quote:

Originally posted by vthoky:
Joe claimed today that the ports will be working 24-7.

Um... don't they ordinarily do that?
And if not, then why have they waited until today to get that bright idea?

The DEMOTARDS are still paying people lucrative salaries to stay home. They don't have the workforce to run the operation 24/7. President Potato is just mentally masturbating again...

** And once again, bigdeal and I are on the same page.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Nope, the ports do not work 24-7.

You've taught me.
Thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
both inadequate port manpower, and an unwillingness of the trucking industry

Totally believable.

I also recall an effort attempted in Long Beach a few years ago to induce more automation into the off loading of containers and putting them onto the trucks (and vice versa). If I am recalling correctly, the unions threw a fit because of the job requisitions the automation would eliminate.

Anything the communist ruling us decree regarding the economy will result in further misery. I don't think folks realize how bad they fucked up when they elected the pedophile. He's a neutered cuckold who just wants his 10%...the notion that Joe Biden was ever going to steer the party to the center is just ludicrous.

biden's commission to pack the Supreme Court will release a draft report tomorrow

things in the DEM 3.5 Trillion bill

https://www.breitbart.com/poli...infrastructure-bill/

Perpetuates labor shortage: Continues welfare benefits without work requirements for able-bodied adults without dependents at a time where there are 10.1 million job openings—more openings than there are people looking for work.

Commissions a climate police: Democrats stuffed $8 billion into the bill to commission a cabal of federally funded climate police called the Civilian Climate Corps (CCC) who will conduct progressive activism on taxpayers’ dime (pages 8, 21, and 926).

Pushes Green New Deal in our public schools: Requires funding for school construction be used largely on enrollment diversity and Green New Deal agenda items (page 55).

Pushes Green New Deal in our universities: Democrats include a $10 billion “environmental justice” higher education slush fund to indoctrinate college students and advance Green New Deal policies (page 1,935).

Forces faith-based child care providers out: The bill blocks the ability of many faith-based providers from participating in the childcare system and will lead to many of their closures (page 280).

Hurts small and in-home daycares: Requires pre-K staff to have a college degree. (page 303)

Includes new incentives for illegal immigration: Illegal immigrants will be eligible to take advantage of Democrats’ new ‘free’ college entitlement (page 92) as well be eligible for additional student aid (page 147) and the enhanced child tax credit (page 1,946).

Includes legislative hull for Biden’s vaccine mandate: Increases OSHA penalties on businesses that fail to implement the mandate up to $700,000 per violation and includes $2.6 billion in funding for the Department of Labor to increase enforcement of these penalties (page 168).

Gives unions near-total control: The bill includes insane prohibitions that would bind employers’ hands in union disputes and dangerously tilt the balance of power, subjecting employers to penalties that exempt union bosses and officials… among other things this bill would prevent employers from permanently replacing striking workers (page 175). It coerces businesses to meet union boss demands by increasing Fair Labor Standards Act penalties by an astronomical 900% (page 168).

Makes unions bigger and more powerful: The bill would subsidize union dues that would only serve to strengthen the influence of union bosses and not American workers (page 2323).

Pushes Democrats’ wasteful and confusing school lunch agenda: $643 million for, among other things, “procuring…culturally appropriate foods” (page 333).

Furthers radical abortion agenda: Does not include the Hyde amendment and would mandate taxpayers pay for abortions (page 198) & (page 336).

Drives up costs on Americans’ utility bills: Issues a punitive methane tax (page 367) and includes a tax on natural gas up to $1,500 per ton that could cost the American economy up to $9.1 billion and cost 90,000 Americans their jobs (page 368).

Includes dangerous & deadly green energy mandate: Effectively forces Americans to get 40% of their energy from wind, solar and other unreliable forms of energy within 8 years (page 392). Reliance on these energy sources has proven deadly.

Includes kickbacks for the Left’s green energy special interest network: $5 billion for “environmental and climate justice block grants” (page 377) and another $100 billion in green energy special interest subsidies, loans and other carve outs.

Gives wealthy Americans tax credits: $222 billion in “green energy” tax credits will be given to those who can afford expensive electric vehicles and other “green” innovative products (page 1832).

