Arkansans For Energy Independence

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Comment by Thomas Peterson on February 9, 2009 at 9:28am

I created SEE. I devoted 30 years of my life developing SEE. What is your opinion?

Sincerely,
Thomas Peterson

************************************

Monte Smith has sent you a message on PickensPlan

Hey Thomas,

I think it is easier for me to just refer to you as Thomas, Thomas. Especially now that I'm also having exchange with Tom Bailey. I'm sure you caught that in my reply to both Tom and yourself in the email below.

Thomas, so you know....I just now left the HRS private group. Certainly nothing against you or SEE but I can see that I am not going to be able to be effective there in forwarding SEE. The best way that I can serve SEE is to keep pushing ahead with my development of GEEE, which SEE is a core component of. Of course, I will remain as a member in SEE Global and SEE PP and maintain activity in both. The primary use and benefit that I observe for those sites is that they serve to legitimize, introduce and orient new people to SEE. But I do not see that they are all that useful or viable as for the purpose of organizing.

Speaking of GEEE, as I have mentioned before, I have been working (actually stuggling) with writing a proposal for the purpose of pushing GEEE into the next stage of development. Usually, I do not have a problem in getting words onto a page but for whatever the reason I had completely bogged down in regards to writing this proposal. However, late last night I finally broke through the wall of inertia and the words began to flow. At this rate I should have it finished by the end of the week. It will be presented in several parts.

I will write more soon but will use your off PP email.

Have a good week Thomas.

Monte
> Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 03:33:26 +0000
> From: Thomas Peterson
> To: Monte Smith
>
> Monte,
>
> My PP & Global SEE name is Thomas. I do let my friends call me Tom. You can call me Tom \, but not on open sites.
>
> As far as everything else - - growing pains!
>
> Tom
> > Date: Mon, 09 Feb 2009 00:11:33 +0000
> > From: Monte Smith
> > To: Tom Bailey, Thomas Peterson
> >
> > Tom (and Thomas),
> >
> > Unfortunately, it is an inherent problem in a social online community structured like it is …………………..

Comment by Luane Todd on January 9, 2009 at 1:49pm

Tomorrow, Jan 10 in Eureka Springs...

GREEN GROUP SUMMIT
There will be what Eureka Springs Time Bank member Becky Gillettecalls a "green group summit" on January 10th starting at 1PM at the Carnegie Public Library Annex, 194 Spring St. Eureka Springs. Thegroups Planet Home and the Obama Change is Coming will be presenting a talk given by Mr.Robert McAfee.
Mr. McAfee is from the Alliance for Economy and Climate Solutions which is promoting the Governor's
Commission on Global Warming Initiatives, which will lead to energy efficiency, the use of renewable energy sources, and will provide stimulus for economic growth through green collar jobs. ( The web site of the alliance is www.repowerarkansas.org )
This is a win/win approach to Planet Home core initiatives and creating long-term, sustainable jobs for Carroll County to replace the ones we have been losing. Let's make our lovely county a beacon for
the rest of the state!
Refreshments will be served and there will be time for networking among attendees and the various Green groups expected to attend. Mr. McAfee will offer a PowerPoint presentation, the "Repower Arkansas
Road Show" and will answer questions from the audience. A representative from each of the green groups expected to attend will talk a little about what their groups focus is, followed by time for
networking among all groups and attendees.

Comment by Dale Morris on December 11, 2008 at 9:12am

Hi Dan, thanks for hosting this group!
I would like to throw a few ideas out there for all to consider. I have never been a recycling fiend. In fact, the idea of saving soda cans and newspapers to recycle seemed to be a way to increase the cockroach population, more than anything else. However, I've been trying to do better and the multitude of green products out there is very encouraging to me. I quit buying sodas in plastic bottles and opted for cans, I wash them out good and store until I can recycle because, who knew?, they are making roofing shingles out of them! I also got to thinking about all of those plastic tubs and containers we get at the grocery store. I quit throwing them away and quit buying refrigerator dishes, I mean our parents used them to store leftovers in, why did we forget? My newest idea, I am the most proud of. We have a child in college and one serving over seas in the military. I'm constantly shipping packages and was previously using ziploc bags blown up with air for packaging material in the boxes. Imagine the pain in my head, from the brainstorm that occured, when I realized that the plastic bags bread comes in works just as well!
Keep up the good work Arkansans, with the money I'm saving, I'm hoping to put in solar and led lights!

