Odds and ends number 35
Gee, and I just did one of these last week. But I keep picking up more interesting items, so here we go.
On Saturday it’s quite likely your bank started charging you a monthly fee for using a debit card, whether once or multiple times a day. The most infamous example is the $5 monthly fee Bank of America enacted, but many other banks got into the act as well.
But as John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute wrote in the American Spectator, we have someone else to blame as well:
The irony of these developments is that if the media and politicians wanted to blame a greedy big business for these new consumer costs, there is one industry that would accurately fit the bill. This would be the giant big-box retailers that lobbied for these price controls to fatten their bottom line.
In fact, one report I found said Home Depot stood to save $35 million a year by cutting the interchange fees in roughly half, as the new federal regulations do. Of course, that is split out among everyone who shops at Home Depot whether they use a debit card or not. But don’t hold your breath waiting for prices to miraculously come down since each store has thousands of items that may cost a few pennies less for the retailers to sell. Bank customers will be stuck with the fees, though.
Time for a guilt trip
I manage to somehow forget about this every year, but the Competitive Enterprise Institute reminded me once again that tomorrow is “World Car-Free Day.” (I should remember because I usually get a card or two, have some cake and/or go out to dinner on the same day WCFD is “celebrated.” Yep, 29 again.)
So how did the day which they share with me get selected? Well, like most liberal ideas it comes from Europe, where the date falls within its “European Mobility Week.” Their idea is for “encouraging European cities to promote (public transport, cycling, and walking) and to invest in the new necessary infrastructures.” CEI’s point is that the automobile is among the most liberating inventions ever created, allowing personal transport and freedom of mobility. Try taking a bus to the mall, grocery store, or your place of work on their schedule.
Surprisingly, the state of Maryland (which is led by a notoriously anti-growth, anti-freedom governor in Martin O’Malley) isn’t doing anything special for WCFD, but Montgomery County and the University of Maryland are. Washington, D.C. is also participating, with a mixture of private- and public-sector sponsors. (I’m definitely disappointed in the Washington Nationals’ participation, which makes little sense because they’re playing this week at Philadelphia. Did the players use public transit to get there?)
Certainly if someone wants to participate, well, more power to them. Walking or riding a bicycle presents health benefits, although those can be negated if you don’t follow basic traffic rules (walk outside travel lanes and against traffic but ride a bicycle with traffic. If there’s no dedicated bike lane, bicycles are entitled to the 3 feet of pavement closest to the extreme right-hand shoulder as I recall.) But the idea expressed in the Mobility Week credo is more the true aim of organizers – just read “invest in” as “subsidize” things like bike paths few use or mass transit that not many people ride because it’s not possible to take everyone from their thousands of different origins to thousands of different destinations. Even something which has point A to point B ridership, like Washington’s Metro system, still needs a heavy subsidy to survive.
Again, it all comes down to freedom. Having access to my car makes it possible for me to do my job because I cover a large geographic territory. But it also allows me to drive to a so-called “Smart Growth” meeting where I can say my piece and then come right home to write about it, without having to wait for a bus or traverse dark streets at night for an hour.
We already have restrictions on how fast we can travel and what we do within the car, but we still have that opportunity to get up and go where we need to when we want to. Others can be car-free for a day, a week, or even a lifetime, but don’t force me to do the same.
Odds and ends number 31
Once again I have a lot of little items that deserve a little bit of comment, so here goes.
Delegate Pat McDonough is at it again. The 2012 Congressional candidate has prefiled a bill called the Toll Fairness Act. It has three goals:
- Declare a moratorium on all toll increases.
- Mandate a General Assembly vote and Governor’s signature on all toll increases, for accountability.
- Prohibit transfers to non-transportation accounts. Delegate McDonough claims almost $800 million has been “stolen” from transportation accounts over the last eight years.
While it’s doubtful such a bill will muster the votes to get out of the Democratic-controlled committee it will be assigned to, the fact that we have this measure prefiled shows that people can be good and angry about the situation. We will see on July 14, when a hearing on the toll increases will be held in Ocean City.
