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« Reply #1 on: November 16, 2017, 04:28:48 PM » |
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The Patriot Post Digest 11-16-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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Coercion not only compromises the free-market ethic of choices, but it stands as a hallmark feature of totalitarianism and can be identified in practices of the former Soviet Union, modern Cuba and every other communist nation. Cuba’s communist dictatorship holds elections, but only gives the citizens communist “options.” The regime enforces “free and fair elections” by threatening to punish those who do not vote. Ultimately, government coercion does not allow freedom — of choices, of preferences, or of life in general.
Moreover, electric-car supporters seem to charge America with the greatest culpability in not being “green enough.” Yet recent data27 reveals that the U.S. has declined in emissions, while global emissions have increased. How? China.
China’s emissions account for 30% of the world’s emissions according to28 the Center for International Climate Research. China stands as the world’s largest polluter and according to the recent Global Carbon Project study, with an expected 3.5% increase in emissions this year.
When confronted with this reality, many environmentalists simply state, “Well, America should lead the way. We should be the world’s example.” Yet this hasn’t seemed to change China’s mind. Prudent policy toward cleaner global air should include confronting China with its problem, not simply cleaning up the U.S. as an “example.”
We should also be asking the question, “Who is getting all of the money?” The answer lies in government-subsidized electric car companies. Even Bloomberg observes29, “Clean-energy vehicles still aren’t attractive enough to compete without some form of subsidy.” Take, for instance, Tesla, which would have been underwater long ago if it had not been for government (i.e. taxpayer) money. The Las Angeles Times reports30 that Tesla, along with her sister companies Solar City Corp. (solar panels) and SpaceX (space exploration) have received roughly $4 billion dollars in government subsides.
In short, the entire premise of going “all electric” so far relies solely upon government money. This means that even if you don’t buy an electric car, your tax dollars are essentially paying for someone else’s — or at least covering the sales loss if they don’t sell.
Perhaps the greatest oversight in the electric car debate is the issue of public health. Joel Moskowitz, Ph.D., Director of the Center for Family and Community Health at University of California, Berkeley, has written31 extensively about the electromagnetic radiation (EMR) risks posed by electric and hybrid cars, which emit both EMR and extremely low frequency (ELF). Since 2001, ELF has been deemed “possibly carcinogenic32” by the International Agency for Research on Cancer/World Health Organization. Sustained exposure to EMR may cause cancer and other health problems.
Moskowitz also notes the insufficient, unreliable data issued by the self-appointed international commissions that establish the EMR guidelines. He recommends that they must be replaced by high-quality research studies, independent of the industry in order to avoid a conflict of interest. However, the industry and environmental lobby have discreetly ignored the need for better research studies — perhaps because of the great profits to be had through public grants, subsidies and product sales.
The highly subsidized electric car business has become a sort of “cottage industry” for the federal government from which both electric car companies and the government benefit. Combined with the increased desire to coercively force consumers to purchase them while ignoring health concerns shows a lack of both intellectual freedom and free market purchasing freedom.
Ultimately the debate over electric cars should be about what you prefer to drive, not about what the government forces you to buy.
MORE ANALYSIS FROM THE PATRIOT POST
The Cultivated Ignorance of Millennials35 — “It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance.” —Thomas Sowell
Venezuela: Riches to Rags36 — We know it’s shocking to hear, but the socialist “paradise” can no longer pay the bills.
BEST OF RIGHT OPINION
Mona Charen: The Uses of Disgrace37
Tony Perkins: Senate Tax Force Aims for ObamaCare38
Ed Feulner: Extra Money for Defense Could End Years of Underfunding39
Larry Elder: No, Colin Kaepernick Is No Muhammad Ali40
Cal Thomas: A Moving Experience41
For more of today’s columns, visit Right Opinion42.
OPINION IN BRIEF
Mona Charen: “Some liberals are now coming around to the idea that, as Matt Yglesias of Vox put it: ‘I wonder how much healthier a place we’d be in as a society today if Bill Clinton had resigned in shame back in 1998.’ The key words are ‘in shame.’ Bill Clinton’s shamelessness — and his party’s acquiescence in it — corrupted our culture in profound ways. What we choose to shame or overlook determines what kind of society we are. We didn’t want to hold him to account, and so we told ourselves convenient lies, such as that it ‘was just sex.’ It wasn’t. It was classic harassment, and assault, and abuse of power, and perjury. But his worst transgression was refusing to acknowledge our unwritten code of honor. If he had done the right thing and resigned, he would have taken the disgrace on his own back, where it belonged. By brazening it out, he made all of us complicit in it. His refusal to resign said, ‘I’m an abusive pig, and you are a country of abusive pigs if you permit me to remain in office.’ Inevitably, because we let Bill Clinton off the hook, we had to downplay the seriousness of his offenses. So here we are. It is quite possible that Harvey Weinstein and Anthony Weiner and Kevin Spacey and Roger Ailes and the rest of the rotten roster of sex abusers thought, even if only in the back of their minds, that if they got caught, in our age, this sort of thing gets a wink and a nod. After all, it’s just sex.”
SHORT CUTS
Insight: “Our republic and its press will rise and fall together.” —Joseph Pulitzer (1847-1911)
Non Compos Mentis: “Remington may never have known Adam Lanza, but they have been courting him for years. The courtship between Remington and Adam Lanza is at the heart of the case.” – Attorney Joshua D. Koskoff
Belly laugh of the week: “The tragic reality of gender and climate is that women, especially women of colour, are disproportionately affected by the impacts of climate change, but are far less likely to be empowered to cope because they have fewer resources such as power and access to finance and technology.” —Marshall Islands president Hilda Heine in a piece titled, “Global climate action must be gender equal”
Leftists’ ultimate goal: “Ultimately, if gun-control advocates really want to stanch the blood, there’s no way around it: They’ll have to persuade more people of the need to confiscate millions of those firearms, as radical as that idea may now seem.” —The Boston Globe’s David Scharfenberg in his piece, “Hand over your weapons”
Vitriol: “We will remember if [Republicans] don’t help us kill this [tax reform] bill. They better kill this bill or we’re going to kill them in the next election.” —Rep. Alan Lowenthal
And last… “Last year, a grand total of 17 unarmed blacks were killed by the police, according to The Washington Post. Contrast this with the approximately 6,000 to 7,000 blacks killed annually, almost all — as many as 90 percent — by other blacks. Where is [Colin] Kaepernick on the fact that the No. 1 cause of preventable death for young blacks is homicide, while the No. 1 cause of preventable death for young white men is ‘unintentional injuries,’ or accidents?” —Larry Elder
Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform — Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen — standing in harm’s way in defense of Liberty, and for their families. We also humbly ask prayer for your Patriot team, that our mission would seed and encourage the spirit of Liberty in the hearts and minds of our countrymen.
Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et Fidelis
Nate Jackson, Managing Editor
Mark Alexander, Publisher |
