I heard about Hugo Chavez and his heating oil program...

[CaliforniaPeggy]

I wonder...Will he step up again?

It's a great bit of positive press for him...

Plus it helps many, many poor people survive the bitter winters.

Here's a link to a Time magazine article about the program:

http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1870219,00.html

[WCGreen]

1. Good Catch, Peg....

[CaliforniaPeggy]

3. Thanks, Chris!

Google is my friend...

[AlabamaLibrul]

2. Some Presidents actually give the people free money to buy heating oil?

What the fucking fuck is this about?

[QC]

4. It certainly isn't very pragmatic. Or sensible. n/t

[AlabamaLibrul]

11. You're so radical!

:)

[CaliforniaPeggy]

12. I would like to hear just how you justify your statements...

It is pragmatic, and sensible.

IMHO, of course...

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

14. You mean Chavez made a mistake giving it...

Or we made the mistake taking it?

I am not sophisticated, as you no doubt have figured out.

:shrug:

[Bonobo]

5. Don't worry. Didn't you read that the cost of heating oil has gone down

and that less than half of the people that needed it in 2009 need it now?

I read that in GD:Political so I know it must be true.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. Yeah, right!

I'm not buying that!

Yeah...everything in GDP has to be true...NOT.

:P

[leftstreet]

6. The 6th annual CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program is underway

BOSTON, Jan. 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- CITGO Petroleum Corporation has announced the start of the sixth consecutive year of the CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program, which helps approximately 500,000 individuals every winter, including those in more than 250 tribal communities and 234 homeless shelters across 25 states and the District of Columbia. CITGO President and CEO Alejandro Granado and the chairman of Citizens Energy Corporation, Joseph P. Kennedy II, were joined by a CITGO-Venezuela Heating Oil Program recipient to officially launch this year's program with a home heating oil delivery to a family in the Boston area.

"CITGO is very proud to mark the sixth anniversary of our Heating Oil Program, our flagship social development initiative, which is in alignment with the humanitarian and solidarity principles endorsed by the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela through its national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A (PDVSA)," said CITGO President and CEO Alejandro Granado. "Since its beginning in 2005, this program has been fully supported by President Hugo Chavez and it has been maintained over time thanks to the solidarity that exists between the people of Venezuela and the United States. It is without doubt one of the most important and long-lasting social development initiatives implemented by any large energy corporation in the U.S. and around the world."

Mr. Granado pointed out that according to official figures, eight million U.S. households are forced to choose between heating their homes and covering other vital necessities. "What would each one of us choose if we could only afford one or the other? Would you warm your home or feed your family? Those are decisions no one should have to make," he said. "Although at CITGO we cannot help eight million households in need, we believe that every home that we do get to warm alleviates the need, and makes a difference, one home at a time," he added.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/6th-annual-citgo-venezuela-heating-oil-program-helps-the-most-vulnerable-114724754.html

:hi:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. Ah, thank you for that!

I did not see that in my searches...

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

18. This is very good news.

Out villagers need the help.

[TahitiNut]

20. It may be an empty gesture, but I only buy CITGO these days.

I'd rather walk than buy Exxon or BP.

[Blue_In_AK]

21. Hey, TahitiNut!

:hi:

[knowbody0]

7. he's been having a bit of domestic trouble lately

but he apparently has the heart to help the needy and down trodden. sad isn't it, that we need to seek help outside?

[CaliforniaPeggy]

10. It IS sad.

However, our people need help, and here it is.

I feel much happier knowing that there is help available.

And I really don't care where it comes from.

[Webster Green]

15. But...he's an evil dictator.

It would look bad if we took any assistance from him.


:sarcasm:

[CaliforniaPeggy]

16. He has his uses...

And as I said, I really don't care where the help comes from...

I know you're kidding!

:hi:

[Blue_In_AK]

17. Hugo gave a lot of assistance to certain Alaska Native villages.

Other villages vilified the ones that accepted the aid. Our rural people suffer severe challenges in the winter. If they don't get assistance from the feds or from the state, they'll have to accept Chavez's help. The cost of fuel is astronomical in the Bush.


ed. And I should add that the State of Alaska, which remains in Republican control, is stingy with state money for no reason that I can understand. We have no fiscal crisis. It's all been manufactured.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

19. I believe that, my dear Blue...

It's a shame that our citizens go through the humiliation of knowing their own government can't or won't help them.

And then to face the vilification of others when they go elsewhere.

It's criminal that our government has abandoned its people.

Thanks for commenting; you've helped illuminate the issue...