Today is the day when we care about all things green in our lives, and I’m very concerned about green.  Our green is under assault, and there is a common enemy out there abusing it.  It drains us of our had earned green and treats it like a commodity rather than the precious resource it is.  It undermines most all of our green conservation efforts and claims it has a better conservation method, but in the end winds up wasting most of the green they steal.  There are folks out there today trying to protect our precious green resources from those who would destroy the green, but the prognosis isn’t looking good.  Therefore, it is up to us, the individuals, to step up and take a stand to protect our green from being destroyed.

Oh yeah, and I heard that some people are caring extra about the environment today too…..

The Republican Senator from North Carolina has made the news this week for some eye-raising comments given during a speech in Hendersonville.  Burr, who represents the state that is the second financial capital of the United States, told his wife on a Friday night to withdraw money from North Carolina ATMs up to the limits each machine would provide and the theoretical daily withdraw limit from his bank.  She was instructed, in his own words, to do this all weekend according to the Hendersonville Times-News:

“The state of the financial system at that time had a profound impact on the senator.

‘On Friday night, I called my wife and I said, ‘Brooke, I am not coming home this weekend. I will call you on Monday. Tonight, I want you to go to the ATM machine, and I want you to draw out everything it will let you take. And I want you to tomorrow, and I want you to go Sunday.’ I was convinced on Friday night that if you put a plastic card in an ATM machine the last thing you were going to get was cash.’ “

Ironically, Washington Mutual & North Carolina based Wachovia were victimized by silent runs boosted by media hype/speculation, were declared insolvent, and would be shuttered if they did not agree to shotgun weddings with forced suitors during this time.

From all the banking laws I know, Senator Burr did nothing illegal.  He is perfectly within his rights to withdraw money from his bank accounts for whatever reason he chooses.  However, his actions obviously did little to inspire any confidence in the banking situation and likely helped to enhance the run on banks.  I highly doubt the Burrs live in a bubble, and it’s certainly possible that friends & associates of the Burr family were also tipped off to pull their own money.  Pretty disingenuous actions to take for a Senator who represents a state that houses two of the top five US banks (at the time) and several other large regional banks.  It may be legal, but it certainly stinks of being unethical since he was basing his transactions on whispers in the Capitol hallways.  Some may think I’m grasping at straws, but look at it this way: if he didn’t withdraw money but sold banking stock based on the same whispers his office would have been raided by the SEC that same day.

If I was still a North Carolina resident, I would be highly upset at my Senator’s actions.  His dubiously timed run on his bank has definitely helped reduce North Carolina’s standing as a financial center.  Only Bank of America remains as a national North Carolina bank and the banking crisis he participated in has left BofA in shatters, not to mention the thousands of expected job losses at Wachovia Wells Fargo and the downstream impact of businesses stung by the loss of the Charlotte banking headquarters.

Thanks for nothing, Mr. Burr.

Watching the follow-up coverage of the Tea Party Protests has been nothing short of entertaining, especially seeing how different media concerns struggle to explain what is happening.  Despite the worst-intentioned howling of news outlets like CNN, the NY Times, MSBNC, and others, Wednesday’s rallies were not a product of extreme-right activism or anti-Obama racists hellbent on destroying the United States and the federal government.

It may be hard for the Northeast Corridor establishment to understand, but there’s a lot of anger, resentment, and disapproval of the way this current economic crisis is being handled.  Trillion-dollar spending bills are being rushed to vote without being read.  Entire industries (finance, auto) are being given hundreds of billions of dollars to prop themselves up following years or – in the case of the Big Three Two – decades of poor decisions and bad decision models.  Millions of individuals are getting breaks, rewards, and relief for making poor financial decisions.  (Yes, some were preyed upon by unscrupulous lenders, but not all were.) All of this “relief” and “stimulus” is being financed on the backs of us who acted with a sense of responsibility and future generations who will be paying much more interest & principal on the national debt than we ever imagined before.

