Thanks
October 20, 2011
Thanks to all those
Who took time out of their busy day on Saturday morning
To walk with us,
This was the first year that HBS participated
In the American Heart Walk;
We had 15 walkers and….
With the help of friends
Raised over $2000
For the American Heart Association.
Our grandson
George Henry Hutchinson V (G5)
Was on hand and …..
Participated in his first fund raising event
That boy has a future!!!!
He was the center of attention.
We all know someone who has been affected by
Heart disease.
The American Heart Association promotes
Heart Healthy Living
And is dedicated to….
Finding a cure for Heart disease.
HBS will continue to support
This worthy goal
We must remember….
Every day is a Gift
Handle with care.
Teacher Aid Is First Piece Of Obama’s Jobs Plan To Get Senate Vote
October 17, 2011
As reported by Jennifer Bendary from Huffington Post
WASHINGTON — Senate Democratic leaders have settled on which piece of President Barack Obama’s jobs plan they want to move on first: $35 billion for state and local governments to rehire teachers, police and firefighters.
“Our expectation [is] that the first measure will be teachers,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said during a Monday press gaggle aboard Air Force One.
“I didn’t want to get ahead of Senator Reid,” Carney said of breaking the news. “We have been in consultation with him, but it’s his prerogative and we’re very pleased that he will be taking it up.”
During a conference call, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said he plans to unveil the Teachers and First Responders Back to Work Act later Monday and decide “in the next day or two” when to hold a vote on it. He said the bill would keep 400,000 teachers and first responders on the job, and would be paid for by imposing a 5 percent tax on millionaires.
Asked which pieces of Obama’s jobs plan are next in line for Senate votes, Reid demurred. But he said he has already settled on the next four votes on pieces of Obama’s bill and is waiting to meet with the Democratic Caucus on Tuesday before discussing his plan publicly.
“There is no reason we cannot finish the appropriations bills before the end of the week, and have a vote on this jobs bill,” Reid told reporters on the call. “I am happy to keep the Senate in session as long as needed to make sure we get a vote on this jobs bill.”
Reid’s office also sent out a fact sheet that highlights past votes and statements by Republicans in favor of jobs bills similar to the teacher/first responders aid bill. The fact sheet cites a May 2010 press release by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) saying he was “proud” to help secure funds for first responders. It also points to a March 2007 vote to fully fund the COPS program; it included the support of 16 GOP senators.
During a speech earlier Monday in Fletcher, N.C., Obama knocked Senate Republicans for voting down his entire $447 billion jobs package last week. All Republicans opposed a procedural vote to begin debate on the bill, along with two Democrats. Obama said his push to break out pieces of his bill and hold individual votes on them gives Republicans “another chance” to act on jobs.
“Maybe they just couldn’t understand the whole thing all at once,” Obama said, drawing laughs from the crowd of supporters. “So we’re going to break it up into bite-sized pieces so they can take a thoughtful approach to this legislation.”
“So this week, I’m going to ask members of Congress to vote on one component of the plan, which is whether we should put hundreds of thousands of teachers back in the classroom and cops back on the street and firefighters back to work.”
Of course, the reality is that Republicans are poised to vote against any piece of Obama’s plan because they don’t like how it is paid for: by raising taxes on millionaires and ending subsidies for the oil and gas industry. But with the 2012 elections in mind, Obama and Democratic leaders plan to keep lining up votes anyway to build the case that Republicans are voting against jobs and the economy in the name of protecting corporate interests.
This story has been updated with information on Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s conference call Monday.
Thoughts on Occupy Wall Street
October 14, 2011
As reported in Huffington Post 10/14/11
Written by Al Gore
For the past several weeks I have watched and read news about the Occupy Wall Street protests with both interest and admiration. I thought the New York Times hit the nail on the head in an editorialSunday:
“The message — and the solutions — should be obvious to anyone who has been paying attention since the economy went into a recession that continues to sock the middle class while the rich have recovered and prospered. The problem is that no one in Washington has been listening.”
“At this point, protest is the message: income inequality is grinding down that middle class, increasing the ranks of the poor, and threatening to create a permanent underclass of able, willing but jobless people. On one level, the protesters, most of them young, are giving voice to a generation of lost opportunity.”
