May 15, 2008

the obligatory response to the california gay marriage decision

My take on it is that I personally don't really care one way or the other on gay marriage itself, I'm fine with it, mostly because I'm indifferent to it one way or the other.  I don't really think government is well served being in the marriage game anyway.  I'm not onboard with the cultural panic brigades

http://i180.photobucket.com/albums/x73/doubleplusundeadmeenu/ohnoesiy6.gif

who are freaking out and declaring that next people will be fucking wombats and Michael Moore with the government nod of approval because of this ruling, and that a vengeful Ol' Testament God will smite our asses for letting the Sodomites run wild and free.  Every time this issue comes up it tends to bring out a lot of nastiness toward gay people, which I find to be repellent.

My concern lies with the precedent set by the court in just deciding to declare it legal.  No pun intended here, but my worry is that door can swing both ways when it comes to judges making legislative decisions that are effectively creation of law.  Just because I'm fine with gay marriage doesn't make me a supporter of this decision. 

More than anything, I'm worried about the precedent these sorts of rulings set for other judges who may decide to restrict our liberties.  Judges should not be in the business of declaring things law, but declaring if laws written by the legislative bodies are constitutional or legal.  They should only be in the business of declaring laws constitutionally valid or invalid, and that is it.

If California or any other states pass a bill through the legislature or referendum endorsing gay marriage, I'll be supportive of them, but I can't bring myself to be supportive of this ruling.  To me, the cultural slapfight is nothing but an annoying, obnoxious distraction from the biggest issue, and that is what we can do to keep our government (in this case, the Judiciary) controlled and in check.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 02:26 PM | Comments (27) | Add Comment
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May 12, 2008

the new wpa

Our leadership in DC and state capitals are absolutely worthless when it comes to energy policy, instead of freeing up the market and/or making wise investments in energy production, our political class is turning our energy grid into a 21st century New WPA. 

The federal government threw $16.6 billion in subsidies and grants at energy producers in 2007, which was double the amount handed out eight years ago.  The WSJ has an editorial up on the absolute mind-numbing idiocy of these green energy proposals.  Here's a comparison of how much money goes to different energy sources, done by the independent US Energy Information Administration,

For electricity generation, the EIA concludes that solar energy is subsidized to the tune of $24.34 per megawatt hour, wind $23.37 and "clean coal" $29.81. By contrast, normal coal receives 44 cents, natural gas a mere quarter, hydroelectric about 67 cents and nuclear power $1.59.


And don't think they forgot the ethanol,

The same study also looked at federal subsidies for non-electrical energy production, such as for fuel. It found that ethanol and biofuels receive $5.72 per British thermal unit of energy produced. That compares to $2.82 for solar and $1.35 for refined coal, but only three cents per BTU for natural gas and other petroleum liquids.


And of course, the amount of tax dollars the green energy money sinks are going to take in is going to increase as politicians jump on the bandwagon and start pounding the podium demanding more funds for green energy before The Global Warming Destroys Us AllTM.  I guarantee they won't even go for the good, sensible choice like the nuclear reactors, they'll go for the stupid choices like solar panels and windmills, which are the ditch digging tasks of the New WPA. 

All the new green energy jobs that Obama, Hillary and to a lesser extent McCain are promising to create are frauds, meant to convince the masses that increased demands for energy are being met, and done so in an environmentally clean fashion.  The green energy madness isn't confined to Washington DC either, you can probably find it in your own state capital too.

Posted by: doubleplusundead at 01:43 PM | Comments (4) | Add Comment
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