Politics And Current Events

meow
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Postby meow » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:44 am

Awww, yeahhh

What a bunch of benders

meow
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Postby meow » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:44 am

New page. Again.

faftorial
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Postby faftorial » Wed Feb 24, 2021 9:52 am

With the vaccines becoming available to all in the coming months,is the next great culture war battle going to be over government and business restrictions on unvaccinated people? I haven't heard much talk about this.

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Postby faftorial » Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:43 am


Pavel Bure
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Postby Pavel Bure » Wed Feb 24, 2021 10:49 am

People will use this as a failure of capitalism as a whole. I hope people are starting to realize that unfettered capitalism doesn’t work when life necessities are involved. People can’t simply go without power and when they do t have options they can’t switch providers. The power dynamic (no pun intended) isn’t equal as the power companies have a stranglehold on the consumer.

Regulations are needed for these types of goods/services. Water, gas, electric, sewage, garbage should never hit a point of being able to gouge the public.

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Postby Freddy Rumsen » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:05 am


mikey
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Postby mikey » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:15 am

"Deregulation failed"

...sure...? I guess if that's the drum you want to beat. Customers decided to take the YOY savings and variable rate pricing, they bet on something like this to not happen...that's their right. It didn't work out. I've never bought renter's insurance in my life because you're an idiot if you do that...when my apartment gets robbed by a human torch, I'm not going to say, "ok, I was wrong, mulligan please!" ...same deal for people who elect not to invest in health insurance or any other service...

So, it was quietly super successful for decades...then a once-in-a-[whatever] storm hits for an extended period of time and they got hooped...I don't know what you want to do...

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Postby MalkinIsMyHomeboy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:18 am

...what? how is this on the customers and not the energy company(ies)?

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:18 am

I think there's a reasonable expectation with variable rates, though. If I'm paying $.05/kWh, I think it's unreasonable to pay $7.00/kWh because of this. Going further, power should be a necessity, not a luxury, similar to water. IMO, of course.
Last edited by NTP66 on Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:19 am, edited 1 time in total.

Troy Loney
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Postby Troy Loney » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:19 am

"Deregulation failed"

...sure...? I guess if that's the drum you want to beat. Customers decided to take the YOY savings and variable rate pricing, they bet on something like this to not happen...that's their right. It didn't work out. I've never bought renter's insurance in my life because you're an idiot if you do that...when my apartment gets robbed by a human torch, I'm not going to say, "ok, I was wrong, mulligan please!" ...same deal for people who elect not to invest in health insurance or any other service...

So, it was quietly super successful for decades...then a once-in-a-[whatever] storm hits for an extended period of time and they got hooped...I don't know what you want to do...
Those deregulated Texas residential consumers paid $28 billion more for their power since 2004 than they would have paid at the rates charged to the customers of the state’s traditional utilities,
What "YOY savings"?

faftorial
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Postby faftorial » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:19 am



So, it was quietly super successful for decades...then a once-in-a-[whatever] storm hits for an extended period of time and they got hooped...I don't know what you want to do...
It wasn't super successful for decades which is what noted pinkos the WSJ found. People have been paying more for deregulated energy than for regulated energy.

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Postby mikey » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:20 am

Oh, even dumber then, do your homework (not you guys, the customers)...

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Postby MalkinIsMyHomeboy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:24 am

or...you know...deregulation failed...

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Postby mikey » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:27 am

The customers failed themselves in a free-ish marketplace, right?

My dad has COPD, his insurance doesn't cover the medicine in this country, it's the only thing that allows him to breathe comfortably as he's tried a ton of stuff over the last several years...so, regulation and health insurance failed...? It's not a 1:1 I know, because my dad didn't choose for that to be the medicine that cures him, but is that grounds for dunk tanking the concept...?

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Postby faftorial » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:32 am

The customers failed themselves in a free-ish marketplace, right?