Speaking of the peoples’ voice, the petition drive to overturn SB167 through referendum may well be successful. But CASA de Maryland was granted a request to make copies of the petitions; a move Delegate Michael Smigiel of the Upper Shore found shocking.
Delegate Smigiel made a point which I wanted to amplify. It’s bad enough that a group who’s dead-set against the referendum will be allowed to take possession of these petitions, if only for a brief time. Luckily the potential for mischief is lessened since that cat was let out of the bag.
But I think back to the controversy over Proposition 8 in California (to overturn same-sex marriage) and what happened to those who contributed to that effort financially – a number of them were harassed by pro-gay marriage supporters, with threats to both boycott their businesses and harm them physically. Could pro-illegal groups and supporters use the petition information to do the same in Maryland? They’re playing for keeps; unfortunately for them a goodly number of people about these parts are armed and don’t much like harassment. Hopefully the folks at the ACLU and CASA de Maryland will keep this in mind.
Meanwhile, those who support the petition and wish to make sure the count is done fairly aren’t allowed into the process. A Board of Elections worth its salt would tell the state to go pound sand on that (since it’s simply a policy memorandum and not law.)
And that’s not all from the state of Maryland. Richard Falknor at Blue Ridge Forum discusses the new “green” graduation requirement. There’s no time for teaching critical thinking or even the three R’s, but they have time to push that “smart growth” bullshit on our kids? Since the requirement appears to be only in public schools (for now) I guess I don’t have to deprogram my girlfriend’s daughter – yet – since she attends a private school.
I also learned a new word regarding this new environmentalism. In a press release from the Competitive Enterprise Institute announcing the formation of the Resourceful Earth website, a quote from Myron Ebell, the Director of CEI’s Center for Energy and Environment, caught my eye. Said Ebell, “unfortunately, many major corporations are being greenmailed into supporting these assaults on jobs and prosperity.” ‘Greenmailed,’ indeed. Do you think oil companies really want to spend millions to deal with environmental groups advocating for polar bears or caribou rather than job creation and maintaining our lifestyle? They probably add a nickel per gallon to the price.
Still, pump prices have been on the decline of late. That fact makes the timing of the decision to draw 30 million barrels down from our Strategic Petroleum Reserve very curious. Granted, there will still be nearly 700 million barrels remaining in our coffers, but there was no emergency situation to merit the release. Strife in Libya is no worse than unrest in Nigeria, another major oil-producing nation, back in 2009.
Reaction has been severe from some quarters, and seems to be the correct perception of the situation. Americans for Limited Government, for example, claims savings will be meager and short-lived:
If one is generous and assumes yesterday’s $4 drop was solely because of Obama and International Energy Agency, at best it will save consumers $.10 a gallon for gasoline. That works out to about $1.50 per fill up, or $6 for the month the additional gasoline is available.
In other words, Obama has jeopardized national security by drawing down the strategic reserves to, at best, save consumers about $1.50 per fill up when this ‘flood’ of new gasoline hits the market. To call this irresponsible would be an understatement.
And the real experts at the American Petroleum Institute were equally underwhelmed:
The release makes little sense for American markets. Crude and gasoline inventories are above average, and crude and gasoline prices have been trending down for weeks, despite the loss of Libyan oil, which markets have already adjusted to. The SPR was intended to be used for supply emergencies. There is no supply emergency. We don’t know what impacts this might have on markets long term. But we could and should be taking steps that would increase our own production by 2 million barrels a day or more for decades, which is possible if the government would grant much greater access to America’s ample oil and natural gas reserves. This would do vastly more to help consumers, increase energy security, create jobs and deliver more revenue to our government. It’s action that would truly strengthen our energy future, not a temporary gesture that has no lasting benefits.
30 million barrels is about what our nation consumes in a day-and-a-half. 60 million barrels (the total IEA release) is well under what the world consumes in a day.
