feed/feed_name/ $now Thoughts From A Small Room by dodrian Hype Dark politics/734/ 2009-01-19T12:30:52Z 2009-01-19T12:30:52Z Increased average surface temperature will <br /> likely result in:<br /> <br /> <ul><li>- Expanded tropics - the tropical regions of Earth contain the greatest concentration and largest diversity of life than anywhere else in the known Universe!</li><br /> <li>- Longer growing seasons - more plants and more food, allowing smaller plots of land to support larger populations.</li><br /> <li>- Fewer temperature-related deaths - cold weather kills more people than warm weather.</li> </ul><br /> <br /> Yet environmentalists have decreed that the average temperature of the Earth just before widespread industrialization is the perfect temperature and needs <br /> to be preserved at all cost.<br /> <br /> Politicians have all too quickly jumped on the "stop global warming!" bandwagon, and are clambering over each other to implement the fiercest restrictions and most ambitious programs under the guise of "protecting the environment". Consider what harm similar hasty decisions have done in the past:<br /> <br /> <ul><li>- Banning of DDT - Pressure from environmental lobbiests led to an international ban of this supposedly dangerous chemical. Since then, millions of Africans have died from malaria, a disease which given today's technology should be preventable. DDT, if used properly, could stop the spread of this horrific disease at almost no risk to humans or livestock.</li><br /> <li>- Biofuels - President Bush's legislation requiring a certain proportion of fuel used in cars to come from 'renewable' sources. Government subsidies for <br /> growing biofuels led to less land being used for food, driving up the price of basic foods. </li></ul><br /> <br /> Current environmental policies look to be just as damaging. Barack Obama was quoted during his campaign as saying he would destroy the coal industry, a source of cheap, domestic energy and thousands of jobs. Despite huge investments in renewable energy, we are still heavily dependant on fossil fuels, and taxes or cap-and-trade programs will drive up energy prices, hurting most those society is supposed to protect, the poor. <br /> <br /> Politicians need to slow down and consider the long term implications of the legislation they write, instead of trying to ride the protecting-the-Earth feel-good factor through the next election. The global warming hysteria brought about by the media, public figures and politicians will cause more harm than good. politics/699/ 2008-11-10T00:03:18Z 2008-11-10T00:03:18Z President-Elect Obama's agenda has mysteriously disappeared from his website. Luckily, I found it in the Google's <a href="http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:iqYgxa-<br /> VttYJ:change.gov/agenda/economy+Obama+economy+change.gov&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=4&cli<br /> ent=safari">cache</a>, and web-archived it so I can study the changes if it reappears later.<br /> <br /> Quoted from the cached website:<br /> <br /> <ul><li><b>Enact a Windfall Profits Tax to Provide a $1,000 Emergency Energy Rebate to American Families</b></li><br /> <li><b>Continue to fight for Employee Free Choice Act's passage</b> [removes the need of a secret ballot to unionize a business]</li><br /> <li><b>ban the permanent replacement of striking workers</b></li><br /> <li><b> Raise the Minimum Wage</b></li></ul><br /> From the (also missing) healthcare page:<br /> <ul><li><b> pay for his $50 - $65 billion health care reform effort by rolling back the Bush tax cuts for Americans earning more than $250,000 </b></li></ul><br /> The points listed here are easily enough to turn a recession into a depression. A windfall profits tax on the industry which is already paying the highest taxes on record sends extremely bad signals, doubly so if you consider how essential yet volatile the energy market is already.<br /> <br /> Raising the minimum wage leads to higher unemployment, and raising taxes, even if only on the wealthy slows economic growth. Thankfully there appear to be no plans to make tax increases retroactive as the Clinton tax increases were. Raising taxes doesn't even guarantee increased revenue, <br /> in fact, the Bush tax cuts in early 2001 (which I might add only made the tax code more progressive, so much for only affecting the wealthy) raised record amounts for the treasury.<br /> <br /> Other points mentioned on the website, such as "Establish a credit card Bill of Rights", and "Cap Outlandish Interest Rates" may seem like good ideas, and I would certainly like to see the disappearance of loan-sharks, but represent a worrying amount of government control over private enterprise. Obama's involvement with ACORN, an organization which sued banks over their reluctance to provide mortgages to unqualified people on the basis of wealth discrimination is troubling, and the Democratic Party's involvement with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae even more so. Legislating to require clearer disclosure of loan agreements can be a good thing, but telling a business it cannot set a certain price is very worrying.<br /> <br /> It is a shame that President-Elect Obama's record is poor, and his policies remain unchanged from the standard Democratic Party platform. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope I am wrong about President-elect Obama and his agenda, and wish him and the incoming administration the best of luck. May he be the greatest President America has ever seen.