Spending Our Way to Ruin

Okay, I've had enough. I withheld posting on politics during the election cycle, but now the fools and tools in Congress and our Chief Executive of Hope and Change are about to commit highway robbery of unprecedented proportions. First the House passes a bill that is estimated to cost the American taxpayers $820 Billion. I might point out that only Democrats voted for this, with 11 D's crossing over to vote 'nay'. Now the Senate - at least the Dems and a couple spend-happy Republicans - seems poised to agree to about $800 Billion.

Let's be clear here. This is not "economic stimulus". It is government spending, pure and simple. Obama said so. (Sorry about the Canadian thing, but this was the best version I could find quickly.) What is the difference you ask. Well, stimulus implies that you get some sort of positive ripple effect through the economy or boost in total value (GDP). Supposedly, we will see more jobs, better incomes, and such. This spending will not achieve this goal because it is no different than the typical congressional appropriation. These bills just buy stuff for government - federal, state, and local. There is no real investment of the sort that individuals and businesses make to create added value. Think of it this way. The feds are going to pay a lot of people to build federal offices, install computers, pave roads, etc. So beyond the paychecks of these select, lucky people there will be no value added to the national economy. At the same time, a massive amount of money will be taken out of private hands, which means that when creative and innovative folks come along saying, "Hey, I have a great idea for a better mousetrap", there will be no money for them to do it. So the jobs that would have otherwise been created at the new mousetrap factory, jobs that would last more than the time it takes to install a faucet in a national park outhouse, will never materialize. Here's an even simplier analogy: Could you ever afford to buy the things you really want or repair your car or house, or save for retirement, if you were constantly giving your hard-earned money to your wacky neighbor who only used your cash to add more garden gnomes and floodlights to his yard?

The other important fact is that Congress has to borrow or print all this money, or both. None of those are good options for our nation. First borrowing. We all agree that the root of our economic problems is the reck-loose borrowing and spending of consumers and businesses. Now we are being asked, in a most insulting way, to believe that the way out of our debt is to take on more debt for things we don't really need. Second, printing cash. Inflation. INFLATION. INFLATION! Click here if you don't know why inflation is a bad, bad, bad thing for America.

Speaking of debt... Think you are a fiscally responsible person, with a handle on credit card and consumer debt? Think debt isn't a problem in your life. Oh, aren't you a cute little deluded American. The recently-retired Comptroller of the Currency, the guy who is basically the head bookkeeper for the US, estimates that each American (not just taxpayer, each American) owes $184,000 on the national debt. And that figure keeps rising. Sooner or later, that bill will come due in the form of much higher taxes on everyone.

Back to this spending spree package. What's in it? Good question. The bill from the House is almost 200 pages long and sheds little light on what we taxpayers are actually spending money on. However, here are a few choice porkers:

• $2.825 Billion for broadband internet for rural communities.
• $650 Million for coupons for analog-to-digital television converters
• $140 Million for "climate modeling" (I thought the science was settled on that one?)
• $7.7 Billion for the Federal Buildings Fund
• $150 Million for the Smithsonian
• $50 Million for the National Endowment of the Arts

It just goes on and on, the wasteful, special interest-payback, vote-buying spending. In many cases, such as spending for the Dept. of Education, the appropriation in this emergency "stimulus" bill is twice the normal annual budget amount! The extra shame is that all this pork will inevitably be added to the federal baseline, meaning that it will be used to calculate next year's budgets. So, in a few strokes of the pen, government will have ballooned in size, power, and thirst for our money, all under the disguise of helping the little guy and gal.

All is not lost - yet. The Senate has not voted and the president hasn't signed anything into law. Take this opportunity to call, fax, email and generally pester your elected representatives into stopping this raid on our wallets and liberty. Because that's what this is all about - making everyone a recipient of government welfare. And that's just another way of saying losing your freedom. WE THE PEOPLE deserve much better. We deserve to be respected and listened to by our government. But only if we speak up. Go now and give them your opinion.

Get out your geiger counters

I filed this story away when it first came out but never got around to blogging 'bout it. Then the whiskey power plant news drifted across my monitor and reminded of this gem: Mini nuclear reactors!

Yes, a company is going to market a "garden shed"-sized reactor. The technology was developed by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (think Manhattan Project) and the federal government has given their okay. The CEO of the firm leading this radioactive charge explains:

"Our goal is to generate electricity for 10 cents a watt anywhere in the world. They will cost approximately $25m each. For a community with 10,000 households, that is a very affordable $250 per home."

So far it seems that the only orders are coming from utility providers and infrastructure builders. Call it the ultimate back-up (or primary) generator. But don't expect them to show up in Home Depot any time soon. I know, I was bummed out too. From a practical standpoint, however, this could be a boon to the developing world, where electricity can be scarce. And security is virtually a none-issue because the reactor design is ancient at 50+ years old (physics grad students use way more advanced stuff all the time), the reactors are buried in concrete underground, and there are no moving parts.

All you aspiring Dr. Evils our there, start saving your pennies because this baby would be the perfect complement to a villain lair.

On a somewhat related note, I picked up a new book entitled A Nuclear Family Vacation: Travels in the World of Atomic Weaponry by Nathan Hodge and Sharon Weinberger. Haven't started reading yet, but I'm giddy with anticipation.



Update: Great book. Highly recommended for anyone, particularly those interested in nuclear science, the military, history, or foreign affairs. Among the more memorable parts, and something that underscores a theme of the book, was when the current military officer in charge of our nuclear missiles couldn't remember the term M.A.D. How the world has changed in just a decade or so!

Scotland Runnin' on Whiskey. Literally.

Those inventive Scots have done it again. Not content to power themselves with whiskey, the plaid-clad tinkerers are going to power their electrical grid with the water of life. Approval has been granted for a group of distillers to build a biomass-fueled power plant Speyside. The biomass of course being the whiskey mash and related by products of the distilling process. When operational, the plant should generate about 7.2 megawatts.

Never mind the arguments over green power and climate change, I say this is the future. The more we imbibe, the more we can consume, so to speak. Seriously, though, this is innovation - doing more with what we have at hand, and what was before basically waste. I think I'll go open another bottle of Black Label to help make sure the project gets off to a good start.

Full article