12/31/2013

Last Thoughts On 2013

It's the last day of 2013 and I figured it wouldn't hurt to offer a few thoughts on the year that was.

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One thing that didn't change over the course of the year is the invective and ad hominem attacks flowing from the Left. If nothing else this shows they've run out of ideas and the only thing left in their arsenal is to dehumanize anyone disagreeing with their ideology of envy and greed. The level of both increased throughout the year, with far too many of the Left willing to forgive transgressions made by their brethren while at the same time condemning the same behavior from anyone else.

Frankly, I think just about everyone is getting tired of it, left, middle, or right.

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I think ObamaCare is on the way out.

After its disastrous website launch in October, delays in implementation by the President (a power he doesn't have, by the way), and the revelations that it won't provide either care or affordability, a growing majority of Americans want it gone. Not that a solid majority didn't like it to begin with.

This has been the most unpopular government action since Prohibition and it's likely to suffer the same fate.

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It has become increasingly apparent that Washington DC hasn't a clue what the American people want or need. The folks there are far too insulated against the realities the rest of us throughout the country deal with every day.

Decisions made in the White House, Congress, and the numerous government agencies and regulatory offices go against economic and social realities at many levels. What else can explain regulatory overreach by the EPA, as one example? How is it that the “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education can have greater power over people's lives than local, state, or federal law, or even more inconceivable, the Constitution?

Why does the President think that his word is law and that he can ignore the Constitution, the laws, or the courts? He isn't a king. He isn't a tyrant (at least not yet). He is bound by the same laws as everyone else, or at least he should be. For that fact, so should Congress.

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The trend of states taking back power from the federal government continues.

There have been cases where states have told government agencies to go pound sand when it came to intrastate activities, operations, and business. This may be what will save the Republic as states push back and start exercising their rights under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments.

The Federal Government has to learn is doesn't have free rein over the states, particularly when it comes to state issues. The time of federal overreach must come to an end.

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With the boom in natural gas and oil reserves here in the US and America's decreasing CO2 output, I wonder how long it will take before the bloom will finally fall off of the “We've got to increase our renewable energy sources even if we have to bankrupt Americans to do it” tree.

Renewables, with the exception of hydro, haven't lived up to their hype and aren't economically viable without the assistance of government subsidies. If the technology is viable it should be able to stand on its own. If other sources of plentiful and cheap energy are available why should anyone be forced to rely on expensive and sporadic energy sources?

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So far no one has been able to prove to me what is the 'correct' level of atmospheric CO2. No one.

I have heard some of the AGW faithful tell me that “no level of CO2 is an acceptable level”, showing me that they have no understanding of science and the part that CO2 plays in Earth's ecology. These are the same people who have the gall to tell the rest of us what we have to do in order to Save The Earth.

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And so we close out 2013.