Saturday Morning -- April 5, 2014 -- Brakes, Bananas, And The Bakken

The Wall Street Journal

Op-Ed: ban on fracking hurts low-income as much as anyone.

Mayors, governors and economic-development officials love natural-resource jobs—and today's North American energy revolution has been providing a lot of them.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of new jobs in the oil and gas industry (technically a part of mining) increased by roughly 270,000 between 2003 and 2012. This is an increase of about 92% compared with a 3% increase in all jobs during the same period.

The people of New York and other states that have so far declined to take part in the boom might like to know what they are missing because these jobs pay well. The BLS reports that the U.S. average annual wage (which excludes employer-paid benefits) in the oil and gas industry was about $107,200 during 2012, the latest full year available. That's more than double the average of $49,300 for all workers.

At the other end of the wage spectrum are waiters and waitresses in food services nationwide earning about $16,200 a year, workers in the accommodations industry with average pay of $27,300, and those in the retail trade with average wages of $27,700.

But the evidence from the oil boom regions is that energy development lifts wages for low-income workers too. Consider the Montana-North Dakota border, which includes the western edge of the Bakken formation.

This is one of the newer oil-technology plays—based on the latest advances in geophysics, nanotechnology, engineering and production management—that have led to the shale-energy revolution and America's growing energy production. There are boomtown atmospheres in places like Sidney, MT, and Williston, ND. Oil-drilling rigs multiply, the traffic is astonishing, and there are no vacancies in the few motels.

Employment in Williams County (Williston) has increased 276% between 2003 and 2012, and 65% in nearby Richland County (Sidney). The plenitude of high-paying natural-resource jobs here includes petroleum engineers, drilling managers and environmental specialists. There are also roustabouts and roughnecks who put in long days. Other indicators suggest the Bakken boom is having a strong economic impact throughout North Dakota. Only a job with good pay, for instance, can cause someone to make a 600-plus mile commute from Western Montana. Talk to the retired airline pilot who saw an opportunity, bought a used water truck and opened a water-hauling business in the oil patch.

For an example further afield, talk to the official in a thriving Marcellus Shale county of Pennsylvania about the economic stasis and decrepitude over the border in anti-shale New York.

Much more at the linked op-ed. I really don't are and it doesn't appear Governor Cuomo cares either.

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This should have been the top story, but wasn't: McDonald's to close all three restaurants in the Crimean. 

Top story, front page: US reaches a milestone in lost jobs -- private employer payrolls hit a record high of 116.09 million, suggesting a winter slowdown was only temporary.

I love the spin: US signals pause in Mideast talks.

Wow, this was not-expected: the high school prom is back, in a BIG WAY.

Takeaways from the monthly jobs report: the labor market hasn't yet fully healed after the recession and financial crisis. Well, duh.

States push the pedal on gas tax: frustrated by lack of leadership in Washington, states are raising their own state taxes on gasoline. Oh, this is good.

Those George W. Bush paintings are surprisingly good. Putin was particularly striking.

ObamaCare helps add 3 million to Medicaid.

The sell-off Friday? High-growth technology and biotech appear to be the problem. A buying opportunity?

The Los Angeles Times

Taiwan's thaw with China turning to slush. I just posted a note on China-Taiwan yesterday; pure coincidence. It appears that all is not hunky-dory in Taiwan.

For decades, relations between Taiwan and its giant neighbor China have been one of the great success stories of the ending of the Cold War. Slowly but surely, the two nations have pulled back from half a century of bellicose confrontation and in recent years embraced a level of political and economic cooperation that seemed to promise new riches for both.

But today, for many Taiwanese, the bloom is off the rose. This disenchantment lay behind the outbreak of angry protests from Taiwanese students that are in their third week. And Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou is scrambling to placate a restive electorate.

Hundreds of students stormed Taiwan's legislature March 18 and have occupied it since, draping signs denouncing a free-trade pact with Beijing and posting caricatures of Ma around a portrait of Sun Yat-sen, the founding father of the Republic of China, the official name of Taiwan. Others have tried to break into the cental government headquarters, clashing with police who repelled them with water cannons and batons.

