Would the Last Person to Leave the Department of Energy Please Turn Out the Lights?

All this talk about (and begrudging nostalgia for) Jimmy Carter and his handling of the "energy crisis" of 1977 should have taught us something.



Jimmy Carter established the Department of Energy, as a cabinet level office, in the seventies, which has been described as a "governmental department whose mission is to advance energy technology and promote related innovation in the United States". Because, according to Jimmy Carter, "...we are now running out of gas and oil", and because "...we can have an effective and comprehensive energy policy only if the government takes responsibility for it".



So, in the last thirty four years*, how far have we advanced? And when did we run out of gas and oil? I must not have gotten the memo. How's that whole "government taking responsibility for it" thing working out?



The Big Government types at the time, figured yet another government bureaucracy, accompanied by shoveling tons of money into finding a solution would be our salvation. After over forty years, are we any closer to finding a viable alternative to fuel our economy and our society other than coal and oil?



As has been pointed out countless times, neither solar nor wind is economically feasible, nor has the capacity to provide for our country's energy needs 24/7. Atomic power is anathema to most liberals, who incidentally are against hydroelectric power, because it involves damming waterways, nuclear because of the waste, and oil and coal, because they're idiots.



We have not achieved any breakthrough of any significance in the last thirty years*, is it reasonable to expect one in the next thirty*? No one would be happier than I if Doc Brown's "Mr. Fusion" came into being tomorrow, but does it make sense to hold our economy and our society "hostage" (to use the word the liberals like to use) to some Green pipe dream or fantasy that may never come true?



If we'd had a "Department of Lighting", back before Edison invented his marvelous bulb, I'm sure we'd have the finest kerosene conservation methodology on the planet by now. We could have score of bureaucrats cranking out memos on proper wick trimming, kerosene storage and tips on opening our curtains during the day to conserve kerosene. Government cannot mandate innovation. They can, however, stifle it through over-taxation and over-regulation.



As a young man, I was given the advice, If it is within your power, never quit a job until you have another one lined up. We should plan on using our oil, coal and natural gas until such time as a breakthrough is discovered, for two reasons:

1) It constitutes real wealth now. There is a need and a market for energy today. If coal does become obsolete in twenty years, then, how much is that coal worth sitting in the earth? It is real wealth, today, that can provide real jobs and lower the cost of energy to millions, thus increasing their standard of living and the profitability of American manufacturing.



2) Petroleum is used in manufacturing. The keyboard I am typing on was made from petroleum byproducts. Even if "Mr. Fusion" was invented tomorrow, there would still likely be plastic parts somewhere in the product, and if not there, then in other household goods, and we'd still need petroleum to make them.

It has been pointed out that the "Department of Energy" has never produced any. It has failed in its promise to do anything of any significance in reducing our dependence on foreign oil. In fact, it has done the opposite. It has stood in the way of oil exploration and production. It is said that insanity is "doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results". After thirty plus years*, can we now say that the Department of Energy was a crazy idea and defund it as soon as possible?



(The text of Carter's speech can be found here.)



Cross posted at LCR, Say Anything.

Innumeracy-R-Us in the Democrat Party

Ever notice how, with the Obama administration, the hits just keep on comin'?





Money quote starts at :48

The Obama administration seems to be the new home of economic illiteracy (innumeracy). Remember last December, when Nancy Pelosi (who told us in 2007 that the price of gas was way too high at $2.25 a gallon and she and a Democrat Congress were going to "do something about it"), told us of the economic benefits of unemployment?

"Economists tell us that unemployment insurance returns $2 to the economy for every $1 spent."

-Nancy Pelosi



At that time, I said:

So, for the moment, let's say that the Speaker has her facts straight: Every dollar spent on unemployment insurance returns two dollars to the economy. Would not the reverse be true as well:

For every dollar taken from someone in taxes, two dollars is removed from the economy?



At best, that would be a wash. Factor in that the government is so inefficient in nearly everything it does, the overhead to get that dollar where it is going may siphon off 70 to 80% in bloated government overhead, and you've got a losing proposition.

