The party of science?
Link here. Read it and weep, as this essay describes to a T a steadily increasing number of citizens, from all political persuasions.
Tag: government
Health insurance premiums to rise 24% because of Obamacare
Finding out what’s in it: Because of Obamacare, health insurance companies across the nation are requesting rate increases next year ranging from 8 to 65%, with the average increase running about 24%.
Too bad no one predicted this, except for every conservative think tank, every Republican politician, and the entire Tea Party movement. Luckily, President Barack Obama and the Democratic Party had our backs, and ignored those predictions. Otherwise, where would we be?
Belize and Guatemala
During my caving trip to Belize last week, we reserved one day off to do some sightseeing. The goal that day was to visit the Mayan ruins of Tikal, across the border in Guatemala about three hours from our resort in Belize.
Arranging this trip was not straightforward. We couldn’t simply get in our rental car and drive off. Locals have found it a bad idea to drive Belizean vehicles in Guatemala, as they are more likely to be attacked. So, the resort arranged for a Belizean driver to take us to the border, where it also arranged for us to be met by a Guatemalan tour guide with her own car.
On the way, we drove through several small towns of both Guatemala and Belize, as shown by the two photos below, with Santa Elena, Belize on top.
» Read more
Another look at what President Trump would likely do
Link here. The author tries to thoughtfully predict what Trump will do should he win the Presidency, based on his record. This quote at the article’s beginning however describes Trump quite accurately:
My biases are clear up front: I don’t trust Trump. I don’t trust his promises, because he has shown no willingness to hold to them. I don’t trust his ideology, because he proclaims that his guiding star is his own self-assurance. I trust Trump to be Trump: a man of convenience, a thinker of no great depth, a reactionary with no constitutional understanding and a willingness to maximize executive power.
The analysis is fair, however, and notes some smart things Trump might do, based on his past record, as well as the dumb things we can expect from him.
I post this not to suggest I prefer Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. I do not. Clinton is a corrupt, power-hungry leftwing ideologue who will magnify all the bad things Barack Obama has done, supported by a corrupt, power-hungry leftwing Democratic Party that likes everything Barack Obama has done. We need to do everything we can to prevent her election.
At the same time, we mustn’t blind ourselves to the problems we will face should Trump win. This article is a warning. Prepare yourself, because things are not going to be much better under a Trump presidency, and the best option for minimizing that damage is to make sure Congress is as conservative as possible.
IRS steals millions from people for depositing the wrong amount of money
Theft by government: IRS has confiscated $43 million from more than 600 innocent individuals merely because they did large cash transactions just under $10K.
The law in question forbids people from purposely breaking up deposits so that they are under $10,000 in order to avoid reporting the deposit to the government, and was originally written to target drug dealers. Instead, the government has been using it as a convenient way to steal people’s money.
After issuing a Freedom of Information Act request to the IRS, the Institute for Justice found 618 cases from 2007 to 2013 where the IRS seized funds without evidence of underlying criminal wrongdoing. When the Institute for Justice requested more information about these cases, the IRS said the group would have to pay a quarter million dollar fee because the request fell into the category of “commercial use.”
According to [Robert Johnson, lawyer for one individual whose bank account was seized], the IRS is still harassing small business owners because of their bank deposits despite the 2015 rule change [that supposedly required evidence of criminal activity before confiscation]. “Shockingly, when the IRS engages in such tactics, it can use the money that it takes to pad its own budget,” Johnson said. “When the IRS uses civil forfeiture to take money for structuring violations, the money is deposited in the Treasury Forfeiture Fund. In other words, the money that the IRS takes from hardworking Americans can be put back to work to seize money from additional Americans,” he said.
Read it all. The IRS has admitted that the individuals from whom they seized this money had committed no crime. Yet they still refuse to return the money.
D.C. ignores 2nd amendment court order
The law is such an inconvenient thing: In denying a reporter a concealed carry permit, police officers told him that attorney general of D.C. had ordered them to ignore the court order requiring the city to issue permits.
The attorney general has since denied this illegal policy, but the reporter still doesn’t have his permit.
