It's been *how* long since that ice storm? A week?

[icarus]

Guard troops find 92-year-old ice storm survivor.

Glad to know she survived. But that ice storm was how long ago?

*looks it up* January 27-28. A week.

Why is the power still out across the US? More than 400,000 Americans are without power from a storm that happened a week ago. It's like we've regressed back to, say, a second world country and haven't noticed.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the Republicans are now trying to bog down the stimulus bill.

That's the bill with money for our infrastructure. Have they noticed the 92-year-old woman nearly freezing to death in her house? The 56 people dead so far? From an ice storm?

The Republicans want more tax cuts. Didn't Bush's tax cuts dig us into this mess in the first place -- mindlessly cutting taxes at a time we went to war?

The Republicans want to "fix the mortgage crisis." Hey, I'm all for that. But the Republican solution is to create 4 - 4.5% mortgage rates for people with good credit. People with good credit? Those aren't the people being foreclosed on! Those aren't the 2.6 million people laid off in 2008!

The people with good credit are the Republicans themselves. They're trying to use the economic crisis to get a good deal to refinance their own damned multimillion dollar houses.


ETA: Oh, now they're trotting out a list of what they don't like in the stimulus bill, trying to get people to focus on $25 million dollars for rural waste disposal instead of the $150 billion dollars for education.

ETA2: *splutter* They're protesting a $500 increase in Pell Grant awards? I'm going to school largely because of a Pell Grant.

Comments

[nicocoer.livejournal.com]

May I go into my daily tirade of how America is screwed because Americans today don't get that if you spend a little more money on things like longer lasting infrastructure, education, and preventative measures you save money in the long run?

How preventative ends up costing less than Crisis work? (Which, BTW, is incredibly true in mental health work, but they dn't want to shell anything out until the LAST POSSIBLE FUCKING MOMENT so we have people in crisis repeatedly instead of just getting the services and getting back to work and wellness.)

A STITCH IN TIME SAVES NINE YOU FREAKING IDIOTS KDNFKSDJNFKJNFSDKN.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Oh yes, please do.

[miso-no-tsuki.livejournal.com]

The ice storm is *so* recent it hardly counts.
I could not believe what I saw when the "Top Gear" programme went to Louisiana and New Orleans and they showed the people still living in trailers parked next to their still ripped-apart homes from Katrina.
Five years on and the greatest Superpower in the world hasn't cleaned up the mess from a Natural disaster, while in Indonesia they've rebuilt their villages after the tsunami.And they didn't have much infrastructure to start with. Mind you the way the Rethuglicans are going, you won't have much either.
And *our* government, while professing to "Green" credentials has just approved a third runway at Heathrow. Because we need yet more airplanes stacked in a queue right above London.*sighs*

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Younger people don't understand. I've been around a while, and I'm telling you that when a similar ice storm hit the same region in 1975, the power was not out for a week. It was out for three days, and only in the outlying rural areas.

The infrastructure is crumbling. It's much, much worse than it was thirty years ago.

That's because it's the same power grid from thirty-forty years ago.

[bruinsfan.livejournal.com]

It's much worse than it was 5 years ago. I live in Northeast Arkansas, where power is still out in some areas a week later despite a couple of sunny 60° days melting off every bit of the ice over the weekend. We've never had effects this bad from winter weather in my lifetime, but the actual ice fall last week wasn't any worse on the ground than 2 years ago, and was mild compared to some of the rougher winters I've seen. The difference is rotting power/phone poles, trees that haven't been properly trimmed in years, and an obsolete power grid that's jury-rigged like the wiring in the Addams Family mansion.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Ah, I forgot you were from England.

Katrina is the worst-case scenario of utter irresponsibility, but it's not related to our power grid issues. Katrina would have done just as much damage in 1975. (Though president Carter -- hell, even Reagan -- would have handled it responsibly.)

This power outage is related to our aging power grid: the U.S. hasn't upgraded and overhauled its power grid infrastructure since the 1960s and 1970s.

The power should not be out, a week later, for 400,000 people.

[ursula]

I think the Republicans' idea with the Pell Grants is that they don't expect it to add jobs to the economy immediately; they're imagining that $500 trickling through a giant tuition system to folks like me with advanced degrees whose jobs are not immediately affected by the presence or lack of $500. (Though, mind you, this is a bad year to finish an advanced degree, or apply to grad school!)

I would suggest calling your representatives and pointing out that another $500 from the Pell is $500 of your own money that you can now use to pay rent and eat.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

When you look at the pyramid of college students, the largest number of them are at the junior college level, the next largest are getting four-year degrees, and smallest number are getting graduate degrees.

I would be surprised if the first thing a Republican senator thinks of when you say the words "Pell Grant" is a graduate student. I think "technical college" is the first thing that springs to mind.

[ursula]

I don't think they think of students at all. I think they are objecting to the provision because they think of colleges raking in federal money, and I'm willing to bet that the first college that comes to mind is either "big state school in my district" or Harvard.

Excuse me, but...

[supergreak.livejournal.com]

On the education and the need for infrastructure, I agree with you. That's what government's for. If we spent our money on good education and roads and electricity, we wouldn't NEED many of the other programs.

The people with good credit are the Republicans themselves. They're trying to use the economic crisis to get a good deal to refinance their own damned multimillion dollar houses.

*cough*
Ze Libertarian in the back corner would like to point out that not all Republicans are rich, and not all Democrats are poor. There are just as many, if not more, wealthy Democrats(need I mention all the celebrities?) who do things like fly private jets to Global Warming conventions, "accidentally" forget to pay 128,000 in income taxes-and still get cabinet positions!-and don't give a flying fruitcake about the poor unless it furthers their own careers. Republicans and Democrats are equally guilty of being selfish pricks who look out for #1.

