Tag: Congress

Two Democrats joined Republicans yesterday on a Senate committee to block the U.S. military from increasing its use of alternatives fossil fuels.

2:52 pm

Two Democrats joined Republicans yesterday on a Senate committee to block the U.S. military from increasing its use of alternatives fossil fuels.

What stood out to me in this article was the following quote:

As part of this support, in December the Navy agreed to spend $12 million for 450,000 gallons of “advanced biofuels,” which can be blended with petroleum in a 50:50 mixture and burned in conventional engines. The Navy and Air Force have both set a goal of using advanced biofuels for 50% of their fuel use by the end of this decade. But the current $26-a-gallon price tag angered congressional Republicans, who accuse the Obama Administration of using the military to support its green agenda. [emphasis mine]

$26 per gallon for biofuels? I find it astonishing that anyone voted for this program.

Of course the military wants options. And of course we want to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels, if only to reduce the money pouring into the hands of the radical Islamists of the Middle East. But at that price, these alternative fuels are simply not competitive or affordable.

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Cronies ‘R’ us

7:34 pm

“Cronies ‘R’ us,” an illustrative example of why conservatives don’t trust the Republican Party.

As this story points out, the problem in Washington is not merely the fact that the Democrats like to spend other people’s money like water (which they do). It is also because too many established members of the Republican party have been all too willing to join them in this spendthrift behavior.

It is for this reason the tea party movement exists, and why so many established Republicans, like Richard Lugar in Indiana, are getting kicked out of office. The movement isn’t partisan, it is merely focused on making whatever progress it can. Kick out Democrats wherever possible, and do the same for those Republicans who like to be me-too Democrats.

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Using the budget balancing rules Congress imposed on private companies, the federal deficit turns out to be five times greater than the official but fake numbers Congress normally publishes.

10:11 am

The day of reckoning looms: Using the budget balancing rules Congress imposed on private companies, the annual federal deficit turns out to be five times greater than the official but fake numbers Congress normally publishes.

The big difference between the official deficit and standard accounting: Congress exempts itself from including the cost of promised retirement benefits. Yet companies, states and local governments must include retirement commitments in financial statements, as required by federal law and private boards that set accounting rules.

The deficit was $5 trillion last year under those rules. The official number was $1.3 trillion. Liabilities for Social Security, Medicare and other retirement programs rose by $3.7 trillion in 2011, according to government actuaries, but the amount was not registered on the government’s books.

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Only 65% of the political class and only 61% of Democrats are aware that federal spending has gone up in the past ten years.

1:58 pm

Pitiful: Only 65% of the political class and only 61% of Democrats are aware that federal spending has gone up in the past ten years.

Interestingly, 85% of the general public knows this basic fact, which might explain why the intellectual elites of our country — from both parties — are continually being blindsided by the rise of the tea party movement and its continued success in elections.

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Shut it down

8:25 am

Our government in action: An NIH nationwide study to track hundreds of thousands of children from birth to age 21 is wracked with budget and management problems.

All told, this study has already cost the taxpayers almost a billion dollars for the enrollment of only 4,000 children, not the 100,000 envisioned. That’s about $250,000 per child, an amount that seems incredibly high.

In addition to the above problems, it appears there are scientific ones as well:
» Read more

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Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) on Monday attacked the House version of NASA’s budget that required the agency to make a quick decision on its commercial manned launch company.

5:37 pm

Senator Bill Nelson (D-Florida) on Monday attacked the House version of NASA’s budget that required the agency to make a quick decision on its commercial manned launch company.

Nelson faces a difficult election campaign from the right. Thus, I suspect he has realized that he is better off promoting free enterprise than local pork. It is unfortunate that the Republicans in the House haven’t yet realized this.

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