So, here is Obama's Agriculture Secretary parroting the same economic nonsense. A dollar of food stamps received, for starters, takes more than a dollar to deliver the benefit to the recipient. A lot gets siphoned of in the bureaucracy. But, setting aside for the moment the waste and inefficiency inherent in most government endeavors, the same holds true for food stamps as for unemployment. Before that dollar of food stamps can "generate" (stop laughing!) the mythical $1.84, it must first take a dollar out of the economy, through taxes, which, if left alone, would presumably "generate" the identical amount of economic activity. More, actually, since the overhead is less. The only "economic activity" generated is for the salaries of government bureaucrat, office space to house them, and all the expenses in staffing, heating, cooling and furnishing government offices.



Of course this is an administration that believes we can spend our way out of debt by "spreading the wealth". Tom and Nancy fit right in.



Cross posted at LCR.

Your Tax Dollars at Work: Keeping the US Free of Basketball Hoops and Lemonade Stands

If you are taking medication for high blood pressure, please do not watch the following video:



In tough economic times, and limited government services, is this really the best use of taxpayer funds, law enforcement and government resources?

And just think of the tremendous carbon footprint of all that heavy equipment! /sarc

H/T Donnie Baseball

Prison Doc Highest Paid California Employee - Does Next to Nothing

They'd really rather he do nothing, but I guess there's a law against that!

The highest-paid state employee in California last year, a prison surgeon who took home $777,423, has a history of mental illness, was fired once for alleged incompetence and has not been allowed to treat an inmate for six years because medical supervisors don't trust his clinical skills.

Since July 2005, Dr. Jeffrey Rohlfing has mostly been locked out of his job — on paid leave or fired or fighting his termination — at High Desert State Prison in Susanville, state records show. When he has been allowed inside the facility, he has been relegated to reviewing paper medical histories, what prison doctors call "mailroom" duty.

Just recently, the state was ordered by a judge to reduce the prison population because of "inadequate medical care". Here's a thought: Fire the guy taking home a quarter of a million dollars a year, for doing nothing more than busywork and hire someone in his place who might actually treat the inmates.

I know. That's why I'll never be in politics!

H/T Memeorandum

$2.4 Billion Free for the Asking. Oh, and Maybe you Could Build a Train, Too?

"Governors and members of Congress have been clamoring for the opportunity to participate."
-Ray Lahood

Federal Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced Wednesday that 24 states, including Connecticut, are in competition for a share of the $2.4 billion that his agency plans to disburse. Amtrak and the District of Columbia are also looking for a share.

Gosh. $2.4 Billion (with a "B") in goodies being given away and our Transportation Secretary marvels at how popular the program is!

My guess is, is that if they were giving away government money to build leprechaun fences around unicorn ranches, 24 states and the District of Columbia would be in line for that, too.

Can 2012 get here any sooner? I'll have more on the high speed rail boondoggle soon.

Stimulus: Feds Blow $823,000 on African Genitalia Washing

His, not hers!

Your tax dollars at work! For those of you who didn't think the government spent enough money teaching Chinese hookers how to drink responsibly, (Obama Pays Chinese Hookers) here's where your "stimulus" money is going. (This may be the only time the government uses the word "stimulus" appropriately!) Via Judicial Watch:

On the heels of a scathing report exposing incessant waste in President Obama’s scandal-plagued economic stimulus, a news agency reveals that nearly $1 million in recovery funds have gone to a genitalia-washing program for uncircumcised African men.

If this seems like an inconceivable prank, just take a look at the public university study that received $823,200 in stimulus cash to encourage Africans to undergo voluntary HIV testing and counseling. Specifically, the taxpayer dollars will be used to teach uncircumcised African men how to wash their genitals after having sex. You can’t make this stuff up.

The money from the monstrous $787 billion program Obama promised would jumpstart the economy and put Americans back to work was distributed by the National Institutes of Health. The goal is to stop the spread of AIDS in Africa by convincing uncircumcised men to develop an effective after-sex, genitalia-washing regime. The aim, according to the publicly-funded study, is to evaluate the “feasibility and acceptability of a post-coital male genital hygiene procedure” among Africans unwilling to be circumcised.

Doing the jobs Americans won't do, I guess!