Back home again
A local restaurant celebrated their 20th anniversary so we went out for that. Just got home to some very happy dogs and 2,700 emails.
Having a lite dinner and will head out to the DaveCave(tm) in an hour or so.
Was listening to the radio today
Mark Levin referenced this wonderful editorial by W. R. Wansley at
American Thinker:
Katrina and BP, Two Sides of the Same Coin
Mississippi's Governor Haley Barbour, in the wake of hurricane Katrina, often blunted attempts of the media to goad him into criticizing the rescue efforts of President George W. Bush by stating, "Louisiana has the same president as Mississippi has." That is to say Bush's supposed inaction in the New Orleans' "come rescue me" fiasco was in sharp contrast to the boot-strap spirit of the people of the Mississippi Gulf Coast.
Now the Gulf oil spill has shed more light on the consequences of reliance on the federal government to a national disaster. In Katrina, a group of people relied on government to take them out. In the Gulf, a group of people have been trying to get in -- to apply American ingenuity to clean up the oil spill or prevent it from reaching the shore. Both groups have been held up -- by government.
In Katrina, many New Orleans people, after generations of government dependence, stayed behind, drained of initiative by their government's seeming ability to come to their aid. Those who depended on themselves rather than government did leave while those who had faith in government had no initiative to control their own destiny.
In the Gulf oil spill, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has begged for approval to put up temporary sand bars as a barrier to the oil. The EPA, worse than saying no, delayed and studied and pondered and then said no. We have seen countless stories in the news of innovation and ingenuity by Americans attempting to bring proven applications, equipment and tactics to bear on the oil. Each attempt is met with the same federal dithering, inaction and impedance.
In Katrina, energy and effort that should have been put into getting people out was instead diverted into protest, complaint and blame. Government conditioned these people to expect that government would deliver them. Regardless, the would-be rescuers were thwarted in their efforts by an ineffective Democratic governor who put politics over rescue, and an inept Democratic mayor who was just plain in over his head.
In the Gulf oil spill, there are presently dozens of individuals and small companies that have the ability to solve the oil clean up problem. After they show their process to the media, the inevitable question is asked, "Have you shown this to BP or the EPA?" Their all too familiar and depressingly consistent reply is, "yes, and they are considering it" or "yes, and they said they would get back to us". They have been "considering it" for over 50 days now.
This is just the first third or so -- Wansley gets it. He points out the difference between the self-reliant and those who suck at the government teat.
One term bandied about (I do not know where it originated) is: "Zero Liability Voter"
These are people who pay no Federal Income Tax and so, the consequences of their actions have no weight. These people will continuously vote for bigger government and more entitlement programs with zero regard for the overall consequences of their actions.
Right now, 40% of US households pay no income tax and this number is rising.
Do we have to crash like Greece or Spain before we come to our senses?
Posted by DaveH at June 16, 2010 8:27 PM