Whacko Politics

Exiting California

Lisa Benson Cartoon

We are now completely disassociated with Kalifornistan, save for our friends and relatives there. We will go back for visiting purposes, but our money and property will be elsewhere.

And, we’re not the only ones leaving the formerly Golden State. Millions of retirees, like us, are out of there. Plus, businesses and manufacturing jobs are moving. The Lisa Benson cartoon above adds some snark, but a very good article by Daniel J. Mitchell links the changes in California to a steady flow of jobs to Texas and other places.

From Townhall.com:

Much of my writing is focused on the real-world impact of government policy, and this is why I repeatedly look at the relative economic performance of big government jurisdictions and small government jurisdictions.

But I don’t just highlight differences between nations. Yes, it’s educational to look at North Korea vs. South Korea or Chile vs. Venezuela vs. Argentina, but I also think you can learn a lot by looking at what’s happening with different states in America.

So we’ve looked at high-tax states that are languishing, such as California and Illinois, and compared them to zero-income-tax states such as Texas.

With this in mind, you can understand that I was intrigued to see that even the establishment media is noticing that Texas is out-pacing the rest of the nation.

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The New Red

I forget where I found this graphic. Maybe at The Patriot Post. At any rate, I like the not-so-subtle comparison of the current administration to the Communist Party.

The EPA and other .gov agencies, the media and the hard left (but I repeat myself) continually foist the ~~Global Warming~~ ~~Climate Change~~ Climate Disruption nonsense on the public knowing full well that it is all unmitigated bovine feces. The whole charade is merely a method to allow government to gain control over energy resources because, obviously, it is ALL about government gaining control with progressives.

I found the following snark in the Patriot Post Daily Digest for Friday:

Comedian Jimmy Fallon:

“The federal government is starting to plan for climate change by making extended forecasts that can help people plan for extreme weather — because what can go wrong when you combine the efficiency of government with the accuracy of weathermen?”

26 Sep 2014 by CapnBob Environment Global Warming Greenbats Whacko Politics

Wind, Solar, Fail As Renewable Power

It has long been our opinion (based on facts) that neither wind nor solar power can compete with the efficiency and cost of nuclear power generation. Hyped-up belief and major taxpayer-funded subsidies have taken the wind and solar efforts as far as they have come today. Hyped-up fear and misinformation have been applied to public opinion that nuclear power generation is both dangerous and evil.

Mark Perry, a professor of economics and finance, penned a very interesting piece today that points out that the clean energy movement is missing their best bet for green power.

From Investors Business Daily:

Wind and solar power, once viewed as our best hope for abundant supplies of zero-carbon energy, are distracting us from what might be the real solution: nuclear power.

The time has come for states to reconsider their mandates requiring that a share of electricity come from renewable energy sources, and instead consider a more direct and sensible policy in support of nuclear power.

Currently 30 states have renewable power standards designed to promote the use of wind and solar power, which are carbon-free, non-polluting sources of energy. Among the most ambitious, California’s standard mandates that the state generate one-third of its electricity from renewables by 2020.

But the hype over wind and solar power as clean and renewable is undermined by their fatal flaw — intermittency.

Read the whole thing.

10 Jun 2014 by CapnBob Beltway Kabuki Money and Business Whacko Politics

The Tip of the Iceberg

Just wait until Obamacare funding kicks in. Here’s an excerpt from Townhall Article, “The VA Health Scandal Is about Government Incompetence, not Inadequate Funding.”

VA funding has more than kept up with both medical inflation and increased patient loads. An analysis of budget and cost data, as well as data on the total number of VA patients and the number of acute inpatients treated, shows that the VA’s budget has grown much faster than its workload. Even when you take medical inflation into account, the VA budget still grew faster than its patient base since 2000. …The VA has a whole bunch of problems, but a lack of funding ain’t one.

I imagine the Unaffordable Care Act will show up with it’s poor services, death panels and all that about which we were warned. Gird your loins, America.

04 Jun 2014 by CapnBob Beltway Kabuki Humor Whacko Politics

California Agriculture Checkpoint

When we crossed over the Colorado River last week, we drove through California’s Agriculture Station, as usual on I-10 going into Blythe. The interesting thing about this encounter is that there were NO checkpoint agents waving us through as is the norm. We crossed through at a little after eleven AM and saw no agents manning any of the open lanes. Nada. On our return trip passing eastbound across from the station we again did not observe any agents – cars were just passing through.

I nosed around on the CDFA website a bit and could not find any reference to budget cuts having to do with lack of personnel. Moreover, these stations have been and continue to be a complete waste of taxpayer money.

Many times we have gone through this checkpoint and the most the agent ever did was ask where we were coming from. How that keeps agricultural pests out of Cali is beyond me. Until this time where no agents were present, we would usually get a wave through with no questions asked. Talk about a useless job and waste of travelers’ time.

What gripes me, is that I still pay property tax on the old house that supports this sort of nonsense. Within a year, I think that we well be out of that property altogether.

Damsel took the photo of the station on Tuesday last. Click on the image to enlarge.

02 Jun 2014 by CapnBob California Travel Whacko Politics

Hashtag Diplomacy

Cartoon and this excerpt from The Patriot Post:

#BringBackOurGirls Rhetoric

Political commentator George Will blasted the White House’s response to the kidnappings in Nigeria and had this to say about Michelle Obama’s #BringBackOurGirls twitter promo. “Are these barbarians in the wilds of Nigeria supposed to check their Twitter accounts and say, ‘Uh oh, Michelle Obama is very cross with us — we better change our behavior’?” he asked. “It’s an exercise in self-esteem. I do not know how adults stand there, facing a camera, and say, ‘Bring back our girls.'” Of course, we don’t understand how Democrats can stand in front of the camera to exploit every mass shooting, either. Will added, “Power is the ability to achieve intended effects, and this [social media campaign] is not intended to have any effect on the real world.” Michelle delivered a speech on the situation over the weekend, but her remarks excluded any reference to Boko Haram or Islam. #ProfilesInCourage

We note that political cartoonist Gary McCoy has comically exaggerated every feature of the first couple EXCEPT for the first lady’s BUTT!

12 May 2014 by CapnBob Beltway Kabuki Humor Whacko Politics