Fiscal Fun in a Vermont Town!
What a great story!
Only in Vermont do people want to turn a silk purse into a sow's ear. For Fair Haven taxpayers to complain about a town surplus of a million dollars, apparently created by sound fiscal discipline, is hilarious. If I get this right, past and current taxpayers are upset because future taxpayers will get a break as this surplus is spent on the town budget. Frugality is derided...this must be the American way... because consumers routinely overspend their personal resources, they find their town's frugality troubling. What a laugh!
Every Vermont town should be so lucky. Fair Haven had better watch out because maybe the State of Vermont will find a way to get their hands on some of this surplus.
September 30, 2007
Sudden Surplus Arises as Threat to Ethanol Boom - New York Times
The Rule of Law in Play: The Law of Supply and Demand
Ethanol as a substitute/complement for gasoline is running afoul of the law of supply and demand. Too much ethanol, too many distilleries under construction and a distribution bottleneck. This will work itself out in time, but I wonder if anyone will have the courage to tally the total cost to the taxpayers who are subsidizing this fandango?
In an earlier post I compared ethanol as a fuel with wind power as a source of electricity suggesting that neither are free of problems and are only a drop in the bucket compared to our total energy needs. In the long run, electricity is our best bet for energy and transportation generated from nuclear plants.
The radioactive waste issue can be solved. France is doing it. To change the attitudes in the U.S. about nuclear will require an overhaul of our federal, state and local thinking. Nothing will succeed better than energy price increases, which are coming as surely as death and taxes, to change the public view of nukes.
Ethanol as a substitute/complement for gasoline is running afoul of the law of supply and demand. Too much ethanol, too many distilleries under construction and a distribution bottleneck. This will work itself out in time, but I wonder if anyone will have the courage to tally the total cost to the taxpayers who are subsidizing this fandango?
In an earlier post I compared ethanol as a fuel with wind power as a source of electricity suggesting that neither are free of problems and are only a drop in the bucket compared to our total energy needs. In the long run, electricity is our best bet for energy and transportation generated from nuclear plants.
The radioactive waste issue can be solved. France is doing it. To change the attitudes in the U.S. about nuclear will require an overhaul of our federal, state and local thinking. Nothing will succeed better than energy price increases, which are coming as surely as death and taxes, to change the public view of nukes.
September 29, 2007
The Entitlements People - New York Times
Fiscal and Leadership Crises - Allies in "Mardi Gras" Thinking
David Brooks nails it. Newt Gingrich tries to add visibility to it with his American Solutions initiative, but current national leadership does nothing about the fiscal crisis facing this country. How long will we pretend that the train is still on the rails when the federal government spends without restraint on entitlements (even the word for this loaded with expectations that all this spending is necessary and right)?
David Brooks nails it. Newt Gingrich tries to add visibility to it with his American Solutions initiative, but current national leadership does nothing about the fiscal crisis facing this country. How long will we pretend that the train is still on the rails when the federal government spends without restraint on entitlements (even the word for this loaded with expectations that all this spending is necessary and right)?
"In the different reality, everybody plays by Mardi Gras rules. The norms are different, masks are worn and certain unpleasant facts fall away. Presidential candidates vow to offset the cost of health care plans through “cost savings” measures, and everybody pretends those savings are actually real. Republicans promise tax cuts and people pretend those pledges are not absurd. Democrats vow to pay for their grand spending plans by raising taxes on the rich, even though each one percent increase in the top tax rate only produces $6 billion in revenue. The Mardi Gras norms are built on a fiction — that the current budgetary path is sustainable — and once you enter that fiction, then all sorts of other fictions become necessary and trickery piles upon trickery until all the standards of behavior are turned upside down."
Altered iPhones Freeze Up - New York Times
The iBrick
Funderburg states my sentiments. Apple may have botched the pricing of what appears to be a wonderful new product, but caveat emptor is always appropriate. I have no sympathy for hackers or people who screwed up their phones by installing the hack. Apple should not be blamed for the poor decisions of an iPhone owner, yet the chorus is rising for lawsuits against Apple.
Hacking the iPhone for use on other networks is really dumb despite the growing frustration with the cell industry's 'walled garden' business model in the U.S.
Funderburg states my sentiments. Apple may have botched the pricing of what appears to be a wonderful new product, but caveat emptor is always appropriate. I have no sympathy for hackers or people who screwed up their phones by installing the hack. Apple should not be blamed for the poor decisions of an iPhone owner, yet the chorus is rising for lawsuits against Apple.
