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Gold/Mining/Energy : Strictly: Drilling and oil-field services -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: kodiak_bull who wrote (84890)	1/21/2001 7:11:22 PM
From: Zeuspaul	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

We used to have garbagemen on the city and county payrolls. Centralized picking up of the trash. Not any more (except in large, inefficient cities like Philly--guess what, a strike comes along and phew! governor! it gets pretty ripe, pretty quick)--we've got contract trash collection with different rates for different sized trash barrels and frequency (I'm a relatively small 16 gallon barrel myself, once a week). A bit far from drilling..but we're friends and its Sunday.. I used to live in Long Beach ( Big City) and the they had different size containers and different prices. They always picked up the trash and I never heard a complaint...Long Beach has its own trash collectors. Now I live in a smaller city..one price for everything and if something is too heavy or not the right size they complain. These are contract trash collectors. There is no guarantee that a private outfit provides better service at a lower price. It is currently a politically correct position but it simply isn't true. After the transfer of power takes place from the public entity to the private entity the private guys can take advantage of the system just as well as the public ones and often do. If you want to see it in action...when a private outfit moves from a bid situation to a time and materials situation the manpower required to do a job increases dramatically. As far as the public schools go...if you aren't part of the solution you are part of the problem<g> The whole reason to deregulate (not "dumb-regulate" a la California) is to spread out the costs efficiently, as only a relatively free market can. Where we run into problems, no surprise, is when politicians get involved. Agreed on the politicians but you can't ignore them because they are real and they ain't going away. There is no free market for energy. How much energy is sold on the spot market? How much through long term contracts? Is nuclear power sold on the free market? Is the Hoover dam juice sold on the free market? Can I buy power from Pennsylvania? How are costs spread out efficiently when one US citizen pays 50 cents per kWh and another pays 10 cents? We share the same country..the same federal government. It was the feds that started this with their deregulation schemes and now they expect the little guy to pay for their misguidance or lack there of because an incompetent state government and some deregulated utilities made some bad decisions. The feds can't start the ball rolling and then wash their hands when the sh*t hits the fan. It is like bait and switch advertising. If you want free market get rid of all the long term contracts and let everyone bid for the juice. Zeuspaul

To: kodiak_bull who wrote (84890)	1/21/2001 10:29:19 PM
From: isopatch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

OT/KB Bet the Clintonistas are going to love this: XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX SUN JAN 21, 2001 19:25:41 ET XXXXX BUSH CONSIDERS TRIPP HIRE Exclusive Moving quickly upon taking office, President George W. Bush on Saturday issued an order that blocked many of the last-minute executive orders and rules laid down by outgoing President Clinton. But one controversial Clinton action has caused a deep divide inside of Bush's inner circle: Whether to rehire Linda Tripp! Tripp, a 20-year government employee, was let go by Clinton late last week in a move her lawyers called a "vengeful" act of punishment for her role in the Lewinsky mess. Now, the DRUDGE REPORT can reveal, President Bush is considering hiring Tripp anew. Bush's father asked his son this weekend if there is anything that can be done to help Tripp, according to sources. Tripp began working in the White House under former President Bush. She stayed on after Clinton took office, receiving a political appointment, pay raise and a new job at the Pentagon in 1994. MORAL DILEMMA "We have to do something for her, she is a federal whistleblower who got the short end of a very big stick," one of Bush's top advisers said this weekend in Washington. "We have to make this right. We have to do it quickly." Added a second Bush source: "I don't think anyone here is advocating her return to the White House, but she should not be standing on the unemployment lines." Not all Bush advisers are advocating a Tripp hire, according to insiders, and the president himself is said to have expressed concern about igniting any new Lewinsky controversy. "Hiring Tripp could be seen as throwing dirt in Bill Clinton's face and this is not the tone we want out of the gate," said an insider. Tripp lawyers plan to personally lobby administration officials in coming days. Tripp claims she is no longer able to find work after the Clinton White House "orchestrated and executed" a "vicious smear campaign" against her. Developing...