An odd streak of fatalism runs through the minds – the presumed minds – of our LNG-worshipping politicians. This fatalism seems to be the offspring of two parents: desperation and incompetence. During a recent public meeting to count the un-hatched property tax chickens promised by Jordan Cove through a scheme of dubious legality known as the CEP (Community Enhancement Plan), someone asked what the County might do for property tax revenue if Jordan Cove never built (or operated) its LNG export terminal. When Commissioner John Sweet replied that “there is no plan B”, people gasped audibly. Sweet then rushed to assure the crowd that there was no need for a Plan B anyway, because Jordan Cove is working on contracts with big Asian energy companies that “don’t go out of business” and are “not in China.” This according to Mary Geddry’s report of the meeting.
I know there are a lot of clever people in Asia, but who knew their companies never go out of business? During a slump in the Japanese economy not many years ago, the Wall Street Journal carried an extensive article about all the Japanese businessmen who were hanging themselves – evidently hari-kari is less fashionable these days – because their companies were failing.
Gassy Bloviations
What sounded even more curious was Sweet’s assurance that “Jordan Cove is working on contracts with energy companies that are “not in China”. The term “working on contracts” means that no contracts yet exist, an eerie reminder of the fate of several other industrial promotions during Coos Bay’s history. In 1980 the promoter of a fish waste processing plant in Charleston, heavily subsidized by the Port, announced there was “tremendous demand” for his plant’s end product. In the end, when he went broke, it became clear there never was any. And in November of that year, the Canadian promoter of a coal export terminal to be built on the North Spit announced that the following week he would be signing a contract with the Taiwan Power Company for delivery of a million tons of coal a year. In time, that turned out to be a big fib too. In 1987 the promoter of a chromium smelter, also for the North Spit, promised to produce 30,000 tons of ferro-chromium a year, half of which had “already been sold on contracts”. That too was an empty boast, by a traveling penny-stock-salesman. I could cite more examples, but the lesson should be clear: when somebody is trying hard to make the uninformed believe that his industrial proposal is a done deal, read the fine print.
By stating that JC’s prospective customers are not in China, Sweet clearly meant to say they are in Japan; but his real objective seemed to be damage control for my op-ed article in The World of Thursday, January 7. The headline of that article, a longer version of which appeared on this blog in December, had simply asked: “IS THE WINDOW CLOSING ON JORDAN COVE?” I had asked the question because of recent dramatic changes in global energy markets. Gasoline prices have taken a welcome dive – welcome to me, anyway – thanks to the price of a barrel of oil having dropped from over $100 to less than $45 today, and the bottom is not yet visible. As is often the case in dramatic market developments, there are multiple causes for the oil price drop, but they can be summarized as excess supply and lackluster demand. The same has happened to the price of natural gas, which is often produced from the same wells as oil. For a long time this gas was sold overseas as LNG on long-term contracts linked to the price of oil, so in recent months Asian LNG buyers have been getting a better deal too.
But global gas markets have acquired their own unique problems, if we define as problems those recent events that threaten to narrow the spread between domestic and overseas prices enough to make Jordan Cove’s plan to export LNG from North America a losing proposition. In the December article on this blog I mentioned four such problems: the high cost of domestic fracking, the impending re-start of the Japanese nuclear power plants, new gas supplies from Australia, and the recent gas deal between Russia and China. This was not a complete list of the gas market’s problems for potential LNG exporters; there are many more. But in my article’s version in The World, which had to stay under 800 words, I only mentioned the first and the last problems, i.e. the cost of fracking and the China deal. So a commenter on The World who hides behind the pseudonym eye14u seized the occasion to accuse me of spreading false information, because I had written that Jordan Cove was planning to sell its LNG to China when it was actually hoping to sell it to Japan. I had done no such thing, as anybody who can read should be able to tell. But, citing a Reuters article of November 7, eye14u bloviated that my “ignorance and audacity is truly breathtaking.” Here’s a link to that article: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/07/lng-veresen-japan-buyers-idUSL4N0SW19Q20141107.
