Morning Briefing
For July 1, 2013
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Hey y'all,
Two programming notes:
(1) I'm filling in for Herman Cain today and tomorrow on his nationally syndicated radio show. You can listen live from 9am to 12pm ET by going to this link. The call in number is 1-877-310-2100.
(2) There will be no Morning Briefing on either July 4th or July 5th this week.
Erick
1. The “Evolving” Energy Policies of President Bystander
In
a "groundbreaking" speech Tuesday at Georgetown University, Barack
Obama rehashed the same anti-Big Oil themes and half-baked energy
policies that have marked his Administration since 2009. (See here and
here for historical examples.)
One
change: President Obama has decided he likes natural gas*, and credits
"Federally supported technology", an implicit endorsement of fracking
(its name is still as taboo as that other F-word). He’s still not crazy
about oil, but since we’re producing more of it, he may as well claim
credit. As for the Keystone Pipeline, more equivocating: this
Administration has dithered about the XL permit for longer than it took
to build the Trans-Alaska Pipeline over eight frozen mountain ranges. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
2. The Boomerang Effect: Union Bosses Fear ‘Collapse’ of Obama’s NLRB & Supreme Court Ruling
Union
bosses are worried, and rightly so. Very soon, the club that union
bosses have been using to beat employers over the head with to change
the labor relations landscape in America may get taken away from them
and they are not happy. The problem is, union bosses wrote the playbook
and their strategy is now coming back to haunt them–in spades. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
3. Hi, Rhode Island! Enjoy your 10% #Obamacare hikes!
If you’re lucky.
Rhode
Island Health Insurance Commissioner Christopher F. Koller has approved
2014 health insurance rates that he called “significantly lower” than
those requested — but that still involve increases in premiums. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
4. Wind power kills birds. Birds that Greenies are supposedly FOND of.
Look,
the news that the extinct-for-the-area white-throated needletail bird
had been spotted in Scotland – only to be promptly sucked into a wind
turbine, accompanied by the screams of horrified amateur ornithologists –
should not be surprising. Wind farms are Giant Scythes Of Swinging
Doom, when it comes to birds.
The
American Bird Conservancy rather desperately wants to support wind
power, which is why they’re begging wind farms to somehow stop the darn
things from being on track to kill a million birds a year in the USA by
2030.
Most of
the articles that I’ve seen estimate that we’re killing about 40% to 60%
of that now, with the real problem being that endangered species and
raptors are disproportionately represented:
- Wind farms kill golden eagles.
- Wind farms endanger bald eagles.
- Wind farms endanger whooping cranes.
- At least one wind farm has been given preemptive forgiveness to kill a California Condor, which news came perilously close to causing actual mass aneurysms among bird conservationists.
- The Obama administration has absolutely no plans to solve the problem. No interest, either. Birds don’t make campaign contributions.
- Wind farms are killing birds in other countries, too.
Look,
the bottom line is this: birds are, by and large, not the most
intelligent animals on the planet*. Wind turbines are large spinning
blades of metal designed to move as fast as possible without detaching,
and then go spinning off into the countryside**. When the two groups
struggle for the same airspace, the birds lose. Repeatedly. . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
5. We must promote marriage, not just defend it
The Defense of Marriage Act took a big hit at the Supreme Court this week. We really should be promoting marriage, not just defending it. But traditional marriage has been on the defensive for a long time, and it’s not just because of the same-sex marriage crusade. Marriage began looking weak long before anyone thought gay marriage had a chance of obtaining widespread legal sanction. In
fact, gay marriage supporters sometimes wonder why anyone bothers to
fight for traditional marriage at all, given the divorce rates, and the
growing indifference of young people toward the institution. Why
make gay couples feel humiliated or excluded by denying them access to
something straight people aren’t taking seriously any more? How does allowing same-sex marriages devalue opposite-sex marriages, particularly when their value is at an all-time low? . . . please click here for the rest of the post →
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