AEP hits VA with yet ANOTHER rate increase...

[Lance 228]

scumbags...they tried 60% and got shot down so I guess we just give them 40% and 20% and it's all good...I hate these people.

 

 

Appalachian Power files for base rate increase in Virginia

 

Bluefield Daily Telegraph

 

TAZEWELL, Va. — Appalachian Power Company announced Wednesday it is seeking a 19 percent base rate increase for residential customers in Virginia.

 

The company in a press release said customers would see an average daily increase of about 55 cents over current rates if the base rate request is approved by the Virginia State Corporation Commission. Across residential, commercial and industrial accounts, the company is seeking an average increase of 16 percent.

 

At the same time, the company announced it was increasing its contributions to its Neighbor-to-Neighbor Program, and announced changes to components of its deposit and collection policies to further help customers having difficulty paying their electric bills.

[Deleted Account 5,203]

Sad, sad, sad.

[Guest JJBrickface]

Ridiculous.

 

How about we call these guys non stop and bitch em out? It may not work but at least they will get tired of us. haha

[buzzsawBeaver 12]

what is this neighbor to neighbor program?

[Hacker 82]

Seems like the utilities have decided their approach is to make continuous rate increases to see what will stick.

[Lance 228]

corporate scum...that's all it is...greedy scumbags.

[blufan04 12]

Greedy scumbags is an understatement. They unhooked our power one time because they wouldn't accept a payment by check. We were late making our monthly payment and they came to our door to collect or disconnect and we gave them a check for the amount. They said it was against policy to pay by check when coming to disconnect the power. So they disconnected us and I had to go to the ATM to get money out just so them jerks would come back and connect us. We still had to pay a late charge, a hookup fee, and the month's payment just because they wouldn't accept a darn check. Called the manager up that evening and told him off because he just kept telling me that I should have made my payment on time like I was supposed to. A few days later and still a little pissed over this I get another disconnection statement in the mail stating that if I didn't pay a $30 deposit fee for reconnection by a certain date that I would be disconnected again and it had under it a list of all the stupid charges that they hammered me with a few days before if I didn't pay. So I called the manager again that night. "Oh thats our policy." I told him where he could stick his policy and told him they were a bunch of greedy SOB's and then hung up on him. They think that the're the only people that shouldn't feel the wrath of the economy while making things worse for everybody else!

Edited July 16, 2009 by blufan04

[Beamerball 566]

ODP looking for a rate increase also..

http://www.timesnews.net/article.php?id=9015291

[bhs7695 185]

Wait and see how much our power bills go up if Cap and Trade(tax) gets passed........

[GMan 3,569]

Wait and see how much our power bills go up if Cap and Trade(tax) gets passed........

 

Yep...thanks Uncle Barry...

[bhs7695 185]

I would sure as hell pay a 19% increase over a 75-100% increase any day. Everyone needs to flood their Congressmen with phone calls, emails, letters, telegrams, smoke signals, and homing pigeons telling them to vote “NO” on Cap and Trade!!!!!!!!!

 

I been bombarding Rick Boucher's ignorant ass office with emails. The only thing I wish I could do is hit him over the head with a shovel.

[Lance 228]

I would sure as hell pay a 19% increase over a 75-100% increase any day. Everyone needs to flood their Congressmen with phone calls, emails, letters, telegrams, smoke signals, and homing pigeons telling them to vote “NO” on Cap and Trade!!!!!!!!!

 

I been bombarding Rick Boucher's ignorant ass office with emails. The only thing I wish I could do is hit him over the head with a shovel.

 

we have already paid a 40% increase...this is just the latest in a never ending line of double digit increases that AEP seems to get away with...it never stops.

[Guest JJBrickface]

Yep...thanks Uncle Barry...

 

Its funny how people who voted for Obama keep their mouths shut now, do most of them realize that they made a horrible mistake?

[Lance 228]

Its funny how people who voted for Obama keep their mouths shut now, do most of them realize that they made a horrible mistake?

