Look, D.C. area residents often complain about development projects and education and other important things that could go a long way with some public funding, but with the global economy on the verge of eternal death, they just want these two basic services: affordable heat and electricity reflecting current energy prices, and reliable public transportation for people who need to get to work.
Just figure out those two things. And since no one will have housing or employment in a year or so anyway, wanting to go out with a modicum of comfort isn't such a tedious demand.
On Thursday, however, the D.C. Metro not only announced massive cuts for the next fiscal year -- hey, it's a bad economy, do what you must -- but then watched as their entire operation basically exploded in a series of embarrassing derailments throughout the day, but concentrated around the various rush hours. If D.C. area commuters who faced two-hour delays yesterday ever see that wretched "vacuum truck" in a bar or just walking down the street some day, cops could have a brawl on their hands.
And in local utility news -- as explained in the video below! -- people are still calling PEPCO in record numbers to complain about skyrocketing energy bills, and PEPCO is still telling them to turn their thermostats down, when really the problem is some deregulation measures that Enron pushed through various state legislatures a decade ago so that they could jack up energy prices in a pinch, meaning now, for some reason, we're paying off the costs of power PEPCO purchased in 2007-08 when raw energy was terribly overpriced.
Happy Friday!
Jim Newell, who writes for Wonkette and IvyGate, mourns the loss of that great Enron company.