Protesters crash stage and threaten conservative speaker
Brownshirts: Protesters (who were admitted Bernie Sanders supporters) crashed the stage, grabbed the mike, and threatened the speakers at a conservative event at DePaul University last night.
The security guards, required by the university and partly paid for by the people running the event, refused to do anything.
After an extended period of time, the crowd started to chant “Do your job” at security, who remained at the back of the venue for the entire event. When security refused to intervene, Yiannopoulos posed for pictures with fans in the audience, and ordered the crowd to follow him to the college president’s office.
More details, including video, at the link.
Anti-Trump protesters get violent at Trump rally
Brown-shirts: Protesters at a Trump rally tonight in New Mexico threw rocks, broke windows, and blocked exits.
More here. and here. There were some reports of gunfire, but these appear to not be true. Regardless, it is unconscionable for these protesters to act this way. They might think the Trump is a fascist, but the only ones acting like fascists here are the protesters themselves.
There has been a lot of anger and passion during this presidential campaign, but so far almost all the violence has come from the left.
House committee reshapes NASA budget
The House appropriations committee has outlined its recommendations for NASA’s 2017 budget.
Like the Senate the House is pushing more money for SLS and is demanding NASA use it to fly two missions to Europa in the early 2020s (likely delaying SLS’s first manned mission), In addition, the House wants NASA to abandon any plans for an asteroid mission and instead go back to the Moon. They also pumped up the planetary program, and express reservations about the manned commercial program.
Finally, in a wonderful example of congressional micro-managing, the committee ordered NASA to begin work on flying an interstellar mission to Alpha Centauri by the 100th anniversary of Apollo 11.
While some of the changes the committee is recommending (increasing planetary research funding for example) make sense, the overall priorities of Congress continue to appear to me to be misplaced. Their continuing emphasis on SLS while questioning commercial space illustrates their focus on pork rather than actual accomplishments. And their continuing effort to micromanage many NASA missions does not bode well for the success of those missions.
There is one takeaway from this House budget recommendation that most news sources are missing: The first manned flight of Orion is almost certainly not flying in 2021. I have seen numerous indicators in the past four months suggesting that NASA is going to delay it, and this budget recommendation’s insistence that NASA use SLS to fly Europa missions in 2022 and 2024 almost guarantees that delay.
TSA removes its head of security
Does this make you feel safer? The TSA has replaced its head of security.
They didn’t fire him, only replaced him with another political hack who will likely do as bad a job. Meanwhile, the guy they removed will be given another job where he can screw up in a different way.
United Kingdom cancels spaceport competition
The competition heats up: The United Kingdom has cancelled its spaceport competition to chose one spaceport and instead has announced it will allow any one of the competing locations to operate if they can want and can meet some licensing requirements.
In other words, instead of the government dictating one location as the nation’s spaceport, it will allow different locations to compete for the space launch business.
The link has few details, though a closer look at subject of the British space effort can be found here.
Cruz supporters dominate Washtington state convention
The real Republican election: Though Donald Trump is likely to win the upcoming Washington primary and thus its delegates, at the state’s convention this weekend the party chose a slate of Ted Cruz backers to be those delegates, even if they have to vote for Trump.
This is how we change things, regardless of who wins the election in November. Get conservatives into government at the ground level. Have them dominate policy issues. Have them move up the ranks and dominate the state legislatures. Have those winners move up and dominate Congress.
We do that, and it won’t matter much who is president, because it will be these legislators who will control the agenda. In a sense, this is why Trump’s liberal tendencies are probably less of a threat than Clinton’s committed socialism. Give them both a conservative Congress and Trump, being more malleable, will bend to its will while Clinton, a hardline leftist, will fight it every step of the way. This is another reason I like Cruz. He understands this, which is why he worked so hard to build a grass-roots foundation for his campaign. He might not be the president, but when the next president starts trying to make policy it will be Cruz’s people who will guide him.
It is thus very important that conservatives do not boycott the upcoming elections, even if they choose not to vote for a presidential candidate. It is essential the Congress and the state legislatures remain firmly conservative, and for that to happen conservatives have to vote.
Airbus begins assembly Orion service module
My heart be still! Airbus has announced that it is beginning assembly of the first Orion capsule service module.