Comment by Michael on December 6, 2008 at 12:02am

Hello Don
Thanks for your good work.
I would like to invite the members of your group to join the group Wanted Patents, New products and stay informed in all the new developments in Green Energy.
Hope to see you all there. Let's all continue to work together on PickensPlan.
Michael
coordinator@wantedpatents.com
http://push.pickensplan.com/group/wantedpatentsprototypesnewproductsinventions/a>

Comment by Michael, Houston on November 9, 2008 at 12:42am

MAKE MONEY, HELP SOMEONE YOU KNOW GET A GREEN JOB NOW!
Have you noticed the Referral Rewards up to $1,000 listed on Green Jobs Now! group page? Join the Group!
http://push.pickensplan.com/group/greenjobsnowcom

Comment by Mike Anthony Fernald Sr. on October 23, 2008 at 9:41am

An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
Concerning Reform of the Federal Tax Code
Dear Mr. President, Members of Congress, and Fellow Americans,
We, the undersigned business and university economists, welcome and applaud the ongoing
initiative to reform the federal tax code. We urge the President and the Congress to work
together in good faith to pass and sign into federal law H.R. 25 and S. 25, which together call
for:
• Eliminating all federal income taxes for individuals and corporations,
• Eliminating all federal payroll withholding taxes,
• Abolishing estate and capital gains taxes, and
• Repealing the 16th Amendment
We are not calling for elimination of federal taxation, which would be irresponsible and
undesirable. Nor does our endorsement call for reduced federal spending. The tax reform plan
we endorse is revenue neutral, collecting as much federal tax revenue as the current income tax
code, including payroll withholding taxes.
We are calling for elimination of federal income taxes and federal payroll withholding taxes.
We endorse replacing these costly, oppressively complex, and economically inefficient taxes
with a progressive national retail sales tax, such as the tax plan offered by H.R. 25 and S. 25 –
which is also known as the FairTax Plan. The FairTax Plan has been introduced in the 109th
Congress and had 54 co-sponsors in the 108th Congress.
If passed and signed into law, the FairTax Plan would:
• Enable workers and retirees to receive 100% of their paychecks and pension benefits,
• Replace all federal income and payroll taxes with a simple, progressive, visible,
efficiently collected national retail sales tax, which would be levied on the final sale of
newly produced goods and services,
• Rebate to all households each month the federal sales tax they pay on basic necessities,
up to an independently determined level of spending (a.k.a., the poverty level, as
determined by the Department of Health and Human Services), which removes the
burden of federal taxation on the poor and makes the FairTax Plan as progressive as the
current tax code,
• Collect the national sales tax at the retail cash register, just as 45 states already do,
• Set a federal sales tax rate that is revenue neutral, thereby raising the same amount of tax
revenue as now raised by federal income taxes plus payroll withholding taxes,
• Continue Social Security and Medicare benefits as provided by law; only the means of
tax collection changes,
• Eliminate all filing of individual federal tax returns,
• Eliminate the IRS and all audits of individual taxpayers; only audits of retailers would be
needed, greatly reducing the cost of enforcing the federal tax code,
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-2-
• Allow states the option of collecting the national retail sales tax, in return for a fee, along
with their state and local sales taxes,
• Collect federal sales tax from every retail consumer in the country, whether citizen or
undocumented alien, which will enlarge the federal tax base,
• Collect federal sales tax on all consumption spending on new final goods and services,
whether the dollars used to finance the spending are generated legally, illegally, or in the
huge “underground economy,”
• Dramatically reduce federal tax compliance costs paid by businesses, which are now
embedded and hidden in retail prices, placing U.S. businesses at a disadvantage in world
markets,
• Bring greater accountability and visibility to federal tax collection,
• Attract foreign equity investment to the United States, as well as encourage U.S. firms to
locate new capital projects in the United States that might otherwise go abroad, and
• Not tax spending for education, since H.R. 25 and S. 25 define expenditure on education
to be investment, not consumption, which will make education about half as expensive
for American families as it is now.
The current U.S. income tax code is widely regarded by just about everyone as unfair,
complex, wasteful, confusing, and costly. Businesses and other organizations spend more than
six billion hours each year complying with the federal tax code. Estimated compliance costs
