We are Saved!

I know that I promised everyone that I would not be posting for a bit, but I couldn't resist tossing this out there. From the Detroit Free Press this morning, this photograph of UAW President Ron Gettelfinger and Michigan Senator Carl Levin.


Gettelfinger has already declared that the UAW will make no more labor concessions during this difficult time while Levin has been in the UAW's pocket for all of his 30 years in the US Senate.

This should definitely help to save the domestic automobile industry. Somewhere in Japan, the board of Toyota is smiling.

Gasoline Below $2.00

For the first time in a couple of years, gasoline prices in Oscoda County have dropped below $2.00 per gallon. While all you flatlanders were enjoying gas in the $1.89 neighborhood last year, we only got as low as $2.09.

Somewhere in Venezuela, Hugo Chavez just squeezed out a big crocodile tear. Which reminds me, don't buy Citgo gasoline at any price.

Vacation

These next two week are going to be filled with a lot of time (and turkey) consuming events.

I am leaving for a long weekend on Thursday and I have a lot of things that I need to wrap up before I leave. I will return in time to then take off for a few more days over the Thanksgiving holiday.

I will return to regular daily posting on December 1st. You have been warned.

All About Ayers

It had nothing to do with rising unemployment, the credit crunch, a failing automobile industry, an unpopular war, or a lackluster Republican candidate. It had nothing to do with the main stream media that managed to educate over 90% of potential voters on Sarah Palin's daughter's pregnancy while it failed to teach 56% of voters that Barack Obama's political career was launched in the home of an unrepentant domestic terrorist.

Nope, the reason that Barack Obama won the presidential election was because of mean spirited conservatives attacking, you guessed it, the unrepentant terrorist William Ayers. This, at least, according to Ayers.

He noted proudly that as GOP presidential candidate John McCain and Palin attacked him, their poll numbers kept going down.

"It may well be the last time that the Richard Nixon playbook gets brought fully to the fore. It's a failure," Ayers said.

Well less than half of the voting public was fully aware of Ayers and his relationship to Obama. This is a failing of the media and the McCain campaign for refusing to make Ayers an issue.

Once upon a time, Bill Ayers warned parents that they should "guard your children." With Ayers potential influence over Obama and public education policy, I'm not so certain that still isn't good advice.

A Conference on Religious Tolerance

So, the United Nations had a conference last week on religious tolerance.

That is good, because this world is currently seeing too much religious strife.

Who do you suppose was in charge of the festivities?

This is the Islamic kingdom that tortures ‘apostates’ and executes those who convert from Islam; the Islamic kingdom that bans all Bibles and demands that visitors display no symbols of other faiths; the Islamic kingdom that forbids the public practice of other religious faiths; the Islamic kingdom which has essentially no separation between religion and government; the Islamic kingdom whose citizens enjoy little religious freedom; the Islamic kingdom which bans the celebration of all religious festivals except Eid Al-Fitr and Eid Al-Adha; the Islamic kingdom which itself denies ‘the right to practice one's religion’ and falls foul of the principles of religious freedom enshrined in the UN Charter.

Ask a gaggle of kindergartners to organize a meeting to stomp out bullying and they are not likely to appoint the class bully to lead it.

That the UN is even in existence today is testament to the free world's casual embrace of insanity.

Not Ron Gettelfinger

Oh, there are a lot of good reasons to let domestic automobile makers fall flat on their faces and into bankruptcy, but there might not be a better reason for doing so than being able to witness UAW President Ron Gettelfinger exposed for the obtuse moron that he is.

The $25 billion being mentioned as a potential amount to be doled out to the auto industry as part of their bail-out will be burned through in just a matter of months if there is not a radical restructuring of the labor component in building a domestic automobile.

Gettelfinger does not want to focus on that but does want American taxpayers to keep the money pipeline flowing freely into the pockets of union workers--this in an industry where inflated wages have helped to drive it to the brink of collapse.

