January 05, 2023

Should Government Anti-Poverty Programs Promote Independence or Dependence?

January 05, 2023/ Francis Menton

Here’s a question where I’ll bet you think the answer ought to be completely obvious: Should the purpose of government “anti-poverty” programs be to help the beneficiaries rise from poverty and become successful and independent, or alternatively should the purpose of such programs be to entice the recipients of aid into a life of permanent dependency upon government handouts?
From the earliest days of the anti-poverty programs back in the 1960s, the programs were sold to the public as being a temporary boost by which the poor could be helped to escape from poverty and achieve self-sufficiency. And yet, about six decades in, the rate of poverty never seems to go down, and the number of program beneficiaries grows inexorably. Did something change along the way?
The answer is yes.

January 03, 2023

EPA And The Electricity Cost Crisis

January 03, 2023/ Francis Menton

Over in Europe, the energy cost crisis, particularly as to electricity, proceeds apace.

Germany, deep into its Energiewende (energy transition) that began in 2010, leads the way. Almost all coal and nuclear power plants have been closed in favor of a massive building plan for wind and solar facilities. After a decade of that, for the past couple of years, Germans have suffered consumer retail electricity prices of over 30 euro cents per kWh — close to triple average U.S. consumer rates. . . .
Can we here in the USA learn anything from this folly before it is too late? The answer is, if it is up to our EPA, then no.

December 31, 2022

December 31, 2022/ Francis Menton

The big news in political lies at the moment comes from a guy named George Santos.
Santos has been newly-elected to Congress from New York’s 3rd District, a competitive seat covering parts of Queens and Nassau Counties. Although the districts got re-drawn for this election, most of Santos’s district was previously held by Democrats, Tom Suozzi and Steve Israel, for the last decade. So Santos became part of the mini-wave of Republican pickups that will lead to the takeover of Congress by a thin margin come January 3.
On December 19, several weeks after the election, the New York Times published a story exposing Santos as having lied extensively about his background during the campaign. . . .
Let’s face it — Santos’s fabrications are pretty bad. But are they really “unprecedented,” or even unusual, among the lies told by politicians to advance their careers and gain office, including among current office-holders?

December 28, 2022

December 28, 2022/ Francis Menton

Every day it seems that more and more information comes out showing our federal law enforcement agencies — the FBI and the Department of Justice — to be partisan enforcers working on taxpayer money for the exclusive benefit of the Democratic Party.
In the most recent two weeks, it’s the Twitter Files, with the FBI caught red-handed pressuring the social media giant to suppress completely legal and First Amendment-protected (but disfavored) speech unfavorable to Joe Biden’s election (e.g., the Hunter Biden laptop story), or to the authoritarian dreams of our public health establishment (Covid-19).
And this is only the latest episode in the long-running sordid story. For large numbers of prior examples, see my posts from July 2, 2021 (“Justice In This Country Is Not Dispensed Impartially Between Democrats And Republicans”) and February 18, 2020 (“How Confident Are You That ‘Justice In This Country Is Dispensed Impartially?’). . . .
And now along comes a new instance that may top them all.

December 24, 2022

December 24, 2022/ Francis Menton

In a post earlier this week, I celebrated the adoption by New York State of its Scoping Plan that tells us how we are going to accomplish the great transition to 70% “renewable” electricity by 2030 and zero-emissions electricity by 2040.
The summary is: “just build a lot of offshore wind turbines and batteries.” Unfortunately, nobody seems to have done the basic arithmetic to see whether the prospective facilities will suffice to supply enough electricity to meet demand at all times. But then, this Scoping Plan is the product of the Important People, and why do the Important People need to trouble themselves with such minutiae? After all, they have a planet to save.
What that prior post did not consider was the likely cost to New York consumers of trying to buy electricity in a future at times when the wind is calm, the sun is dark, and fossil fuels have been suppressed.
How high might the cost go when everybody has to bid at the same time for the small amounts of hydro or nuclear that may remain?

December 21, 2022

December 21, 2022/ Francis Menton

Throughout the agencies of our federal government, an important function is to issue data and information about the state of the country.
These data cover a vast array of topics such as population, demographics, income and poverty, the state of the economy, the GDP, employment and unemployment, activities of foreign adversaries, weather and climate, energy production and use, and much, much more. The Congress and states use this information in making important public policy decisions, and the people use it to make decisions for their everyday lives. Not the least of those decisions is how to vote.
So is the information issued by the government basically honest and reliable for important decisions? Or, instead, is the output of official information cynically manipulated and corrupted by a government interested mainly in perpetuating and increasing its own power?