Hacking the iPhone for use on other networks is really dumb despite the growing frustration with the cell industry's 'walled garden' business model in the U.S.
"J. Noah Funderburg, an assistant dean at the University of Alabama School of Law in Tuscaloosa and a longtime Mac user, had little sympathy for iPhone hot-rodders. “Anyone who hacks must know that they are taking certain risks,” Mr. Funderburg said. ”If they aren’t willing to assume the risks upfront — like a brick iPhone — then maybe they should not hack the device. “We have a free marketplace,” he said. “Buy a product, including using it on the terms accompanying the purchase, or don’t buy it. And learn to live with not always getting everything you want.”"
September 28, 2007
Life at the Bottom - Worldview that Makes an Underclass
Theodore Dalrymple believes that poverty as demonstrated in the 'underclass' is caused in great part by the world view and policies of uninformed liberal thinking and actions. He ably describes poverty in spiritual, emotional, rational and financial terms as seen through the lens of his profession. As a doctor who has worked for many years in hospitals serving the underclass and in prisons in a large English city and, earlier in life, in Africa, he describes what he has observed in a series of essays comprising this book.
Many readers will not agree with his conclusions because they (erroneously) believe that having too little money is the root cause of poverty. Dalrymple thinks that the modern liberal thinking is the root cause of the mess that poor people experience. He makes a strong case against the common belief that lack of money is the root cause of poverty.
Dalrymple believes that 'values neutrality,' and multi-culturalism, among other beliefs and ideologies espoused by liberal academics and policy makers, have created a kind of nihilism in people. He posits this thinking has resulted in the general debasement of culture. This replacement of more positive values such as education, family, hard work, sacrifice, deferred gratification, etc., in the culture, he believes, is the prime cause of poverty in all its forms. It produces bad choices and actions by people and fosters their continued poverty.
Worth a read for those who care about culture, and the gradual erosion of positive values.
Many readers will not agree with his conclusions because they (erroneously) believe that having too little money is the root cause of poverty. Dalrymple thinks that the modern liberal thinking is the root cause of the mess that poor people experience. He makes a strong case against the common belief that lack of money is the root cause of poverty.
Dalrymple believes that 'values neutrality,' and multi-culturalism, among other beliefs and ideologies espoused by liberal academics and policy makers, have created a kind of nihilism in people. He posits this thinking has resulted in the general debasement of culture. This replacement of more positive values such as education, family, hard work, sacrifice, deferred gratification, etc., in the culture, he believes, is the prime cause of poverty in all its forms. It produces bad choices and actions by people and fosters their continued poverty.
Worth a read for those who care about culture, and the gradual erosion of positive values.
September 24, 2007
Corn Ethanol: Biofuel or Biofraud? - Wheels - Autos - New York Times Blog
Corn Ethanol: Biofuel or Biofraud? - Wheels - Autos - New York Times Blog
If this analysis is correct, and I believe it is, ethanol from corn is a far bigger boondoggle for auto fuel than wind is for energy. If we were truly serious about increasing our energy supply, decreasing dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gases, we would build nuclear plants and fortify the transmission grid to dramatically increase the supply of electricity. At the same time we would move boldly to electric cars that would be plugged in to the grid for recharging.
The technology for all of this is reasonably well established. Why dither about wind and solar when nuclear can do the job far more efficiently?
I'm really frustrated by the nibbling at the edges of our energy problem rather than confronting it head on. Too many oxen will be gored in the process, I'm afraid.
If this analysis is correct, and I believe it is, ethanol from corn is a far bigger boondoggle for auto fuel than wind is for energy. If we were truly serious about increasing our energy supply, decreasing dependence on foreign oil and reducing greenhouse gases, we would build nuclear plants and fortify the transmission grid to dramatically increase the supply of electricity. At the same time we would move boldly to electric cars that would be plugged in to the grid for recharging.
The technology for all of this is reasonably well established. Why dither about wind and solar when nuclear can do the job far more efficiently?
I'm really frustrated by the nibbling at the edges of our energy problem rather than confronting it head on. Too many oxen will be gored in the process, I'm afraid.
September 23, 2007
Rising Seas Likely to Flood U.S. History - New York Times
Rising Seas Likely to Flood U.S. History - New York Times
If these projections are correct, we'd better spend our billions to protect vital infrastructure, encourage people at risk to move inland and make shore front properties at risk so costly to own, that people will choose to move their businesses/residences. Frittering away money to 'prevent' climate change seems a far lower priority than dealing with the inevitable, assuming it is inevitable.
