Social Security COLA figures for 2013 announced.

[Shadowrider]

Historically coal has been cheaper than Nat gas. Its not now, but where will it be in the future?

I work in the utility industry. Specifically in Power Generation. Our company has gas generating plants and coal burning plants. Guess what is currently making your electricity right now, at this very moment. Its coal. I just looked on the board, and only one of our gas plants is running. All of the coal units are perking right along.
What the current administration is doing to bankrupt the coal industry has many aspects to it. Jacking up transportation costs is one way, but the reason PSO, AEP, and some of the other utility industrys are fighting are the unrealistic EPA regulations that are being arbitrarily shoved down out throats. The coal plants that decided to go off line were because of the expense that is imposed by these regulations. Scrubbers specifically.
It costs just as much to retrofit scrubbers to existing, but older coal plants, as it does to build a new unit, be it coal or nat gas.

Okla just dodged a bullet last month. The EPA ruling about some of the more expensive regulations was thrown out of Federal court. The court ruling was that the EPA did not have the legal right to impose those regs. The administration is apealing this as we speak.

The alternative energy industry is in shambles. Solar is not feasable, wind generation doesn't work when the winds not blowing, and some of the wind farms have been derated. Were it not for government subsidies, the wind industry wouldn't exist.

I'd bet if the EPA would get their boots off of your throat and OSHA would just relieve some pressure from the miners throat, that coal could come pretty close to competing right now. I know my resource newsletter had Peabody Coal as a buy for a long time. No more. They made money for a lot of investors. Now no sane person will go near it, which is another way Obama is strangling them. Peabody is probably the largest coal mining company in the US.

 

[dennishoddy]

I'd bet if the EPA would get their boots off of your throat and OSHA would just relieve some pressure from the miners throat, that coal could come pretty close to competing right now. I know my resource newsletter had Peabody Coal as a buy for a long time. No more. They made money for a lot of investors. Now no sane person will go near it, which is another way Obama is strangling them. Peabody is probably the largest coal mining company in the US.

Exactly. The reason coal fired plants are considered Base Load plants that run forever is the coal is priced in 10 year contracts. We KNOW what coal will cost 10 years from now, and Oklahoma is still regulated by the Oklahoma Corporation Commission. I don't always agree with their decisions, but overall they have kept Oklahomas utility costs at the very bottom, that is a plus for the consumer/customer.

On the other side, the Nat Gas industry has been looking at the long term gas price contracts, similar to coal. We will see how that plays out.

 

[LightningCrash]

An interesting question: How much should the COLA have been, in percent?

 

[dennishoddy]

An interesting question: How much should the COLA have been, in percent?

At least 20% in my opinion for some.

I have parents, and inlaws that are in their 80-90's.
They paid in when the return for THEIR MONEY was low, as they didn't have that long to pay into the system.

For those that don't know, the SS system was instuted by the Dems, and the law said that for every buck a worker put in, the government would match it with another buck.

Guess what.

No matter what the law said, the government has never paid one single dollar into the SS system. Its a massive pyramid system, thats going to collapse unless congress does something.

Not only has the government not paid their share into the system, they have robbed it several times when it was solvent to pay for some stupid program.

Its too late for me to do some research and put up some links, but I will be able to back up every thing I just said if you want. I have to go to work to pay more into the SS.

 

[inactive]

Bwhahahahahahhahahaahaahhahah !!!!! You actually belive that ?

The thing about all this REAL inflation is that it directly impacts low income people the most. Obama supporters just don't get this. Do you think the billionaire gives a **** if his grocery bill goes up from $100 to $150 a week in one year? Do you think all the big business execs give a **** if it now costs $100 to fill up their Mercedes SUV instead of $50 ?

No, I don't believe that we've had a grossly high inflation, regardless of what you consider a measure. But not based purely on the BLS information.

Fuel first breached $3 per gallon in July 2006, then hit it again in Summer 2007, then made its epic run in 2008. Food staples such as Milk, Bread, Beef have been affected more by drought than any other external factors. It's no secret that real estate prices have been very suppressed the last several years.

So look at the BLS data, or look at real, observed anecdotal evidence.

 

[dennishoddy]

You guys need to look into the gas crisis in Jimmy Carters reign......Look into it real close. The fuel prices were what they are now, and one was restricted to gettin fuel on odd and even days.

Seems the news reporters that used to be objective, saw the oil company's hiding the gasoline in abandoned underground tanks, and reported on this. Oil dropped to $10 a barrel, and most of the oil company's almost went bankrupt.

Hundreds of oil tankers sat offshore waiting to unload, but couldn't.

This isn't infowars crap either. check it out.

 

[Rabbitcreekok]

You 47 percenters act like you are entitled to a COLA.

Personally, I plan to take enough personal responsibility to have a nest egg I can draw from during retirement so that I'm not dependent on government for a COLA to match inflation.

Just curious, how old are you presently, that you are planning on taking that personal responsibility and not actually doing it. Because Obama is creating an environment where you won't be able to pay off the debt, through increases on your taxes, if you do not actually have a pretty good nest egg at this time. Taxing the rich only goes a short distance, because there are not a lot of them. The middle class is where the money will come from in the future, so you had better get with it, soon.

 

[Hobbes]

Anyone not satisfied with their .gov Cost Of Living Adjustments increases can tell it to the Occupy Wall Street crowd as far as I'm concerned.

A lot of people in the private sector lost their retirement system altogether and retired state employees haven't had a COLA in their retirement system for 4 years.

Cry on OWS shoulders.

 

[foghorn918]

........A lot of people in the private sector lost their retirement system altogether and retired state employees haven't had a COLA in their retirement system for 4 years.Cry on OWS shoulders.

The last COLA for active state employees was voted and passed by the Legislature in May 2004, but the employees didn't get it right away, they received 1/2 of it in Jan 2005 and the other half in Jul 2005. Took over a year to actually get the increase into their checks.

 

[LightningCrash]

At least 20% in my opinion for some.

What about for all?