Old Link Bundle: More Trumpiness

 My tabs are REALLY piling up...

A reminder that Trump has been using government agents to target opposition protests long before the current BLM protests.

"Mr. Marshall has made his decision; now let him enforce it," 2019 style.

And again. And again.

Remember, Trump's cabinet is just as corrupt and incompetent as he is.

 Reminders that Trump wants to shut down all immigration except rich white people permanently, law be damned: here, here.

Reminders that Trump loves him some white supremacist terrorists: here, here.

Reminders that Trump is himself a white supremacist: here, here. And that he surrounds himself with white supremacists and does nothing about them: here.

Trump on health care: let the corporations run wild, stick you with the bill. Hell, he even wants that to be the case in England.

Reminders that Trump is wholly corrupt not just morally but financially: here, here.

Reminder that Trump believes it's all right for him to make doing his job conditional on electoral support: here. 

Reminders that Trump's tax plan was designed specifically only to benefit people like himself: here, here.

Reminders that Trump uses his power to deliberately cover up his own scandals: here, here.

Reminders that Trump hates the poor: here, here, here.

Reminders that Trump is loading the federal courts with bigots and corrupt dealers wholly unqualified for their roles: here.

Reminder that Trump is absolutely incompetent at foreign policy: here. 

Reminder that Trump believes loyalty goes only one way: here.

Reminder that there is zero evidence that Trump will relinquish power voluntarily: here.

And, finally, reminders that Republicans and conservatives won't lift a finger to stop Trump: here. 

Because they had the chance to stop Trump once, for these reasons, and for others, and chose not to.

Because Trump is exactly what Republicans, as a group, are.

Link Bundle: Democractic 2020 Race

ELIZABETH WARREN:

... calling out the Democrats who voted to deregulate Wall Street.

... has the momentum, seemingly winning debate after debate.

... is absolutely right on justice reform.

... is going after the 0.1% hoards of wealth.

... "I don’t understand why anybody goes to all the trouble of running for president of the United States just to talk about what we really can’t do and shouldn’t fight for."

BERNIE SANDERS:

... brushing up on his foreign policy chops.

... made the mistake of going on s Fox News town hall... and still emerged triumphant.

PETE BUTTIGIEG:

... has a tin ear when it comes to the demands of Black Lives Matter.

... has gone from being young and friendly to being white and angry.

ANDREW YANG:

... vote for him because Trump's fat...? I guess?

BETO O'ROURKE:

... got an endorsement from a Congresswoman who thought Nancy "Big Donors Call the Shots" Pelosi was too far to the left. And also a few other blue dog Dems. Which is interesting, because as his recent call for banning and confiscating assault rifles shows, he's not nearly as much of a centrist as he makes out.

... is still not liberal enough for a lot of Texans who worked for him in 2018.

JOE BIDEN:

... falls well short on climate change policy.

... preaches the merits of compromise and bipartisanship, despite the blatantly obvious.

... seriously, the completely fucking obvious.

... so obvious there are people who think Biden is only playing dumb.

... has ex-Republicans like David Brooks rooting for him.

... keeps finding new ways to shoot himself in the foot.

... cries crocodile tears for how he treated Anita Hill when presiding over Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court hearings.

... is still the leading choice of black Democratic primary voters, despite having built his entire career on anti-black policies.

... has a pair of Billy Carters, his brother and his son, who have traded on Joe's political career (incompetently) their whole lives, and whose wheeling and dealing are just waiting to embarrass him in the general election.

And, finally:

BILL AND HILLARY CLINTON:

... need to just go away.

Link Bundle: Things Trump Has Been Doing

... when he's not extorting money and election favors from other countries, that is.

He's also arranging sweetheart deals with foreign countries for businessmen who are members of his resorts.

He's trying to cover up or deny his scheme to pay off and silence his mistresses.

He's pocketing millions in cash when Republicans hold events at his hotels and resorts, even when the rooms aren't actually slept in by anybody.

He's embarrassing America on his trips abroad.

He's blocking members of the International Criminal Court from entering the US and freezing their assets here.

His tax cuts are lining his pockets (and those of other billionaires) while utterly failing to create jobs.

And while he's helping billionaires get richer, he's looking for new ways to make the poor poorer.

In fact, he's considering creating concentration camps for the homeless.

He's looting other programs (including support for our soldiers) and violating the Constitution and the express will of Congress in order to fund a wall that won't work.

He's blocking data collection on climate change.

He's protecting carcinogenic, nerve-damaging pesticides which almost all other civilized countries have banned.

He's helping protect violent white supremacists by blaming mass shootings on the political left.

He uses workers as political props.
 
He runs the White House like a mafia family don.

And, just as a reminder, he successfully obstructed justice by suborning perjury and withholding of evidence and interfering in the Mueller investigation. And although proving it in court will be almost impossible, it's all but certain he made himself a pawn of Russian intelligence.

