Electing Economic Imbeciles

By William L. Garvin

It appears that when you graduate from an Ivy League university, you actually believe you can spend your way into prosperity. George Bush alienated many of his conservative supporters by not vetoing the extravagant Democrat budgets during his term. President Obama, however, makes him look like a comparative skinflint with his outrageous deficit spending. Conservatives bristled when TARP was passed and the Bush administration made choices as to which companies would win or lose. Currently, President Obama and Tim Geithner are in the process of deciding whether or not entire industries will win or lose. Unfortunately, neither of the latter seems to have the slightest grasp on economic reality.

For instance, you hear the President wailing about Big Oil’s “obscene profits” and the need to eliminate the $4 billion in subsidies. Of course, he doesn’t mention the $95 million PER DAY that oil companies pay in taxes. Actually, he doesn’t even understand the subsidy. As Sarah Palin noted: “He does not know…that the four billion dollars that he thinks he’s gonna stick it to Exxon, BP, Conoco Phillips, but no, it’s going to be the independent producers, the explorers that we want out there creating jobs that are going to be hit with an end of subsidies.” Martin Frost, a former Democrat congressman from oil rich Texas confirms that the “percentage depletion” for major oil companies was repealed by Congress in 1975. “The only ones that get percentage depletion anymore are domestic independents who drill most of the wells in the United States and employ four million people,” said Frost. This could also be the first year since 1965 that the government has failed to sell an oil lease in the Gulf of Mexico. No wonder estimates are that our domestic oil production will be down 240,000 barrels per day this year. According to imbecile economics, this has no effect on gasoline prices…what foolishness!

Another example of economic naiveté is the President and California’s love affair with alternative energy. Jumping on the gravy train, Jerry Brown signed into law a mandate that state utilities get 33% of their electricity from alternative sources by 2020. In May, 2010, the president visited Solyndra in Fremont, California, which builds solar panels. He brought along $535 million in Energy Department loans and promised hundreds of new jobs. Solyndra ended up closing a plant, laying off workers, and canceling their IPO because they keep losing money and no smart person wants to invest in this type of venture.

So, did they learn their lesson? No they didn't. Now they are providing $3.7 billion in loan guarantees to Oakland-based solar startups BrightSource and Solar Trust. That’s ten percent of the so called “budget cuts” hammered out by our hammerheads in Washington. The problem is BrightSource has lost $177 million since it started in 2004 and its losses climbed from $43.8 million in 2009 to $71.6 million in 2010. Only the federal government and imbecile economics would spend your tax dollars on a company with such a dismal record. If there was a possibility of success with these ventures, private sector capitalists would be pursuing them with vigor. They are not.

Another case of economic imbecility is found in the “debate” over Medicare. You may recall that Obamacare became “revenue neutral” (sic) by cutting $500 billion from Medicare that supposedly existed in waste and fraud. Democrats unanimously supported this provision against the wishes of the general populace. Recognizing that this did nothing to solve the pending bankruptcy of Medicare, Republican Paul Ryan proposed a plan that would provide for a funding increase for medical care for seniors plus a choice of coverage and Dems went ballistic with their usual “people dying in the streets” hyperbole. Naturally they have yet to present a plan of their own to deal with the pending Medicare insolvency. So are they incompetent, ignorant, or deliberately malevolent?

Margaret Thatcher noted: “The trouble with Socialism is that eventually you run out of other people’s money.” Even if you take one hundred percent of the wealth of all the “rich people ,” you still can’t keep up with the Democrats’ exorbitant spending! Stop electing economic imbeciles!