 

i dont have a problem with him...i think he's doing a pretty good job considering...just glad things didn't go the other way...the country was in a nose dive...he's been in office for what? a little over 6 months? I dont agree with everything he does, but at least he is doing something. I watched the Bush crew spend the last 4 -8 years running the country into the ground, I don't expect anyone could fix it in 6 months.

[deuceswild 15]

i dont have a problem with him...i think he's doing a pretty good job considering...just glad things didn't go the other way...the country was in a nose dive...he's been in office for what? a little over 6 months? I dont agree with everything he does, but at least he is doing something. I watched the Bush crew spend the last 4 -8 years running the country into the ground, I don't expect anyone could fix it in 6 months.

 

Exactly.

 

We keep hush about it for 4 reasons.

 

1) We're clearly in the minority. Why subject ourselves to an onslaught of rabble and bucfan's links?

 

2) We argued about it for six months before the election. Now is that period of time where both sides see what happens for four years. Likely 8 years unless the Republicans can pull a feather out of their cap in the next 2-3.

 

3) Our guy won. What is there to talk or complain about?

 

4) We don't expect anything we say to make any of you lighten up. You have your solid stance and we have ours and it never ends with "Ah yeah, I see what you're saying" or a high-five.

 

But thats how politics go and the reason why I avoid the discussions completely on here.

 

And, I'm not saying I agree 100% with Obama's policies just because he is a democrat. I agree with about 80%.. which is still 80% more than Bush or McCain for me, personally.

[GMan 3,569]

the country was in a nose dive...

 

Give Uncle Barry a few more months and that nose dive will be a devastating crash...

 

You don't raise taxes when people are loosing their jobs.

You don't limit companies' abilities when the economy is already bad.

You don't print and spend more money when you're already $1 trillion in debt.

You don't take away the civil liberities and freedoms from those who are already pissed off about the above three...

 

2012 can't get here fast enough....

[HurricaneWarning 212]

As bad as I hate to admit it I would take the Bush administration over Obama`s after what I have seen so far.

[Guest JJBrickface]

i dont have a problem with him...i think he's doing a pretty good job considering...just glad things didn't go the other way...the country was in a nose dive...he's been in office for what? a little over 6 months? I dont agree with everything he does, but at least he is doing something. I watched the Bush crew spend the last 4 -8 years running the country into the ground, I don't expect anyone could fix it in 6 months.

 

At least he is doing something? What exactly is he doing?

 

Remember Bush tried to do something but was constantly being outnumbered by the Democratic majority. Go back in the past and research the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac situation and you will see that the Bush administration and John McCain warned what would happened but Barnie Frank and the Dems turned a deaf ear to it.

 

Also, you can't use the argument that he has only been in office for 6 months when its HIS policies that are making the already bad situation worse.

[GMan 3,569]

A Socialist President + a liberal Congress = the end of America as we know it...and you're not going to like the "new" America...the new "American dream" will be nothing more than survival...

[buzzsawBeaver 12]

It's known as denial.

Bush didn't push the federal deficit to a trillion $s for the 1st time in history, there isn't way to say he did, this administration has openly spent hundreds of billions of $s with action after action since their 1st weeks in jan., in fact they've spent more $s, that the u.s. didn't have, since they've been in office than any other president in u.s. history combined.

They printed 3 billion $s worth of paper $ to put into circulation, (does the word inflation $ come to mind to anyone with even an elementary knowledge of economics), and they've literally taken over the auto industry, the finance and banking industries.

They intend to absolutely destroy the free market and health care system and take control of health care, and those of you who really would say they support them, you should really read up on cap and trade, tripled energy costs, gas will skyrocket to 5$s a gallon, not just for a few months either, and the cost of everything is going to practically double.

That isn't pessimism either, it's an economic certainly based on what their plans are.. ( certain by knowing companies aren't going to eat those losses, they're going to pass them on to consumers, they'll have to in order to survive ) so for all the complaining about aep looking for rate increases, this administration is going to give practically every big company in America the desire and need to increase rates a lot more than what aep is requesting.

