SUBSIDIES AND TAX BREAKS FOR BOONDOGGLES

Days like today, I wonder if most people have a clue about how much money is being stolen from them in taxes, today's taxes, and all of the future taxes to pay for the national and state debts. Learning about the electric car chargers being placed into our communities recently is reminding me of just how much of our government has been co-opted by environmentalist zealots. I mean "co-opted" because most people are unaware of the policies affecting their taxes that are being put into place. I say "zealots" because environmentalists cannot seem to put a price on unfounded scientific theories. To them, there is no limit to how much public money they will pour down the drain as long as they are getting paid for their supposed adoration of the earth. They have promoted themselves to sainthood, all the while lying and stealing to do their damage to the economic, energy, and freedom structures of our country.

If you have been reading my blog for the past two years, you know already that I am not a fan (pun intended) of wind farms. And I hope you realize from my last several posts that I am very much against using our taxes to manipulate the guaranteed property rights of our citizens. I understand using tax money for the necessary infrastructures to support our society. By that I mean enforcing non-pollution policies included along with the usual things you think of such as roads, bridges, utility access, et al. You see, I am not for polluting our resources out of existence, but I am also not an advocate for government ownership of the air, water, and land. Unfortunately, environmentalists are determined to force you and me to pay for the government appropriation of all things.

Using our tax money for boondoggles such as manufacturing smart cars, putting up electric car chargers, bought from GE as a kickback from Obama, all over our cities, and, in the case below, creating wind farms, is antithetical to the basic precepts as defined in our Constitution. In other words, manipulating tax laws to support an agenda that is obviously detrimental to our Constitution is abominable.

I don't think we can attack this problem one boondoggle at a time. What we need to do is attack the policies of subsidizing these things. We can't just go after the electric car subsidy, the car charger subsidy, the wind farm subsidy. We are going to have to elect politicians who agree that all of this is going to stop, no more subsidizing private industries with tax money. That includes ethanol among 50 thousand other subsidies. If the taxes being stolen for boondoggles were turned back to the private sector, the money would flow into the proper businesses by virtue of investing. Is that too much to ask?

From the Daily Beast on Government Subsidizing the Chevy Volt

"The media’s coverage of the electric-car sector demonstrates more than 100 years of gullibility. The gee-whiz factor of electric cars with their big batteries, small motors, and whisper-quiet locomotion appears to be so dazzling that reporters willingly give up their skepticism like star-struck groupies surrendering their panties.

That same lack of skepticism may explain why the Senate wants to throw hundreds of millions of additional dollars at electric cars without braking to consider the problems of physics and consumer demand. And those two factors are undoubtedly the biggest problems for the future of the electric-vehicle market. On a gravimetric basis, gasoline has 80 times the energy density of the best lithium-ion batteries. Of course, electric-car supporters will immediately retort that electric motors are about four times more efficient than internal combustion engines. Fine. Even with that four-fold advantage in efficiency, gasoline still has 20 times the energy density of batteries. And that is an essential advantage when it comes to automobiles, where weight, storage space, and of course range are critical considerations."

Read below to find some more information on the awesome insanity of government intrusion and theft to support wind farms:

From Anti Green Blogspot - also linked in my sidebar to the right

"Made in China turbines are shipped to the USA, trucked to their final destinations, and installed on huge concrete platforms; new backup gas generating plants are built; and hundreds of miles of new transmission lines are constructed. That means still more steel, copper, concrete, fuel and land. Moreover, the backup power plants generate more pollution and carbon dioxide than if they could simply run at full capacity, because as backups for turbines they must operate constantly but ramp up to full power, and back down, numerous times daily, in response to shifting wind speeds.

Wind farms require roads and 700-1000 ton concrete-and-rebar foundations, which affect water drainage patterns in farm country. The 300-500 foot tall turbines affect scenery, interfere with or prevent crop dusting over hundreds of acres, and kill countless birds and bats. Farmers who lease their land for wind turbines receive substantial royalty payments; neighbors are impacted, but receive no compensation.

Despite these ecological costs, wind farm projects are often fast-tracked through NEPA and other environmental review processes, and are exempted from endangered species and migratory bird laws that can result in multi-million-dollar fines for oil, gas and coal operators, for a fraction of the carnage.

Perhaps worst, all this is supported generously by renewable energy mandates, tax breaks, feed-in tariffs, “prioritized loading orders,” and other subsidies, courtesy of state and federal governments and taxpayers. In fact, wind power gets 90 times more in federal subsidies than do coal and natural gas, per megawatt-hour of electricity actually generated, according to US Energy Information Administration data. And wind-based electricity costs consumers several times more per kilowatt-hour than far more reliable electricity from coal, gas and nuclear power plants.
Simply put, the wind might be free, when it blows. But the rest of the “renewable, green, eco-friendly” wind energy system is anything but.

It might be far better all around to simply build the most efficient, lowest-polluting coal, gas and nuclear generating plants possible, let them run at full capacity 24/7/365 – and just skip the wind power. "

So there it is. It is all the same insanity. Not one good reason to construct wind farms. Really. I can think of none. All of the arguments against. You can say the same for the electric car chargers popping up all over the place...no good reason for this. Yet our government is wasting our money, our time, our energy, our lives, our lands, all to produce another bad idea that has no place in our environment or our economy. Not to mention the Constitutional question of using our taxes for such damaging policies.