"The focus has to be on the economy as a whole as opposed to a UAW contract."

And yet, it is a bailout specifically aimed at the automobile industry that Gettelfinger screechingly longs for, he would just like it to be approved without any undue attention being paid to things like, oh, unreasonable wages and benefits.

Ron says the UAW is not going to budge on wages or benefits. Good, I say. Those deciding on a bail out are certainly listening, and they are clearly hearing that UAW leadership is not going to cooperate. Perhaps they will decide, based on Gettelfinger rantings, that the best way to spend $25 billion might not be to shove it at someone both complicit in the problem and completely unwilling to do assist in rectifying it.

The antics of Gettelfinger may be enough to help deny the bailout to GM, Ford, and Chrysler. Without the bail out, bankruptcy is likely. If bankruptcy occurs you can bet the Big 3 will be able to throw those contracts on the scrap heap. Now, who would have guessed that Ron Gettelfinger might be the key factor in bringing wages back into line?

Certainly not Ron Gettelfinger.

Is The Press A Slumbering Giant?

It is hard to tell really, perhaps this is just a violent episode of REM.

Regardless, some little desired hints are coming out now that the election is over about the soon to be crowned King of the United States--little desired, that is, by The Obama himself and his worshiping media, that might lead us to believe that Obama is not quite as unsullied as has been reported.

Two weeks ago the press assured us that the Barack Obama and Bill Ayers relationship was non existent outside of unfortunate house geography and an occasional dinner party. He was, from Obama's lips to the news pages and NPR, just some guy in the neighborhood.

Just two weeks ago Obama was a hardliner with Hamas.

Just two weeks ago Barack Obama was only an occasional visitor to the the heralded halls of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. The Jeremiah Wright that Barack Obama knew was not the one that showed such popularity on various YouTube videos.

Now that the election is safely over the trickle of information has begun. Will the American electorate be able to register what is now coming out since the consciousness of most voters is already choked with vivid recollections of tanning bed and wardrobe misconduct committed by the imperialist Empress of mean spirited right-wing Rethuglicans, Sarah Palin, and the drug gobbling spouse of dictator wanna be John McCain?

Barack Obama's closet is so full of skeletons that it might take years for a casual main stream press to finally dig them all out (armed as they are for the task with only plastic sporks for the excavation.) Barack Obama pursued these skeletal relationships, some of them out of innocence and others out of zealous political opportunism. That they were so thoroughly ignored as long as they were is really quite remarkable; not remarkable in the sense that an army of cloned idiots couldn't stick to the narrative, but remarkable that the press, as an industry that should attempt to remain economically viable, has allowed itself to become so infiltrated.

Every politician has skeletons. Sometimes it takes teams of rabid reporters descending on the frozen tundra of Alaska to unearth the bones. Other times the skeletons are allowed to tap dance in the kitchen or behind a pulpit while political campaigns are launched and philosophies are formed, without so much as a single reporter bothering to peek inside. Priorities I suppose.

Now that the media's man is going to take up residence in the White House, can we expect the press to wake up?

The Dreadful Illegal Carpool

What do you do when constituencies collide? Easy answer, you side with the most powerful.

In a ridiculous case of government interfering into the private lives of people, look today to Canada where the government has seen fit to fine an organization formed to carpool, cut down on pollution, and save gas money. Why? Because the bus companies complained.

Now, in a world of starving polar bears, rising gasoline prices, and congested highways, you would think that a few extra butts sitting in the backseat of a car that is already going someplace would be a good thing. My Dad would call such a thing good common sense. My Mother would call such a thing good stewardship.

Ha, in Ontario they simply call it illegal!

h/t Moonbattery

One Without the Other

Is there one sane person on Earth that still believes that the domestic automobile industry is not failing because of a combination of moronic government regulators, a belligerant labor force, and inflexible corporate decision makers that determined long ago that it was best to put customers last? If there is I would like to meet him for the purpose of documentation. Indeed, that is one rare bird.