On the other side of the scale, I know some people who vote for the people they vote for because someone else told them to, and who are in foreclosure because they lived beyond their means, or made stupid, stupid decisions. I know Republicans who are unemployed. I know Democrats who are unemployed. I know Green Party members who live in trees, because they are unemployed.(The benefits of having a sister at Berkeley)

So, please remember, the entire nation is in the toilet right now, and it's up to third parties to point and laugh as everyone blames each other for it. us to give to charity when we don't have enough ourselves, as we trust in our own generosity more than the government's inefficiency.

Re: Excuse me, but...

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

Huh. That's what I said, didn't I.

Guess I was grumpy.

Hopefully after the sweeping generalization it's clear that I mean that helping out the people with good credit won't do a damned bit of good.

Just like in Great Depression, when banks get conservative, they get conservative. In the 1930s FDR bailed out the banks to keep them from going under, and just like our banks now, they were tight-fisted about lending that money. Who are the safe bets? First time homeowners? No. People refinancing their mortgages at a lower rate.

According to the chairman of the FDIC, what banks should do is pick up the phone, talk to their borrowers, and renegotiate those balloon mortgages.

They're better off keeping people who were able to pay (up to the point where their mortgage ballooned) in the houses. Because once they're evicted, you get squatters, the city holds the bank responsible for the condition of the house -- which goes to shit. Then they end up selling it for $1,000 (no joke, in Michigan banks have had to do that) if a new owner will agree do the repairs.

These are the sorts of strings we should have attached to the bailout funds. That would stabilize the foreclosures.

Now bankruptcy judges used to have the power to make the banks renegotiate mortgages. That power should be reinstated.

[byandby.livejournal.com]

Most of my family lives in Kentucky. My mom and sister got power back on Sunday, but my 80+ year old grandparents and at least one at with younger kids does not. It *really* sucks.

[shrewreader.livejournal.com]

In re KY:

So, you've got trees that go down, taking the power lines with them (because you haven't updated the infrastructure to -bury- them yet, where they can't be broken by falling trees.) You deploy a lot of electric company trucks to fix the lines. The trucks, being large, need roads. The roads are blocked by the trees have fallen, taking the power lines with them. And on top of it all, you have to be hyper cautious getting the things clear of the road, because they're tangled up with potentially live wires.

In the ice and snow. Surfaces on which large electric company trucks (and their crews) don't work very well to begin with -- particularly with chainsaws.

Honestly? I'm actually surprised they've gotten as many people back on the grid as they have in a week, given the widespread nature of this storm. KY Gov't reported last night that they've focused on the people -- having Guardsmen go door to door, since they've got the vehicles for the terrain -- to make sure people either (a) have supplies & heat or (b) can get somewhere where such things are -- and think they've now gotten to just about everyone, which, really, is a vast improvement on Katrina results.

As for the GOP. Well. Everyone -knows- that sending people to school just gives them ideas. And ideas are dangerous. They kick of revolutions. Can't have that, might lead to a massive expansion of the voting electorate and power to the average citizen....

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

I want you to read my response to miso_no_tzuki above.

This storm is not unique and not larger (unlike Katrina) than some of the other ice storms that have hit us in the past. I'm from the midwest. I've lived through multiple ice storms that have knocked out the power.

It goes beyond fallen trees and broken power lines. The outage would not be so widespread if that were the only issue. Because of suburban development we actually have fewer trees to knock out power lines.

What's in the news are trees and downed power lines, so I understand why you think that's the problem. But the father of a friend of mine works at an electric company and has -- 40 years? -- of experience.

People think of power supply as just one long extension cord.

But power grids are more complex than the cord that leads from your TV to the wall.

Ice takes out more than just than power lines. There are relay stations, transformers -- electrical engineering requires a degree for good reason.

All of these parts in the system are breaking down. He says that they haven't been upgraded in most places for as long as he's worked in the field. 40 years.

They're out there fixing a lot more than just plugging the extension cord back in, lol.

Do know anyone who has a 40 year old car? How well does that thing work? Now picture an entire power grid with far more breakable parts that serves millions of people that is that old.

If it were just the power lines, service would have been restored in just a few days.

[fourth-moon.livejournal.com]

> Why is the power still out across the US? More than 400,000 Americans are without power from a storm that happened a week ago. It's like we've regressed back to, say, a second world country and haven't noticed.

Sorry to disappoint, but you haven't. In a second world country this would be caused by lack of modern materials, qualified workers and money. I'm rather guessing that the current case in the US has been caused by people in the administration salting away the money so there was nothing left to pay the qualified workers (who are available) to maintain the systems with state-of-the-art materials (also avialable).

To add insult to injury, something like that happened in Germany two winters ago but in that case it hit "just" a few towns and I think electricity was back after a week. Could be wrong about the time though.

[icarusancalion.livejournal.com]

You miss the point -- it doesn't matter if it's second world, third world, 1.75th world or the third dimension. We have an aging infrastructure that, according to people who work in that field, has not been upgraded in 30-40 years.

In 2003 we had a massive power outage that wasn't weather related that lasted just as long, and the state of the US power grid came to light at that time. (Rather amusing anecdote: the Iraqis heard of this at the time and commented, "They'll never get our power back on.")

Looking at the US deficit, I'd say we didn't salt anything away. In fact we've been spending that money and the money intended for social security retirement benefits on each president's project.

Apparently Europe has to upgrade their power grids as well but the situation isn't as dire. The developing countries are in better shape because at least their growing infrastructures are new.