It’s just that half of us don’t know it yet. Mitt Romney lost for many reasons. He is not charismatic. He is a self-made multimillionaire. He was demonized when he couldn’t fight back. He is a Republican. He is not a career politician. He didn’t promise any freebies. But most of all, he spoke the truth when he was recorded telling a room full of political donors that 47% of Americans are dependent on the government. I collect Social Security benefits. I am on Medicare. I paid FICA taxes my entire working career but my benefits exceed my contributions. I am dependent, like it or not. That is why Social Security, Medicare and other entitlement programs are unsustainable. Big government is also a big contributor to our deficit (Solyndra, for starters). Our prolific spending will eventually bring down America the same as Greece and other big spending countries are going down. Mitt Romney pledged to rein in government spending and the 47%, along with the unions and many on the government payroll; we’re not about to agree to that, so Romney went down.

Michelle Obama, when her husband was initially nominated for the presidency, said that for the first time she was proud to be an American. By virtue of this election I expect to see more of the last four years; stagnant economy, high unemployment, ballooning government employment, regulation and deficits. These practices are going to crush my grandchildren. For the first time, I am not so proud to be an American.

Sincerely,

Joe McCann,

Elk Lake, PA

Now that the election is over, and President Obama has been returned to office, I hope the Republican Party will not do what they did during his first term. They decided from the start that they would not work with him to remedy America's problems. Instead, they vowed to obstruct everything he tried to do. They figured if they cooperated with him, the President would end up looking good and he'd get re-elected. They didn't want that, so they put electoral politics ahead of their country. By so doing, they made themselves unpatriotic.

I call upon Rep. Tom Marino and Senator Pat Toomey to put partisanship aside and do what's good for the country. Compromise! We already know Obama is willing to do that. Many times, he put forward ideas that had originally been proposed by Republicans, but as soon as he did, they dropped their support. And they had a record number of filibusters. Please, no more of such immaturity. Enough years have been wasted.

As for Republican bigwigs, I wonder if they'll draw the wrong lessons from their narrow defeat. Some may be tempted to conclude that the reason they lost is that they nominated someone who's too moderate (although Romney's real position on the issues is anyone's guess). If you want to nominate a hard-core ideological Rightist next time, all I can say is, go for it. There aren't enough angry old white men to win a national election, so I look forward to nothing but Democratic Presidents from now on.

Sincerely,

Stephen Van Eck

Rushville, PA

Editor’s Response

Amen to that, Stephen. It’s time for all our elected officials to hide their silver sppons and join us in the ditches. A little common sense, with disregard for political pork would go a long way toward turning us around.

You will surely go to Washington, D.C. or watch it on T.V. to see your hero President Obama resume his 'agenda'. You voted for him and as a Catholic you will receive Holy Communion and you will serve as a Eucharist minister. You carefully thought about all of the Catholic bishops, warning you not to vote for a person that believes in abortion (baby killing).

You followed Sen. Bob Casey, Nancy Pelosi, Secretary Sebelius and Joe Biden who (in my opinion) could care less about their Catholic faith. You voted for same-sex marriage that Catholic bishops opposed. You Hispanics that should be so devoted to Our Lady Of Guadalupe. Protestant leaders and most Religions told you to stand with the Catholic Church and not accept the H.H.S mandate (that will force all institutions and businesses to pay for baby killing drugs) and Obama Care. You will be responsible for the consequences of your vote.

Now for the great good news, catholics can go to confession and be a good example to their family.

Sincerely,

Bruce Moorhead

Susquehanna, PA

Everything that has a beginning has an end. The Industrial Revolution began in 1850. Its end is as predictable as a sunset. The Revolution is a drama in three acts played on history's world stage.

Act I, The Crunch: The End of the Era of Plenty.

The invention of a talented instrument maker in 1776 would do more to change the course of civilization than all who came before, or after him. His name: James Watt. His invention: a commercially workable steam engine.

A man would work from sunup to sundown to plant and harvest enough food for his family and livestock to get through the winter. And if he had a little left over besides seeds for the spring's planting, it was a good year. Watt changed that.

One merely fed the fire of Watt's engine to change water to steam and it could do the work of a dozen men, tirelessly and dependably. Wood was soon replaced by coal which has 40 percent more energy giving the steam engine a huge boost in productivity. Now for the first time in human history it was possible for an average working man to accumulate a small cushion of wealth.

The next leap forward came in 1859 with the discovery of oil, in Pennsylvania. Coal would give way to oil which contains 20 percent more energy and gushed out of the ground under its own pressure. But two more inventions were necessary to supercharge the Industrial Revolution.

It was the electrical wizardry of Nikola Tesla---the man who invented the 20th century - who in 1887 perfected the electrical generator and invented alternating current (AC). The electrical generator is a device that changes the mechanical energy of a steam engine to electrical energy. Then AC would transport oil's power through a wire to any location, no matter how distant.

During the last 70 years the Era of Plenty blossomed. Today the average person lives better, longer, healthier, and inconceivably more luxuriously than even the dreams of an ancient king could imagine.

But this wonderland of wealth and leisure is built on oil, cheap oil, and it's running out.

Act II, The Crisis: The End of Cheap Oil.

Dr. Marian Hubbard is a well known oil geologist. He noticed that the output of oil wells followed a typical bell curve. First, there was a period of increasing production, followed by maximum or peak production, then the well would go into terminal decline where output would decrease while the expense of extracting it would increase.

Eventually it would take more energy to pump out the oil than could be recouped by the returning oil. At that point the oil well would no longer be economically viable.

Hubbard predicted in 1956 that U.S. oil production would peak in 1970-71 and decline thereafter. His analysis was scoffed at. Hubbard, like the Greek prophetess Cassandra, was doomed to see and declare the future but never to be believed.

But Hubbard was more than right; his prediction was correct almost to the month. U.S. oil production is now long past peak. The remaining oil is likely to be discovered off-shore in ever deeper depths, farther from markets as in Alaska or the Arctic, in smaller oilfields, and of lesser quality. And this at a time when the major markets of Europe, Japan, China, and India are demanding more oil.

Act III, The Collapse: The End of The Industrial Revolution.

We will never run out of oil, but cheap oil, the oil on which our life of abundance and liesure depends, is gone forever. Oil will become relentlessly more expensive. Moreover, since the price of everything is related to oil, everything will become inexorably more expensive.

In the near future, look gas at the pump to hit $4, $6, and $8 a gallon. Home heating oil will become unaffordable to many; food, clothing, and the basic necessities of life will consume the entirety of one's income.

What is true for the U.S. is even more so for the poor nations. How this will play out is anyone's guess; we've never been there before.

Hubbard made one more prophecy. He said the era of fossil fuel would be very, very short. But no one believes him.

Sincerely,

Bob Scroggins

New Milford, PA