A Red Herring
So it was eye14u’s Reuters article about Japan being JC’s LNG buyer instead of China – essentially a red herring – that John Sweet was regurgitating, proving once again that he is not a leader but a follower, and not a very perceptive one. What makes the Reuters report a red herring is that commodity prices in countries in the same part of the world – say, China, South Korea and Japan – tend to converge to roughly the same level unless prevented by unusual circumstances. These countries not only get LNG from overseas but they trade with each other, diverting cargoes from one port to another as needed, at spot prices, which used to be higher than long-term prices because buyers needed such cargoes to make up temporary shortages. But recently the spot market for LNG has shown prices lower than long-term contracts. This is further confirmation that LNG has become a buyer’s market; sellers are eager to unload surpluses, but demand has cooled. As to Japan in particular, you have to remember that when the Japanese shut down all of their four dozen nuclear power plants in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear meltdown, prices of LNG in that country rose as high as $19 per Mmbtu. No wonder Jordan Cove kept on salivating; but like so many things in this world such prices didn’t last.
In early November 2014, according to the now two-month old Reuters article, Veresen’s Don Althoff was hovering around the fringes of an LNG trade conference in Japan to try and sell LNG contracts at $11 per Mmbtu; and it seems likely that his anxiety level was rising since on the same day the Reuters article was published, the re-start of the first two idled Japanese nuclear power plants was officially announced. Nuclear plants had supplied 30% of Japan’s electricity, and taking them offline had boosted oil and LNG imports for fossil fuel plants to make up the difference. Clearly, this is coming to an end, and it’s another potential nail in JC’s coffin. But, braying victory for Jordan Cove, eye14u cited Althoff’s claim that he was “talking to Japanese buyers” and had “signed six heads of agreement . . . for about three times the volume of the plant’s capacity.” But “heads of agreement” are NOT contracts. They are something on the order of a letter of intent, which is not an enforceable contract either. But I can sympathize with Mr. Althoff – sort of. After all that Veresen has spent and done, he must be feeling the heat. There have been no further reports of the fate of his “heads of agreement”, and I would bet an excellent bottle of wine that the Japanese, cagey traders that they are, are in no hurry to sign any real contracts. Why not bide their time, and get a better deal yet? LNG plants in other countries can supply them, and unlike Jordan Cove those are already built, such as the vast new export facilities in Australia that are eager for customers.
A Conspiracy of Silence
One curious aspect of eye14u’s rants (without considering his bad grammar), is that they are exceptions to a rule of the local ecodevo cult, a firm rule calling for silence toward critics like me. Ever since I published the first edition of “The JOB Messiahs” in December 2011, there has been an organized effort by that cult to suppress it, not by arguments that would just bring me more attention, but by silence. Undoubtedly a lot of local gentlemen – and a smattering of ladies – felt their precious reputations threatened by the book’s exposure of their past ecodevo follies, which have cost us so dearly; and I admit I took a certain pleasure in skewering their pretenses with humor, ranging from ironic to sardonic. But since we don’t live in the fifteenth century nor in Nazi Germany they couldn’t very well seize my books and burn them along with me, so they decided that their best policy was to ignore me as much as possible. Since then I have published many letters and op-eds in The World (and in other publications) on local development schemes, usually based on history from the book. But the public responses to those pieces never seem to come from the hard-core ecodevangelists whose ruinous exploits I documented in The JOB Messiahs. And of course that may be wise on their part, since getting involved would put them in the spotlight, and they have a great deal to answer for.
As part of that conspiracy of silence, shortly after the book’s publication I got a rude telephone call from a guy by the name of Norm Hill on behalf of the Coos Bay area’s largest Rotary Club, canceling the speaking engagement I had already made at that assembly of civic-minded luminaries. He curtly informed me that he had “heard” of me, implying that I was a dangerous Enemy of the People, as Henrik Ibsen might have put it. If Norm Hill and eye14u are not the same, at a minimum they sound like brothers, not surprising given the level of ideological in-breeding among Coos Bay’s diehard ecodevangelists.
Do we HAVE to be Dependent?
But it’s high time we returned to John Sweet, whose admission that the County has no “Plan B” without Jordan Cove shows that he has put all of our un-hatched eggs into one single basket that may soon fall off the table, thus condemning us to “rot”, as he puts it. Yes: without Jordan Cove and the SEP, according to Sweet, “Coos County will shrivel up and rot!” And this after insisting that “we have to be dependent” on the Canadian would-be LNG exporter. To Sweet, it’s the only way to survive.