Furthers Democrats’ social justice agenda: Includes “equity” initiatives throughout the bill and, in one instance, Democrats inserted “equity” language into a title which should have been focusing on the maintenance of the United States’ cyber security efforts (page 897).

Grants amnesty for millions of illegal immigrants: House Democrats have included in their reconciliation bill a plan to grant amnesty to around 8 million illegal immigrants at a cost of around $100 billion over ten years that would largely be spent on welfare and other entitlements (page 901). Trillions more would be spent long term on their Social Security and Medicare.

Opens border even wider: The bill would waive many grounds for immigration inadmissibility, including infection or lack of vaccination status during a Pandemic, failure to attend removal proceedings in previous immigration cases, and the previous renouncement of American citizenship. DHS may also waive previous convictions for human trafficking, narcotics violations, and illegal voting (page 903).

Increases visa limit: At least 226,000 family-preference visas would be administered each year (page 905).

Grants fast-tracked green cards for those seeking middle-class careers in America: Language included in the bill exempts certain aliens from the annual green card statutory limits and has been described as a “hidden pipeline for U.S. employers to flood more cheap foreign graduates into millions of middle-class careers needed by American graduates” (page 910).

Includes pork for Nancy Pelosi: $200 million is earmarked for the Presidio Trust in Speaker Pelosi’s congressional district (page 933).


Increases energy dependence on OPEC, Russia and China: The bill prohibits several mineral and energy withdrawals (page 979). It overturns provisions included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that authorized energy production in the Arctic that will result in 130,000 Americans losing their jobs and $440 billion in lost federal revenue (page 983) and the mineral withdrawals it prohibits would, ironically, include minerals necessary for renewable energy sources (pages 934, 940, 943).

Exacerbates the chip shortage: The bill would mandate the conversion of the entire federal vehicle fleet from internal combustion engines to electric engines at a time when there is a global microchip shortage and crippled supply chains (page 1,043).

Democrats’ feckless China bill is included: Concepts from the insanely weak Endless Frontier Act included, including $11 billion in research funding that will likely result in American intellectual property going to China (page 1079 – 1081).

Chases green energy pipe dreams: $264 million to the EPA to conduct research with left-wing environmental justice groups on how to transition away from fossil fuels (page 1063).

Fixes “racist” roads and bridges: Adds a nearly $4 billion slush fund that would help left-wing grassroots organizations that, among other things, want to tear down and rebuild or otherwise alter infrastructure deemed “racist” (page 1183).

Punishes red states for failing to adopt Green New Deal provisions: Mandates “consequences” for conservative states that don’t meet the radical Left’s “green” climate standards while at the same time adding nearly $4 billion for “Community Climate Incentive Grants” for cooperating states (page 1179).

Includes new massive, bankrupting entitlement: The new paid leave entitlement would mandate workers get 12 weeks of paid leave and would cost $500 billion over ten years according to the CBO (page 1245). It would apply to those making up to half a million dollars a year (page 1254).
Advances a totalitarian and paternalistic view of the federal government: Includes grants for organizations to treat individuals suffering from “loneliness” and “social isolation.”

Further detaches individuals from employment and more reliant on government handouts: The bill spends $835 billion on welfare through manipulating the tax code [not including the expansions of Obamacare subsidies] (page 1943).

Tax benefits for the top 1%: The bill will possibly lift the SALT deduction cap meaning many of the top 1% wealthiest Americans would pay less in taxes.

Tax credit for wealthy donors who give to woke universities: The bill creates a new tax credit program that gives tax credits worth 40% of cash contribution that are made to university research programs (page 2094).

Expands worst parts of Obamacare: Obamacare’s job-killing employer mandate will become more severe by adjusting the definition of “affordable coverage” to mean coverage that costs no more than 8.5 percent of income rather than current law’s 9.5 percent of income (page 2041).


Increases taxes on Americans at every income level: $2 trillion in tax hikes will fall on those making under $400,000 per year, contrary to what the White House says. Individuals at all income levels will be affected (Ways and Means GOP).

Lowers wages for working families: The corporate tax rate will increase by 5.5%, meaning American companies will face one of the highest tax burdens in the world. According to analysis, two-thirds of this tax hike will fall on lower- and middle-income taxpayers (page 2110).

