ST. JOSEPH, MO. — The letter from Michael Gray lit up a few of my energy-saving Christmas lights to say the least. He seems to me to be packing more of a political agenda that has carried over into his profession. He seems to see his views as representing the common blue-collar working class (as did Karl Marx, I might add). He seems to be pitting the city folks in New York and Chicago and, probably, Columbus, against the rest of us folks with such expressions beginning with "Kenyan Usurper," which I assume refers to the economist, followed with pooh-poohing the "global warming nonsense," and indentifying "environmental whackos" and "environmental nut cases," which are evidently taking our (including his) country down the hill to "liberal destruction" and "galloping Marxism" (whatever that means).
He seems to bear a grudge against "the wealthy" who building "classic, monstrous, energy-hog, turkey (turnkey?) home(s)" claiming most (of) these are the junk that are underwater in the mortgage meltdown." I believe the reality is most of those underwater mortgages are those of the struggling blue-collar and middle class folks he thinks he is defending, as well as the other less fortunate people who bought into the lies of mortgage lenders, who, incidentally, are still selling their toxic products to themselves, heading us back into another meltdown.
He also believes, if we (whoever "we" are) could just drill for oil and gas "wherever it is found" all would be right with the world — at least his world as he lives off of his government-provided Social Security. I had to laugh at his creating a new "mint" the "guber-mint." He evidently did not learn that his fellow like-minded friends refer to the/our and his government as the govment.
I will not take on the confusing choice of appliances he offers or refuses to offer his customers, leaving that to the other plumbers writing in.
I will address his support of Drill, Baby, Drill. If we "allow the oil companies to drill at will," they will sell our oil on the open market, probably to China or India. If he wants to control the oil prices in "our" country, he and his buddies, along with myself and my other liberal friends, need to convince the government (shortly to be packed with elected officials ushered into office by the donations of foreign and domestic corporations due to the decision of the conservative Supreme Court) to nationalize "our" oil. This is what other oil-producing countries have done. When we do this, we will have control of the price at the pump, we will receive royalties, and we will chose companies within our country who will drill our oil, pass it along to us first, and then into the world market, and who will pay us taxes.
STEPHEN BALOUGH, MASTER PLUMBER
CONTRACTOR’S PLUMBING SERVICES LLC