Please, name for me one industry in America so ruled by, operated by, or powered by a larger gaggle of the suicidal? If these three locked arms and jumped off a cliff together their destiny would not be any more intertwined or deserved. (Don't say the steel industry because they already jumped long ago.)

Of course, it isn't the regulators that actually die in a flurry of lemming impersonation, for once they have taken part in the death of the domestic automobile industry, they can easily be resurrected to regulate some other poor schmuck industry into oblivion--their salaries and benefits guaranteed into perpetuity by the taxpayers from whom they suck their sustenance.

Ultimately, what will another $25,000,000,000.00 do for an industry that is destined to fail under current conditions when it seems as if all three combatants in the fight will either refuse or are unable to do what is necessary to change the playing field?

The government is not going to entertain any serious thoughts about making energy production easier in this country, is not going to backtrack on initiatives that ultimately mandated the credit crunch, is not going to make it easier for the auto companies to deal with labor, and is not going to relax non-market driven CAFE standards. In fact the government will most likely attempt to tighten many of these controls very shortly after Barack Obama takes office. Strike one.

The labor movement is continuing to cry for protectionist measures, dragging its heels on any monetary concessions, and demanding card check regulations. None of these tactics will do anything to help consumers who, by the way, have to buy a product to determine its viability in the first place. Strike two.

Finally, are auto executives willing or able to operate in a manner that more closely mirrors the Japanese model, namely quicker market adaptations, tighter quality controls, and greater reliance on streamlined operations? The answer to that question is yes, though the question not only comes perhaps too late in the game, but is currently playing second fiddle to securing the bail out money in the first place. Let us call this one a foul tip--the count remains unchanged.

The domestic automobile industry needs two things to viably survive into the future, an infusion of cash and a quick deviation from the current operating environment.

One without the other will inevitably result in failure.

Solving the Same Old Problem by Doing the Same Old Thing

What is good enough for the Obama children might be a bit too good for the rest of urban schoolchildren.

Michelle Obama visited at least two well-known private schools in Washington on Monday as she and President-elect Obama prepare to move their two young daughters to the White House in January. The soon-to-be first lady toured Georgetown Day School in the morning and Sidwell Friends School in the afternoon. 10-year-old Malia and 7-year-old Sasha attend a private school in Chicago.

I certainly do not begrudge the Obamas for choosing private school for their children--for DC schools are proven to be nearly as bad as those in Detroit and Chicago. While I don't expect to be transferred any time soon to a job that provides a furnished home in the middle of a crappy school district, If I ever am you can bet I'll check out the private schools. In other words, DPS, count me out.

However, what is the greater issue, of course, is that while the Obamas have the financial resources to enjoy a private school education, they believe that other children should be denied the opportunity of attending private schools obstensively because "the data doesn't show that it actually solves the problem."

Keeping urban children trapped in hugely ineffective public schools operated by strengthening education-is-a-jobs-program-for-employees labor unions and schools-are-a-great-venue-for-social-indoctrination activists is not a way to turn the tide on poor public school performance.

With the labor unions and activists decidedly in Barack Obama's corner, votes and campaign contributions being a bit more important than some neighbor kid's education anyway, there is little reason to believe that cementing the status quo will do anything to help solve our educational problems either.

Please, is this the change we can believe in?

The Appeasement Has Begun

The Obama has dispatched Robert Malley, his senior foreign policy adviser, to speak with Egypt and Syria.

According to a report on Middle East Newsline, President-elect Barack Obama has dispatched his "senior foreign policy adviser", Robert Malley to Egypt and Syria to outline Obama's policy on the Middle East.

Malley reportedly relayed a promise from Obama that the United States would seek to enhance relations with Cairo and reconcile differences with Damascus.

"The tenor of the messages was that the Obama administration would take into greater account Egyptian and Syrian interests," an aide to Malley was quoted as saying. The aide said Obama plans to launch a U.S. diplomatic initiative toward Syria. Malley met both Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad "to explain Obama's agenda for the Middle East."

