The United States consumes more petroleum products than any other country in the world. Hand in hand with this high-octane intake are the heavy subsidies the United States government provides to petroleum companies -- allowing tax exemptions at almost every stage of the oil refinement process.

Federal rules and regulations are a source of discussion and debate whenever they come up. Some rules and regulations are straightforward and generally accepted. One example of this would be the interim federal safety regulations on the use of infant life jackets while boating. The regulation follows common sense, and stands aside in the presence of state law.

With football season and the Republican/Democratic primaries in full swing, conversations about politics and football are everywhere and it's hard to stay out of the discussions. This got me thinking about the similarities between football and politics.

In football, everyone cheers for their own team and thinks regardless of how bad they are or how they are doing they are the best!

USA Today reported late Monday that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump proposed demanding $5 million from CNN or he would not participate in the next debate during a campaign stop in Macon, Georgia.

Trump says CNN hasn't treated him properly even though his celebrity has been responsible for increased viewership on the network. He cited CNN's last debate in September, which brought in an audience of 23 million people.

The United States is made up of about 1/3 moderates and has more Independents than any other party affiliation.

If social media has taught us anything about American politics, it's that there are a lot of very unhappy to outright angry people when it comes to feeling like 'their side' isn't being heard.

The blame game is common, and usually revolves around something that actually has nothing to do with the original problem.

The Climate Science

About 97-98% of climate science experts no longer debate whether anthropogenic global warming (AGW) is real and caused primarily by human activity. Current debates center on how serious, how soon, and what and where specific changes will be.

Any debate about Social Security will at some point devolve to five words: “Raise the cap, problem solved.”

There are two things that you need to know about this slogan.

• It is false; and
• Even if it were true, the policy option is simply a bad idea.

According to the Congressional Budget Office and the Social Security Administration, completely eliminating the cap solves about 50-70% of the financing gap, which is about halfway to the meaning of the word 'solved.'

Since the Paris terrorist attacks on November 13, various mainstream news outlets have noted that the politics of surveillance have shifted. A shift would indicate that instead of rolling back surveillance policies in favor of more privacy, more invasive policies could be enacted.

Historically, presidential races have come down to only a handful of toss-up states being the difference between victory and defeat -- the red/blue map has become fairly well-defined.

Enter John Bel Edwards (D) who won the governorship of Louisiana on November 21 by a fairly resounding margin, capturing 54 percent of the vote.

State governorships can give a glimpse into the 'at-large' intentions of a state, but this is hardly a sure thing in politics.