From the economy to the climate crisis our leaders have pursued solutions that are not solving our problems, instead they propose policies that accomplish little. With democracy in crisis, a true grassroots movement pointing out the flaws in our system is the first step in the right direction. Count me among those supporting and cheering on the Occupy Wall Street movement.
You can support the protests by clicking here.
Peco predicts a drop in electric-power price in 2012
October 11, 2011
By Andrew Maykuth
Inquirer Staff Writer
whiplash.
Since market rates went into effect this year for the Philadelphia utility’s
1.6 million customers, the price for residential electric power has gone up 12
percent. The biggest quarterly increase took effect Oct. 1 and will be reflected
in bills that go out later this month.
But take heart, customers. Without fanfare, Peco last week posted its
projected prices for Jan. 1, 2012, and it estimates residential rates will fall
dramatically, back to the point where they started in 2011.
“This is good news,” said Catherine Engel Menendez, Peco’s spokeswoman.
The quarterly adjustments are a feature of electric deregulation that went
into effect this year for Peco customers.
The major factors behind the rise and fall of rates are seasonal fluctuations
in wholesale power prices that were invisible to customers under the old
fixed-rate system. The variations became noticeable after rate caps came off and
Peco’s rates were adjusted every three months.
The price fluctuations are exaggerated in the current quarter – up 7 percent
– because Peco is allowed to recover money it did not collect earlier this year
when wholesale prices were higher than expected. The state requires utilities to
reconcile under- or over-collections in the next quarter.
Peco’s quarterly price swings add a wrinkle to the process of shopping for an
alternative electric supplier.
Under Pennsylvania’s Electric Choice Act, customers are free to shop for
power suppliers, whose charges make up about two-thirds of the monthly bill.
(Peco still collects a distribution fee from all customers for using its wires,
regardless of who generates the electricity.)
Since rate caps were lifted, about 370,000 Peco customers have switched to
alternative suppliers. Some suppliers are currently ramping up marketing
campaigns to capture Peco customers, pointing out that their rates are
substantially less than Peco’s Oct. 1 rate of 11.14 cents per kilowatt-hour.
For instance, Constellation Energy Group Inc., a Maryland supplier, is
currently offering a 12-month fixed price of 9.98 cents per kilowatt-hour, which
it advertises is about 10 percent less than Peco’s price.
But customers who opt for Constellation’s fixed-rate contract could find they
will be paying slightly more than Peco customers after Jan. 1, when
Peco’s rate is projected to drop to 9.91 cents per kilowatt-hour.
Peco’s impending price decrease will create new challenges for suppliers as
they set their prices for next year, said Jossi Fritz-Mauer, codirector of the
Energy Cooperative of Pennsylvania, whose current rate is greater than Peco’s
projected price in January.
“The Energy Cooperative is still in the process of finalizing our prices for
2012, but this certainly presents a new dynamic for Peco customers looking to
shop,” said Fritz-Mauer.
Jennifer Kocher, the spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Public Utility
Commission, said that customers were becoming increasingly sophisticated as the
markets mature and that more were switching in response to price changes.
She said the PUC advises customers contemplating a switch to compare prices
at the commission’s website.
“We would hope that anybody who is shopping would do their due diligence,”
she said.
Irwin “Sonny” Popowsky, Pennsylvania’s consumer advocate, said the price
fluctuations underscored the risks and rewards of locking into fixed-rate
contracts when market rates are high or low.
“Some suppliers are able to beat Peco’s rate, but perhaps not as much as they
did a year ago,” he said.
Indeed, Peco customers who locked in last December with suppliers offering
12-month fixed-rate deals of 8.89 cents per kilowatt-hour are currently paying
20 percent less than customers who stayed with the utility. For a customer using
500 kilowatt-hours a month, the monthly savings amount to about $11.20.
Not every Peco customer benefits by switching to an alternative supplier.
Alternative suppliers are still unable to beat the utility’s discounted rates
for about 160,000 residential heating customers and 80,000 customers with
electric water heaters, said Engel Menendez.
But those below-market rates are scheduled to be eliminated at the end of
2012, and the utility expects suppliers to begin courting those customers at the
end of next year.
Hutchinson Business Solutions 