It is fitting and proper for patriots, who love this country, to feel privileged to have inherited a splendid cultural legacy. And it has been three centuries in the making. Every century, so it seems, the legacy grows even more splendid.

For instance, three past presidents and the current one have each won a Nobel Prize. Each prize was a peace prize.

Much as I admire President Barack Hussein Obama jr, I was taken aback by his being awarded that Nobel. I had to wonder whether it was bestowed in the faith that Obama was somehow fated to earn it.

In that regard, personally, I’m hoping that more than mere faith had been involved. I would feel a lot better, if I could even imagine that the Nobel Committee could be prescient, somehow.

Looks like we’ll have to wait to see whether that faith was justified, or whether my imagination needs to stretch a tad.

Truth be told, I’m waiting for President Obama to receive his second Nobel. And I firmly he has most definitely earned it. Rather than for peace, this second shall be for economics.

And here’s why. By salvaging the American auto industry successfully, irrecusably he refuted with flesh and blood the intellectual foundations of modern American conservatism.

To get this fact across to academe, a thoroughly documented monograph would be required. There’s insufficient space here for anything like that. And I profoundly doubt justifying interest.

Down at the level of brass tacks, where 99% of us live, this is what that means. What’s more, this is especially so for those colleague Americans, who during their tough times cling to their guns and religion.

For a couple decades, this is what the denizens on FOX - well, “Faux” if that’s the kind of hairpin involved here - News Channel have been doing. They’ve been pushing snake oil.

Sincerely,

A Alexander Stella

Susquehanna Depot, PA

There are those who would have us believe that the January 20 Mandate of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) demanding that all private health care plans must cover sterilization, abortifacients, and contraception is only about contraception. Contraception is not the issue at all. The issue is whether the government can dictate to us what we must do whether it violates our conscience or not. To justify their actions they would have you focus on the charge that many Catholic women use artificial contraception. This somehow condones violating the conscience of those who believe that artificial contraception is morally unacceptable, not to mention the sterilization and abortion producing morning after pill. They focus on the totally false premise that artificial contraception would not be available unless those of us who find it unacceptable pay for it. They refuse to mention that the new natural family planning form of spacing children is more effective than the birth control pill and does not cause the terrible consequences of the pill. That is because the pill of today is not the original pill that stopped ovulation. That pill caused too much cancer and they did not want to be liable. Today’s pill, regrettably and insidiously discharges any conceived baby.

If you take time to think this through and decide that the government does not have the right to dictate to Americans, any American, that they can mandate whatever they choose and we must follow, regardless of whether it violates our conscience, then join those of us protesting to our representatives. Legislation has been drafted to correct the mandate’s threats to religious liberty and conscience rights. The Respect for Rights of Conscience Act has been introduced in Congress (House bill - H.R. 1179; Senate bill - S. 1467). You can contact your representative by calling the Capitol switchboard at 202-224-3121 and asking to speak to your representative’s office or call your Members’ local offices. You can send an email to Congress through www.usccb.org/conscience and additional web information can be found at www.house.gov and www.senate.gov It is important that we make our House and Senate representatives hear the voice of the people. Tell them clearly that you oppose the HHS Mandate and want the conscience rights and religious liberty of all participants in our nation’s health care system respected. If you believe that artificial contraception is morally acceptable, you should not allow that belief to cloud your mind that the HHS Mandate opens the door to all violations of American’s religious liberties. It is an open door to dictatorship. Our local representatives are Tom Marino in the House and Pat Toomey in the Senate.

Sincerely,

Annette Corrigan

Susquehanna County, PA

Susquehanna County Commissioners must decide whether to tax or not tax marcellus shale gas wells by April 30, 2012 per the new State Impact Fee (Tax) Law.

It's not a question for counties without producing wells. But for us, it may be the most important question faced by County government this year. Nor is there a simple answer. A decision to tax, may yield a net gain in income or a net loss of income to local governments and to citizens.

The Impact Fee Law does not allocate 60% to local governments. The first $23 Million goes to the State. After that, the remainder goes 60% to local governments and 40% to the State. Depending on the decisions of other counties, we could impose the fee in Susquehanna County and receive no or little income; or even see a net loss of income and services.

Even if other counties impose the Fee, we would pay our share of that $23 Million before getting a share of the remaining income. Only Bradford, Tioga, and Washington counties have enough producing wells to generate $23 Million and the Bradford Commissioners are split on whether to impose the Fee.

Imposition of the Fee could cost the County and the Townships considerably in lost “free” services provided by the gas companies such as building and repairing roads and responding quickly to township needs. Many of the gas producing towns may not be able to obtain these “free” services at comparable cost or quality with their share of the new Fee revenue. Nor should we expect the companies to continue providing these services free while also paying a fee(tax) for them.