To paraphrase blustering eye14u, this is truly breathtaking. Just like someone observed, back in 1990, that Coos Bay’s ecodevangelists were completely unable to imagine a better future for their children than to go to work at a stinking pulp mill (which would never be built), today Sweet is unable to imagine a County administration relying on anything but a huge industry that may never materialize or, even if it does, be idle for years on end due to changing market conditions. What’s truly irresponsible, he has given no thought to what else could be done to solve the County’s looming revenue problem. And with regard to the uncertainty surrounding Jordan Cove, I’m not talking hypothetically or conjuring up fairy tales. The history of LNG IMPORT terminals in the U.S. has been one of underuse, with many intermittently idle, and an asset that is idle cannot be relied on for much tax revenue. The reason that the first FERC-non-FTA-approved LNG exports will be shipped from the Chenière Company’s Sabine Pass terminal in Louisiana is that it by the time it was built in 2009 as an import terminal, it had no purpose. The import market for that terminal had evaporated. With the aid of powerful politicians Chenière then applied to convert its facility to an EXPORT terminal, obtaining FERC approval in 2012; its first export shipment is expected to occur toward the end of this year. But clearly, Chenière had a substantial head start on other would-be exporters. Even so, the company is $9 billion in debt and has never made any money although its CEO gets $142 million a year. During Chenière’s lifetime its stock has twice been in penny-stock territory, although lately it’s been riding high – given all these historical facts no guarantee of a brilliant financial future. No wonder one investor in Chenière stock describes it as “one tiger whose tail I wish I’d never grabbed.” See: http://wolfstreet.com/2014/08/05/stock-hype-on-a-wing-and-a-prayer/
Returning to Coos Bay, it seems fitting to recognize that like the natural gas market, the lumber business has seen plenty of ups and downs; I well remember the frequent mill closures “due to market conditions” during the 1970s, which were Coos Bay’s last decade of growth and prosperity. It’s always amazed me how people could wax nostalgic about that golden era, which had plenty of economic insecurity already. And the financial gusher now expected by John Sweet and his crowd hardly seems credible when you consider what has happened, time after time, when our myopic officials pinned their hopes on yet another new industry that never came: coal export, steel equipment fabricating, a pulp mill, a steel mill, a container terminal, and so on. The only exceptions I can think of were small ones, both of which did locate here, but they didn’t live long. The first was Glenbrook Nickel, which imported nickel ore, dried it at a plant in Bunker Hill and loaded it on trucks that hauled it to a smelter in Riddle, up highway 42. Glenbrook operated for about five years, during the 1990s, and then shut down because the Russians were dumping nickel on the world market, depressing prices. The Glenbrook site sat vacant for some fifteen years until ORC (Oregon Resources) picked it up for its chromite operation. Like Glenbrook, ORC spent money building its facility, but its life was even shorter than Glenbrook’s.
Shrivel up and die
So the $10,000 question is: how stupid is it for County Commissioners (along with the rest of our officials) to keep hoping for some industrial Santa Claus to show up and shower money on Coos County? Oh yes, I remember well the annual property tax check that Weyerhaeuser Company used to write, about four feet long so The World could show a big picture of happy local officials holding it. Weyerhaeuser’s big mill, built around 1950, closed in 1989, and we’re still looking for a replacement. There have been many, many prospects but none panned out. So now it’s Jordan Cove that will save the County, according to John Sweet, or else we’ll shrivel up and die.
This is beyond pathetic. Not long ago Sweet gave $25,000 to SCDC, a permanently useless office that pretends to create jobs; even though that was not County money, it could have been used for County purposes since almost anything can pass for “economic development”. Sweet also hired a $5,000 a month lobbyist for the County who is achieving nothing; he voted to give the County’s “human resources” director a $3,000 raise for “equity”; he refused to consider repealing Coos County’s multiple “Enterprise Zones” that have sucked money out of the county budget for three decades, because he is convinced – without evidence – that EZs “create jobs”. He also ignores the possibility of suing the federal government for the county’s rightful share of revenue from the Coos Bay Wagon Road lands, and he wastes money on “goal-setting” seminars for him and the rest of the Commissioners whom we elected to do exactly that themselves . . . why did we vote for him? Oops, I take that back. I did NOT vote for him.
Sooo . . . we better formulate Plan B. It looks like we may need it.
