even more of a hot-button issue this summer with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to allow states to decide the issue. “People are still very, very upset about their contaminated water, too.”

And concerns over climate change?

“It kind of takes a back seat to those present threats,” Butler said.

Clean water is environmental, not climate calamity.

That sentiment was echoed by her Republican challenger for the House District 18 seat.

“People want to be heard, and they’re concerned about a lot of issues,” John Hinnant said.

He said when he knocks on people’s doors and asks them what worries them heading into the 2022 midterms, climate change and the environment does come up.

“But it’s well down the line,” Hinnant said. “People care about it, but between the increasing cost to fill the tank, higher utility bills and rising food prices, those are their primary things.”

It’s the same every election cycle: people do not care about climate cataclysm in practice.

Anusha Narayanan, climate campaign director for Greenpeace USA, admitted environmentalists are facing an uphill battle to get voters to pay attention when there are so many other daily, economic and political struggles for them to focus on.

“People are exhausted by the pandemic, they’re terribly disillusioned by the government,” she told The New York Times in July. “People see climate as a tomorrow problem. We have to make them see it’s not a tomorrow problem.”

Maybe, maybe not. Most are just unwilling to make wholesale changes in their own lives to accord with their beliefs. To pay more taxes and fees, or see their cost of living go up. If the enviros were smart, they’d separate the environment from climate destruction. People would care more about the environment in practice.

So what will it take to get climate change back on electors’ radar screen?

More natural disasters or environmental degradations that directly impact them would be one way, officials said.

The climate cult would love more misery, death, and destruction so they can push their cult beliefs.

Read: NC Voters Aren’t All That Interesting In ‘Climate Change’ For Mid-terms »

Posted in Collapsing Science, Global Warming | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 3, 2022 – 1:00 pm

…is horrible carbon pollution infused beer, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is A Bad American, with a post on AOC having a meltdown over a biology lesson.

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Posted in If All You See | 11 Comments | Trackback URL

Crime Is Slamming NYC And Chicago

By William Teach October 3, 2022 – 10:30 am

The NY Daily News, which has supported defunding the police, no cost bail, and all the other left wing soft on criminals policies, seems surprised

Violent, unprovoked attacks have New Yorkers on edge: ‘There is something profoundly wrong’

surprise surprise surpriseThey are the buzzwords of New York City crime circa 2022: Random and unprovoked.

A chilling spate of recent incidents involving innocent victims runs the gamut from a woman savagely beaten inside a Queens subway station to a 17-year-old Brooklyn girl killed by a stray bullet to a Mexican immigrant nearly killed by a sucker-punch outside a Manhattan restaurant.

The latest terrifying attack took the life of a veteran city EMS lieutenant on her way to grab lunch in Astoria this past Thursday, with a schizophrenic stranger knocking her to the sidewalk before stabbing her 20 times for no apparent reason.

“There’s something profoundly wrong with New York,” said Mary Hassler, 66, an Astoria resident and cosmetics sales person. “The number of these attacks are growing. There seems to be more and more all the time.

Hey, NYC residents voted for this when they voted in a Leftist mayor, leftist city council, and leftist District Attorney. They’re literally getting what they voted for. If you would have asked them if they supported defunding, no cash bail, etc, a few years ago they would have said “yes!”

But the department reports an uptick so far this year in 911 calls involving emotionally disturbed people. Through Sept. 29, police cited an 8% hike with the latest numbers at 131,199 — roughly 500 per day, up from 128,488 over the same stretch of 2021.

And in a year when the NYPD reported a nearly 12% drop in homicides, there was also a citywide 37% jump in robberies and a 43% increase in grand larceny as New Yorkers expressed their fears about the ongoing situation.

Like in California, criminals feel emboldened to do crime. And what does a city council member recommend?

I love the first section, where, under Direct, it’s recommended you “repeat the same statements until the person causing harm corrects their behavior or exits.” Right, right, that’s totally feasible. Of course, they could be exiting because they’ve already filled their bag with goods and it’s time to go.

And in Chicago

Read More »

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Surprise: NJ.com Editorial Board Is Against Treating Contractors As Employees

By William Teach October 3, 2022 – 6:45 am

I’ve been reading NJ.com since the early 2000’s. I’m from NJ a long time ago, they usually have lots of interesting reporting, they cover the Giants and Devils, and I used to love the forums, sports and politics. They’re very much a left wing paper. Overall, probably slightly less left than Pelosi and Schumer. But, hey, just like so many other Democrat companies, when Government starts raising their costs, they suddenly squeal and abandon those leftist principles

This fresh blow to newspapers — and our democracy — must be stopped | Editorial

This editorial is that rare piece that presents an unavoidable conflict of interest for us, since we in the dwindling press corps are not the observers this time; we are one of the players. But please, hear us out.