My dad has COPD, his insurance doesn't cover the medicine in this country, it's the only thing that allows him to breathe comfortably as he's tried a ton of stuff over the last several years...so, regulation and health insurance failed...? It's not a 1:1 I know, because my dad didn't choose for that to be the medicine that cures him, but is that grounds for dunk tanking the concept...?
Maybe if they didn't brag about what a great system they have and that the rest of the country should follow their lead.

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Postby mikey » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:34 am

If they quietly went about their system, it would be better...?

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Postby MalkinIsMyHomeboy » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:38 am

the article doesn't spell out if the best performing retail energy provider outperforms utility costs so there's no indication either way if customers doing their homework would've been better than using a utility. That said, the article did say that 60% of customers were forced to choose a retail provider


it's easy for us to say "do your homework" but we're also nerds who spend hours analyzing hockey stats and the stock market. The average joe ain't got time for this type of thing.

faftorial
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Postby faftorial » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:39 am

If they quietly went about their system, it would be better...?
Not for the consumers. The "dunking on them" is not directed at the consumers but the political leaders.

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Postby Fire0nIce228 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:42 am

I live in Texas.. was affected for 36+ hours no power with the storm. I didn't pick a variable rate plan and my bill is not sky high.

That being said, while part of it is on the customer and the variable contract they signed with sky high rates.. the other component is the generating companies that did not have enough production online, winterized, and available to tap into (due to no regulations requiring anything) leading to those ridiculous rates during peak demand times. And outright no power - the offline generators due to maintenance combined with things not prepared for winter lead to lack of capacity, sky high rates, and customoers (such as i ) without power for days. That shouldn't happen either.. Nor should the Companies that are middle men having to basically turn off customers and cancel them due to the Company itself not having the cash to buy electricity from the generators at such rates. So in that regard, the system certainly has some major holes in my opinion.

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Postby Morkle » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:45 am

Trump seems shook on the Supreme Court ruling about his taxes:
This is all Democrat-inspired in a totally Democrat location, New York City and State, completely controlled and dominated by a heavily reported enemy of mine, Governor Andrew Cuomo. These are attacks by Democrats willing to do anything to stop the almost 75 million people (the most votes, by far, ever gotten by a sitting president) who voted for me in the election—an election which many people, and experts, feel that I won. I agree!

The new phenomenon of “headhunting” prosecutors and AGs—who try to take down their political opponents using the law as a weapon—is a threat to the very foundation of our liberty. That’s what is done in third world countries. Even worse are those who run for prosecutorial or attorney general offices in far-left states and jurisdictions pledging to take out a political opponent. That’s fascism, not justice—and that is exactly what they are trying to do with respect to me, except that the people of our Country won’t stand for it. In the meantime, murders and violent crime are up in New York City by record numbers, and nothing is done about it. Our elected officials don’t care. All they focus on is the persecution of President Donald J. Trump. I will fight on, just as I have, for the last five years (even before I was successfully elected), despite all of the election crimes that were committed against me. We will win!
Didn't this guy use law basically his entire life to attack his enemies political, and non-political?

mikey
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Postby mikey » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:47 am

Well, the variable rate company that produced these five-digit bills failed, right? They're going to lose customers, no one is going to pay that exorbitant bill, and they'll go out of business...they failed their customers and they ought to be out, right?

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Postby Fire0nIce228 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:50 am

No doubt. I think the diliemma is should it even be able to get to that point when it comes to basic Utilities

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Postby mikey » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:52 am

Was any company actually prepared to handle this...?

NTP66
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Postby NTP66 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:52 am

No doubt. I think the diliemma is should it even be able to get to that point when it comes to basic Utilities
Yep, that's where I was going with this.

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Postby NTP66 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:53 am

Was any company actually prepared to handle this...?
Can't answer that, but if they were on the larger grid they've have been able to purchase power elsewhere, get power back on, and avoid insane bills.

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