A Pound of Thoughts

Isn’t it ironic that before you go on a vacation or a work trip somewhere, you hear horror stories or accidents that have occurred in your destination?

Granted it may not always happen - but just occasionally, it does.  Things are no different for my upcoming trip to the Nation’s capital.

Yesterday, the Washington, D.C. metro’s “Orange Line” de-railed, leaving approximately 400 passengers feeling quite helpless.

The derailment caused major backups and delays of up to an hour on Metro’s second-busiest line just before the Monday afternoon rush, and problems persisted into the evening. There were no reports of injuries, but a pregnant passenger was sent to a hospital for observation, Metro officials said. Metro used a rescue train to evacuate 412 passengers from the derailed train, including a man in a wheelchair, officials said.

Now this just gives me a warm-and-fuzzy all over.  Granted, my trip is going to be a “flying” one (pardon the pun) - leaving here Monday morning, arriving there Monday afternoon, and then leaving there immediately after my meeting on Tuesday morning.  But still, I’ll be using the grandiose metro of D.C. from the airport to the hotel (my hotel is actually one block off the green line).  I just hope nothing happens to the yellow or green lines!

Source:  Washington Post

Say it isn’t so!  A democrat wanting to raise taxes?  As Gomer Pyle would say, “Surprise! Surprise!  Surprise!”  Not:

A Michigan congressman wants to put a 50-cent tax on every gallon of gasoline to try to cut back on Americans’ consumption.

Polls show that a majority of Americans support policies that would reduce greenhouse gases. But when it comes to paying for it, it’s a different story.

Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., wants to help cut consumption with a gas tax but some don’t agree with the idea, according to a new poll by the National Center for Public Policy Research. 

I’m not for making people pay more for gas.  We already have enough taxes on gas.  For example, the combined local, state and federal tax on fuel here in Mississippi is 37.2¢ per gallon.  Residents of New York pay 59.6¢, and California residents pay a whopping 63.9¢ per gallon.  The U.S. average is 47¢ per gallon.

To make Americans pay more for gas now would be ludicrous.  Americans are already having a tough time paying for their homes and bills.  I believe we need to take what money we have collected and use that to fund our conversion over to more conservative fuels, such as sugar-cane-derivative ethanol or biofuels.  Brazil has had tremendous success with SGD ethanol…Why can’t we do it?  To me, raising taxes on petroleum-based gasoline before having a widely-available alternative energy source is putting the cart before the horse.  Once we have that alternative energy source, then impose the higher tax to try to get people to switch over to it.  Don’t just raise the tax as a punishment for using the only energy source we currently have.

Some people just can’t think things out.

I have heard a lot of people squawking this week about the $35 billion deal that Northrop Grumman won against Boeing.  These certain people are accepting what the MSM are saying about the deal, that a "foreign" country has won the contract and Americans will "lose their jobs".  I must say that this is far from the truth.

Northrop Grumman Corporation is headed in Los Angeles, California.  EADS is headquartered in Paris.  But get this:  Northrop Grumman is the prime contractor.

So what does this mean?  Well, think of a pyramid.  NGC is on top.  EADS is a subcontractor.  And what’s more, here’s a look at all the subcontractors:

• EADS-North America
• General Electric - HQ is in Fairfield, Connecticut
• Honeywell - HQ is in Morristown, New Jersey
• AAR Cargo Systems - HQ is in Wood Dale, Illinois
• Sargent Fletcher - HQ is in El Monte, California
• Knight Aerospace Products - HQ is in San Antonio, Texas
• Parker and Telephonics - HQ is in Irvine, California

As you can see, EADS is the only subcontractor that is not in the United States.  Yet, they are the ones that supposedly "won" the contract.  Uh, nope.  Northrop Grumman won the prime contract.

Now to address the jobs issue:  No one is losing their jobs, and no jobs are moving overseas.  As a matter of fact, the project will be based in Mobile, Alabama, at Brookley Field.  It will create approximately 1,500 to 2,000 direct jobs in the U.S., with another 23,000 indirect jobs being created in the United States.  And here’s the kicker:  The KC-45A tanker program does not transfer any jobs from the United States to France or any other foreign country.

If you want some more disclosure, go here:  Northrop Grumman Sets the Record Straight Concerning the U.S. Air Force KC-45A Misinformation.

Just thought I’d help get the word out about this deal.  And here’s another thing:  I live 30 minutes from Mobile, so the potential positive impact of this deal on my neighborhood is immense.  A lot of people I know could possibly have jobs because of this.  It is a major boost to my local economy.  So the next time someone says that America is outsourcing its defense contracts, you just refer them to this post.  It’s about time some people need to be educated.