Ah, now we understand why terrorists the world over celebrated an Obama victory.

h/t Dhimmi Watch

Monday Morning Michigan Attitude

Nick posted this this morning over at Right Michigan:

You wanted it, Michigan, you got it. It took approximately five days for us to learn the amount of the next tax hike Democrats are looking to impose on families already struggling to make ends meet here in the Great Lakes State and it could make the (appropriately) reviled Michigan Business Tax surcharge look like loose change. Now that I think of it, maybe someone could toss a little loose change into a wishing well because it may well take a little supernatural intervention to stop a 65 member Dem majority in the House from doing whatever they want come January... and what they want, yeah, not so good if you're a working mom or dad.

The Associated Press reports this morning on the late release of a report detailing the plans of bureaucrats and tax hikers to significantly increased spending on the state's roads and infrastructure. The report was due by October 31st, four days before the election, but the panel was stocked with members of the legislature who preferred their names not be associated with demands for giant increases the weekend before voters cast their ballots.

So just how much are we talking, now that they're finally talking? Try as much as $950 MILLION. A year.

Of course the article goes on, all of which is just as depressing as the first part.

I responded in the comments:

It is difficult these days to keep my attitude out of the gutter because I love Michigan so much. Born and raised here, this is like watching a loved one die a painful death.

I have always been an optimist and a hard worker. I am a good Father and a God fearing man. Other than stints of unemployment from a sluggish economy and that misbegotten "economic stimulus check" of this year, I have never accepted any subsistence from the government. I was raised to make my own way, support my own, and use my surplus to help others...not the other way around.

I am not a criminal nor have I ever so much as received a moving violation. Therefore there was no Obama representative looking to get me registered to vote while I was behind bars and awaiting release--though he probably would have had I been there.

In other words, I am exactly the kind of guy that Michigan's entrenched bureaucrats act like they want to drive out of state. They tell me this every time they punish me for my beliefs and my activities through taxation and regulation. I am of no use to the big-government crowd and my vote against expanded bureaucracy is not at all cherished.

I do not want to leave the state of my birth and my parent's birth, but I believe a man must take care of his family. As Michigan policies drive more and more businesses out of state, people who share my attitude and motivations must consider following the jobs so that their families can be cared for. Look up and down the street on which you live. How many houses sit vacant, all of which used to contain the sounds of life? How many new houses in Texas and Alabama and North Carolina have been recently built where those families, the ones that used to be our neighbors, break bread?

Fortunately I still have work (though changes two weeks ago in the energy code by the state is going to farther tighten my industry, like the building industry could afford such a move,) but how long it will last is uncertain at best.

This is just another Monday morning and bad news is just the news. But, the optimist in me is still alive and thriving. I just wish my current optimism had more to do with my potential survival in Michigan than it does with knowing that I will land on my feet in Texas if things don't improve here.

What is another vacant house?

World Respect May Be a Zero Sum Game

As Power Line points out this morning, many world leaders are thrilled with the election of Barack Obama as the next President of the United States. These leaders feel that George Bush's exit from the White House will help to usher in a new age of diplomacy and goodwill that has been missing in Washington since Bill Clinton made his exit some eight years ago.

However, as a wise man once said (it may have been me,) you cannot please everyone.

Keeping this in mind, it seems that a number of world leaders are a bit less exuberant over the change of attitude in Washington.

Students for a Free Economy

Students for a Free Economy is hosting a conference tomorrow in Ann Arbor designed to help liberty loving students create a successful strategy to get their message out.

