Tuesday, January 22, 2013

BloggeRhythms 1/22/2013

They say timing is everything, proven by today's topic.
 
Yesterday I mentioned Nancy Pelosi's quote illustrating Democrat’s fixation on raising taxes: "We're talking about looking at the tax code, putting everything on the table from the standpoint of closing loopholes - and we know that we can do that - special subsidies for big oil, for example, $38 billion right there. But again, not to take things in isolation, just to say, OK, well, how much more revenue can we get as we go forward?"
 
She continued: "I mean, the president had said originally he wanted $1.6 trillion in revenue. He took it down to $1.2 as a compromise. In this legislation (fiscal cliff) we had $620 billion, very significant, high-end tax - changing the high-end tax rate to 39.6 percent. But that is not enough on the revenue side."
 
Now, today I read an article on Drudge by Richard Pollack, a reporter for the for The Washington Examiner, which says that the “Federal Aviation Administration officials grounded Boeing's fleet of 787 Dreamliner commercial jets last week due to unexplained battery fires, one of President Obama's favorite green energy technologies got another black eye.”
 
According to Mr. Pollack, “Technologists and safety experts had long warned of problems with the lithium ion battery when in 2009 the president began betting billions of tax dollars that it should be the green power of choice for cars, trucks, and even aircraft. Small lithium ion batteries are widely used in consumer electronics, but powering vehicles like a car or an aircraft is a much greater challenge. The 787, for example, has to generate 1.5 megawatts of electrical power, enough to light up several hundred homes.”
 
The reporter then listed many examples of lithium ion battery failures including: “Before the Dreamliner's troubles, a Chevrolet Volt caught fire during its crash tests by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in May 2011. (However), the agency gave the Volt a clean bill of health after an investigation.”
 
Electric truck manufacturer Smith Electric Vehicles warned potential investors that the lithium ion batteries "on rare occasions have been observed to catch fire or vent smoke and flames" in the firm's prototype military truck, while fires were also reported in Apple and Dell laptop computers in 2005 and 2006.
 
Despite these incidents, Mr. Pollack says, “Obama has poured federal subsidies on the lithium ion battery industry with mixed results. The first grant was for $249 million under the Obama economic stimulus program in December 2009 to A123 Systems, a lithium ion battery manufacturer. But A123 Systems filed for bankruptcy last October and has since been bought by a Chinese company.”
 
Obama also “toured the LG Chen lithium ion battery plant in Holland, Michigan in August 2011. The South Korean company got $151 million in federal subsidies, but it has yet to produce a single battery and furloughed its workers last fall.”
 
Then there was Ener1, “an Indianapolis-based lithium ion battery maker, received $118.5 million in federal money in 2009, but filed for bankruptcy last year.”
 
Additionally, “The president awarded $529 million to electric car company Fisker, which utilized lithium ion batteries supplied by A123. At least two battery fires have been reported in Fisker vehicles, all of which have been recalled.” Which was followed by, “Obama issued a $465 million loan guarantee to Tesla Motors. The lithium ion battery in a Tesla reportedly burst into flames last year after not being recharged for a long period of time.”
 
So, here we have case after case where taxpayers funds are being quietly wasted and misused by the carload while Democrat leaders loudly scream for more from those who produce them. 
 
To me, this kind of abuse of power would be despicable even if the nation’s fiscal footings were sound. But to waste billions of hard-earned dollars at a time like this, where every dime counts and the national debt’s gone through the roof, is abuse of power to the nth degree and perhaps ought be considered criminal.  
 
Thus in closing I have to reiterate yesterday’s point that as illustrated by the migration away from high-taxing states, I expect much greater retaliation from those paying the nation’s losses caused by governmental ineptitude, poor judgment, arrogance and flat-out incompetence. And while I currently have no clue as to what form a tax rebellion will take, I think when it finally comes it’s going to be a huge one.
 
That’s it for today folks.
 
Adios

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