Well, this is a "nuclear option" we can believe in. Why did it take Obama nearly a year to come to a decision, given his devotion to the carbon emission hypothesis of global warming, that proven nuclear power technology, the very same type of power generation that lights up most of France without a Yucca Mountain? Should we be surprise Obama's long decision cycles? (Are we surprised after how long it took for him to come to a decision on the Afghanistan surge? And this is after years on the campaign trail arguing Iraq was the wrong war and Afghanistan was the right war... ) Granted, Obama does have his fast-track decision processes--when it comes to spending $787B of the next generation's money on partisan spending sprees...
It hasn't been the private sector that has placed a de facto 30-year moratorium on nuclear power plant construction; in fact, nuclear power plants emit zero carbons and operate with among the lowest costs per energy unit. Compared with other (e.g., coal-fired) sources, it is available now using current technology with nearly 100% uptime, doesn't require very large battery storage (e.g., solar and wind) and/or redundant sources, or depend on things like a stable sources of rain or melted snow (e.g., hydropower). Never mind the fact that EXISTING nuclear power plants already account for nearly a fifth of generated power. Two whole plants, the first in 30 years! China is adding 21, and South Korea, with a population roughly a sixth of the US, is building 6. Granted, Obama is promising more starts, but let's hold down the cheers for "we're #1!" Obama is worried about global leadership for green energy technology, but the innovator in the deployment of nuclear technology hasn't built a modern facility in decades, mostly due to environmental groups which are a key special interest group favoring Democrats...
But more to the point, Obama announced federal loan guarantees of $8B. Is the emperor wearing any clothes? Why do we need federal loan guarantees over and beyond the intrinsic economic merit of the project? Is there evidence that the private sector was unwilling to provide financing otherwise? The last thing we need is the federal government guaranteeing loans unnecessarily or picking and choosing which companies or projects get federal guarantees... I generally dislike the concept of the federal government getting entangled in the private economy, and the private sector should know the government's aid comes with unacceptable strings attached. From the standpoint of the S & L crisis, the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae, have we learned nothing over exposing the American taxpayer to greater risk?
Mitch McConnell on Why He Opposed the Deficit Reduction Commission in the Senate
In Sunday's talk soup, Senate Minority Leader McConnell (KY-R) was asked a gotcha question by Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace, whom pointed out McConnell had earlier supported the Deficit Reduction Commission but then voted against it. Was he not, as the Democrats suggested, simply voting against it for partisan, obstructionist reasons?
Now, as I've mentioned, I would have voted for the commission, in part because it provides Democrats political cover against unpopular spending cuts. I do understand the risk of potential proposed tax hikes. I've made it clear that on principle I want to see federal expenditures to be reduced to a historical percentage of GDP, I think the existing tax system is convoluted and needs to be simplified and less progressive, in the sense that over 40% of workers do not contribute towards federal government operations, which is a moral hazardous fact with no inherent incentive to demand government frugality and there's a bias towards consumption and against savings and investment. I suspect we'll eventually migrate towards a national consumption tax paired with a simpler, lower-rate income tax.
Mitch McDonnell explained the fact that when he initially supported the Deficit Reduction Commission (e.g., a year ago), it was the best option on the table. (Note also that that was before Democratic hyper spending, including the massive stimulus bill, resulted in a $1.4T deficit.) He announced his support late last month for a Spending Reduction Commission, noting that tax hikes in a fragile economy are counterproductive. I absolutely agree with that sentiment. However, I think when you discuss the budget, you have to put revenues as well as costs on the table.
On the other hand, although I have my reservations, I am pleased that Obama has gone ahead with naming his own commission, including former GOP Senator Simpson. Simpson noted everything, including entitlements, was on the table. The proof will be in the pudding; if the result is little more than repackaged "soak the rich", I'll oppose it. I think Americans are willing to pay their fair share of the bill.
Thomas Jefferson Quotes for Obama to Read
- I, however, place economy among the first and most important republican virtues, and public debt as the greatest of the dangers to be feared.
- Great innovations should not be forced on slender majorities.
- I think we have more machinery of government than is necessary, too many parasites living on the labour of the industrious.
- It is incumbent on every generation to pay its own debts as it goes.
- The democracy will cease to exist when you take away from those who are willing to work and give to those who would not.
- It is not by consolidation, or concentration of powers, but by their distribution, that good government is effected.
- I served with General Washington in the Legislature of Virginia... and... with Dr. Franklin in Congress. I never heard either of them speak ten minutes at a time, nor to any but the main point.
- A little rebellion now and then... is a medicine necessary for the sound health of government.
- If people let government decide what foods they eat and what medicines they take, their bodies will soon be in as sorry a state as are the souls of those who live under tyranny.
- It is more honorable to repair a wrong than to persist in it.
- Dependence begets subservience and venality, suffocates the germ of virtue, and prepares fit tools for the designs of ambition.
- A wise and frugal government, which shall leave men free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned - this is the sum of good government.
- I own that I am not a friend to a very energetic government. It is always oppressive.
- If the present Congress errs in too much talking, how can it be otherwise in a body to which the people send one hundred and fifty lawyers, whose trade it is to question everything, yield nothing, and talk by the hour?
- My reading of history convinces me that most bad government results from too much government.
- Never spend your money before you have earned it.
- That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.
- The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions that I wish it to be always kept alive.
- Whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness it is the right of the people to alter or abolish it, and to institute new government...
- It is always better to have no ideas than false ones; to believe nothing, than to believe what is wrong.
- I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.
Chuck Asay points out that the clueless federal legislature and President are so obsessed with creating a bankrupt federal progressive conglomerate, that they have lost sight of the fundamental concepts of our republic. To rephrase the late Waylon Jennings, "Any Town, America (Back to the Basics of Liberty)".
Musical Interlude: Train Songs
Arlo Guthrie, "The City of New Orleans"
O'Jays, "Love Train"
Cat Stevens, "Peace Train"
Rod Stewart, "Downtown Train"
Sheena Easton, "Morning Train (Nine to Five)"
