Sometimes really bright people have no common sense. Usually one gains common sense by being exposed to people who have it, and by working in jobs where it is required. The majority of people in Washington have little, if any, common sense. This would suggest the voters don’t exercise common sense at the polls. Or, since no candidates have any, you don’t get a choice.
We are seeing what precious little common sense is doing to our economy. Giving Paulson $700 billion to spend as he sees fit shows zero common sense. Paulson is done in January, what does he care? He’s a billionaire, what does he care?
As the country teeters on the precipice, the last thing we need is big initiatives that will push us over the edge. We are going to get it, and get it big time.
When you look green people ask, are you ill? When you eat too many green apples, you get really sick. American is about to eat too many green apples.
There is no such thing as a green economy. Reducing carbon emissions does not produce value to the marketplace. In a strong economy where there is an abundance of discretionary spending and people are buying luxury items, you have the luxury of creating a green economy. You can decide to save the planet. Even then, you need to do it in a studied fashion. When you are down and out, you need to be manufacturing the necessities of life. People are struggling to find a job and put food on the table, they can’t afford the cost of developing a green economy.
Just look at the auto industry. Yes, the U.S. auto companies have not be real smart. But, the biggest factor that has created their downfall is government regulation. Labor laws, CAFE standards, the lack of a national energy policy, emission regulations, inability to sell cars made in other countries in the U.S. because of small environmental differences, and Sarbanes-Oxley, just to name a few. In the hearings in the Senate or the House was there any discussion about relaxing any of this? Of course not. If the CEO’s weren’t there with hats in hand, do you think they might have brought some of this up? These aren’t hearings they are trips to the woodshed with the people who cause the problems whipping the victims.
Beginning in February, we will see the green economy. Here’s a preview.
There will be a carbon tax. It will raise all energy costs across the board. Some plants will close. Some coal fired power plants will close. There will be shortages of power. Hundreds of new government jobs will be created to keep score. Scammers will take money they don’t deserve and the actual results of the carbon reduction will be overstated, corrected, then witch hunts will ensue to see who to blame. This one decision will doom the economy for four more years.
Throw card check and union growth, national health insurance, and higher taxes on top of this and you can hunker down for a long, long time. Every day you will feel less and less green until you finally develop some perspective of the cost of over zealous green. Once there, you too will have learned about common sense. Only then, can you begin to get well.