Realistically, though, Americans are unable to act resolutely unless a crisis is imminent. Asking our government to curtail spending and establishing a 'Flood Fund for the Future' by taxing those whose properties are at risk is equally improbable, I suppose.
If these projections are correct, we'd better spend our billions to protect vital infrastructure, encourage people at risk to move inland and make shore front properties at risk so costly to own, that people will choose to move their businesses/residences. Frittering away money to 'prevent' climate change seems a far lower priority than dealing with the inevitable, assuming it is inevitable.
Realistically, though, Americans are unable to act resolutely unless a crisis is imminent. Asking our government to curtail spending and establishing a 'Flood Fund for the Future' by taxing those whose properties are at risk is equally improbable, I suppose.
September 22, 2007
Government Beneficiaries
Creeping Socialism
The chart at this link shows that more and more Americans are dependent on Government for their livelihood as the years pass. For Government Beneficiaries, the data apparently includes government workers, contractors, recipients of government benefits and their dependents. I wonder if I'm counted because I receive Medicare benefits?
Argue with the data if you will, but I think it's obvious that America is heading to a socialistic state. Many factors drive this including the growth in government spending, the export of America's manufacturing base, and the 'you owe me/take care of my needs and wants' mentality that inexorably increases year after year as people become more dependent on government. This quote rings truer every time I read it:
"The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivaly of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise." (Emphasis added)
-Mark Twain
The chart at this link shows that more and more Americans are dependent on Government for their livelihood as the years pass. For Government Beneficiaries, the data apparently includes government workers, contractors, recipients of government benefits and their dependents. I wonder if I'm counted because I receive Medicare benefits?
Argue with the data if you will, but I think it's obvious that America is heading to a socialistic state. Many factors drive this including the growth in government spending, the export of America's manufacturing base, and the 'you owe me/take care of my needs and wants' mentality that inexorably increases year after year as people become more dependent on government. This quote rings truer every time I read it:
"The mania for giving the Government power to meddle with the private affairs of cities or citizens is likely to cause endless trouble, through the rivaly of schools and creeds that are anxious to obtain official recognition, and there is great danger that our people will lose our independence of thought and action which is the cause of much of our greatness, and sink into the helplessness of the Frenchman or German who expects his government to feed him when hungry, clothe him when naked, to prescribe when his child may be born and when he may die, and, in time, to regulate every act of humanity from the cradle to the tomb, including the manner in which he may seek future admission to paradise." (Emphasis added)
-Mark Twain
» Long-term storm clouds brewing over AT&T, Verizon Wireless | Between the Lines | ZDNet.com
The wireless carriers' walled garden business model is under serious long-term threat from 'open access' spectrum auctions by the FCC. It's no wonder that Verizon has appealed the proposed rules for the 700 MHz auction in 2009.
Stock prices do not seem to be affected, though.
Stock prices do not seem to be affected, though.
September 20, 2007
The French Revolution - New York Times
The French Revolution - New York Times
Cohen's piece exposes the hypocrisy that is/was France and shows that President Nicolas Sarkozy is a leader largely unencumbered with the barnacles of French Socialism and haughty attitudes. I have not been a fan of France or French attitudes since DeGaulle kicked out American military bases in 1966 when he withdrew from NATO. I was in the Army in Germany at the time and we received a huge influx of supplies to store.
Perhaps Sarkozy has a chance to get the country back on track as a useful ally in Western civilization rather than mired in the patronizing muck of their own pride and wrong-headed Socialism. Perhaps more Frenchmen will be come productive workers rather than expecting government handouts.
I might even consider buying French wine again, despite its inflated reputation.
Cohen's piece exposes the hypocrisy that is/was France and shows that President Nicolas Sarkozy is a leader largely unencumbered with the barnacles of French Socialism and haughty attitudes. I have not been a fan of France or French attitudes since DeGaulle kicked out American military bases in 1966 when he withdrew from NATO. I was in the Army in Germany at the time and we received a huge influx of supplies to store.
Perhaps Sarkozy has a chance to get the country back on track as a useful ally in Western civilization rather than mired in the patronizing muck of their own pride and wrong-headed Socialism. Perhaps more Frenchmen will be come productive workers rather than expecting government handouts.
I might even consider buying French wine again, despite its inflated reputation.
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