Thanks for 'looming recession, highest ever gasoline prices

We have a lot to be thankful for. Here are just a few things I'm going to give thanks for starting with the June primary this year.

Thank you Montana Republicans for Energy deregulation in Montana (1997) and my higher electric rates as a result. “Montana once had the least expensive electric rates in the West Š the state produced twice as much power as it used, and produced that power at a very low cost. Montana was sheltered from high prices by two things: a wealth of power generation and a regulated world that required that the juice be sold to Montana customers at a relatively low cost. Rates were among the lowest in the nation”… but that changed with energy deregulation.

http://missoulian.com/specials/power/power4.html Nov. 2007 electric ratesŠ http://www.neo.ne.gov/statshtml/115.htm http://neaap.ncat.org/news/mtnews2.htm

I should also thank you the Republican leadership for presiding over the largest corporate bankruptcy fraud in U.S. History, Enron (2001). I will be sure not to forget to thank you for the worst security failure in U.S. history - 9/11. And a big thank you for the creation of the Department of Homeland Security (2002), the largest bureaucracy in the history of the United States government, but I will not thank you for the cost of the war in Iraq, the cost in U.S. lives - 3,390 U.S. troops dead, 29,395 wounded (as of March 17, 2008), with a total estimated taxpayer cost of around $3 trillion, $12 billion monthly.

And how about a very special thanks to the Republican administration for the highest gasoline prices in U.S. history. The cost of gasoline eight years ago was about $1.50 a gallon and today it's $3.29-plus per gallon, with diesel prices over $4 a gallon, while oil companies like Exxon continue making record profits ($10-plus billion every 90 days).

Thanks for the record setting number of bankruptcies, the looming recession, the housing market crash, and an estimated two million foreclosures in 2008, and for the annual budget deficit. “The budget resolutions recently approved envisage an increase in the deficit next year. The Senate predicts $366 billion; the House $340 billion. Meanwhile, over the next five years, independent estimates are that the national debt, already $9 trillion, will grow by $2 trillion more. Almost half the government debt owed to banks or individuals is held by foreign creditors, notably China, Japan and the OPEC nations, up from 13 percent five years ago”

http://www.mercurynews.com/opinion/ci_8592137

While Republicans were driving the bus, the national debt has been steadily climbing: “$9-plus trillion and increasing (at about $9.4 trillion now and the debt ceiling is currently set at $9.8 trillion. The debt is rising by an average of $1.36 billion per day).”

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/226/story/20068.html

The list of things I can thank Republicans for could go on and on. What I am really thankful for is that I can express my appreciation for this type of leadership and vote my thanks this year.

Glenn Ferren

Superior