The fact is that most alternative fuel options would take longer to become cost and energy effective than Gulf drilling now. Ethanol is a joke, when you look at the cost in energy to produce it, not to mention the impact on food cost, with the pressure on the corn prices.

I agree both directions on fuel are needed, but not one without the other. We do need to set priorities, not an “either or” senario, and not the “inflate your tires more” solution that Obama suggest. I think a drill today, solar, wind, atomic next program will work just fine.

I also looked at your NRDC, a bit too one sided for me to take their opinions seriously. Their board seem to be loaded with opinions and not much science for my taste.

I agree that there is a great amount of opportunity to better one’s condition in the United States. I am very happy to live in this country. But I don’t agree with the idea of comparing the condition of America’s poor with the condition of poor people the world over. If you want to compare, well…we are comparatively an extremely rich nation, and we should strive to eliminate suffering in our very rich country. It’s never gonna happen completely, and it’s certainly not gonna happen if people refuse to help themselves at all, but I do believe that some societal assistance can play a role.

Rick - I agree that our education system needs some major work, but I also think that money (spent wisely) can play a crucial role in bettering our schools. Computers and new resources cost money, and teachers’ salaries certainly should cost more money than they do.
I am friends with several teachers and ex-teachers, including my sister, and the fact is that these people are grossly underpaid. Energetic, intelligent, motivated teachers leave the NYC school system incredibly rapidly because they are burnt out, and many of them move to the suburbs, where they can actually afford to live on a teacher’s salary.

And - the Alaskan drilling thing - everyone has different numbers…the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) claims that no impact would be felt on gas prices until 2028 if we opened up Alaskan drilling, and even then the effect would be minimal. Twenty years from now, and minimal effect? I’m all for alternative energy sources…THAT’s a field that could create new jobs, new industries…and necessarily last well into the future.

I don’t disagree with the hand-up services you recommend… the larger point, though, is that they already exist.

Poverty has more to do with attitude in this country than any other factor. Our poorest people are in the world’s top 10% of world wealth. And opportunity abounds. The biggest problem is when people are taught the system is unfair they give up or just give the minimal of effort living down to lowered expectations.

Any normal person of reasonable intelligence and health can excel in this country… that’s why the rest of the world is falling over itself to get here.

There seems to be another glitch in your hopes for the children, the excellent teacher hope. Our society seems to have developed less than quality mentors in this area. Many good people that I have known, in the teaching profession have left due to the lack of backing from their superiors, parents, and the community. There seems to be a greater interest in the testing scores so the Fed. moneys continue, in place of the education of the young. Ask your sister how much backing she had when she was teaching, and how unnecessarily harder it made the job, I would be surprised if she said that educating the young was ever the top priority in the systems she worked in.

It seems our world has watered down the education system so much, that even the colleges view the GPAs with less than avid attention, many have to take remedial courses in order to get to the starting point they should have been at when they finished high school. Attention is placed on anything else that may show that the child has some drive to actually try to improve themselves. I find in my local newspaper, pages and pages of HONOR roll students, and continue to see applicants who can’t spell well enough to fill out an employment app. I ask apps to fill out the form while there, just so they don’t get a friend who can spell to fill it out for them, which I have seen done numerous times. I have had apps who could not remember who, or how long they had worked at their last job, I even had a guy tell me that he had retail experience, because he had had a yard sale, and he was serious. I fight the results of the education system daily, and would like for it to succeed more than most, but it hasn’t, and seems to be declining. The one thing I know is that more money is not the answer, but some accountability may be.

If you want a better world for the children, try holding the adults more accountable, not just for testing scores, or new creative programs to entertain the young, but to educate them to stand own their own two feet and be a contributing adult to society.

We seem to have developed a feel good society that cries when their adjustable rate mort. goes up,after they bought more house than they could afford, or expects the gov. to actually give them more than they contribute, or complains about gas prices, but won’t cut their HBO from their cable line-up, or demands that a teacher be reprimanded when their darling fails a test and the teacher marked the errors on the paper in RED, how degrading, instead of asking their little darling why they did not pay attention in class.

We have many problems in our world, and we have made many bad decisions, but at some point we all have to become accountable for our actions, program or not! Without accountability, I believe we are continuing a downward spiral, and the only thing that will change directions is the bottom.

A note on your drilling comment, more of anything lowers the value, that is why lead is cheaper than gold, that’s why glass is cheaper than diamonds, and so on. It is illogical to think, as some say, that more oil will not lower the price of gas. The same people are asking OPEC to produce more in order to give price relief, but say we can’t produce more by drilling ourselves to lower prices, that’s just foolishness, it has been said that within 2 years, that oil would be in your gas tank . It matters little who provides more oil, if there is more the price will go down. I also agree with alternate fuel sources, but not like ethanol, which cost more to produce than it provides, and drives up the cost of the corn it uses, and food prices. Oh, and while speaking of programs, I am building a house, and the Dems, who say they are interested in alternate fuels, have not renewed the solar and green tax credits for home builders that ended last year. Time for these guys to put their foot to the metal and back their mouths, don’t you think?