Considering the cost to build about three Orion flight capsules, about $25 billion, one would think that would be enough to also build the capsule’s service module, especially since this is not cutting edge technology, having already been done with Apollo.
Not however when you are dealing with pork-laden government operations, where the customer, the taxpayer, is a good mark that you can suck for as much money as possible without any bad consequences. Make it sound cool and they will buy it, hook, line, and sinker!
China to build space communications facility in Argentina
The competition heats up: China and Argentina have announced plans to build a communications facility in the latter country.
ULA sets dates for next Atlas 5 and Delta 4 Heavy launches
The competition heats up: ULA has finally scheduled its next Atlas 5 launch for June 24 after completing its investigation of the premature engine shutdown during the previous launch.
The link also provides information on the next Delta 4 Heavy launch, set for June 4.
TMT permitting process about to begin anew
The retired Hawaiian judge who will supervise the new permitting process for the Thirty Meter Telescope held a prelminary meeting on Monday to discuss scheduling and procedual matters.
The Hawaiian authorities have been slow-walking this new permiting process, which the telescope already completed according to law years ago. I say TMT should just leave Hawaii so its citizens can enjoy their barren mountain and the lack of jobs and wealth it will bring them.
Iran announces satellite plans
The competition heats up: Iran has announced its plans to launch a series of home-built communications and Earth observation satellites.
Congress demands Air Force spend less and more at the same time
A House budget report has cut the Air Force launch budget while simultaneously requiring the Air Force to favor more expensive launch companies.
In addition to cutting the funding available for new launch contracts, House appropriators also want the Air Force to consider “the best value to the government” in evaluating bids.
ULA has been pushing for the best-value approach since it sat out last fall’s GPS-3 launch competition saying it couldn’t win a price shootout against SpaceX, which will launch the satellite which was awarded an $82.7 million contract last month for a May 2018 launch of a GPS-3 satellite. That contract was awarded as part of a best value source selection. “We do not yet feel we are in a position to win price-only competitions with our competitor,” Tory Bruno, ULA president and chief executive, said in a March interview with SpaceNews. “We believe we have better performance, reliability and schedule certainty.” Those traits would carry greater weight in a best-value competition.
Only our precious Congress. On one hand they cut the budget for launches because they think the Air Force is wasting money On the other they demand that the Air Force spend extra millions on launch contracts so that the company they favor, ULA, gets the work. One would almost think they do not have the nation’s interests in mind..
Vostochny manager resigns
Tne manager in charge of the cable work blamed for the scrub of the first launch from Vostochny has resigned.
In related news, Russia estimates it spent $1.3 billion building Vostochny.
Republican-led Senate passes spending bill larger than requested by Obama
Feeding the anger: A bill passed today by the Republican-led Senate included more funding that originally requested by the Obama administration.
Moving legislation and avoiding fights has been a top election year priority for Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The Kentucky Republican wants the GOP Senate to prove that Republicans can govern by avoiding a one-and-done omnibus spending package at the end of the year. But the energy and water bill received little fanfare from Senate conservatives. They complain that the measure, which funds the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the Department of Interior, spends $261 million more than even Obama requested.
Sen. Mike Lee described the legislation as “simply unacceptable in a time of rising debt and slower economic growth.” The Utah Republican told The Daily Signal that “we’re never going to get our nation’s rising deficits under control until we can stick to our previous agreements on spending levels,” referring to the limits set in the 2011 Budget Control Act.
Though Congress has not passed a budget resolution, the Senate started advancing spending bills at levels established in the 2015 Bipartisan Budget Act, which increased government discretionary spending by $30 billion above the 2011 caps.
Still Sen. James Lankford, R-Okla., told The Daily Signal he’s glad the appropriations process has gotten off the ground finally. “This is the first time this appropriation bill has passed the Senate since 2009,” Lankford, who sits on the Senate Appropriations Committee, explained. “To avoid last-minute continuing resolutions, backroom deals and omnibus bills, we must move bills through a regular order appropriations process.”
These guys just don’t get it. There is a reason that Trump and Cruz dominated their party’s presidential campaign, and it wasn’t because they were calling for Congress to advance big spending bills in Congress quickly.
Posted from El Paso, Texas.