Confirmed speakers will include:

Larry Reed, President, The Foundation for Economic Education
John Tillman, The Illinois Policy Institute
Gerry Nicholls, National Citizen?s Coalition, Canada
Michael Jahr, The Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Joe Lehman, The Mackinac Center for Public Policy
Leon Drolet, Michigan Taxpayers Alliance
Professor Harry C. Veryser, Jr.,University of Detroit Mercy
Nigel Ashford, The Institute for Humane Studies
Jason Talley, Atlas Economic Research Center
Leslie Graves, Lucy Burns Institute
E.M. Zanotti, The Sam Adams Alliance
Nick De Leeuw, RightMichigan.com
Tom Shull, The Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

Check out the Students for Liberty site for all the information.

Granholm Is Going to Do What!

The eloquent man the American electorate just promoted to President elect must be either be dumber than a box of rocks or totally oblivious to things going on around him. He has to be for there is no other plausible explanation.

Seriously, what state does Barack Obama think that Detroit and Lansing are in? Cannot he not see any connection?

What state does he think it is that has led the nation in unemployment for most of the past six years? What state is it that leads the nation in outgoing one-way moving van rentals? Despite its historical dominance in the automobile industry, what state is overlooked nearly every time an automobile company wants to build a new factory?

So, if this is the Change We Can Believe In, this seems an awful lot like The Change We Have Been Looking At for Six Years and it Has Sucked. At least here in Michigan.

From the Detroit News:

President-elect Barack Obama's transition team on Thursday named Gov. Jennifer Granholm and former Michigan Congressman David Bonior of Macomb County to Obama's economic advisory team.

Obama and running mate Joe Biden will meet Friday in Chicago with the 17-member economic team before his first news conference since his election.

The transition economic advisory board includes several names mentioned for posts in the Obama administration, including former Treasury Secretaries Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin, Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volker and former Commerce Secretary William Daley.

Barack Obama would be better able to select an economic transition team by randomly dropping rocks out the window of Air Force One. The people that get clunked that do not pass out are the keepers. Or the ones that remain unconscious. I am not certain it would matter much.

Michigan produces thousands of the best educated technical and professional talent in the nation, most of whom flee our rusty state for the employment Meccas of Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, and Anywherebuthere. They leave Michigan for several reasons, but one of the biggest ones is because of the entrenched bureaucracy and inept leadership currently being housed down in Lansing.

And now, Obama has asked our Dear Governor to serve on his economic advisory team.

This is not a good sign.

h/t RightMacomb at Right Michigan

October Muslim Terrorist Report

According to The Religion of Peace, in the month of October, Islamic radicals, in an effort to carry out their perceived wishes of Allah, murdered 837 innocent people and injured another 1,412 in terrorist attacks around the world.

The barbarity occurred in no fewer than 154 separate attacks. The innocents were killed in Afghanistan, Algeria, Egypt, India, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia, Somalia, the Sudan, and Thailand.

The largest attack occurred in Orakzai, Pakistan where 82 people died on October 10.

Socialism to be Renamed

Do you remember when government spending was renamed "investment" by bureaucrats because they knew us gullible constituents would not object nearly so much if we were made to believe that the same money being tossed down a rat hole was instead being carefully placed by financial wizards into areas that would provide valuable return?

You must also be aware that global warming is more and more often being referred to as "global climate change." This because the locals began to question the legitimacy of the claims as temperatures fell, historical maps disagreed, and the ice masses increased.

The latest term with negative implications that needs to be changed is socialism--that wonderful elixir of government benevolence that promises to surround all of us in the warm glow of success and contentment. But, too many of us yokels have visions of socialism that are contrary to what is being pedaled by The Obama and the Democrats. Too many of us have visions of socialism as it has always manifested itself before; the miserable starvation, listlessness, the economic stagnation.

So, to make it easier for us yokels to swallow, the term is being given a face lift. It is now to be called Sustainable Capitalism. Yeah!

From Moonbattery.

Change, to What?

cross posted at Right Michigan

The American electorate has spoken clearly, and Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States. He achieved this victory with a higher percentage of votes than either Bill Clinton or George W. Bush did in their elections.

