Category: Points of Information

Very brief descriptions, with appropriate links, of current or recent news items.

Obama’s proposal to end the tax break for corporate jet owners would reduce the deficit by less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

9:13 am

A dose of reality: Obama’s repeated demand at yesterday’s press conference to end the tax break for corporate jet owners would reduce the deficit by less than one-tenth of 1 percent.

I say, the Republicans should trade this measly tax increase for $1 trillion in cuts. This tax increase is stupid, and will do nothing bu harm, but if they can trade it for lots of cuts, it’s worth accepting it.

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The most distant quasar ever found

9:04 am

Astronomers have found the most distant quasar ever, and are baffled by its existence.

The light from the quasar started its journey toward us when the universe was only 6% of its present age, a mere 770 million years after the Big Bang, at a redshift of about 7.1 [3]. “This gives astronomers a headache,” says lead author Daniel Mortlock, from Imperial College London. “It’s difficult to understand how a black hole a billion times more massive than the Sun can have grown so early in the history of the universe. It’s like rolling a snowball down the hill and suddenly you find that it’s 20 feet across!”

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AAAS campaigns to stop attacks on global warming advocates

11:19 am

The board of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has issued a statement demanding that all attacks on global warming advocates cease.

Though they couch their wording as if they oppose all outside interference with the scientific process (a bad idea on its own), they conveniently only complain about the efforts of skeptics to challenge the work of scientists who support human-caused global warming.

Lawmakers and activist groups also have sought detailed disclosure of records from climate researchers. The American Tradition Institute (ATI) has asked the University of Virginia to turn over thousands of e-mails and documents written by Michael E. Mann, a former U-Va. professor and a prominent climate scientist. Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli, a climate change skeptic, demanded many of the same documents last year in an effort to determine if Mann had somehow defrauded taxpayers in obtaining research grants. ATI also has sued NASA to disclose records detailing climate scientist James Hansen’s compliance with federal ethics and disclosure rules.

In other words, don’t question these people, only skeptics are open for attack.

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EPA approves 15% ethanol gasoline despite the risk of engine damage

10:55 am

We’re here to help you: The EPA has approved a warning label for its approval of 15% ethanol gasoline.

EPA says tests show E15 won’t harm 2001 and newer vehicles, which have hoses and gaskets and seals specially designed to resist corrosive ethanol. But using E15 fuel in older vehicles or in power equipment such as mowers, chainsaws and boats, can cause damage and now is literally a federal offense.

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The Obama administration versus the lumber industry

5:36 pm

Lumber and regulation: First, the Obama administration is about to release its spotted owl recovery plan for the northwest United States, and no one knows what’s in it. Second, a timber industry group has sued the Obama administration for not selling “at least 502 million board feet each year, the amount provided for under the resource management plans for the agency’s districts in Western Oregon.”

With the first story, I wonder what happened to the “most transparent administration in history.” With the second, the Obama administration continues its pattern of ignoring the law in favor of its own preferences.

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VA cemetery director accused of censoring religious speech

5:30 pm

Freedom of worship in modern America: The cemetery director at the Houston National Cemetery, run by the Veterans administration. has been accused of censoring religious speech.

According to court documents, [Arleen] Ocasio banned members of the groups from using certain religious words such as “God” or “Jesus,” censored the content of prayer, and forbade the use of religious messages in burial rituals unless the deceased’s family submitted the text to her for prior approval.

Court documents also describe the closure of the cemetery’s chapel after Ocasio’s appointment as director two years ago. “The doors remain locked during Houston National Cemetery operating hours, the cross and the Bible have been removed, and the Chapel bells, which tolled at least twice a day, are now inoperative,” the complaint reads. “Director Ocasio only unlocks the Chapel doors when meetings or training sessions are held at the building. Furthermore it is no longer called a ‘chapel’ but a ‘meeting facility.’” [emphasis mine]

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Charges against woman videotaping police from her front yard have been dropped

5:22 pm

The charges against a woman, Emily Good, who was arrested for videotaping the police from her front yard have been dropped.

As far as I am concerned, the cop who did this should be fired. So should the cops who did this:

There will be an internal review into the original videotaped incident as well as one last week where police officers wrote five tickets outside a meeting supporting Good, using rulers to measure distance from the curb. [emphasis mine]

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The shocking true size of our nation’s debt

9:17 am

The day of reckoning beckons: The shocking true size of our nation’s debt.

Add it all up, and total US debt actually exceeds 900% of GDP. That’s somewhere in excess of $120 trillion. We are beginning to talk real money here.

The Congressional Budget Office [CBO] also contains bad news for those who believe that we can fix this problem simply by cutting “fraud, waste and abuse.” As CBO points out, the projected growth in the debt “is attributable entirely to increases in spending on several large mandatory programs: Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and (to a lesser extent) insurance subsidies that will be provided through [Obamacare].” There is simply no way to deal with our debt problems without reforming those entitlement programs.

Finally, the CBO report makes it clear that we have a debt problem because spending is too high, not because taxes are too low. In fact, even though taxes are currently at a near historic low as a proportion of the economy, that is largely a result of the recession. If the economy returns to normal growth rates (a big “if”), federal revenues will not only rise, but will actually be higher than the postwar average percentage of GDP by the end of the decade. In fact, this will happen even if the Bush tax cuts are extended and the Alternative Minimum Tax AMT continues to be patched.

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