Rotten from the tail to the head:
“The president seems committed to doubling down on the failed policies of the past: pushing for fast-track trade authority to help negotiate major treaties with Asian and European allies,” Robert Borosage argues in an op-ed published Tuesday. “Here he will seek to enlist Republican majorities against the vast majority of his own party in Congress, with the aid of a mobilized corporate lobby. Bipartisan cooperation with this Republican leadership will be a good measure of the power of the corporate and bank lobbies.”
Be sure to read the Oregonian’s piece about the inadequate hazard studies provided to FERC by Veresen
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/index.ssf/2015/01/scientists_say_public_safety_h.html
Come on worldlink, tell the locals about this. These scientists are trying to help. When they say things like this it should be reported to the locals who will ultimately feel the impact.
“We believe the hazards attending the operations at the Jordan Cove export facility could have the potential to rise, as a result of cascading events, to catastrophic levels that could cause the near total and possibly total loss of the facility, including any LNG ships berthed there,” their comment said. “Such an event could present serious hazards to the public well beyond the facility boundaries.”
Sadly Reminder and M, it WAS posted on Coastal Community News Facebook page yesterday. Twenty replies from those not engaged in the issue, not one spoke against the LNG after one poster came on and crucified the scientists, which didn’t help. All they hear here is jobs, jobs, jobs. Every commenter poo poo’ed the science. To a man/woman. It was very disappointing to see. When there is only one supposed news site in this quarter of Oregon coast, and that paper is permanently scewed toward dirty development, I do not know how to effect change here. Too many under/informed people, who seem to cling to their ignorance about the world around them, and it’s impacts on their lives. I’ve lived, as an adult, in three Western states, all smaller communities, and I’ve NEVER seen such ignorance. It’s a disturbing reality here. I have a feeling forty years of jacking around education is finally reaping it’s rewards, as I see it, an uninformed, disengaged population who doesn’t have a clue what is going on in the world. M, the spell check is not working.
Translation:
People who disagree with me are stupid. And Lord Almighty, there sure are a lot of ’em.
Oh, and I can’t spell.
The fight against FF’s have gone through every argument with its supporters. The economics, environmental science and political reasons have all failed to pierce their cocoon. There is a growing movement to make it a morality issue that can’t be ignored by the religious. When they preach about it in church the FF supporters will cringe and wilt away. The pope is already busy setting the new standard. Many other smaller churches across the nation are also being led by believers of CCscience. It has developed into the moral issue of our time. Do we continue to ignore the voices of reason and let the income disparities grow wider in our society as we let the top 1% rob future generations of humans of a livable planet. That’s the choice they are talking about all over the world. The religious morality message just hasn’t gotten here yet.
Denmark Sets World Record For Wind Power Production
by Ari Phillips Posted on January 7, 2015 Updated: January 8, 2015
In 2014 Denmark got 39.1 percent of its overall electricity from wind.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/07/3608898/denmark-sets-world-record-for-wind-power/
Coos Bays’ Troglodytes posing as dimocrats continue to throw their weight behind FF , all the while lying to the voters of Coos County about exactly WHO and WHAT is going to save Coos County from “rotting away.” Come on Caddy, Mayor Shoji, Mark M, Roblan, Sweet Pants, and Ms. Not So Nice, and every other one of you posing as dimocrats and pimping for 19th century filthy fossil fuels for our bay, pull up your big-kid panties and join the 21st century. Or come on this site and explain your clinging, clawing fight to bring even another dirty, fouling industry to CC. I think the Botox has fried some brains here in Coos. How else to explain this determination to, continue with this BS decade after decade. This has to stop, and citizens ARE stopping this madness all over the planet. Every one of these posers need to re-register to vote as the Republicans they are, but then thoughtful people are finally understanding the same puppet-masters control both these phony parties. Vote third party, any third party, hopefully the Greens can continue to build a strong, honest party for the people. Hope to hear from you oil-pimping dimocrats. On your way out, of course.
This is awesome, Kay! We’ve had two big wind projects in Coos County that I know of. Both were supported by the Port, the CC Commission, Sen. Roblan, and Rep. McKeown. Unfortunately both went belly up due to a poor economic outlook. But you are saying that there are companies who want to invest in Coos County right now, today? This is awesome news! Who is it? What do they propose? How much will they invest? How many will they hire? They had better hurry up though because the Republicans in Congress (whom you helped elect) have put wind power subsidies on the chopping block so the economics is about to get even tougher. But it’s good to hear you know of some options. Bully for you!