 

Only 6 months, if you'd pay attention to what's actually posted instead of just considering it some right wing hatred talk, you'd see that the they said we had to spend 800 billion immediately or unemployment might reach 8 % in the 3rd quarter, so they passed it and unemployment is almost 10% "now". Unemployment in michigan is "over 15 %", and that government take over of the auto industry that effects michigan so muh, well aside from that 15% unemployment, they were recently told by this administration that they simply aren't getting those jobs back. I thought these people were all about creating jobs? ( not to mention government health care if it passes will put millions in the insurance business out of work and reduce the salaries of people in health care).

The state of califonia is issuing "iou's" instead of checks, new yorkers, (living 1 of the most liberal and socialists states there is), are taxed literally 60% of their income and if these most recent proposals pass there's around 40 states that will be taxing their residents at least 50% of their income. That's correct this government's going to let people keep 50 cents for every $ they earn.

The bush "tax cuts" will expire in 2010, they won't be renewed by this administration which means that's a tax increase for everyone right there in 2010, and they are talking about a 2nd stimulus package.

These are facts, these are this administration's programs, not Bush's.

You supporters are in sheer denial if you suggest that things aren't really bad or a lot worse than last year, or that this is bush's fault, democrats control everything and have been fast tracking these socialist programs through house and senate faster than anyone can say "what was that?", these are the facts. Denial isn't just a river in egypt.

Edited July 17, 2009 by buzzsawBeaver

[buzzsawBeaver 12]

 

Also, you can't use the argument that he has only been in office for 6 months when its HIS policies that are making the already bad situation worse.

 

That's just it, these are their socialist programs and policies that they've fast tracked through, on record.

[Lance 228]

lol...doesnt take much to bring you guys back out of the woods...

[trublue 939]

Yogisms:

 

"a nickel ain't worth a dime anymore"

 

"the future ain't what it used to be"

 

"you've got to be very careful if you don't know where you are going, because you might not get there"

 

(FINALLY....what the president wishes Biden would do......or as one Dem rep. on Hannity said last night regarding his statement on "we've got to keep spending money to keep from going bankrupt"....."it's just Joe being Joe".) How sweet :).....Joe being Joe!!!!!

 

"if you ask me anything I don't know - I'm not going to answer"

[Guest BEAVERTAIL]

If you watch the news lately, moreso last week, when we found out how the stimulus did not create jobs, but instead Obama claims they "saved" them, while unemployment soars over their 8% mark they claimed it would never reach. While many businesses are putting up closed signs and while they want a second stimulus what is the reasoning...

 

"Bush made the economy worse than we thought"

 

The American public is tired of this. Polls are dropping every day for Obama. 54% in most now compared to 62% average in June. Warren Buffett has dropped his support, claiming things are going to get drastically worse.

 

I guess you guys want to continue to support your decision, but when you see some areas of the country who have similar cap and trade laws like Oregon, in drastically worse shape. Or Canada, in which if you are a dog, you recieve medical treatment 4x-8x sooner than a person (private/NHC)... When will you stand up for America instead of your party that seems so far left???

[buzzsawBeaver 12]

a more realistic look at the economy from the ap

 

 

"White House putting off release of budget update

 

link

Jul 20, 6:20 AM (ET)

 

By TOM RAUM

 

WASHINGTON (AP) - The White House is being forced to acknowledge the wide gap between its once-upbeat predictions about the economy and today's bleak landscape.

 

The administration's annual midsummer budget update is sure to show higher deficits and unemployment and slower growth than projected in President Barack Obama's budget in February and update in May, and that could complicate his efforts to get his signature health care and global-warming proposals through Congress.

 

The release of the update - usually scheduled for mid-July - has been put off until the middle of next month, giving rise to speculation the White House is delaying the bad news at least until Congress leaves town on its August 7 summer recess.

 

The administration is pressing for votes before then on its $1 trillion health care initiative, which lawmakers are arguing over how to finance.