No one questions the benefits of lifting the half-century long threat of military conflict.

And almost everyone acknowledges that there are advantages to Ma's policy of stepped-up cooperation. Today, 118 airline flights a day link Taiwan and 54 cities in China, many packed with Taiwanese businesspeople going one way and mainland tourists going the other. Seven years ago, there were no such flights.

But for Ma's critics, the benefits have fallen far short of expectations. Although China's economy continues to grow briskly, Taiwan's economy has stagnated; incomes have barely budged while housing costs have soared. More Chinese tourists come to Taiwan, but the massive new capital investment that had been expected from the rapprochement with Beijing has largely failed to materialize.

The Dickinson Press

The regional paper has their five top stories running across the top. Three of the five have to do with problems in the Bakken; one on sports, and one human interest.

The three Bakken stories:

• transportation debate: as safety questions persist, crude oil transportation modes show differing records
• know your filter socks: Dunn County sheriff warns citizens to stay away if they find potentially radioactive waste (I assume the county is issuing Geiger counters to its residents) (going bananas over Bakken beta rays)
• study of oil from deadly derailment points to Bakken crude's volatility; more research is on the way (must be a very, very slow news day when the focus of the story is "more research is on the way")

I could be wrong, but the one deadly crash involving Bakken oil was due 100% to human error; the train engineer forgetting to set the loco's brake.  The article's only reference: "... while investigators pointed early on to the train's brakes...." Yes, the brakes aren't much good if they are not engaged.

The caption under the photo of the Casselton derailment fails to note there were no fatalities in that derailment.

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ObamaCare: The End of Year-Round Enrollment*

I did not know this. I thought "open season" was the rule, not the exception. It appears that prior to ObamaCare one could buy health insurance year-round. If one already had health insurance, one would renew during "open season," generally the last three months of the calendar year.

But now it appears that ObamaCare has eliminated the possibility of buying health care year-round. ObamaCare mandates purchasing health care during "open season." The AP is reporting:

Here's more fallout from the health care law: Until now, customers could walk into an insurance office or go online to buy standard health care coverage any time of year. Not anymore.

Many people who didn't sign up during the government's open enrollment period that ended Monday will soon find it difficult or impossible to get insured this year, even if they go directly to a private company and money is no object. For some it's already too late.

With limited exceptions, insurers are refusing to sell to individuals after the enrollment period for HealthCare.gov and the state marketplaces. They will lock out the young and healthy as well as the sick or injured. Those who want to switch plans also are affected. The next wide-open chance to enroll comes in November for coverage in 2015.

A couple of comments: first, who cares? Second, we are finally starting to see some "truth-in-advertising" stories about ObamaCare in the mainstream media. This is not good news for incumbents running for re-election who voted for ObamaCare.  Third, this whole article if full of malarkey. The "open season" is another red herring. The deadline has been extended so many times, we had a six-month open season, and even this article admits that folks who have started the process can continue, thus extending the "open season" to about seven or eight months. Reminder for low-information crowd: a typical calendar year has twelve months. 

But this is the real story: I can guarantee you that anyone who wants to buy insurance at any time will find some insurer who will be accommodating. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if some insurers will simply start the process now (April, 2014) with hopes that one's enrollment process will be complete by October, in time to receive the pre-filled voter registration form along with the insurance card. 

I recently had a minor leak around the bottom of the toilet bowl which necessitated repair and replacement of the bathroom flooring. What a hoot if I had logged on to the Obama Plumbing and Voter Registration Website only to find out that one could only get one's plumbing needs resolved during "open season," i.e. three months at the end of the year. What a great country. Obama certainly had all the right ideas for this country.

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* There is one exception to the "general" open-enrollment.

Important: Members of federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native shareholders can enroll in Marketplace coverage any time of year. There is no limited enrollment period for these groups, and they can change plans as often as once a month.

Taken directly from the government website. The craziness of the ObamaCare law never fails to amaze. Why were "federally recognized tribes and Alaska Native shareholders given special preference?