He made Ohio blue. He turned Indiana blue. And Virginia, Florida, Colorado, and New Mexico. Michigan stayed blue as did Pennsylvania and New York and California. In the end this election was not even close to close.

Cokie Roberts on NPR is already calling it a mandate, and perhaps it is. It would be hard to argue with that assessment (even if it does come from the daughter of former Democratic congressman.)

Exit poll interviews indicate that the economy was the number one issue with voters. That is no shock. Few sectors of the American economy are doing well.

If the economy was the deciding factor in this election, how far does the mandate go? If the person left standing at the end of the election is the most liberal voting member of the US Senate, does the mandate pass out of the economic arena into all others?

Does a mandate on the economy equal a mandate for gay marriage or the Fairness Doctrine? Is a mandate on the economy the same mandate that allows for the restriction of gun ownership, union card checks, the confiscation of private property, a 25% reduction in military spending, DC statehood, Ayers-like educational initiatives, unconditional dialog with Iran and other terrorist states, the integration of world opinion into our own laws, and the possible ceding of the internet to United Nations authority (along with all the free speech restrictions that would cause?) Was this mandate a call to have electricity "necessarily skyrocket" and to join hands with Kyoto?

It is clear that the American people have chosen change, though the form and depth of that change I believe is still largely unknown to them. It is my firm hope that the electorate chose change out of giddiness, sheer ignorance, and desperation rather than any firm calculation--better that the voters be ill informed and scared than as diabolical as the leaders of the various movements that Barack Obama has shown his allegiance to.

Now that Obama will become President, will it be Thomas Jefferson and Samuel Adams that serve as his inspiration, or will it be William Ayers, Saul Alinsky, Jeremiah Wright and Frank Marshall Davis?

The people have chosen change, and that, I'm afraid, is for Barack Obama to define.

Fairness in Your Future?

It is well established that one of the things that a strongly Democrat congress, unmitigated by a leftist President, would simply love to do is resurrect the Fairness Doctrine as a way to tamp down on opposing viewpoints. Free speech be damned! This is fairness!

Dick Durban has said as much and this morning Chuck Schumer did the same.

Of course, those arenas of liberal pontification such as broadcast network news, cable television (with the exception of Fox News,) the print media, and most of the blogosphere, will be conveniently overlooked.

Rush television anyone?

Celebrate the Process

Regardless as to how it turns out, this American election, as well as every other before it, has to be celebrated. It is an achievement rarely carried out to such success any where else on the globe.

Today's election was not the only important election to take place on planet Earth this year. Zimbabwe had an election too. This country, formerly known as the "breadbasket of Africa" is suffering from about a billion percent interest a year. That is, if you walked through the doors of a bakery with enough money to buy a loaf of bread, by the time you get to the counter you had best be content with the crumbs. But the price of bread in Zimbabwe is a lot more stable than the elections there. Political opponents had appendages cut off with machetes. Dissenters were burned alive. Villages were torched, crops destroyed, livestock slaughtered. Despite the election's outcome, negotiations between the major parties have not been completed to decide final ruling authority.

Israel had an election several weeks ago. No governing coalition could be formed. New elections will now have to be held.

Pakistan had parliamentary elections this spring. A major candidate was assassinated with the assistance of rouge elements within the country's own security forces. When the election occurred, the President lost his power base and was effectively rendered helpless to deal with any of the country's problems, that is, if the President had had any real power to deal with them to begin with.

Russia had an election in March. Constitutional construction in Russia allowed the former KGB operative Vladimir Putin to leave the presidency while still maintaining his influence on the country by shifting his chair to the prime ministers office. In a few more years Putin will probably again reside in the Presidential Palace.

There was no popular election in Cuba, just an election of National Assembly, but the socialist state did have a change in leadership as the communist murdering thug Fidel Castro was replaced with his younger brother, the communist murdering thug Raul.