conservatively top $225 billion annually – costs that are ultimately embedded in retail prices paid
by consumers.
The Internal Revenue Code cannot simply be “fixed,” which is amply demonstrated by more
than 35 years of attempted tax code reform, each round resulting in yet more complexity and
unrelenting, page-after-page, mind-numbing verbiage (now exceeding 54,000 pages containing
more than 2.8 million words).
Our nation’s current income tax alters business decisions in ways that limit growth in
productivity. The federal income tax also alters saving and investment decisions of households,
which dramatically reduces the economy’s potential for growth and job creation.
Payroll withholding taxes are regressive, hitting hardest those least able to pay. Simply
stated, the complexity and frequently changing rules of the federal income tax code make our
country less competitive in the global economy and rob the nation of its full potential for growth
and job creation.
In summary, the economic benefits of the FairTax Plan are compelling. The FairTax Plan
eliminates the tax bias against work, saving, and investment, which would lead to higher rates of
economic growth, faster growth in productivity, more jobs, lower interest rates, and a higher
standard of living for the American people.
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-3-
The America proposed by the FairTax Plan would feature:
• no federal income taxes,
• no payroll taxes,
• no self-employment taxes,
• no capital gains taxes,
• no gift or estate taxes,
• no alternative minimum taxes,
• no corporate taxes,
• no payroll withholding,
• no taxes on Social Security benefits or pension benefits,
• no personal tax forms,
• no personal or business income tax record keeping, and
• no personal income tax filing whatsoever.
No Internal Revenue Service; no April 15th; all gone, forever.
We believe that many Americans will favor the FairTax Plan proposed by H.R. 25 and S. 25,
although some may say, “it simply can’t be done.” Many said the same thing to the grassroots
progressives who won women the right to vote, to those who made collective bargaining a reality
for union members, and to the Freedom Riders who made civil rights a reality in America.
We urge Congress not to abandon the FairTax Plan simply because it will be difficult to face
the objections of entrenched special interest groups – groups who now benefit from the
complexity and tax preferences of the status quo. The comparative advantage and benefits
offered by the FairTax Plan to the vast majority of Americans is simply too high a cost to pay.
Therefore, we the undersigned professional and university economists, endorse a progressive
national retail sales tax plan, as provided by the FairTax Plan. We urge Congress to make H.R.
25 and S. 25 federal law, and then to work swiftly to repeal the 16th Amendment.
Respectfully,
Donald L. Alexander
Professor of Economics
Western Michigan University
Wayne Angell
Angell Economics
Jim Araji
Professor of Agricultural
Economics
University of Idaho
Ray Ball
Graduate School of Business
University of Chicago
Roger J. Beck
Professor Emeritus
Southern Illinois University,
Carbondale
John J. Bethune
Kennedy Chair of Free
Enterprise
Barton College
David M. Brasington
Louisiana State University
Jack A. Chambless
Professor of Economics
Valencia College
Christopher K. Coombs
Louisiana State University
William J. Corcoran, Ph.D.
University of Nebraska at
Omaha
Eleanor D. Craig
Economics Department
University of Delaware
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-4-
Susan Dadres, Ph.D.
Department of Economics
Southern Methodist University
Henry Demmert
Santa Clara University
Arthur De Vany
Professor Emeritus
Economics and Mathematical
Behavioral Sciences
University of California, Irvine
Pradeep Dubey
Leading Professor
Center for Game Theory
Dept. of Economics
SUNY at Stony Brook
Demissew Diro Ejara
William Paterson University of
New Jersey
Patricia J. Euzent
Department of Economics
University of Central Florida
John A. Flanders
Professor of Business and
Economics
Central Methodist University
Richard H. Fosberg, Ph.D.
William Paterson University
Gary L. French, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President
Nathan Associates Inc.
Professor James Frew
Economics Department
Willamette University
K. K. Fung
University of Memphis
Satya J. Gabriel, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and
Finance
Mount Holyoke College
Dave Garthoff
Summit College
The University of Akron
Ronald D. Gilbert
Associate Professor of
Economics
Texas Tech University
Philip E. Graves
Department of Economics
University of Colorado
Bettina Bien Greaves, Retired
Foundation for Economic
Education
John Greenhut, Ph.D.
Associate Professor
Finance & Business Economics
School of Global Management
and Leadership
Arizona State University
Darrin V. Gulla
Dept. of Economics
University of Georgia
Jon Halvorson
Assistant Professor of
Economics
Indiana University of
Pennsylvania
Reza G. Hamzaee, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics &
Applied Decision Sciences
Department of Economics
Missouri Western State College
James M. Hvidding
Professor of Economics
Kutztown University
F. Jerry Ingram, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics and
Finance
The University of Louisiana-
Monroe
Drew Johnson
Fellow
Davenport Institute for Public
Policy
Pepperdine University
Steven J. Jordan
Visiting Assistant Professor
Virginia Tech
Department of Economics
Richard E. Just
University of Maryland
Dr. Michael S. Kaylen
Associate Professor
University of Missouri
David L. Kendall
Professor of Economics and
Finance
University of Virginia's College
at Wise
Peter M. Kerr
Professor of Economics
Southeast Missouri State
University
Miles Spencer Kimball
Professor of Economics
University of Michigan
James V. Koch
Department of Economics
Old Dominion University
Laurence J. Kotlikoff
Professor of Economics
Boston University
Edward J. López
Assistant Professor
University of North Texas
Franklin Lopez
Tulane University
Salvador Lopez
University of West Georgia
Yuri N. Maltsev, Ph.D.
Professor of Economics
Carthage College
Glenn MacDonald
John M. Olin Distinguished
Professor of Economics and
Strategy
Washington University in St.
Louis
Dr. John Merrifield,
Professor of Economics
University of Texas-San
Antonio
An Open Letter to the President, the Congress, and the American people
-5-
Dr. Matt Metzgar
Mount Union College
Carlisle Moody
Department of Economics
College of William and Mary
Andrew P. Morriss
Galen J. Roush Professor of
Business Law & Regulation
Case Western Reserve
University School of Law
Timothy Perri
Department of Economics
Appalachian State University
Mark J. Perry
School of Management and
Department of Economics
University of Michigan-Flint
Timothy Peterson
Assistant Professor
Economics and Management
Department
Gustavus Adolphus College
Ben Pierce
Central Missouri State
University
Michael K. Pippenger, Ph.D.
Associate Professor of
Economics
University of Alaska
Robert Piron
Professor of Economics
Oberlin College
Mattias Polborn
Department of Economics
University of Illinois
Joseph S. Pomykala, Ph.D.
Department of Economics
Towson University
Barry Popkin
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill
Steven W. Rick
Lecturer, University of
Wisconsin
Senior Economist, Credit Union
National Association
Paul H. Rubin
Samuel Candler Dobbs
Professor of Economics & Law
Department of Economics
Emory Univeristy
John Ruggiero
University of Dayton
Michael K. Salemi
Bowman and Gordon Gray
Professor of Economics
University of North Carolina at
Chapel Hill
Dr. Carole E. Scott
Richards College of Business
State University of West
Georgia
Carlos Seiglie
Dept. of Economics
Rutgers University
John Semmens
Economist
Phoenix College
Arizona
Alan C. Shapiro
Ivadelle and Theodore Johnson
Professor of Banking and
Finance
Marshall School of Business
University of Southern
California
Dr. Stephen Shmanske
Professor of Economics
California State University,
Hayward
James F. Smith
University of North Carolina-
Chapel Hill
Vernon L. Smith
Economist
W. James Smith
Dean of Liberal Arts and
Sciences and Professor of
Economics
University of Colorado at
Denver
John C. Soper
Boler School of Business
John Carroll University
Roger Spencer
Professor of Economics
Trinity University
Daniel A. Sumner, Director,
University of California
Agricultural Issues Center
and the Frank H. Buck, Jr.,
Chair Professor,
Department of Agricultural and
Resource Economics,
University of California, Davis
Curtis R. Taylor
Professor of Economics and
Business
Duke University
Robert Vigil
Analysis Group, Inc.
John H. Wicks, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus
Department of Economics
University of Montana
F. Scott Wilson, Ph.D.
Canisius College
Mokhlis Y. Zaki
Professor of Economics
Emeritus
Northern Michigan Universit

Comment by Luane Todd on October 19, 2008 at 2:13pm

I see a tiny little problem...your selected candidate wants to extend tax breaks for those wealthy people in the 500k up bracket so they don't have to pay so much. I think you have to take your man's plan if you want your man in office. I don't think you get to mix and match.

Comment by Tony Bryant on October 17, 2008 at 10:18pm

I think its time for us to stand up and start pulling together to make the world a better place for our kids to grow up. If we stay idle and do nothing, our kid will not have a chance to live in a world as we knew it when we were young. Lets all pull together and achieve energy independence.

Comment by Walter Shepherd on October 17, 2008 at 4:27am

You may find this link useful.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Renewable-Energy.aspx

Comment by Nathan George on October 16, 2008 at 6:11pm

I think since our state is the Natural State, we should be at the forefront in renewable energy technology. What are some things I can do at my house or help my friends do to achieve energy independence?

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