Here’s the problem I see with this release. We have a President who doesn’t mind $4 per gallon gasoline, as long as the increase is relatively steady. He also has backtracked from allowing additional oil exploration thanks to a rare but ill-timed drilling accident in the Gulf of Mexico.
If you assume the oil which was placed in the SPR was purchased at a relatively low market price, well, we have to make that up sometime. And if you believe their line about supplies tightening up thanks to a civil war in Libya it would be my guess that oil will be more expensive. We just added 60 million barrels to future worldwide demand, and that will likely drive prices up a little bit.
In short, this is a shell game (no pun intended) to make people believe we’re doing something about a problem better solved with more oil extraction. For example, approving one pipeline would eventually make up for about half of what the world normally gets from Libya on a daily basis. Needless to say, I don’t buy the ‘peak oil’ theory. (Thanks to Jane Van Ryan of API for the pipeline info.)
And one final item. Over the last few weeks I had a PSA for the Move America Forward Troopathon which was broadcast over the internet last Thursday. They now have their tally in and were pleased to report they raised $507,843 from their efforts – exceeding their $500,000 goal.
It wasn’t as much as previous Troopathons raised, but then again we have fewer troops in that theater. Considering that being pro-military isn’t as much in vogue as it used to be I think that total is pretty good and reflects a nation that remains in a giving mood for our men in uniform.
Wow, that did a nice job of cleaning out my e-mail box. Look for more interesting stuff to come.
Friday night videos – episode 61
I have a bunch of political stuff this week, so I’m right back at it.
We’ve been saddled with a moratorium on Gulf drilling ever since the Deepwater Horizon accident almost a year ago. Now other real people are being hurt – those who depend on black gold for their livelihood. Frank McCaffrey of Americans for Limited Government investigates.
On the other hand, government has to provide incentives for “green” projects to commence. But what if the money runs out? Chris Horner of the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains.
I can’t stay off the music the whole time. It was the late, great Ronnie James Dio who sang, “if you listen to fools, the mob rules!” Here’s a real-life example.
You may have heard about this video, which rocked National Public Radio and forced a corporate shakeup. Speaking of government-subsidized projects, why do we keep paying for this?
The next two videos depict a day in the life of an Arizona rancher on the Mexican border. I got these from the Center for Immigration Studies.
Imagine living life like that. This poor guy needs help, and securing the borders better would be his best source of assistance.
And yes, I have tunes. This was taped last week on Kim’s iPod as Semiblind rocked the Lagoon here in Salisbury. This is an original called “Take Control.”
So there you have it, done on the fly. By the way, I think I can do Semiblind videos from now until Christmas thanks to Kim!
Friday night videos – episode 59
Another edition of this long-running series is upon us, and the star doesn’t need rehab! Let’s see what we’ve got this time.
The recent CPAC event was a gold mine of video inspiration for conservatives. For example, Human Events interviewed Ann Coulter before she made her remarks.
Not to be outdone, Townhall.com latched onto Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann for her take.
And on it went, as both entities catalogued dozens of interviews there.
Since the last time I did this, a number of videos have looked at the battle between TEA Party stalwarts on one side and Big Labor on the other, in Wisconsin and elsewhere. I have four different videos on the subject, beginning with Wisconsin’s protest.
Americans for Limited Government has its take on the Madison protests, then covered the event in Annapolis.
Expanding on the coverage was Renee Giachino and CFIF’s Freedom Minute.
But there’s one more protest which comes from inside the Wisconsin state house.
Sore losers. Wonder what would happen if Maryland Republicans adopted the same style of tactics?
This is different and a humorous take on overbearing nanny state governance from CEI, who is usually good at this sort of thing.
I don’t wear makeup but I sure don’t drink coffee with soy milk either.
Okay, there’s no music video this time because next week will be an all-music edition. So that’s it for this edition of FNV.
Friday night videos – episode 52
Well, this should be fun. I don’t mind collective bargaining, but now Big Labor is big business. So how do they spend their money? Certainly not on dividends.
Can you say right-to-work? Sure you can.
