Active Rigs At Post-Boom Low -- June 28, 2015

See this post for explanation why blogging has slowed down (I'm on vacation). For the family I will post a journal of sorts here, but it is not intended for the general public. You won't miss anything by not going to that site.

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Bakken

Active rigs:

	6/28/2015	06/28/2014	06/28/2013	06/28/2012	06/28/2011
Active Rigs	75	191	189	216	172

 

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Greece

From Seeking Alpha:

• Greek lawmakers have now authorized Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' proposed July 5th bailout referendum, increasing the chances Athens will default on a key payment to the IMF on Tuesday and exit the eurozone.
• Finance ministers on Saturday rejected Greece's request to extend its current bailout in order to cover the period leading up to the vote.
• As uncertainty hits the nation, anxious Greeks are lining to withdraw cash. More than a third of the country's ATMs ran dry yesterday and there are worries banks will not open after the weekend.

All ATMs will run dry by Monday. 

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North Dakota

From The Dickinson Press:

That makes it the first time in at least 20 years that Fargo has seen at least three homicides three years in a row, after four in 2014 and three in 2013. Todd said at Wednesday’s news conference about Hunter’s arrest that he considered the recent increase in homicides an “aberration.”

I may have missed it, but if I didn't, I am surprised beyond words that The Dickinson Press did not attribute the crime wave in Fargo over the past three years with the Bakken in general, and Williston, in particular. We'll probably see that in an editorial.

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Inconsistent

Chief Justice John Roberts will probably go down in history -- for those paying attention -- as being the most inconsistent judge exemplified in decisions released by his court in less than 24 hours. For ObamaCare, he admitted he was not following the law as written; for his dissent in same-sex marriage, he said he was following the law, strictly interpreted.

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Moving On

Following the ObamaCare decision, the pundits only talked about the ruling. I have not yet heard where this takes us.

It is not difficult to follow the yellow brick road on this one.

I don't know what cases with regard to ObamaCare are yet to reach the Supreme Court, but it is clear the court supports the ObamaCare law, in general, even if the Supremes don't "support Constitutional law and won't do anything that might harm irreparably harm ObamaCare. Congress will nibble around the edges, and with unintended consequences, will actually make ObamaCare worse.

So, ObamaCare is here to stay.

As I understand it, the case this past week allows the federal exchange. Thirteen states (or about that number) failed in their attempt to set up a state exchange or opted out; that's why the federal government stepped in. It is my understanding that some states that opted out decided to do so simply for "administrative" reasons (for lack of a better word), letting the Federal government do the heavy work. Two states, Hawaii and Oregon, did not have the technical expertise to set up a simple website, gave up, and passed the chore unto the Federal government.

I assume these state exchanges are not something any state really wanted to set up, except maybe states like Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Montana. Now that the Supreme Court says the federal exchange is legal, it is only a matter of time before all 57 states opt for the federal exchange. It won't happen overnight, and it might not happen for 5 years, or even 10 years, but I will live long enough to see one federal exchange for ObamaCare.

And that, folks, is the National Health Service.

And that, folks, is a single payer, using five big US health insurers to distribute the money from the consumers to the health care providers.

It's Just A Matter Of Time, Randy Travis

My hunch is that the USNHS will become so big that it will eventually be spun off from HHS, becoming its own cabinet-level department. In the meantime, it certainly needs a tsar.

Lots of things for the new president to consider

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The FDR Legacy

One has to chuckle. His popularity polls suggest otherwise, (45% approve; 48% disapprove, 7% aren't paying attention), but if FDR hadn't screwed things up, the amendment never would have passed, Obama would win a third term.

Despite her personality polls, there is no Dem out there that could beat Obama.

Of course, had their been no term limits, President Clinton would still be president, no one would have ever known that George W. Bush had an undistinguished career in the Air National Guard, and Hurricane Katrina never would have happened).

And there is certainly no Republican that could even come close to taking on President Obama.

But wouldn't you just love to see the debates come down to President Obama vs the The Donald.

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The Mideast

Regular readers have read my thoughts on how the mideast is doing today.

A reader sent me a long note last night; I'm not sure he meant it for readers in general, but I doubt no more than 47 people regularly read the blog, and no more than 6 people read this far down, and of those, 3 are probably now asleep, which means no more than 3 people, including me, will actually see this link: http://www.investorvillage.com/groups.asp?mb=17397&mn=32260&pt=msg&mid=15052575.