Worth Noting
Kathleen Sebelius has admitted to owing a lot of money in backtaxes. [1] She joins a long list of nominees in the Obama cabinet who approve of government running people's lives while personally holding back on giving their lawful share to the government. Sebelius was the Health and Human Services (i.e. socialized medicine) nominee.
Bloomberg reports that so-called green jobs have cost more jobs than they have provided. Here is a portion excerpted by Rush:
Subsidizing renewable energy in the U.S. may destroy two jobs for every one created if Spain's experience with windmills and solar farms is any guide. For every new position that depends on energy price supports, at least 2.2 jobs in other industries will disappear, according to a study from King Juan Carlos University in Madrid. U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2010 budget proposal contains about $20 billion in tax incentives for clean-energy programs.
Sarah Palin writes an article ("Shovel ready or digging a hole?") about why she avoids dependency on federal funds (to the point of rejecting bailout money). Here is my favorite paragraph:
Some, enticed with as much Washington money as possible, assume this is free money. It is not. America is $11 trillion in debt. They also may fail to consider the level of federal intrusion. For example, Alaska’s communities would have to adopt building energy codes that compliment the most recent International Codes. These standards should be locally determined, not federally mandated. And, if we take additional unemployment compensation funds, Alaska would have to extend eligibility guidelines. This federal involvement locks us into government dependency for longer periods. Alaskans must read the fine print on these federal mandates, because certain allocations also require state-matching funds.
posted by Matthew Canonicus at
7:24 PM
7 Comments:
I like Sarah because she has more than an education. She has real-life experience that gives her polocies practicality.
I live in oil and gas country and there are also two large coal powered electric plants here. The presidents budget will destroy this area and I'm afraid be completely impractical for the country too. An either or choice when it comes to energy doesn't make sense right now. It takes time to change over to new ways and in the meantime, our sick economy needs the cheapest energy available.
She sets a very high standard in her personal life, and that's more than I can say for most politicians. Most of these politicians do not practice what they preach (like in giving).
Matt,
You know, I think captalism works so well because it fits our nature. Of course, our greed can lead us astray but if you are honest about being greedy and face it then greed isn't all bad. It becomes an engine of initiative that can create livelyhood for many other people. It seems to me that those who prefer socialism or some other system that they perceive as 'kinder' also have a problem with recognizing greed within themselves and under socialism it rears it's head but has no productive outlet and becomes the engine that destroys socialism.
Sarah seems to be very honest about herself and seems to accept her own foibles with that honesty that, with God's help, can keep us from changing from what God has equiped us with to fuel our initiative into the voracious greed that only brings destruction.
Some encouragement: 1,600 tax-day tea parties and counting! A huge protest of everyday Americans. This is the America that is still alive in the hearts of the people being expressed. Pretty soon it won't matter if the media ignores all of us because no corner of the country will be untouched.
Hey Matt,
A couple of things:
1) Have you been paying attention to Glenn Beck's rants on FOX news? If so, what's your opinion of them?
2) You should do a post about politics and videogames. Videogames get alot of hate from politicians (whichever party), and is often the scapegoat for violent acts when there are deeper social issues at work. I know from other comments i've read that you play them, and considering you're almost the complete opposite to me when it comes to political theory i'm interested in your opinion on the whole issue.
Hi Lady L,
I'm not very familiar with the tea party concept. I've seen some headlines, but I never got around to clicking on them. If you wanted to do a quick post sometime and catch the rest of us up to speed on it, I think we'd all benefit greatly ;)
Hi Tim,
1) It's true, I do like video games (a lot). In fact, I tried talking my wife into letting me take a video game developer job on the opposite side of the country yesterday. That's basically how it is for all software engineers ;) I'm trying to make one right now that's about 80% done. I'll keep you posted.
In my opinion, the intersection between politics and video games is very narrow. It is a frequent target of 'child development experts' who think encyclopedias should be put into everything we do (although encyclopedias themselves are really not able to tell us anything about living). Probably the most earnest, ironic, and well-produced video game is Metal Gear Solid. The only defect with the game is the politics are almost entirely anti-military and big government (liberal).
You're definitely right about video games getting more than their fair share of blame for criminal acts. Like guns, people attack the peripherals: video games do not kill people, guns do not kill people, people decide to kill other people. We need to let people take more responsibility for their own lives and stop pretending like we can control people using 'social influences'. This world is definitely in danger of becoming a nanny state.
If you look at the rise in school violence it has everything to do with the secularization of curriculum. Back in the 60's it was legally acceptable to pray in a public school classroom. In those days children didn't shoot up their classmates -even though they had more access to guns.
So my opinion is: stop the secularist drivel, not the video games. And get reflective like MGS.
2) I can't say I follow Glen Beck too closely. I don't think he's very reflective, but he gets it right now and then. His appeals to "common sense" are totally worthless to me. Care to give your summary on Beck's recent rants?
Matt,
Pray that I have a good day tomorrow and I'll do my best. After you learn about them, you'll have to organize one in your town so that you don't feel left out.;-)
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