 Click Here to have Richard speak to your group. Click Here to join Richard's mailing list. Click Here to send an email to the Republican Party supporting Richard.   A government website, www.recovery.gov, reveals the "stimulus" money spent so far, from the bill our representative voted for. Here are the projects that were supposed to create jobs in our District: $11,150,000 awarded to a Colorado company for a project in Port Jefferson. $286,000 awarded to a Massachusetts company for a project in Patchogue. $69,067 awarded to a Rhode Island company for a project in Shirley. $414,250 awarded to a Syracuse company for a projectin Holtsville. $485,560 awarded to a Syracuse company for a project in Shirley. $133,351 awarded to a Massachusetts company for a project in Shirley. $49,723 awarded to a Massachusetts company for a project in Patchogue. $1,196,484 awarded to a South Carolina company for a project in Calverton. $997,273 awarded to an Illinois company for a project in Shinnecock. Since I first posted these awards, recovery.gov has changed the organization of the website, providing far less detail. Some of the awards listed above have miraculously disappeared from the site altogether. Luckily, I saved and posted screenshots before they took the information down. Please CLICK HERE to see screenshots of the awards as they were displayed on the old recovery.gov.  Dangerous Declassifying The incumbent administration has declassified information pertaining to the interrogation of terrorist prisoners. In doing so, they expose the techniques used and other scenario details, which could seriously degrade our ability to obtain information in the future. At the very least, declassifying this material prepares future detainees for what their experience with our intelligence gatherers might be like. I, for one, am outraged at the flagrant disregard for the safety of the American people displayed by the incumbent administration. The protection of Americans is the duty and honor of every Federal official, not just the military. I call on Congress to show it's extreme displeasure with such capricious declassification, initially with a resolution, followed by more binding measures. Do We Need ANOTHER Government Health Plan? We're often given the impression that there's nowhere to turn for people without health insurance, yet New York State lists no less than 25 public health insurance programs whose availability is based on one's individual situation. See for yourself on their website http://www.health.state.ny.us/health_care/ Also, New York State's booklet, "Consumer Guide to Health Insurers" describes "Insurance Options for Uninsured New Yorkers" on page 41. Click Here for Richard's take on health care.  Raising taxes will create jobs; Making oil more expensive will change the weather; There are 47 million U.S. citizens without health insurance; Borrowing money from China will end the recession; Solar electricity is dependable; Pressuring Israel will change Hamas and Hezzbolah; Exposing CIA files makes us safer; Awards to out-of-state companies stimulate our local economy; Government health insurance will save money; Saying "Please" will stop Iran’s nuclear weapons program... Then you're just the voter the incumbent is wishing for! But, if you know better, then you're just the person to help defeat him! Please feel free to send your questions, comments, and advice to richard(at)shouldirun.com Thanks! Rich |
 Why a Nobody, Who Never Held Office, Should Run for Congress Real 21st Century Energy Independence The goal is to reliably produce electricity using American sources, without polluting the atmosphere, in the huge quantities that will serve our needs now and in the future. Reliable is a key word here and I'll tell you why. I'm a LIPA solar pioneer. That means I make electricity from sunlight, using photovoltaic panels on my roof. It's a great kick and I love it. Sometimes it's sunny and I make lots of electricity. Sometimes it's cloudy for days, even weeks and I make very little. Can we depend on it to power our hospitals, factories, schools and homes? Absolutely not! It’s a good supplement and great fun if you like gadgets (as I do), but it's no substitute for controlled, day-in day-out reliable electricity. Reuters reports that Internet giant Google, which has invested 10's of millions in the green energy cause, has taken it upon itself the mission of making solar electricity more viable in light of its uncompetitive pricetag. Solar turns out to be so expensive that Google's green energy czar Bill Weihl has expressed his disappointment at the "...lack of companies that have ideas that would be considered breakthroughs in the green technology sector," to quote the article. The inability of solar to fulfill it's promise is apparent right here in the 1st Congressional District, too. Here's an example of a government funded solar electric program awarded to BP. Brookhaven National Lab is hosting a state of the art solar "farm". It will consist of electric solar panels covering 195 acres of open space. BP claims it will yeild 37 megawatts, enough to power 4,700 households (a tiny fraction of LIPA's electric consumers). This is not even a permanent production facility. BP will stand by the system for only 20 years. Of course, we know the output all depends on the number of sunny days which vary greatly from year to year. But think about this: 6,439 households were added to LIPA’s service territory in just one year alone. This system wouldn't even service one of brand new LIPA customers, yet it will consume 195 acres of open land and only last 20 years! What's that much open land worth for residence, industry, food farming, or tourism? It's just plain unrealistic to believe that solar electricity is going to provide us with enough reliable electricity to warrant the investment of huge amounts of money and land. Do you think it's a good idea to knock down our forests, close our farms and stop building houses to use the thousands upon thousands of acres we would need for these 20 year solar farms? Both solar and wind power are extravagantly expensive and as unpredictable as the weather, because that's what they depend on to work! In fact, research scientists have found that in recent years, wind speed in the United States, which determines how much power windmills will produce, is actually decreasing. It's true, using wind power is nothing new. After all, the Pilgrims used wind power to sail across the Atlantic in 1620. It took them 66 days to make the same trip it takes a plane a few hours to make today. Should we bet billions on risky schemes that can't be trusted to produce what we need for a secure, prosperous future? One of our strengths is in the use of proven technology that quietly provides about 20 percent of our power already... safe, dependable nuclear power. Nuclear power is more efficient and affordable than ever and uses existing technology that functions daily in ships, laboratories, and power plants, right now. What about the waste? There have been breakthroughs. Israeli firm Environmental Energy Resources has developed a method for turning it into an inert, harmless substance. This is not the experimental industry of 40 years ago. Another strength recently uncovered is the extraction of natural gas from shale. New technology is used to do this abundantly and economically, alreading having an influence on world prices. Here in New York, there are large deposits in the western part of the state. Some estimates place the potential value of New York's shale gas reserves at $1 trillion. That's not all. Our strength is also in our advanced science and technology and we're on the verge of a true game-changing breakthrough. The scientists at Lawrence Livermore have discovered a method capable of creating huge amounts of power from a fusion reaction that mimics the energy of the sun. Russ Doerner, a Department of Energy research scientist tells us, “From a DOE and energy perspective, fusion energy is important for the future because most everything we’re using these days is eventually going to be exhausted. Renewable energies like wind and solar are good, but they don’t provide the necessary power concentration you need for something like large industrial or population centers.” Lawrence Livermore has 40 scientists on the project. What if hundreds of scientists, all over the country, including our own Brookhaven National Lab, were working on it as though our freedom and prosperity depended on it? Well, our freedom and prosperity do depend on it and we can make this happen if we use our strength! Simultaneously, we must also use another strength of our great country and open all feasible avenues for domestic oil and natural gas production. We can no longer afford to send hundreds of billions of dollars overseas, year after year, for the energy that America needs now and in the forseeable future. Bringing new American reserves could actually yield a tipping point in the world oil market. When our increased supply is added to the world's total production, it is likely to drive the price down. What a superb benefit to our economy, a boost to our standard of living, and all the while delivering a serious blow to certain foreign oil producers, who mean us harm. Help Offer a Real Alternative... Please send an email to the Suffolk County Republican Committee to express your support for Richard Blumenthal as they consider who will be the candidate in the 2010 congressional election. Click here to send your email. Or, if you a use a web-based email like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or AOL, please send an email expressing your support for Richard Blumenthal to office@suffolkrepublicans.com Thanks so much for your help! Richard © 2009 Richard Blumenthal |