It’s not big business, but small business that bears the brunt of estate taxes. And they’re back with a vengeance in 2011, as this video from ALG shows.
Obama’s ‘Midterm State of Denial’ is the title of this week’s ‘Freedom Minute.’
They always run a little over a minute, don’t they? But that’s okay, I don’t mind.
My friend Jane Van Ryan of API gets the hat tip for this video.
Isn’t government overreach fun? The only good job seems to be a government job.
It was sort of a slow week for videos, but I decided to do this version of FNV because I didn’t want to wait another week or two to spring this on you again. I dig this version of the song.
I’m not going to have a FNV next week (come on, it’s Thanksgiving weekend – you’ll be lucky to get a daily post) so look for the next edition in 2 weeks!
Friday night videos episode 48
It’s back again, with something new at the end.
We are coming to an election where the most important number is in doubt: is the unemployment rate really 9.6% as the government says or 10.1% as Gallup postulates? Americans for Limited Government thinks they have an answer.
But the group Bankrupting America says neither figure tells the story.
Maybe one solution would be to stop regulating us to death? Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute explains on FOX News.
Yet our elected leadership simply doesn’t get it. They create straw men to pass blame to, for one.
Yes, that was recorded at Obama’s Bowie State appearance. Do you think the man has that feeling about someone like moveon.org?
I don’t think Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid gets it either. Ron Futrell of Liberty.org tells the story.
In the most recent Freedom Minute, Renee Giachino describes how liberals are running scared.
The guy who should be running scared is Chris Coons; otherwise Delaware voters may be the ones frightened by their tax increases.
I’m still laughing about that one.
I think over the next two weeks I’m going to devote my FNV series to candidate videos – not necessarily the ones done by other media outlets who may or may not have their own agenda, but done by the candidates themselves. Here’s an example from County Executive hopeful Joe Ollinger.
Okay, time to shift gears. Last weekend I was at the Good Beer Festival and I brought my camera. This is an up-and-coming young local band called Naylor Mill. (With a name like that, they have to be local.)
The sound is just a touch overmodulated on the video (it sounded better on my computer before I uploaded it) but you get the idea. In a future FNV episode I’ll feature other stuff from the band.
But for the next couple weeks it’s going to be primarily candidates on themselves.
Friday night videos – episode 45
Call this the primary edition. It’s some of the interesting things which have come across my screen lately and I want to share with you.
First, I love the smell of hypocricy in the evening as much as I do in the morning.
Yep, let’s hire non-union people to protest on behalf of a union. Unless there’s full employment within the union (in which case they shouldn’t need the work anyway) why can’t they use their own members?
In the meantime, the administration they blindly support is killing other union and non-union jobs in the energy industry.
It’s interesting – 5,500 people came of their own accord to speak out on their jobs but providing a handful of jobs to the members of the union who instead paid scab labor to picket was out of the question.
The statewide races for Governor and Senate are quite interesting, with Jim Rutledge and Eric Wargotz fighting out the U.S. Senate nod and Brian Murphy closing the gap on Bob Ehrlich. Here’s a little something from each, beginning with Rutledge. Someone came up with a great video on Jim’s behalf.
I still like the bearded look on Jim. Meanwhile, his opponent Eric Wargotz hit the airwaves with this last week.
It’s a humorous ad, and certainly gets the point across. But is appearing in safari garb Eric’s ‘Dukakis moment’?
A more conventional message comes from Brian Murphy in his TV spot.
It sounds pretty Eastern Shore to me, since that’s where he grew up. Meanwhile, Bob Ehrlich vows to kill the expansion of the sales tax to 43 services.
Oh, I remember the bill – they’ve tried to sneak it through but didn’t have the cajones to do it back then. We fought it tooth and nail and won.
Finally, this week wouldn’t be complete without mentioning something about tomorrow. It’s this week’s Freedom Minute from the Center for Individual Freedom.
I decided to skip the music video this week because I may just have fresh ones next week if I’m able. We’ll have to see on that; otherwise enjoy the rest of your night!
