The Cost of Politics
J. D. Pendry
I was just perusing one of my favorite books, Reagan, In His Own Hand. It is a collection of essays, as the title implies, written by President Reagan. What President Reagan had and demonstrated with his writing, that I find rare in many of today’s politicians, is vision. He was able to see the impact that today’s political choices will have on tomorrow. He was a popular president because of that and because he believed government should make an effort to stay out of our lives and our wallets as much as possible. It is another philosophy that appears foreign to most politicians
Here in Wild and Wonderful West Virginia, we have been governed by a Democratic political majority for as long as I can remember. In every measurable category that you can imagine, we are ranked 49th or 50th of 50 states. We will not improve in any significant area until we improve our number 50 ranking for business climate, meaning of course that if you were looking to start a business you would be better served to pick one of the other 49 states. It is politics that got us where we are and politics that keeps us there. Our state provides coal that helps provide more than 50 percent of the electric power in our country. If we had politicians with vision, we would also have coal to liquid fuel plants around the state providing clean burning fuel for vehicles and aircraft, jobs for our people and revenue for our state. Instead of policies that attract businesses (less regulation, less taxes, better infrastructure and tort reform) and maximizes the benefit we may get from coal (our plentiful natural resource that is equal to the oil reserves of Kuwait) our legislators believe it is better to run our state from lottery tickets, gambling and taxes. In a state with the nation’s second lowest per capita income, each citizen pays yearly personal property tax on his vehicles, which is above and beyond the sales tax paid at purchase. We even pay sales tax on food. Wal-Mart has become our largest employer. We are the example of what happens when politicians, who lack vision, institute and perpetuate the types of policies President Reagan opposed.
I don’t know if you have paid much attention to H.R. 6:
‘‘An Act to reduce our Nation’s dependency on foreign oil by investing in clean, renewable, and alternative energy resources, promoting new emerging energy technologies, developing greater efficiency, and creating a Strategic Energy Efficiency and Renewables Reserve to invest in alternative energy, and for other purposes’’
I have no idea what it said either except that this part “creating a Strategic Energy Efficiency and Renewables Reserve to invest in alternative energy, and for other purposes” sounds like a tax doesn’t it? I don’t pretend to channel President Reagan as too many politicians do, but from reading his thoughts it is difficult for me to believe that he would support some parts of this legislation that was signed into law by President Bush.
This is legislation that devotes an entire section to light bulbs. No, that is not a typo. Your tax dollars pay the salaries of politicians who hope to make us energy independent by regulating light bulbs. Do you feel like you are getting your money’s worth? Eventually, they want to ban incandescent bulbs.
What perfectly safe and efficient product will they choose next to ban? Have you ever made a cost comparison between incandescent light bulbs and compact fluorescent ones? Do you reckon that it will matter to the millionaires who passed this legislation that the cost of light bulbs will eventually triple for us consumers? I know, it is just light bulbs, but it will matter to some people and when you follow policies such as this one to their logical end, you end up with legislation such as that proposed in California where the government wants to remotely control thermostats inside private homes. What follows that? Mandates for types and amounts of insulation, types of windows, roofs… Government needs to get out of our homes and remain so.
Another thing that H.R. 6 does is raise the mileage standards for vehicles. Eventually, all vehicles rolling off the assembly line will have to get 35 miles per gallon of gasoline. What happens, when we arrive at the date when all vehicles have to meet those standards? Gas hog tax or as they now call it, a carbon offset, for those of us still driving old vehicles because we cannot afford to replace them with new ones? Isn’t that the logical progression? The people who dream up these things fail to look down the road because, well, they can afford to pay a carbon off set tax for their fleets of large vehicles and private jets. The rest of us will have the choice of coughing up the tax no matter what they name it, or driving one of these jewels.
I perused H.R. 6 until I started dozing. I will wager that no Congressman or woman who voted for this nor the President who signed it, thoroughly read and studied it or took a look down the road. It looks to my untrained eye like this is well short of the Manhattan project that we need to make us truly energy independent. Instead, it gives us French fry grease and applies the Jimmy Carter approach to solving our nation’s energy problems. Put on a sweater and turn down your thermostat – and get new light bulbs damn it. You will be comforted to know, however, that Section 1101 establishes the Office of Climate Change and Environment. Ooh, now I feel really energy independent. Don’t you?
Copyright © 2008 J D Pendry All Rights Reserved