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Appropriate topics for "The Politics of Heating"

I was happy to see Erin start this new category. There was one very long established thread and one shorter new one that definitely have an appropriate home now.
However, the other new threads started since the category was made available seem to fit more into the heading of just plain "politics." I'm concerned that such a direction will lead to negative situations and the eventual need for reinstating Dan's old "no politics" rule.
Erin -- how do you feel about this? Should political discussion be strictly limited to things that affect heating? Or are you comfortable with heatinghelp.com becoming a venue where unrelated political interaction takes place? I suspect clarification and guidance from you would be very helpful in keeping things on track. Thank in advance for responding.
However, the other new threads started since the category was made available seem to fit more into the heading of just plain "politics." I'm concerned that such a direction will lead to negative situations and the eventual need for reinstating Dan's old "no politics" rule.
Erin -- how do you feel about this? Should political discussion be strictly limited to things that affect heating? Or are you comfortable with heatinghelp.com becoming a venue where unrelated political interaction takes place? I suspect clarification and guidance from you would be very helpful in keeping things on track. Thank in advance for responding.
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Comments
We are all adults and should be expected to act as such.
Bob
Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
3PSI gauge
PHC News Columnist
Minnich Hydronic Consulting & Design, LLC
https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/minnich-hydronic-consulting-and-design
Considerate People, Considerate Service, Consider It Done!
732-751-1560
email: [email protected]
www.langansplumbing.com
HeatingHelp.com
Say what are those folks names who are running for President whoops sorry!
Since it will be its own catagorey you do not have to dwell, or participate there. Well done @Erin Holohan Haskell I think we have the intellectual capacity to be gentlemen, and ladies about discussions.
I was under the impression that this catagorey would be related to governmental decisions in energy,alternative energy, and all things relevant that effect the participates of this site. Be it businesses, manufactors,homeowners etc.
I'm sure if we can not be ladies, and gents it will be pulled. Focus on the intent of the category.
HeatingHelp.com
I'm thinking a BBQ / recipe category is in order. Wait coming out of winter tried on my shorts the other day.......maybe not a good idea.
PHC News Columnist
Minnich Hydronic Consulting & Design, LLC
https://heatinghelp.com/find-a-contractor/detail/minnich-hydronic-consulting-and-design
This is where they make a fatal mistake because if you keep energy costs low by any and all means you build a strong economy because the middle class citizenry and business owners can then spend that money on other things, it's called Middle Class Discretionary Spending and that is what fuels a strong U.S. economy. That is also what really creates jobs.
Explain to me how corporations can make their product out of country. Send that product here, and be more profitable than making it here? What does that say about the cost of labor out of country, and all things connected port to port? What does that say about the middle class work force in other countries?
Let alone education, and medical costs.
If America is no good for corporations why is Daiken building the largest facility west of Houston with over 200 shipping docks? Why not build in Mexico like Trane and Carrier? Perhaps these imagined savings of using labor outside the U.S. has faults, the fewer people employed in the U.S. the fewer people have buying power.
Regarding SWEI's question, excellent point, our problem is we've allowed education and medical to become too profit motivated, most hospitals are corporations hiding behind a non profit claim to avoid taxes and they overcharge for everything from saline to pills and procedures sometimes by 800%, with education it's a rigged system, an investment firm gets locked into providing supplies, books and curriculum to all the nation's schools by law, what a scam, some big names invest in it again the goal isn't smart American children, it's profit which is why we have issues with NCLB and Common Core.
Some things shouldn't be only about profit, they should be about quality and results.
The last generation to enjoy a robust dollar, and have spending power was probably from after ww2.
When it costs 75 grand to get a BA at a university with in state tuition there are issues in the system. Pretty hard to find a summer job, and part time while in school to knock down 20 grand for tuition for the year.....
Don't listen to the crowd offering two chickens in every pot and don't listen to the one who wants to bomb everybody back to the stone age. We need a good middle course where nobody gets all they want - back to basics.
Bob
Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
3PSI gauge
Remember when the market advances were in 1/8, 1/4, 1/2, points. Gram said a good day was a stock advancing 1/2, or 50 cents. Now no one is happy unless it jumps 5.00. She lived through the depression, the tech bubble the dot com bubble, and never stuck a dime in tech types of companies. To volatile, with sketchy intrinsic values.
I agree that Wall St has been stacking the deck against the average Joe for too long, read what Warren Buffet has to say about those thieves --
http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/warren-buffetts-epic-rant-against-wall-street/ar-BBswOc7
Bob
Vaporstat with a 12oz cut-out and 4oz cut-in
3PSI gauge
We hit our stride in the late 70's early 80's thanks to regulations that were taking effect and the clean energy standards of Carter. Like him or not it was a very straight forward plan where you the taxpayer or business owner took a deduction off your taxes for energy improvements for your home, I have it on file because what is said in the media these days just isn't true, we've gone through an era of deregulation that was bad for the people and it also was very bad for the media, most of our news especially about past events is wrong, now if you're 20-30 you might buy their new history, but being there is another story.
We were so busy installing new equipment and flame retention burners in old equipment we could not keep up and the summer of 80 we did no maintenances unless they demanded, that's how busy we were, solar was getting huge, they couldn't keep up.
I'll skip the 2 dudes that killed the program and ripped the solar panels off the White House roof but that was very wrong, very wrong.
Now we have incentives and rebates again but most of them are filtered through the local electric and gas companies or a faux state agency that steers most of the money to a few large corporations, oil companies are barred from getting any rebates for their equipment, the Carter system worked better because it was up to the consumer or business to pay for their upgrade or get a loan and then get the tax rebate directly, now tax dollars and rate payer dollars are being steered, it's a jaded system.
I was taking a sustainability course when the incentives started, I got a report from the DOE about my state Ct and where the ARRA money went, I was floored, 167 million and it all went to pet projects when it was supposed to start green jobs and save energy, I downloaded it, if I was using my head I would've down loaded all 50 states because I sent it to NPR/PBS, 60Minutes and a few other media outlets, I was interviewed for NPR, then nothing, hmmm, went back to the DOE site and all 50 reports had been changed to candy coated versions with no dollar reports. ( and that's why ARRA didn't work)
UTC got over 120 million for a jet engine they all already R&D'd and built. At the time I was doing energy upgrades for commercial buildings and schools so I did my own little study.
I could have, for the 167 million, refurbished every school in Ct with a new bank of staged/modulating boilers that would have saved each town/city a few hundred thousand a year and I would have created a ton of jobs and I would have had @ 60 million left over to give major rebates to homeowners and small to mid size business owners.
If you've ever worked at a school you know what energy wasting clunkers they have, and that's how you do a stimulus, you don't give money, you invest it, if I gave the towns that money corruption would suck it up, it'd be gone with nothing to show.
We may have gone a bridge too far with the SRCC's near-monopoly and the outrageous cost of certifications, especially systems requirements (think OG-300.) A properly certified designer who carries liability insurance should have the leeway to build a system out of whatever approved and certified components he or she wishes.