We must get a grip on the environmental policies that are ripping our economy and Constitution to shreds. Question (y)our legislators. Demand the cutting of environmental incentives and subsidies supporting boondoggles and environmental insanity. Turn the country back to reasonable, responsible ownership of land by citizens. And turn the country back to private investment. The public should not be forced to take the risks for stupidity.

SAVE THE BIRDS AND U.S. - FROM WINDMILLS

First, random facts: The cause of most bird deaths in the U.S. is electrical wires. The second cause of bird deaths is.....CATS.

Now that would lead you to believe that I am for eliminating all electrical wires and....CATS. (Furry little murderers) This also might lead you to believe that I am for adding 50 g'zillion million solar panels in the desert and 50 trillion million giant windmills across the plains. But you would be wrong.

Growing up in Ohio, I witnessed controversies over clear-cutting and coal mining operations which devastated the forested hills. Scars on the landscape. Blights on our views. Devastation of habitats. That was then. Now mining operations have improved their methods. They are forbidden to pollute the waters. They are required to put the landscape back after gleaning our much needed fossil fuels. And though years have gone by, fossil fuels are still the best and preferred source of energy. I believe this will be the case until or unless some incredible technology allows us to create energy out of thin air. Energy has to come from some earthly substance. And it needs to come from a source that is abundant enough to fuel a lot of homes and industries. (assuming we will have any industries left in this country after the socialists get through with their diabolical efforts to shut us down)

Wind is the answer? As I have posted before on this subject, wind turbines take more energy to produce than they will ever create. Not only that, they take huge swaths of land. Not only that, they kill migratory birds and raptors because they are placed into landscapes that are on migratory paths, landscapes which have the wind to power eagles and hawks on their way.

From the Financial Post, June 30

"The sprawling $475-million Wolfe Island facility in Frontenac Township off the shores of Kingston, Ont., features 86 wind turbine generators capable of producing 197.8 MW at full capacity — which never occurs because wind is intermittent. The first of two monitoring reports to date, released in February, documented 45 bird fatalities and 45 bat fatalities during May 2009 and June 2009."

"Colliding with blades is hardly the only risk wind power poses to birds and bats. Researchers have also found that the construction of wind farms and associated infrastructure (e.g., buildings, roads and electrical transmission lines) renders wide swaths of habitat less suitable for birds.

"Wind farms also require large plots of open land — an estimated 2.5 acres per turbine, on average. As a result, a variety of wildlife also is affected."

Back to my thoughts here:
"There is nothing new under the sun," says the Bible (Ecclesiastes 1:9) and said my mother who liked to remind me of that passage often. The "Green" movement, which is actually Communist Red on the inside (AKA watermelons), would have you swallow the idea that being "green" means no wildlife will be adversely affected by their energy methods. They would like you to think they are creating some "new" and better way of living. Yet what they promote is no better. More to the point, their schemes are worse for all creatures great and small. They are creating a hostile environment for BOTH people and wildlife. (Witness mercury laden CFL's)

While all of us are seeing the tragedy of the pelicans and turtles in the Gulf of Mexico adversely affected by the BP oil spill, the gut reaction is to exclaim all oil is bad, all fossil fuels are evil, and the "Greenies" have been right all along to eliminate fossil fuels from our lives. This is nonsense of the highest degree. I suggest we must keep the facts in perspective and not react as impulsive children to do things that will make our lives worse and ALSO make things worse or just as bad for wildlife. God has allowed us fossil fuels to use for our benefit. Fossil fuels are not evil. However, some people are evil and will use emotions to unravel civilization. As God has told us, "There is nothing new under the sun."

By Dr. Richard Swier
"Do You Know How Many Birds Are Killed By Wind Turbines?"
By Dr. Richard Swier | 06/06/10 | 08:39 AM EDT

"I always love it when the main stream media shows pictures of birds covered in oil. On the front pages of major new papers and on TV we see the constant reminder of oil covered birds. It is the ultimate environmentalist's symbol of evil oil killing the innocent bird.

That is fine but do you know how many birds are killed each year by the environmentalists favorite clean energy alternatives - wind farms and wind turbines?

According to the St. Petersburg Times PolitiFact.com:

The latest independent reports estimate the number of birds killed by wind turbines at about 100,000 per year. That's according to a 2007 report from the National Research Council called "Environmental Impacts of Wind-Energy Projects."

The American Bird Conservancy estimated in 2003 that between 10,000 and 40,000 birds were killed each year at wind farms across the country, about 80 percent of which were songbirds and 10 percent birds of prey.

"With the increased capacity over the last seven years, we now estimate that 100,000 – 300,000 birds are killed by wind turbines each year," said Conservancy spokesman Robert Johns.

By our math, that comes to 274 to 822 birds a day killed by wind farms across the country. [Emphasis added]"

This statistic is surely a low estimate and will only increase exponentially as the turbines increase their visual and environmental blight on our landscapes. The only answer to this is to stop allowing them to be erected on our precious lands. Good luck with that as long as Obama kisses the sorry rears of his "green" benefactors.