. . . . or were you saying we all need to move to Denmark? Please advise.
“We’ve had two big wind projects in Coos County that I know of. Both were supported by the Port, the CC Commission, Sen. Roblan, and Rep. McKeown.”
How did that happen, when Coo Bay City Fathers and Mothers banned wind turbines? I saw it with my own eyes, so who/what caused these two projects to be built Mark M??? Please tell us outsiders how you insiders make such decisions? Thanks much
Principle Power.
http://theworldlink.com/news/local/proposed-offshore-wind-farm-snags-federal-funding/article_7ba80250-d60f-11e3-b429-001a4bcf887a.html
PP ended up abandoning the project because their business plan didn’t pencil. Too bad. It would have been very nice to have here. You may recall PP would have used the Port’s slip at JC, so without the JCEP there would have been no PP. Something similar could still happen at some point. That’s why keeping that kind of infrastructure (ports, airports, railroads) operational is very important. Once they’re gone, you never get them back, and you lose out on future opportunities.
There was another project south of Bandon that actually got built but didn’t work out. Seems to me there were other investors sniffing around the Reedsport area a while ago too.
The CB wind energy conversion system moratorium only applies within the city limits. It’s purpose is to ensure safety, visibility rights, and noise levels. It’s been modified to permit smaller residential projects, and it is still under review. It would not preclude a big project from happening.
Some more Truthiness for Mark M. and his local dimocrat buddies Roblan, Caddy, etc.
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2015/01/15/3611522/solar-jobs-report-2014/
The Solar Industry Created More Jobs In 2014 Than Oil And Gas Extraction
Idiots. MPOO as always. Way to gooooooo Coos County Progeessive dimocrats.
This is fantastic! What a banner day for Coos County! We already have at least three businesses installing solar arrays; now you’re saying there are more coming? Great! Who are they? When will they open up shop? Where do I tell people to apply? Are we getting some of those manufacturing jobs too? Things really are looking up. Thanks for the heads up.
Re Themguys post. The assessor still list two North Spit parcels in the McKeown name (approx. 100 and 300 acres). Those two parcels may not be useable by JCEP for other than as a dump for dredged materials. However, once you folks permit one JCEP to build on the North Spit, there will be other petro chemical factories built there, and the two parcels may become of great value.
So these two have been behind many of the votes in this county to finance the upgrading of their two properties? Four hundred acres of anything has value. Why is this not a conflict of interest Reminder? Their votes have profited their private property, right? They started with a plot of sand, now they have a plot of land supplied with power, water and sewer, correct? Am I really barking up the wrong tree here?
The 2 month old link Wim’s detractors tried to use against him also states that Veresen made a $1.425-billion acquisition for a 50-percent stake in the Ruby pipeline. Was that move going to make Veresen seem more potent to help them get a contract? But now, with the market crashing they may have just handed their shareholders a major loss. The Saudis are going to get two “EXPORTING” birds with one stone, the US and Canada. JC’s politicians have held this area hostage for ten years. I don’t think they can keep it up for ten more. The amount of $$$ to keep Cribbins and Sweet in office to see this through will set new records.
Once again, Wim has inserted a huge dose of much needed Truthiness into the conversation in Coos County. The fact The World even publishes his Editorials is an amazing feat. The “editors” at The World are quite aware of the recognition their rag receives when Wim does so, still isn’t enough to make them do the right, professional thing and print the truth about the history of this county, but more importantly, to identify those among us who have, for decades now, run this county, pulling the strings for all of the dummy-figures who dance to their music. The comments are eating these posers alive on The World in response to Wims’ latest piece. Thank you Wim, once more. I was banned from all activities at the World, precisely because I asked questions and named names. We need to name names at every opportunity.
May I be the first? I’ve seen dozens of photos of Caddy M. out at the spit, promoting, voting for, and promoting taxpayer dollars, and pimping LNG for years. My question here is, just like I tried in The World before being banned for life if I didn’t “apologize” , which will happen when pigs fly from my arse, doesn’t Caddy M. OWN a good chunk of land on or adjoining the No. Spit? Hasn’t that ownership profited from We The People and OUR tax dollars putting in pipelines to supply water, gas, and sewer to that land? Caddy and the hubby were sitting in seats of govern ship during that entire time, and continue today. Can anyone tell me why this is NOT a conflict of interest? I understand a sleight of hand has been done to ‘hide’ their ownership in this property for years now. I am not a lawyer, but if anyone out there knows why this is NOT a conflict of interest, please educate me. MPOO as always. And thank you once again Wim. For EVERYTHING you do to expose these local promoters and their snake oil schemes.
