Gassing On a Bit
Government does some things well. (I believe that is called a major premise). I am not, however, going to prove that premise. This is not school and I am not attempting to get a grade. Instead, I would like to point to an article which addresses the flip side of things: The gas gauge broke. There was no smartphone app to tell me how much was left, so I ran out. I had to call the local gas station to give me enough to get on my way. The gruff but lovable attendant arrived in his truck and started to….
The End of an Error?
As WRM notes, one of the oldest ethanol plants in the US has gone wrongside up: Workers at one ethanol plant in South Bend, Indiana, hoped an investor would save them from liquidation by buying a plant at auction and restarting ethanol production. As the WSJ reports, those hopes went unfulfilled: [T]he winning $2.5 million bid at the bankruptcy auction came from buyers who plan to sell the plant for scrap. The South Bend facility was the country’s first major ethanol plant when it opened in 1984, and now it could be the first to get dismantled after filing for bankruptcy. For more than….
Junk and More Junk
Food stamps (which aren’t stamps anymore, but debit cards) are used to purchase billions of dollars worth of, you guessed it, sub-obtimal, sugar and fat laden junk food. Who would have thought such a thing?
Unnecessarily Taxing
From the AP: You don’t see this very often: a majority of Senate Republicans voting to make people who buy stuff on the Internet pay state and local sales taxes. Well, no. We don’t see that very often because they don’t vote on that bill very often. That aside, let’s see where it goes from there: On Wednesday, the bill passed a test vote in the Senate, 74 to 23, with 27 Republicans voting in favor. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., vowed to pass the bill this week, before senators leave for a scheduled vacation. “This is a matter….
Food-Stamp Recruiter
Betcha you didn’t even know that was a job title. Sorry, nothing to see here folks. Move along.
Angry Birds vs Obamacare
You remember Angry Birds, right? The little, relatively simple, addictive game for phones and tablets took the world by storm, making its creators wealthy and loved around the world. Then, there was/is Obamacare. The massive, insanely complex, solution for a series of problems which don’t exist (or not at least as billed) took the nation by the throat, making its creators (who were already wealthy) un-loved from sea to shining sea. So, what’s to be done? A PR campaign, of course: The Department of Health and Human Services has just handed out a $3.1 million PR contract to improve the….
Something’s Rotten in Denmark
But, it may be that the Danes are beginning to figure that out: With little fuss or political protest — or notice abroad — Denmark has been at work overhauling entitlements, trying to prod Danes into working more or longer or both. While much of southern Europe has been racked by strikes and protests as its creditors force austerity measures, Denmark still has a coveted AAA bond rating. But Denmark’s long-term outlook is troubling. The population is aging, and in many regions of the country people without jobs now outnumber those with them. Harbinger of our future? It surely could be. This….
Karma Isn’t Enough
Government provides a $500 million loan guarantee to green technology company. What could possibly go wrong? How about everything: Fisker Automotive — the electric-car maker that was granted a half-billion-dollar federal loan and on Friday dismissed about 75 percent of its remaining workforce — is purportedly facing a lawsuit from the same firm that sued the government-funded Solyndra company. Why a lawsuit? Because Fisker didn’t give the folks 60-days notice of the layoffs. And, if the former employees win the suit, how will Fisker pay them? With money that should have gone to creditors (including you and me). It’s ugly….
Using Guns to Do the Right Thing
The NRA is doing something which is long overdue. Here’s just one of several videos which are coming from the organization: He makes quite a bit of sense, doesn’t he?
A Billion Dollars for Insurance Software?
Not exactly, but it still seems as though California is paying a premium for its ObamaCare mandated health exchange: Health policy consultant Robert Laszewski notes that California has already received a little more than $909 million in federal grants—an amount that’s actually $32 million less than the state’s exchange director asked for. Going further into the post, one finds out that $250 million will be spent simply on advertising. $250 million. That’s almost enough money to fund the next Jim Carrey box-office bomb. Where does cash-strapped California get all of this money? As noted above, from the Federal government–which gets….