Another great article on the devastation of birds by wind turbines here

Magical Mystery Tour

It isn't nice to be duped. It's tragic really. When a person gets taken in by a Ponzi scheme or a scam artist, it is a loss of innocence somehow. No one likes to be victimized. It's one thing when a young person is taken advantage of due to lack of life experience or education. It seems another thing, though, to witness an entire nation of people of all ages being scammed. The scene I see each day lately is sort of like going to a magic show where you know it is all illusion, but the audience participates and pays for the privilege of being fooled. At least in the magic show you know it is all for entertainment and you can't take it too seriously. Some magic acts involve hypnotism where an entire audience succumbs to the power of the hypnotist on stage who manages to convince people of his superior mental powers. Someone's wallet inevitably ends up in the hypnotist's pocket. While the audience laughs, applauds and touts the skills of the magicians, the magicians are laughing all the way to the bank. It's very clever, deceitful, cunning, sly, wily, and the audience who paid for the show walk out amused and shaking their heads in awe.

An acquaintance of mine has asked me over and over, "Why would anyone in the government be taking these steps on energy if it wasn't the right thing to do?" Further she asks, "If this global warming/climate change isn't true, then why are so many people on board with it?" "It must be true!" she insists. "All of these smart government officials are doing this for our own good!" "They're saving our planet!"

But there is a reason magic is included in a category called the "Dark Arts."I am astounded at how so many magicians have made it into our government. Since the early 1900's magician politicians have been scamming the American people using taxpayer money to benefit themselves. In the 1920's "progressive" magicians brought us into the age of the government nanny state. In the 1960's I remember the rallying cries were against the Industrial Military Complex. Supposedly those were the "bad guys." As usual the dissidents were the "progressive liberal democrat socialists" who just hated the military, the supporting industries and, I guess the 'complex' part was the government which enabled the former. The irony there is that the "progressive liberal democrat socialists" were all about gaining government control over everything they were ranting against. The environmentalists in those days were ranting about an impending ice age and warning we were doomed.

The latest group of magicians is taking the "Dark Arts" to a whole new level. While Bernie Madoff sits in prison awaiting trial, Nancy Pelosi sits atop the House of Representatives while profiting from T.Boone Pickens' Wind Farm scams and using the power of her position to grease the skids for her $100,000.00 to $250,000.00 investment in Picken's Clean Energy Fuels Corporation. Pickens' wind farm schemes depend on permanent government subsidies and the use of imminent domain to access land. Nancy is refusing to allow new drilling for oil and gas, new nuclear plants, new clean coal plants. At the same time, she is funneling your tax money into "green" initiatives to benefit her own investments. Smiling all the time, she proudly announces, "We're saving the planet!" Slight of hand? Or conflict of interest? Pretty nice trick, eh?

While you are worrying about how to recycle mercury based fluorescent lightbulbs made in China, Al Gore is raking in millions from his businesses based on carbon offsets. While Hank Paulson, former Sec. of the Treasury, convinced the entire government to borrow trillions of your taxes to prop up Wall St. and the banks, he is making money out of Gore's magic trick, too. Paulson, along with several Goldman Sach's cronies, is one of Gore's investors in Generation Investment Management, Inc., an investment group focused on Climate Change / Carbon Credit Trading firms. I guess Paulson would not want Goldman Sach's to fail, now would he?

"Suspend belief," the magicians tell you. "Believe us!" "We know what's best for you!" Well, science has proven that Global Warming is a hoax. The facts are that Pickens' wind farms use more energy to produce the equipment than they provide, take up huge swaths of land, kill migratory birds, not to mention the visual blight they create. Facts are that ethanol uses more energy to produce than it provides, and creates more pollution, not to mention the food shortages it creates. Facts are that Compact Fluorescent lightbulbs are lousy light and create mercury pollution in our environment. Facts are that the world has been cooling since 1998. Facts are that there has been no nuclear power plant accident in this country for thirty years and even then there was no exposure and no one hurt. Fact is that carbon dioxide is necessary for life to exist and is great for plants. I could go on with facts of this sort for pages and pages, but, if you love magic, would you listen?

The latest magic trick is this: Our magicians are finding out that not all of the audience is hypnotized and not buying the illusions. So to work around this obstacle, the magicians are bringing in the big dogs, i.e. the U.N. Obama's Energy Czar magician, Carol Browner, is going to the U.N. for a global mandate on Carbon offsets. (Browner is a former member of Socialist International, one of George Soros' many anti-American groups.) By going to the U.N. to set up an environmental treaty which Obama will sign, the American people will have no say in the matter, no votes through Congress, no possible chance to stop Gore, Pickens, Pelosi, Paulson, Browner, Soros, and their buddies from their collusion to steal more economic liberty from Americans. American sovereignty circumvented by magicians. America's children sold off to the magic tricks of some mighty clever socialists using our government and global pressure to take their future away.

Welcome to the Magical Mystery Tour. You might want to take a look behind the curtain.