Friday night videos – episode 43
Once again it’s time to see what the world of politics has to offer in the video realm, with a dash of local music thrown in and a bit of news on the tail end to boot.
I’m going to wax philosophical on you to start. One of my favorite books is Atlas Shrugged because I immediately got the point about heavy-handed government involvement in society. So this video appealed to me as well, and even though it’s over two years old I hadn’t seen it until recently.
I didn’t even know there was an Ayn Rand Institute but I do now.
Earlier this week, a special person had a birthday. Yes, Kim turned 39 again – amazing how that works! Oh, and that same day some president did too, which is the subject of this Freedom Minute.
But in the spirit of bipartisanship, even Harry Reid doesn’t think all Republican Senators are bad – he really likes two of them in particular. From Americans for Limited Government and their coverage of Netroots Nation came this.
I bet this guy would have fit in quite well at the Netroots Nation. As it was, Rep. Pete Stark of California seemed awful snarky at a recent townhall meeting in his district.
Maybe this is why Frank Kratovil won’t have a townhall meeting? Come on, we’re well-behaved people.
What if the internet was like the old Ma Bell? The Competitive Enterprise Institute has some thoughts.
The internet has gotten along just fine as it stands – if not I wouldn’t be here.
Nor would this music video from Lower Class Citizens, courtesy of “the Prince of the Wind.” Like a few weeks back, this was recorded in some underground bunker but turned out well.
So you got your rock, and I can roll until next time. However, depending on availablility, you may see more videos here on monoblogue.
I haven’t quite decided how best to present these, whether as a once- or twice-a-week separate feature or devote this particular weekly space to them, but I’ve reached agreement with Julie Brewington and Matt Trenka (the moderator) on sharing the videos they have done for Right Coast here on monoblogue. While I have plenty of questions for candidates myself, future efforts of theirs will begin to integrate them and voters will be more informed if these videos are seen on more outlets. It’s a win-win for all of us.
I think these will begin next week – you’ll just have to return often to see what I decide for a regular timeslot.
Friday night videos – episode 35
Oh yeah, this one should be good. I’m liking the way this is shaping up already.
I’ll begin with a leftover from last weekend. You know how I celebrated Memorial Day weekend, but my blogging friend Bob McCarty found one man’s ultimate tribute to the veterans in his family and across the nation – a restored 1971 Mustang.
I found this fascinating as well. You know, we’ve all been transfixed by the Deepwater Horizon disaster, but, as former Virginia Governor George Allen explains, we have other energy resources which are being ignored.
But it’s government regulation which keeps us from accessing our resources, and the unpredictability of Washington is scaring some investors. Businessman Steve Wynn was on CNBC recently making his case.
So he’s going to reallocate his operations because China – a nominally Communist nation – is more predictable and friendly to business than our nation. Shameful.
Then again, in this video from CEI we see government run amok. While they bill the video as humorous, is this really all that far-fetched?
The cold hard reality of our economic future is detailed in this short piece.
Yes, we are basically making money out of thin air, tangling ourselves hopelessly in a web of debt.
I referred to this video earlier today in an Examiner piece, but financial crunches are affecting government all the way down to the local level. While I find there’s a little too much grandstanding in this example, the problem is real.
Maybe we all should just say screw it and rock. Ballyhoo! is an Aberdeen-based band soon to embark on another national tour of clubs and the occasional opening slot for other artists. They’re already popular on the college circuit as this video from a University of Delaware stop shows (some language NSFW).
A nice, summery groove. Can’t be dead serious all the time, can we? Until next time, enjoy the weekend.
Friday night videos – episode 31
Back to politics again after my foray into local music. Let’s see what I can dig up here, all right?
The other day it was Earth Day and needless to say I don’t go in for the hype – neither does Mario Lewis of the Competitive Enterprise Institute.