The Fee will become an undeclared tax on citizens who are receiving royalty income or hoping to renew old leases or negotiate new ones. Many gas companies will pass along their costs as a royalty deduction to landowners; and companies will try to lower their lease bonus prices to recover the new costs.

Gas prices have fallen from almost $9/Unit in 2008 to $2.50/Unit in 2012, causing drilling and production rates to fall. Adding new costs in this County will not encourage companies to increase their activity here soon. Since the Fee is on producing wells, companies may choose to shut down wells to reduce their total costs. Is the timing right for a new Fee/Tax on Marcellus wells?

To decide, the Commissioners should consult with nearby counties and with our townships, bearing in mind that a majority vote of towns and citizens can overturn a Commission decision to Not Tax. To help the towns and citizens contribute knowledgeably, it would be useful to obtain and publicize more quantitative information on the likely gains or losses in revenue and free services.

Sincerely,

Gene Famolari

Jessup Township, PA

I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal the other day regarding a panel established under Obamacare wherein a group with the title of United States Preventative Services Task Force will have the power to evaluate preventative health services and to decide which are to be covered by health insurance plans. These are the folks telling us who should no longer get mammograms and prostate screening. Just lookin’ out for us, these guys. It is comforting to know that we have highly educated, motivated appointees making sure that we don’t borrow too much Chinese money jeopardizing our financial security for the stupid reason of keeping our people healthy. What is really comforting is the knowledge that these faceless bureaucrats cannot not be held accountable, by anyone. Unless, of course, we open our eyes to what is happening all around us and, as they say in the Navy, we have a clean sweep, fore and aft.

I was also comforted to find that Steven Chu, Secretary of Energy, is holding true to his 2008 position with respect to getting gas prices up to European levels of six to eight dollars a gallon. This is to encourage alternative energy projects, like Solyndra, windmills and corn ethanol which, of course, will reduce our dependency on oil by one or two percent. We certainly shouldn’t worry that we might not have enough money left over to get to work or buy our food. After all, Chu is a Nobel Prize Winner (like Obama).

And then we surely must be pleased to find that our government has found that the public funding for contraceptives, sterilization and abortion trumps the moral considerations of many religious sects. We must be better off having government provided condoms in lieu of listening to all those right wing pastors and priests telling us what to do.

And somehow I tend to believe that our international groveling to the Muslim world has emboldened the murder of our troops engaged in bolstering the training of the Afghan army, by those whom they were helping. Certainly, this will help get us out of that area of the world, although not without our tails between our legs.

Together with the above, coupled with the drastic cutbacks of our Defense Department, will make more borrowed money available to further increase the size of the Federal payroll and support keeping our citizens on the unemployment rolls, at least through November.

Aren’t we lucky to have “the one” instead of “The One.” I wonder if all this flies in the face of the First Commandment.

Sincerely,

Joe McCann

Elk Lake, PA

Everything we use, wear, or even eat, is directly or indirectly related to petroleum. But petroleum is a nonrenewable resource and it's running out - and so is everything else.

A graph of U.S. oil production would look like a bell-shaped curve. The glory days of oil were all the years leading up to maximum production. Peak production - the top of the bell curve - was reached in 1970 at 9.6 million barrels/day.

But for the past forty years the U.S. has been sliding down the bell curve. Currently, oil output is 5.4 million barrels/day, a decline of 44 percent. Moreover, the pressure pushing the oil out has also decreased making it more expensive to extract.

Beginning in 1970, the U.S. began to import oil to meet domestic demands. But the world, too, is running out of cheap oil. World production peaked in 2004. Since that year cheap oil has steadily decreased while demand has steadily increased.

Another energy source must be found.

King coal to the rescue. The U.S. is the Saudi Arabia of coal; we have more coal than any other nation. An estimated 275 billion tons lie in reserve. We burn through one billion tons a year; that's enough for 275 years - or so it was thought.

But it is not the total amount of coal that is meaningful. What counts is the amount that is economically recoverable. And that picture is dismal. Of the massive 275 billion tons only 6 percent is realistically usable; that leaves a scant 17-year supply.

If peak production is defined as BTUs per pound, then coal produced from existing mines peaked in 2004. Since that year U.S. production has fallen 20 percent.

Can we, then, import coal as we do oil? Not according to Tad Patzek, chairman of the Department of Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering at the University of Texas. Sometime this year, according to Patzek, the world will reach peak coal. High-quality coal that is easy to mine and cheap will be gone. What remains will be of a lower quality and more expensive to mine.

By 2050, the world's coal production will be diminished by half. China and India are already experiencing shortfalls and are importing coal.

All right, then, what about nuclear power?

Production of high-grade uranium might have peaked in 1980. Moreover, it would take 750 nuclear power plants just to replace oil imports. Considering that last March there were three meltdowns in Japan, this is not an acceptable choice or even a possible one.