Also, love Reminders line, “Those sacred cows are dying and we need to learn how to survive in Coos County without having to rape it.”
You two are heroes in my world, and there ain’t many of them left !
Hoping to hear from some of you Ruby Red Slipper wearers, and what you have to say about a little Truthiness intruding on your pipe dreams. Come on Melissa-I don’t have to answer to you-Cribbins and Sweet Pants, take a walk on the Wild Side. It just might help the future of those you said you would represent.
Once more question, are every single one of these posers a graduate of The Ford Family Foundation?? Methinks so.
I thought there would be a Plan B in there somewhere. Wim, what’s your Plan B?
Not his business Mark. He didn’t run for public office “to serve” now did he? That is what these two clowns did, they spent Other Peoples’ Money to get this job, now they have to face the facts, they have NOT done their jobs. In fact, other than refusing to answer questions from those annoying voters, the public that pays their wages, what the hell have Sweet Pants and Miss Not So Nice actually done while in office? What? Where is the fruit of their labors? Having more Round Robin Faux meetings where they pretend to be listening to the public? What rubbish. Their “no plan B” plan is failing, and they are desperate. Mark, did you go through The Ford Family Foundation courses too? Of course you have. It’s over Mark, thanks to Wim and Mary and Jody, the impacted property owners and the rest of us who knew this was just another pipe dream, this continual folly that is called leadership in Coos County has been exposed. It’s a good thing. Now crawl back into your little closet which has the name “Democrat” still on it. Means nothing now. MPOO
Oil fall continues as Arab states aim to crush US shale. Wim is right, Opec can go as low as $10 a barrel, but no one expects it to have to go lower than $20 a barrel to sink the US fracking industry.
That is their goal. They don’t want us exporting oil via the KXL pipeline or natural gas through the pacific connector pipeline. The frackers have to get $65 a barrel just to break even.
Those dirty industries will just have to roll up their pipedreams and go home to Canada or ask the US tax payers to extend the FF subsidies to cover the Canadians, so they will be able to pump gas at a loss. The Saudi’s are playing the long game.
I really don’t think we need any of these local JC promoters giving us a plan B. They will just find some other nasty industry to promote. The answer for this area is simple, attract more retirees and promote tourism by keeping the Oregon coastline free of these kinds of large nasty toxic industries. The timber industry will not save us either. Those sacred cows are dying and we need to learn how to survive in Coos County without having to rape it.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/11343244/Oil-fall-continues-as-Arab-states-aim-to-crush-US-shale.html
The first rule of thumb should be that all corporations [especially foreign ones] should pay all taxes, just like the local residents. I don’t get a discount on my taxes for being a ‘job creator’ and neither should Veresen.
It’s not too early to get a recall measure on the May ballot and elect a representative who is innovative. Regarding Sweet, the CEP, Japan, etc., the ability to negotiate a deal with JCEP covering fees, taxes, or gifts (whatever Sweet chooses to label the matter); if he really was the world wide marketing man who he claims to have been, he should know that one of the ten cardinal sins of negotiating is NEVER negotiate with a person who knows that you are desperate. My trainer, Chester Karrass is apparently still alive with a web site that lists the no no’s of negotiating. Maybe Sweet could use some of the advice. Any negotiator who has tried to penetrate the Japanese marketplace attempting to sell a product knows that the Japanese meet you at the plane, party, play golf, sight see, waste as much time as you have told them that you have for your visit, allow you to get frustrated, desperate, weak, and then on your way to the plane to go home, they cook up the deal that they wanted. That’s exactly what JCEP is doing. Sweet is busy telling JCEP we are desperate for whatever crumbs they decide to send our way; JCEP is laughing en route to the bank. It’s time to kill this CEP insanity and return to the known county tax schedule with JCEP paying the same as us other village idiots – a term one of the many recent World newspaper editors labeled his readers.
Well said, Fred! Actually, it would be nice to see some proof that John Sweet, during all his years at Sause Bros., was anything more than an office manager.