Because for local newspapers, this could be a matter of life and death. And for larger papers, like the Star-Ledger, the risk is further reductions in the already depleted coverage of local towns and school districts. Does any sane person believe that calling off the watchdogs would be good for New Jersey?

Wait, wait, Government instituting policies and requirements can have an adverse effect on companies? Huh

The solution wouldn’t cost taxpayers a dime. It would only require that the state allow the status quo to continue, as a bill pending in the Assembly would do. New York and California have already passed laws to protect newspapers in their states. New Jersey needs to follow that lead, as a pending bill would do, and it’s urgent.

The issue is the treatment of the men and women who deliver newspapers, usually for a few hours a day, early in the morning, typically earning about $300 a week. For nearly two centuries, and across the country, the job has been done by contractors who are not classified as employees of the newspapers.

But now the state Department of Labor is strictly enforcing a law that’s been on the books since the FDR era, upending tradition by ordering these workers to be treated as employees. That means newspapers, or the firms they hire to handle delivery, would have to pay taxes to cover benefits like unemployment and disability, just as they do for full-time employees. It would cost the Star-Ledger, already diminished by layoffs and buyouts, about $3 million a year.

You can easily dig through the archives, including the writings of the editorial board, to find that NJ.com has taken the side of the Democrats in all sorts of issues, such as Obamacare, raising taxes on businesses, and raising the minimum wage, not too mention all the COVID shutdowns and such. But, when it hits NJ.com in the wallet? No siree Bob!. We keep seeing this, like Starbucks being again unionizing stores. The NY Times and Amazon were against unions in their own workplaces. Plenty of examples of that.

Understand, this is not a simple story about heroes and villains. Many contract workers are happy to be independent players. And it’s impossible to draw a bright line between contractors and employees that fits every circumstance. Gray areas abound.

Interesting

N.J. legislators should do what Washington state just did for rideshare drivers | Opinion

The past month has been incredible for working people. Just this week, Starbucks workers in Boston voted to unionize two stores. This follows another victory just across the Hudson, where Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island recently unionized after years of intense confrontation with the company.

As a driver with Lyft, one win that happened on the other side of the country still hits close to home. There in Washington state, rideshare drivers worked with Uber and Lyft, the local Teamsters union and democratically elected officials to pass a first-of-its-kind law providing them greater benefits and protections without jeopardizing their independence.

Granted, that’s not the editorial board, but, the paper was good with government forcing other companies to unionize, to treat contract labor as employees. Just, not their own company.

Read: Surprise: NJ.com Editorial Board Is Against Treating Contractors As Employees »

Posted in Liberal World, Wonky Media | 14 Comments | Trackback URL

AOC Seems Upset That Tents For Migrants Would Go Up In Her District

By William Teach October 2, 2022 – 8:56 pm

Bless her heart

The political pleasantries didn’t last long.

Immediately after appearing together in public for the first time Friday, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took aim at Mayor Adams’ plan to erect a migrant tent camp in her district, charging that there’s a “better solution” to be had.

The progressive congresswoman, who’s had a simmering beef with the more moderate-minded mayor for months, offered the rebuke in a brief interview with the Daily News on the steps of City Hall following a press conference with Adams on an unrelated topic.

“I think we can get to a place with a better solution here,” Ocasio-Cortez said when asked about the tent facilities being built in the Bronx’s Orchard Beach parking lot to house upward of 1,000 Latin American migrants.

Ocasio-Cortez said she also ”very much“ sides with ”the sentiment” of Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson, who raised a number of concerns about the Orchard Beach site earlier this week, including poor transit access and susceptibility to flooding.

I’m sure she’s fine with the tents in other districts. Just another case of an open border liberal wanting all those illegals/migrants to be Somewhere Else. Someone Else’s Problem.

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Posted in Democrats, Illegal Immigration | 5 Comments | Trackback URL

If All You See…

By William Teach October 2, 2022 – 1:15 pm

…is a horrible fair using lots of energy, you might just be a Warmist

The blog of the day is No Tricks Zone, with a post on Antifa in Berlin hunting “high energy users”

It’s Octoberfest week!

Read: If All You See… »

Posted in If All You See | 4 Comments | Trackback URL
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