Penalizes marriage: The bill would permanently double the EITC’s marriage penalty on childless worker benefits (page 2036).

Imposes crushing taxes on small business: Guts the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act small business deductions that reduced pass-through entity taxes to keep them comparable to taxes imposed on corporations (page 2235) as well as hammer small businesses that file as individual tax earners with the 39.6% rate (page 2221) and Obamacare’s 3.8% tax on net investment income.

Crushes family businesses and farms: The bill would impose a 25% capital gains rate (page 2226) and makes alterations to the Death Tax including cutting the Death Tax exemption in half (page 2240).

Violates Americans’ financial privacy: $80 billion slush fund to hire an 87,000-IRS-agent army to carry out the Biden administration’s plan to review every account above a $600 balance or with more than $600 of transactions in a year. (page 2283).

Increases out of pocket costs for those who rely on prescription drugs: The bill repeals the Trump-era Rebate Rule which passes through rebates directly to consumers at the point of sale (page 2465).

Imports policies from countries with socialized medicine: The bill includes healthcare policies imported from systems in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the United Kingdom—all countries that have government-run healthcare systems (page 2349).

^^ Don't forget Maxine's Section 8 spending to build more housing for the homeless in middle-class single-family detached housing neighborhoods.

quote:

Tax benefits for the top 1%: The bill will possibly lift the SALT deduction cap meaning many of the top 1% wealthiest Americans would pay less in taxes.

For those not obsessed with this stuff, that's the federal tax deduction for state taxes. Trump limited it to $10,000. This would allow the top 1% to deduct all of it, thereby paying less in their overall tax bill - and making it possible for more and more of their money to go to state governments like those of New York and California. This isn't a handout to the rich as such; this is giving Gavin Newsom more money to buy votes with taxpayer dollars through expensive social programs in California.

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Nope, the ports do not work 24-7. They tried to up the hours of operation at Long Beach some time back and found they had both inadequate port manpower, and an unwillingness of the trucking industry to step up their hours. Long Beach quickly gave up that idea.

Mr. Potato Head today is just too stupid to even give consideration to. The problems plaguing the ports are too few workers working to offload containers, and a severe lack of trucking to move the goods from port to warehouse and beyond. Warehouses are also full of goods right now because there isn't enough trucking to move them to their destinations. None of that will be cured because Joe Potato Head happened to decree a change in hours.

What's the process for loading rail cars with containers? Does it have to go to trucks first and then to rail cars, or is it pulled off the ship and loaded directly onto a rail car? I guess I don't understand why the infrastructure wouldn't exist to directly off load onto rail cars, bypassing any trucking issues. Of course you still need all the necessary rail and dock workers.

Let’s go Brandon!!!!

American Households’ Heating Bills Are Expected to Spike This Winter: Federal Agency

The average heating cost for a U.S. household is forecasted to see a double-digit increase this winter, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its October winter fuels outlook (pdf). https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/s...021_Winter_Fuels.pdf

Retail energy prices are expected to approach “multiyear highs” due to supply-demand changes following the pandemic as well as a colder winter ahead.

Propane costs are forecasted to rise by 54 percent, heating oil costs to rise by 43 percent, natural gas costs to rise by 30 percent, and electricity costs to rise by 6 percent.

With natural gas consumption projected to rise by 3 percent this winter, households are expected to spend $746 this winter, up from $573 last winter.

The increase in natural gas heating costs varies by region with the Midwest U.S. leading the price hike at a 45 percent increase from last winter, and the Northeast expecting a hike of 14 percent.

Nearly half of all U.S. households use natural gas as the primary source of heating.

Households relying on heating oil over winter will spend $1,734 over winter, relative to $1,212 last winter.

Houses in Northeastern regions will be more affected by the price hike as nearly one in five homes in the region rely on heating oil as their primary source of space heating.

The projection is based on the Brent crude oil price, which helps determine the prices of U.S. petroleum products.

“The higher forecast Brent crude oil price this winter primarily reflects a decline in global oil inventories compared with last winter as a result of global oil demand that has risen amid restrained production levels from OPEC+ [Organization of the Petroleum Exporting] countries,” according to the EIA.