This not a Left vs. Right, Republicans vs. Democrats, rural vs. urban, or conservatives vs. liberals issue.  This is a matter of unbelievable explosion in the size of government, scope overtake of traditional private enterprise, and spending that would make my esteemed Senator Robert C. Byrd say “hold on a minute”!!!  As hard as it is for polarized folks to comprehend, this anger has been seeping for years around the surface during Messiah’s AND Bush 43’s administrations, and it’s non-partisan.  I’m pretty sure the standard Liberal might dismiss my support of Wednesday’s activities as the rantings of a Republican distraught that the GOP does not control government and hates that the Messiah is president.  This standard Liberal would also be mostly wrong – I have been on the record for years assailing W’s reckless spending and lamenting the increasing scope creep of the previous administration into our lives.  I argued in this very space that the original TARP was a terrible idea because no one truly understood what they were fighting, nor did they understand what and how they should do things.  I do hate that Messiah is president, but that is due to his inexperience, his political beliefs, and his willingness to spend, spend, spend.

Will Wednesday’s protests have any lasting impact?  Short-term, probably not.  It is possible for this to have some long-term teeth if enough folks stay enraged, and it has the potential to impact 2010 if their voices ignored.  Republican candidates need to pay particular heed to this, since the conservative philosophy is supposed to respect the doctrine of fiscal conservatism and most Washingtonian Republicans lost this nuance somewhere between 1994 and 2006.  Any GOPer who forgets this week may wind up receiving more flak than his Democratic opponent.

Well, today is the day for two huge government events:  the IRS individual tax filing deadline and the Tea Parties being held in a symbolic effort to show the government that a sizable proportion of Americans disagree with the explosion in reckless government spending.  Other than the rain forecast in the mid-Atlantic, it’s a perfect day to peacefully assemble and exercise your free speech rights.

Christian Help.  Bartlett House.  Salvation Army.  Scott’s Run Settlement House. St. Jude. Children’s Hospital.  Numerous churches.  Unite Way agencies. 4-H.  Arts Monongahela.  Chestnut Mountain Ranch. Mon General & WVU Hospital Foundations, Boy & Girl Scouts, Parents Place, Ronald McDonald House, Senior Monongalions, WV Public Theater, WVU Foundation, and so on.

What is this list?  It is but a small fraction of the charitable & non-profit organizations in and around Morgantown, groups that exist to enhance the quality of life for most every segment of our area’s population.  Services for the homeless, the poor, children, adults, seniors, drug addicts, health insurance-less, special needs, chronic diseases, outdoor activity, recreation, the performing arts, and just about any other need one can think of that benefits a community.  Most all of these organizations survive in one way or another by charitable giving from individuals, corporations, and other organization.  They serve the local population, use local volunteers, are funded with local money, and have at least some level of oversight by locals.  Each one serves an important function in our city, county, individual communites, and/or region, and it’s important that they receive our support.

This is why I get so irritated when out of state churches, charitable operations, or other non-profits come in and badger the local community.  Most of the time these groups are set up near the front of a store, just off a parking lot, at busy intersections, or a combination of all three.  When the weather gets a little nicer in a few weeks they will no doublt be out in full force at the Patteson/University intersection, the Mon Blvd/Patteson Drive intersections, and the two Granville stoplights leading to the University Town Center.  For the most part I’ve not had a sour experience with these beggars when I don’t donate, but the sense of “you don’t care” is always pervasive amongst the professional nagging set.

I sometimes wish the city/county would pass an ordinance banning out of region/state groups from begging in the area, that would open a whole can of woms into a really grey area.  From hurting local groups who operate under a national umbrella to having “shell” charities set up for these out of state pests, too many weaknesses exist.  So I’d encourage everyone to save your change and give it to the local organizations who actually make a difference to our citizens.  I’m sure these other folks are just as helpful to their communities as ours is here, but when given the choice I want my charitiable dollars to help my neighbors & friends.  Let your home communities decide whether your efforts deserve donations.

Given that they come to prey on us, it is possible their areas have already spoken loud and clear.