The concept of peak can be applied to almost anything, fish for example. The Natural Science and Engineering Research Council reports that the world's fish production peaked in the '80s. For the past 25 years wild netted fish has been declining.

It's the same with wood or any number of minerals; production of all resources is declining as the Earth's population increases by 70 million every year.

Even people have a peak population. In order for everyone to have the same standard of living as the U.S. enjoys, the Earth's population should not exceed 1.5 billion. That puts mankind 120 years past his peak.

A parable told by a shaman in the Amazonian jungle:

The evening fire crackled and hissed as the tribe gathered 'round the village curandero to learn his wisdom. When only the sound of the fire could be heard he began, softly, almost a whisper...

“A man wandered through the forest and admired its animals. He looked at a jaguar and longed for his strength. 'I will give you my strength,' said the jaguar. Then the man saw a deer and wished for his speed and agility. 'I will give you both,' said the deer. Finally, the man saw a snake and wanted his cunning. 'I will give you my cunning,' said the snake.

But an owl, the wisest of animals, saw the man had a thirst in his spirit that could never be satisfied. 'He will always want,' said the owl, 'until the Earth has no more to give.’”

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA

This current board of commissioners that is a portion of the pension board along with me, the Treasurer, and the Chief Clerk did not invite me to any interview with Brinker Capital. Nor do they have a proposal. I am displeased with this kind of irresponsibility and that I was completely cut out of any discussion or vote.

They have terminated The Seneca Group that has arranged a special agreement with M&I Trust. While the pension fund has tripled in size over last decade, the trustee costs have actually decreased as the Seneca Group has helped lower trustee fees by 28%, saving the county substantial funds. They also hired a firm to recapture foreign taxes paid by the county receiving about $4,400 since 2010. They have provided un-biased, totally objective advice to the county.

Commissioner Alan Hall said he was concerned over the fees associated if the county moved forward with the suggestion to invest some pension funds in the futures market. “(The fees) would have cost the county a ton of money,” Hall said.

All recommendations were within the guidelines of the county’s investment policy. The portfolio is broadly diversified and has a wide range of exposure that has worked over time to reduce risk.

The Seneca group chose the least expensive way of accessing the asset class of managed futures. The Rydex fund charges 20% of what a traditional futures fund would charge but these are internal expenses within the mutual fund - not a fee the county would pay directly. The charge to the county would have been only 0.59%, the same as any other mutual fund or ETF utilized in that account.

The Seneca Group made multiple attempts to reach out to Commissioner Hall in particular to explain the pension's history, the current IPS, the current managers and the current process. He did not take advantage of that.

I have served on the pension board for 16 years. It only took Commissioner Hall the brief two months he has been here to make such an important decision to fire the consultant without ever speaking to them, or me, and to hire a company without a contract or proposal.

Commissioner Michael Giangrieco asked, “Is anyone comfortable with (the Seneca Group’s) recommendations?” Commissioner Giangrieco recalled Seneca Group’s advice when the Dow Jones Index stood at 7,000 (March 2008). That advice he recognized as “market timing;” something he wouldn’t do with his own portfolio, let alone public funds. “My displeasure has not been hidden since that day with them.”

Commissioner Giangrieco hasn't hidden his displeasure since the day the Seneca Group was hired in 2002. He didn't attend most portfolio reviews and walked out of the few he did attend. Since his recommendation of his friend Glen Wood of Lesko Financial to the pension board when he was county solicitor resulted in a loss to the pension fund of 8 million dollars he has had a negative attitude toward the newly hired pension consultants.

The Seneca Group did not advise or recommend market timing as a strategy. Since 2002 they have brought our pension fund back to $13.5 million from $4 million with conservative investments.

The Seneca Group has received strong recommendations from Hank Steihl (Actuary from Hay Huggins) who has expressed confidence in them. We also received a good report from a competing consulting firm from Wells Fargo when they requested all our pension reports to see if they could out-perform the Seneca Group. They could not.

Two years ago we interviewed 6 other financial consultants and money managers. Brinker Capital was among them. No other firm could match the service for the cost of the Seneca Group.

This board of commissioners voted to move money to a company who has not yet submitted a proposal. Commissioner Giangrieco would not use "market timing" with his own portfolio. I wonder if he would personally hire a company without a contract?

Unfortunately I was not able to attend the meeting due to a commitment to my 91 year old father who had hip replacement surgery. The commissioners knew this and took advantage of my absence to vote without my knowledge. I was available by phone.

When I tried to discuss this issue with Commissioner Hall he basically told me to be quiet. I did suggest that rather than terminating the Seneca Group perhaps we could take half the fund, let Brinker Capital invest it and then compare the results. Then I was promptly dismissed.

I am trying to have a good working relationship with this board of commissioners. They do not appear to want to do the same.

I remain committed to honest and open government.

Sincerely,

Catherine R. Benedict

Susquehanna County Treasurer

& Tax Claim Bureau Director