Where the statists are taking us

A great piece by John Stossel on where the Obama adminstration is sending this great nation with its policies.

Government is taking us a long way down the Road to Serfdom. That doesn’t just mean that more of us must work for the government. It means that we are changing from independent, self-responsible people into a submissive flock. The welfare state kills the creative spirit.

F.A. Hayek, an Austrian economist living in Britain, wrote The Road to Serfdom in 1944 as a warning that central economic planning would extinguish freedom. The book was a hit. Reader’s Digest produced a condensed version that sold 5 million copies.

Hayek meant that governments can’t plan economies without planning people’s lives. After all, an economy is just individuals engaging in exchanges. The scientific-sounding language of President Obama’s economic planning hides the fact that people must shelve their own plans in favor of government’s single plan.

At the beginning of The Road to Serfdom, Hayek acknowledges that mere material wealth is not all that’s at stake when the government controls our lives: “The most important change … is a psychological change, an alteration in the character of the people.”

This shouldn’t be controversial. If government relieves us of the responsibility of living by bailing us out, character will atrophy. The welfare state, however good its intentions of creating material equality, can’t help but make us dependent. That changes the psychology of society. (Source: Hurtling down the Road to Serfdom – Reason Magazine)

John Stossel is right we have two choices: freedom and self-responsibility or the Mommy State

Go to the source and read the rest.

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Wednesday Hero

Apologies to my one or two readers that this is a day late.

This Week’s Post Was Written By Mark In Honor Of His Wife’s Grandfather

Marvin Glenn & His Wife, Christina

Marvin Glenn was born in Oklahoma, joined the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1939, and married his wife of over 60 years. Marvin enlisted in the Navy in 1944, becoming a member of the Greatest Generation. He chose to serve, despite being exempt due to a heart murmur. He went on to serve on the Escort Carrier USS Copahee. After his discharge Marvin became a brick layer, a job he continued to perform until he was 82 despite only having one eye. Along with being a brick layer, Marvin maintained a garden which he and his wife used to provide for themselves, and those in need. The life Marvin lived, in service to others, inspired his children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and anyone who came to know him. Marvin was laid to rest in Henryetta, Oklahoma on January 16, 2010, at the age of 92, with full military honors.

These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived

This post is part of the Wednesday Hero Blogroll. For more information about Wednesday Hero, or if you would like to post it on your site, you can go here.

Built on a house of cards?

That’s apparently the deal with Wisconsin‘s global warming bill.

Critics of the so-called “Clean Energy Jobs Act” (CEJA) bill are pointing to a major assumption it makes about future national regulation of carbon emissions that would make or break the bill.

Right now it is cheaper to produce electricity from fossil fuels than from renewable sources.  Supporters of CEJA are counting on that to change.

In calculating the cost-benefits of CEJA, The Wisconsin Public Service Commission “assumed a future cost for emitting carbon dioxide from power plants that starts at $20/ton and rises slowly with inflation,” according to the Office of Energy Independence.  If that happens, the PSC says it will then be cheaper to produce electricity from renewable sources than from fossil fuels.

To capitalize on that possibility, CEJA would enforce Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) that set requirements on how much renewable energy utilities would have to sell.  By 2025, a full 25 percent of all electricity sold in Wisconsin would have to come from renewable sources, under the bill.

If the PSC’s assumption is correct, the Office of Energy Independence predicts “electric utility bills would go down under this legislation.” However, to date, the federal government has had little luck in passing that  type of carbon regulation, the PSC is counting on.

…

Representative Mike Huebsch (R-West Salem) argued it’s dangerous to base state legislation on what might or might not happen in Washington at some unkown date in the future.

“Those are tremendous assumptions and take remarkable leaps of faith, because if Cap and Trade in Washington isn’t dead, it’s certainly on life support,” stated Heubsch during a panel discussion.

Representatives Spencer Black (D-Madison) and Jim Soletski (D-Green Bay), who wrote the Assembly version of the Clean Energy Jobs Act, sat on the panel with Heubsch and defended reying on the assumption.

Representative Soletski argued it is not a great leap of faith to believe Washington will eventually pass some form of carbon regulation, and Wisconsin needs to be ready for it.

“If not now, when?  It’s going to happen,” said Soletski. “We are going to put an emphasis on renewables.  We are going to put an emphasis on efficiency.  Are we going to do this in 2010, or are we going to do this in 2020 or 2030?”

Representative Black argued other states used the same methods as Wisconsin in analyzing potential climate legislation, but Wisconsin has been much more responsible in its assumptions.

“Other states have actually gotten much more robust numbers,” said Black. “Very intentionally, the Public Service Commission put in the most conservative assumptions, so it is completely defensible.” (Source: MacIver Institute)

So now we pass legislation in Madison based on assumptions?  Nice.

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Obey may have wrote it but …

Steve Kagen voted for it.

So when will a candidate in the 8th Congressional District put out a release similar to this one?

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported on January 26, 2010 that a vast majority of staff economists surveyed at 75 private-sector companies and industry trade groups said the $787 billion stimulus failed to create jobs as promised by its author, Congressman Dave Obey.

The poll of staff economists was conducted by National Association of Business Economics, which has conducted its quarterly survey since 1982. The highlights of the survey include: 69% believe Chairman Obeys stimulus, nearly a year after its passage has had no impact on employment to date. 71% believe that in the next six months, companies will either face significant layoffs or make no change in hiring. Ashland County District Attorney and 7th Congressional District candidate Sean Duffy was not surprised by the findings

“Maybe Washington DC politicians will finally figure out what Main Street has known all along, said District Attorney Duffy. Chairman Obeys $787 billion dollar stimulus experiment is the biggest, most expensive, failure in history. It has plunged us deeper in debt but done nothing to create jobs.”  (Source: Wis Politics – Duffy Campaign)

Putting out press releases on Rep. Kagen’s voting record will remind people how out of touch with voters he is.  Or have we forgotten that?

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