 

The White House budget director, Peter Orszag, said on Sunday that the administration believes the "chances are high" of getting a health care bill by then. But new analyses showing runaway costs are jeopardizing Senate passage.

 

"Instead of a dream, this routine report could be a nightmare," Tony Fratto, a former Treasury Department official and White House spokesman under President George W. Bush, said of the delayed budget update. "There are some things that can't be escaped."

 

The administration earlier this year predicted that unemployment would peak at about 9 percent without a big stimulus package and 8 percent with one. Congress did pass a $787 billion two-year stimulus measure, yet unemployment soared to 9.5 percent in June and appears headed for double digits.

 

Obama's current forecast anticipates 3.2 percent growth next year, then 4 percent or higher growth from 2011 to 2013. Private forecasts are less optimistic, especially for next year.

 

Any downward revision in growth or revenue projections would mean that budget deficits would be far higher than the administration is now suggesting.

 

Setting the stage for bleaker projections, Vice President Joe Biden recently conceded, "We misread how bad the economy was" in January. Obama modified that by suggesting the White House had "incomplete" information.

 

The new budget update comes as the public and members of Congress are becoming increasingly anxious over Obama's economic policies.

 

A Washington Post-ABC News survey released Monday shows approval of Obama's handling of health-care reform slipping below 50 percent for the first time. The poll also found support eroding on how Obama is dealing with other issues that are important to Americans right now - the economy, unemployment and the swelling budget deficit.

 

The Democratic-controlled Congress is reeling from last week's testimony by the head of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf, that the main health care proposals Congress is considering would not reduce costs - as Obama has insisted - but "significantly expand" the federal financial responsibility for health care.

 

That gave ammunition to Republican critics of the bill.

 

Late last week, Obama vowed anew that "health insurance reform cannot add to our deficit over the next decade and I mean it."

 

The nation's debt - the total of accumulated annual budget deficits - now stands at $11.6 trillion. In the scheme of things, that's more important than talking about the "deficit," which only looks at a one-year slice of bookkeeping and totally ignores previous indebtedness that is still outstanding.

 

Even so, the administration has projected that the annual deficit for the current budget year will hit $1.84 trillion, four times the size of last year's deficit of $455 billion. Private forecasters suggest that shortfall may actually top $2 trillion.

 

The administration has projected that the annual deficit for the current budget year will hit $1.84 trillion, four times the size of last year's deficit of $455 billion. Private forecasters suggest that shortfall may top $2 trillion.

 

If a higher deficit and lower growth numbers are not part of the administration's budget update, that will lead to charges that the White House is manipulating its figures to offer too rosy an outlook - the same criticism leveled at previous administrations.

 

The midsession review by the White House's Office of Management and Budget will likely reflect weaker numbers. But where is it?

 

White House officials say it is now expected in mid-August. They blame the delay on the fact that this is a transition year between presidencies and note that Obama didn't release his full budget until early May - instead of the first week in February, when he put out just an outline.

 

Still, the update mainly involves plugging in changes in economic indicators, not revising program-by-program details. And indicators such as unemployment and gross domestic product changes have been public knowledge for some time.

 

Standard & Poor's chief economist David Wyss said part of the problem with the administration's earlier numbers is that "they were just stale," essentially put together by budget number-crunchers at the end of last year, before the sharp drop in the economy.

 

Wyss, like many other economists, says he expects the recession to last at least until September or October. "We're looking for basically a zero second half (of 2009). And then sluggish recovery," he said.

 

Orszag, making the rounds of Sunday talk shows, insisted the economy at the end of last year, which the White House used for its optimistic budget forecasts, "was weaker at that time than anyone anticipated." He cited a "sense of free fall" not fully recognized at the time.

 

"It's going to take time to work our way out of it," the White House budget director told "Fox News Sunday."

 

Even as it prepares to put larger deficit and smaller growth figures into its official forecast, the administration is looking for signs of improvement.

 

"If we were at the brink of catastrophe at the beginning of the year, we have walked some substantial distance back from the abyss," said Lawrence Summers, Obama's chief economic adviser."