Duncan Hunter Endorses Who?
January 23, 2008
I’m not quite certain what to think of this, but Rep. Duncan Hunter, former Republican candidate for president - that almost nobody has ever heard of - exited the race earlier this week (or last week) and has endorsed Gov. Mike Huckabee. I’m scratching my head on this one, and so is Michelle Malkin.
The next question is who will Fred Thompson endorse - if anyone?
Fred Thompson to Leave Republican Race for President
January 22, 2008
Update: He’s out.
It looks like Fred is out. He started off slow and never really got going. Some people might say that he did not want it bad enough. Personally, I think he really wanted to serve, but it was not in his nature to deal with all of the crap that was required to run. He also has not dedicated the last 20 years of his life to prepare for running.
Some people might say that he started too late. Are they kidding? The nature of the business - running for president - is now a four year process. No kidding. It should not be a four year process.
The other issue was that he’s not considered a “sound bite” candidate. He’s more deep than that, and the media looses interest if you can not provide them a good sound bite that is under 10 seconds. Those 10 second answers suit the populist candidates quite well. All they need to do is say that they understand the needs of the people and feel their pain. Then they say they will fix it.
Crap, all crap.
As far as I can tell, he’s the only Republican candidate that had a chance and was a true conservative, not a Regan conservative - I don’t care about that - I just want a conservative thank you very much.
The next question is whether Thompson is willing to stump for another candidate, and maybe consider the vice president position on the ticket.
If he throws his support to McCain, he may tick-off more conservatives. Right now, I guess my hope would be to have him toss his support to Romney.
Can Hugo Destroy Venezuela in Record Time?
January 21, 2008
Hugo Chavez is on a mission. A mission to destroy the country of Venezuela and crush the spirit of the people. Here we have an emerging socialist country, doing it’s best to emulate the failure of Castro’s Cuba, and Chavez may just be able to pull it off in record time.
In 2003, price controls on food staples were introduced in Venezuela to try to fight rising consumer prices. The list included all the basics: sugar, eggs, milk, beans, eggs, chicken, beef and more. Chavez has also demanded (it’s now the law) that banks provide loans to agriculture-related businesses at 15 percent, and extend the loan periods from an average three years, out to 20 years.
Since the current inflation rate in the country is upwards of 22 percent, and it’s becoming difficult to locate price-controlled food, the plan is not working out for Hugo. People are pissed off. The results have been disastrous.
These government decisions to, in effect, crush the Venezuelan economy, offer our readers an opportunity for another economics lesson.
Let’s say you’re a farmer in Kentucky. It costs you a certain amount of money to run the farm including planting, harvesting, employee costs, water, other utilities and maintenance of equipment. You grow corn, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky has instituted price controls that require you sell the corn for no more than $10 per bushel. The government feels that corn has gotten too expensive for the people. It’s just not fair, they had to do something.
As you review your costs, you calculate that it costs you $12 to produce a bushel of corn. Since the government has dictated the price of $10, you have to make some decisions. If you follow the new law, you’re going to loose your farm. Your choices are to stop farming, change your crop from corn to something else, or ship your corn out of state where you can make a profit. (The going rate in Virgina for corn is $13.50.)
This is exactly what’s happening in Venezuela, and is a clear example of what happens when a government institutes price controls on a product.
From CNNMoney.com (emphasis added):
Government officials have attributed the shortages to greed among retailers, accusing them of hoarding products for months to later sell them at inflated prices.
During Saturday’s meeting, Chavez said that “contraband” - illegal exports to neighboring countries - was partly to blame for the shortages.
Many foods fetch much higher prices in neighboring Colombia and the Caribbean, which has driven some businesses to sidestep customs requirements and smuggle goods over the border, Chavez said.
“This is a problem that we must remedy,” he said. “If the National Guard isn’t enough to patrol our border, I’ll have to deploy the entire army along the highways and byways to stop the contraband.”
What’s wrong with this picture? The farmers in Venezuela have a choice and they are making good decisions. If the farmers just stop producing anything, will Chavez deploy the entire army to all of the farms to demand that crops are planted, harvested and taken away? I’d call that slavery, pure and simple.
He’s also demanded that banks provide loans at rates lower than the inflation rate. From the same story as above:
“The law must be applied,” he [Chavez] said at a televised meeting with farmers on the weekend. Any bank that didn’t comply “should be seized”.
Mr Chavez also announced his Government had approved legislation establishing a maximum 15 percent interest rate on agriculture-related loans and extending payment deadlines from three to 20 years.
The same economics theory applies here. Since the banks are private entities - as they should be - they must be able to make a profit. We can discuss what a reasonable profit is at another time, but they still need to make a profit or they (bank shareholders) will simply close down the bank and find something better to do with their investments. Of course, Chavez has threatened to seize the banks that do not comply, so they better close the branches and accounts quickly and quietly.
But hey, with gas prices in Venezuela under a quarter per gallon - that’s right under 25 cents per gallon - who needs chicken?
Border Patrol Agent Killed in Arizona
January 20, 2008
Why are these border incursions buried by the news media? From signonsandiego.com:
A U.S. Border Patrol agent was killed yesterday morning when he was intentionally struck by a Hummer fleeing law enforcement officers in the Imperial Sand Dunes near Yuma, Ariz.
This happened on Saturday morning, with news breaking probably about 24 hours ago.
Look, we are becoming way to “politically correct” in these situations. The border patrol agents know that they are being watched by people who are in power and do not think they (agents) are needed at all - the open borders crowd. Since every move they make is being watched, they feel they need to use the least amount of force possible to stop these felons. Drug dealers and alien smugglers are dangerous felons, and the agents are limited to stop sticks? Come on now!
I think helicopter gunships are in order; maybe even an RPG or two. Allow deadly force to stop the incursions.
Build the fence. Now. Deport all illegal aliens. Now. Change the law to end the anchor baby program.
Temperature Control in California - DOA
January 18, 2008
An initiative to control the thermostats of private homes and businesses has bit the dust.
Investor’s Business Daily had a good review of the proposal on Jan. 15 - only three days ago - and to say that people freaked out about the Big Brother concept is an understatement.
The California Energy Commission has proposed requiring the use of what is called a Programmable Communicating Thermostat (PCT) that would allow government to control the temperature of homes and businesses in the event of high energy prices or shortages.
Nice.
As one outraged consumer said in an e-mail to the commissioner: “We need to build new facilities to handle the growth in the state, not become Big Brothers to the citizens of California.”
Nuclear power, for example, could provide California — and the nation, for that matter — with all the clean electricity needed if the same bureaucrats who propose controlling our thermostats would get out of the way.
But California has banned construction of new nuclear power plants since 1976. Four reactors under construction at that time were allowed to be completed, and Californians should be glad they were.
I bet they are glad those four plants were finished; but they certainly will not admit it.
In less than 72 hours, the plan seems to be DOA. Michelle Malkin provides us with information from SFGate.com.
After a public outcry, commission officials last week said the regulation would be revised so that the devices would still be required, but configured so that customers could override outside control by utilities.
But the agency backed off even more this week by announcing that the proposed remote-controlled thermostats would be dropped entirely from the 2008 edition of the building-efficiency standards.
It does seem that even in California, environmental whackos can go too far.