While most households commonly use electricity for heating, 41 percent rely on electric heat pumps or heaters as their primary source for space heating.

These homes should expect to spend $1,268 this winter season, relative to $1196 last year. This projection accounts for 3 percent more residential electricity demand with more Americans working from home, a colder winter, as well as a rise in fuel costs for power generation.

“During the first seven months of this year, the cost of natural gas delivered to U.S. electric generators averaged $4.97/MMBtu, which is more than double the average cost in 2020,” stated EIA.

The 5 percent of U.S. homes using propane as the primary means to heat can expect to spend $631 more on average compared to last winter, depending on the location.

Residents of the Midwest can spend an average of $1,805 this winter, reflecting higher propane prices and a 2 percent increased consumption.

Propane prices have been at their highest since February 2014 due to increased global demand, relatively flat U.S. propane production, and limited oil supplies from OPEC+ countries.

The estimated rise in energy consumption projected by the EIA may vary with weather conditions in the 2021–22 winter season.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/...7Ct3EAx2njfFdDju%2B3

quote:

Originally posted by JoseyWales2:

quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
Nope, the ports do not work 24-7. They tried to up the hours of operation at Long Beach some time back and found they had both inadequate port manpower, and an unwillingness of the trucking industry to step up their hours. Long Beach quickly gave up that idea.

Mr. Potato Head today is just too stupid to even give consideration to. The problems plaguing the ports are too few workers working to offload containers, and a severe lack of trucking to move the goods from port to warehouse and beyond. Warehouses are also full of goods right now because there isn't enough trucking to move them to their destinations. None of that will be cured because Joe Potato Head happened to decree a change in hours.

What's the process for loading rail cars with containers? Does it have to go to trucks first and then to rail cars, or is it pulled off the ship and loaded directly onto a rail car? I guess I don't understand why the infrastructure wouldn't exist to directly off load onto rail cars, bypassing any trucking issues. Of course you still need all the necessary rail and dock workers.

Containers are offloaded from container ships, loaded onto essentially flatbed type trailers and moved around the port by trucks. Not all, but lots of containers go to warehouse storage where they're stockpiled and shipped from there. Trucks are needed to move that inventory from dock to warehouse, to rail spur, to depots for long haul trucks to take overland. Covid rules, Biden administration unemployment subsidies, and a prior shortage of truck drivers are all contributing to the mass shortages of labor preventing all this freight from moving. None of that is going to be resolved in the short term by Mr. Potato Head and his cast of morons even if they had a clue what they were doing (which they don't).

I watched some news at lunch today, and saw an interview with the head of the port of Long Beach (a rather slimy, guido-like, character) who basically noted the port would step up offloading but expressed concerns that the trucking industry might not step up their efforts to match the accelerated unloading. Basically it was an "it's the other guys creating the problem" moment. Long story short, we're all screwed as these administration morons and nitwits fumble around in the dark dealing with a problem so far over their heads they can't even see it.

Between a shortage of drivers there's also a shortage of trucks, new and used.

We have had trucks at the shop for months waiting on parts, that isn't helping.
I'm swinging a new engine in and am dead in the water waiting on an oil filter base that's on national back order.

quote:

Originally posted by powermad:
Between a shortage of drivers there's also a shortage of trucks, new and used.

Just wait until 2023, when all heavy duty diesel trucks in California will be required to have "2010 model year engines or the equivalent." I'm sure that won't be a burden on truckers.

Suddenly I have visions of container-loads of chips needed to build or fix trucks sitting on a ship that can't dock to unload.

quote:

Originally posted by Il Cattivo:
Suddenly I have visions of container-loads of chips needed to build or fix trucks sitting on a ship that can't dock to unload.

I know where there's a field FULL of Class 8 trucks waiting for chips. One of my peeps tells me that they'll drop a chip in, run the truck out to the storage lot, then take it out to move another.

Am I the only one who is seeing as many trucks on the road as I ever have? No shortage of them around these parts. Trains are running 24/7 as well.

Seriously...every time I try to go anywhere on an Interstate....trucks galore. Esp on I-95 in SC.

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:
Am I the only one who is seeing as many trucks on the road as I ever have? No shortage of them around these parts. Trains are running 24/7 as well.