How about you read what I write a bit more carefully before attacking something I did not even say?
Here is what I actually wrote:
“A child has ZERO control of the situation s/he is born into, and the fact is that kids are born into drastically varying situations in this country. A child born into poverty, a bad family situation, a dangerous home environment, etc starts at a disadvantage.”

That’s a very different statement, Rick, and I don’t think you can argue that a child can choose the womb from which s/he is born.
Yes, after we are born, we all have the ability to make choices in our lives (though opportunities are greater at the start of some people’s lives than others’).

You also write:
“That is the right attitude, a lot of folks have done very well in Alaska. Catherine, I never said that children who are raised in poor situations should not be given an opportunity to rise above their situation, I just say that many adults are there by choice, not chance. They show no desire for responsibility or self improvement.”

I have some thoughts on the above paragraph, and they are as follows:
-Even if I agreed with you that drilling in Alaska is a good idea (which I don’t), and even if I agreed with you that many people have done very well for themselves in Alaska (which I do, as I am friends with a few of them), I simply do not believe that a child who is, for instance, born in poverty in city public housing and is used to a certain environment is going to choose to move all the way to Alaska to a completely different environment. There have to be other options.
-I am not arguing for adults who are in bad situations and refuse to help themselves out of their bad situations. I am arguing mostly for the children, and the social programs that I think are most important are those that are geared towards helping children. That being said, I do think that some cycles can be very difficult to break…and the same adults you criticize now were once children themselves, quite possibly born into less-than-favorable circumstances. This is why assistance at a young age can be so crucial…I’ve heard so many stories of people who pulled themselves into better situations only after meeting a mentor figure who showed them what was actually possible…often these mentor figures are teachers. If education is not a priority and is not funded properly, then the likelihood of excellent teachers in ALL our schools declines. Every child deserves at least one excellent teacher.

That is the right attitude, a lot of folks have done very well in Alaska. Catherine, I never said that children who are raised in poor situations should not be given an opportunity to rise above their situation, I just say that many adults are there by choice, not chance. They show no desire for responsibility or self improvement.

Zero chance as you put it is rare, in my opinion. This country is wide open for anyone with a bit of drive to accomplish goals other places in the world can not even dream of. I see people everyday who apply for a job, only in order to continue their benefit checks. Their only accomplishment is the effort to apply for a job they really don’t want.

Now let’s discuss health care, have you ever wondered why your health care cost so much, well, a very close friend works in the ER of a large hospital states that the vast majority of the patients that are this under priviledged group you are concerned with, who come in for reasons you would take an asperin for, and of course at no charge. He mentioned one guy who has been in 18 times this year alone, who do you think is paying for this??

Another consideration, try the Shrine hospitals that charge nothing for their services to children, try St. Jude and others.
No, Catherine, there are some at a disadvantage, but most don’t fall into that category, most are there by choice, not chance. And these folks will take all you would like to offer, that you have worked for, but let me support the St. Judes of the world by my choice, not forced by others, as it seems is your desire. I will help anyone willing to work as long as I am able, and will help where I can, those who truly can’t help themselves, but those others that cry victim, they can fend for themselves, or you help them, I’ll pass on that one.

Your intentions may be honest and well meant. but,
I think you paint with a very wide brush, when using what others have worked hard for.

Is it your general belief that poor people (with some exceptions, like those with unforeseen health problems - health problems, by the way, that lead to bankruptcy because our wealthy country abhorrently does not have options for adequate health coverage for millions of its citizens) are just lazy?
Every time I’ve read your posts on this topic, I get the impression that you believe everyone born in the United States starts on a level playing field, and that the same opportunities for success are available to anyone who puts out the requisite amount of hard work.
This viewpoint is, to my mind, simply naive.

A child has ZERO control of the situation s/he is bon into, and the fact is that kids are born into drastically varying situations in this country. A child born into poverty, a bad family situation, a dangerous home environment, etc starts at a disadvantage. In such instances, the government CAN play a beneficial social role by helping to foster places where these children can learn and grow and have role models…I’m thinking about the importance of good schools, libraries, etc here.

Are you suggesting that, for instance, a child born into a family on welfare who lives in public housing and lives in a crappy public school zone is going to grow up and decide to better his life by moving to the wilds of Alaska and drilling for oil?

The poor are usually in their state due to the decisions made in their life, some exceptions do exist, unforseen health problems as an example. Otherwise, it is not usually someone, or something else, that put them into that situation.
They decided to quit school, not to work as generations before may have done, but to avoid the work of education.
They decide not to work, as they can make similar wages from the government without the stress of getting to work on time each day.
They find out that they can get free health care by simply going to the ER when they feel poorly, no concern about paying.
They realize that society will hold them accountable for nothing in their life, and that plenty of people offer them the victim pass on everything else.
They may find that crime is less stressful than work.

Some of these poor seem to enjoy the life they have chosen, some seem not to have any real goals, some seem to just need a helping hand. Some just need to be held accountable for their own life.

I always love it when Dem/Liberals say that we can’t drill our way out of the energy crisis, which would provide new jobs and energy independence from people who hate us, but that they can always spend us out of any other crisis or racially perceived problem.