There were a couple of top notch zingers on Weekend Update. But yeah, the show is by and large a mess. A big reason is there are simply too many cast members. Cast members regularly go weeks without appearing in a sketch. It doesn’t feel like a comedy troupe, it’s just a huge pot if bit parts. One of the big disappointments for me is the lack of Melissa Villasenor. I think she is exactly what SNL was made for, and has the makings of a star, but she has the least amount of screen time if any of the cast members.
Consumers are not going to be able to pay those $50,000 electric bills. Several have been interviewed saying they’re not gonna stop using, and might as well make it a million dollars at this point, they’re not gonna pay it anyway. The government is gonna have coy step in and give them relief.
I watch the “news” part of Weekend Update as it’s consistently good, and maybe the roll-ins depending on who it is. Yeah, the opening credits go on forever now with all the cast members.
Not bailing out the consumer is where the US has gone wrong before, notably the 2008 mortgage meltdown. If we’d pushed the money into the system from the bottom up - through the consumer - the overall recovery would’ve been stronger and faster. But we didn’t; we fed the money into the system at the top - through the banks - where it stayed. They were supposed to feed it down, but they just sat on it.
It’s all cut from the same “trickle down” cloth. Iceland was in one of the deepest holes of any country, but they bailed out the people (and punished the bankers), and had one of the strongest recoveries. We did the opposite and had a much slower recovery while fucking-for-life a bunch of people caught up in the mess.
We’re about to do the same with student debt relief. Biden is trying to target (for which read “means test”) any student debt relief. He also wants to limit it to $10,000. All of this because, in helping people who need the help, a few people who don’t need it might get money too. But by trying to avoid not helping those who don’t need it, you end up not helping some people who do.
It’s all stimulus, so just push the money out there and get it into the system! A dollar of bottom up stimulus like this creates about $1.40 of value in the economy; whereas a dollar of top down stimulus (including tax cuts) creates a value in the economy of 70 cents. Basically, as that dollar trickles down, 30 cents gets trousered by someone before it gets into the economy.
So let’s do this right. Reimburse the old guy who cleaned out his life savings to pay his February electric bill, and everyone else similarly fucked. They make the pot good in the power poker game, so the players can continue to play.
Then, restructure the whole fucking thing so this can’t happen again.
63°F during the day and 59°F at night here in Vermont. Any higher would be swealtering since it’s so cold outside. The house in Maryland is at 65°F and 60°F for the same reason.
I guess people just become acclimated. We set it at 63 for a few days to conserve and were wearing sweatshirts inside.
Our heat came back on and we were all burning up. It was set at 69.
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So I have Just Energy as my retail provider, and have a long term contract. They have been really good at communication throughout this whole ordeal, sending multiple updates daily, as well as tips for conservation and how to manage your water and other emergency guidance. I got a note today with some FAQs about the soaring bills. They say if you have a contract, rest assured you will continue to pay the contract price for the duration of your contract. If you have a variable rate plan, you will NOT have an increase in your Feb bill due to this past week’s debacle, but you could see an increase in coming months, so if you want to get on a fixed rate plan, do it now. I’m not sure how they’re avoiding the rate spikes for variable rate customers, if they simply already purchased enough to go around, or out of the goodness of their hearts, or what. But I’m sure it was a comforting message to those wringing their hands.
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Part of the problem with my house is it’s two stories. To get it to 62 downstairs it’s 70-72 upstairs. I have a zoned system, but it can’t pump that much air downstairs, so it as to vent upstairs, even when the upstairs thermostat is not calling for heat. There is always this 8-10 degree difference when heating. In order to be comfortable at night in the bedroom (all my bedrooms are upstairs) it’s freezing downstairs. I don’t have this problem when cooling, and the zoning works great, which is 95% of the time my system is running, so I’m not complaining, but it makes heating a challenge.
Mine struggles to heat downstairs too, although the temp difference isn’t quite as bad. Thought I would like having a zoned system, but I wish I had separate units.
100% agree.
Now that Cruz is back and throwing paper towels loading cars with water, the focus can return to where it needs to be.
Notice being sent out to GVEC customers:
https://www.gvec.org/historic-freeze-leading-to-significantly-increased-bills-for-utility-customers/
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I was wondering what was going to happen to co-ops and such. I was on the Navasota Valley Electrical Co-op at the old place up in Freestone Co., and I’d imagine they’re in the same boat.
I’m a simple cavemen. Your energy issues frighten and confuse me.
But why is a 150-fold increase in kWH pricing during a government- declared emergency acceptable?
Freedom?
'Murica?
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Not gouging people is how they do it in Venezuela. How’s that working out for them?
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Call me crazy, but it seems like there are options other than Venezuela-style Socialism or $16,000 electric bills.
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If you’re a patriot, you don’t mind paying $16,000 electric bills or being waterboarded. If either of those things make you squeamish, you must be a communist vampire who hates America.
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Drinking blood is really seizing the means of production
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Finally, someone says what we’re all thinking.
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