In the US things are different. Sure, there will be numerous unfounded complaints by left advocacy groups of disenfranchisement while the left boldly circumvents as many rules as they can to win power, but in a country where millions upon millions of voters will cast ballots in private, the outcome of the election will almost certainly fall outside the margin of stealth.

We will have for leadership what we elected, as a people. Good decision or bad decision, right or wrong, we will have elected exactly what we deserve.

The process, if not the outcome, should be celebrated.

Wonkette and Co. Taunt Trig Palin

I remember hauling my kids around Vista Ridge Mall when they were pretty small. My children were only 18 months apart and dressing one up as a mouse and the other as an elephant was pretty cute, if I must say so myself.

Things are not quite so cute, at least these days to some people, when a parent has the audacity to dress a Downs Syndrome child up for Halloween as an elephant. I so love the Obama supporting community for their spirit of love and understanding.


From Wonkette:

Little baby Trig must be so glad he wasn’t aborted for this, his first Halloween, because his parents dressed him up like a political party symbol to be carried around at snarling political events. Aww. Isn’t life just grand?

Some of the commenters were in rare spirits themselves.

facehead says at 4:38 pm, October 31st, 2008

Initially they were going to have trig dress up as an aborted fetus.

larz says at 4:38 pm, October 31st, 2008

How mean to dress the down syndrome kid as Dumbo.

Keram2 says at 4:43 pm, October 31st, 2008

Judging from the costume, the parents are the real retards.

StrangelyBrown says at 4:49 pm, October 31st, 2008

I thought an unaborted mongoloid baby was the symbol of the Republican Party.

Theta says at 4:56 pm, October 31st, 2008

It’s nice to see we can come together despite our disagreements for the common purpose of dressing the mentally handicapped in humiliating outfits and laughing at them. God bless America!

I think the Trig outfit is cute and endearing. But leftist morons think that the Palins should protect their children from the laughing and taunting of, get this, leftist morons. Out of understanding for the child I suppose. Keep that poor retard child in doors and out of sight before we make fun of him, you shrew!

The only lesson to be learned here is to keep your children away from idiots.

Exactly how wide is the aisle I would have to reach across in order to compromise with these sorts of bullshit peddlers? I'm not certain I've ever been so angry.

h/t Moonbattery

How to Move Away From Coal

If you are Barack Obama the answer is easy. Bankrupt any new coal plants.

Says Ed Morrissey:

Coal provides 49% of domestic electrical power, and any rise in the cost of producing that energy will raise its cost to consumers and reduce the amount produced.

This comes as no great shock, pun intended. Obama already called for a 15% reduction in demand for electricity — at the same time he and his allies want transportation to switch from gasoline to electricity. Obama never explained this particular contradiction. How does one switch tens of millions of vehicles from gasoline to electricity while not Increasing demand, let alone by cutting it 15%? And when trying to break free from a recession, the nation will need greater production in energy, not a reduction.

Says Barack Obama in an interview from January:

Let me sort of describe my overall policy.

What I’ve said is that we would put a cap and trade system in place that is as aggressive, if not more aggressive, than anybody else’s out there.

I was the first to call for a 100% auction on the cap and trade system, which means that every unit of carbon or greenhouse gases emitted would be charged to the polluter. That will create a market in which whatever technologies are out there that are being presented, whatever power plants that are being built, that they would have to meet the rigors of that market and the ratcheted down caps that are being placed, imposed every year.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can; it’s just that it will bankrupt them because they’re going to be charged a huge sum for all that greenhouse gas that’s being emitted.

That will also generate billions of dollars that we can invest in solar, wind, biodiesel and other alternative energy approaches.

The only thing I’ve said with respect to coal, I haven’t been some coal booster. What I have said is that for us to take coal off the table as a ideological matter as opposed to saying if technology allows us to use coal in a clean way, we should pursue it.

So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can.

It’s just that it will bankrupt them.

Prepare for huge energy cost increases under an Obama administration. Not because the free market has said they are necessary, but because Barack Obama deems them necessary.

Change!