Three guys who were too much into Earth Day are Senators John Kerry, Lindsey Graham, and Joe Lieberman. They are a creative bunch, though, as they spin cap and tax. Again, from CEI:
Speaking of big government, the Environmental Protection Agency has a video contest going to explain why government regulations are a good thing. Needless to say, someone had to poke fun at it – why not the gang at Americans for Prosperity?
This spotlight is on a group which wants government regulation (in the form of higher taxes) to fatten their coffers.
Perhaps the Maryland GOP can borrow this from their California brethren?
Instead, our state is faced with too many voters like this group Bob McCarty found at an Illinois rally.
This is the same rally where TEA Partiers were greeted by a riot squad.
A protest of a different sort occurred right here in Maryland. Disaffected workers in the film industry aren’t too happy with our present governor – WBAL reports.
Newt Gingrich always has something to say as well. Here he talks about President Obama’s “secular socialist machine.”
I wrote about Daniel “The Whig Man” Vovak earlier this week as he proposed to legalize pot. Nick Gillespie of the Reason Foundation agrees.
But I didn’t forget local music! Here’s the hard-rocking Christian group Not My Own recorded live (not by me) at Circles in Milford, Delaware.
Until next time, that’s a wrap.
The coalition is fading fast
It hasn’t been well-publicized but over the last week three corporations withdrew their membership from the U.S. Climate Action Partnership – Conoco, BP America, and Caterpillar cut ties with the group in the wake of recent questions about the accuracy of the data used to support manmade global warming.
As Myron Ebell from the Competitive Enterprise Institute noted:
In dropping out of the U. S. Climate Action Partnership, BP America, Conoco Phillips, and Caterpillar are recognizing that cap-and-trade legislation is dead in the U. S. Congress and that global warming alarmism is collapsing rapidly. We hope that other major corporations will soon see the light and drop their support for cap-and-trade and other energy-rationing legislation.
These announcements are most welcome, but they do not mean that we can relax our efforts to defeat and roll back energy-rationing legislation and regulations. Many policies and proposals that would raise energy prices through the roof for American consumers and destroy millions of jobs in energy-intensive industries still pose a huge threat. These include the EPA’s decision to regulate greenhouse gas emissions using the Clean Air Act, environmental pressure group efforts to use the Endangered Species Act to stop energy production and new power plants, the higher fuel economy standards for new passenger vehicles enacted in 2007, presidential executive orders, and bills in Congress to require more renewable electricity, higher energy efficiency standards for buildings, and low carbon transportation fuel standards.
Worthy of note that the three dropouts are two energy companies and a heavy equipment manufacturer, companies which would likely be in favor of alternative energy if they felt it were a profitable way to go.
Frankly, I was a little surprised to see my friend Jane Van Ryan downplay the withdrawal of two energy companies given her closeness to the situation. Then again, she points out that the unraveling of the climate change hoax is happening on many levels – everything from record cold and snowfall across the country to “hiding the decline” to the legislative failures both she and Ebell point out.
Yet big corporations are keen about shifting sides in a debate when they sense they’re no longer on the winning side. Most Americans don’t mind the occasional recycling program and taking other steps to protect the environment – that is until they feel compliance switches from voluntary to mandatory, as it would for cap and tax and other government mandates. As you’ll see Sunday (can you say foreshadowing?) the Audi “green police” commercial hit close to home because it’s just believable enough to be discomforting.
In the meantime, this may be a good opportunity to reward these companies for their farsightedness and belief in capitalism. Certainly they’re still going to have their lobbyists bending the ears of federal and state legislators, but at least in this way they have determined that government won’t be the solution to the problem.
Political Buzz Examiner
Syndicate
Subscribe to this site's RSS feed.
-
-
-
Advertise with monoblogue and you’ll reach a lot of people!
Click on the photo for details.
Link to Maryland Democratic Party
In the interest of being fair and balanced, I provide this service to readers. But before you click on the picture below, just remember their message:
Locals flock to monoblogue
Click on the photo for details on advertising opportunities.
Please note that the opinions expressed on monoblogue are not necessarily those of the Wicomico County Republican Party Central Committee, of which I'm a member. (But they probably should be.)