And he's willing to do absolutely anything- even destroy the American republic- to avoid the consequences.

In this struggle, he will have the total support of most elected Republicans... and virtually all Republican voters.

Link Bundle #7

Hadn't done one of these for a while after a computer crash wiped out all my old tabs, but the browser's getting overfull again. So...

The ICE is inherently corrupt, part n+1.

CHP is spelled KKK.

And they have good friends, if not members, in the White County, TN sheriff's department.

And certain Alabama sheriffs may or may not be working with the alt-right, but they're deliberately looting the funds appropriated for their prisoners so they can get rich.

Trump wants the poor to eat less healthy. Which is a problem, because the poor generally are too poor to eat anything but cheap junk anyway- especially since food is the one pleasure they're still allowed.

White supremacists are recruiting openly, and nobody seems to be able to counter it effectively. Part of this is an attempt to indoctrinate young people into the cause, but more of it is a simple attack against the very idea of higher education.

In fact, the alt-right is so petty that they attacked a trio of black women science students in an attempt to get them thrown out of a NASA contest.

This is the kind of people Trump brings to Washington: an EPA "science advisor" who thinks pollution is GOOD for you. A financial industry watchdog who thinks 950% interest is perfectly fine, but students getting back fraudulently spent loan money is wasteful. A cabinet secretary who demotes and fires underlings for not being willing to spend enough taxpayer money on the secretary's personal luxury. A person in charge of the Bureau of Indian Affairs who harrassed women and native Americans in the employ of the government. A son in law so openly on the take it's ridiculous. And, of course, the president himself, who uses his 2020 re-election campaign as a personal revenue source and who sends goons to steal medical records from his doctor in broad daylight..

A reminder that five months ago, Trump and his loyal Republican ass-kissers were doing everything in their power to undermine good government, defend their leader, and protect Russia.

A worthy read about how the NRA became a vehicle of big business to turn Americans away from government and civic involvement... and against each other.

Our Revolution, the organization created by Bernie Sanders, endorsed Dennis Kucinich for US Senate in Ohio. It's not the first time they've endorsed an obvious crackpot (who thankfully lost)- or gone against Sanders's express wishes. It appears "Our Revolution" is not going to be a force for good, which makes me wonder who's really in charge of it anymore. It certainly isn't Sanders.

Oh, and remember the tax cuts Republicans enact which were going to lead to new jobs and investment? Nope! They're going straight into the pockets of the wealthy and staying there. Of course, when the biggest beneficiaries of the tax cuts are those who needed it the least, that's how it was designed to work in the first place, lies about new jobs notwithstanding.

Meanwhile, the Democratic Party did its best to surrender unconditionally on guns when confronted with yet another mass murder. They endorsed (and boosted to the nomination) a white male anti-abortion, anti-gay, pro-gun candidate over a liberal black woman.

Fun times. Still plenty of tabs, but that'll do it for now.

Don Blankenship: Teabagger, Racist, Greedy, Sociopathic... Republican

So the big news the past couple days is the big mine explosion in West Virginia.

This is by no means the first time that a mine belonging to the Massey Corporation has caused the deaths of workers. The CEO of the corporation, Don Blankenship, has said in an interview that despite the multitude of safety violations, there was nothing wrong with how the mine was run:

I mean violations are unfortunately a normal part of the mining process. You have inspections every day and it’s hard to differentiate sometimes between head count or number counts of violations and the seriousness or type of it.

[Upper Big Branch] was a mine that had violations. I think the fact that MSHA and the state and our firebosses and the best engineers you can find were all in and order this mine and all belive it was safe … speaks for itself.

Any suspicion that the mine was improperly operated or illegally operated or anything like that would be unfounded. None of these groups would have allowed this mine to operate had it been unsafe.

Yes, this nitwit does not realize- or will not admit- that safety regulation violations are a definitive sign that the mine IS unsafe.

Of course, you'll notice that he mentiones the Mine Safety and Health Authority, the state government, and his employed engineers... but he doesn't mention union safety crews or inspectors. That's because, over the past decade, he's purged the United Mine Workers of America from his corporation's mines.

The combative head of the nation's sixth-biggest coal company has benefited greatly by facing down the union. But it's not his only enemy. Environmental regulators, who he says are in cahoots with the union, aren't particularly fond of him either. They say he runs some of the industry's dirtiest mines. Now Wall Street has joined the party. The cocky, independent streak that served him so well has led to bad decisions, such as hiring cheaper but inexperienced workers.

. . .

The 53-year-old made his name in 1985, when Massey insisted on separate negotiations for each of the company's mines. In protest the United Mine Workers of America struck at mines run by Blankenship. But after 15 months, with one worker shot to death, 91 others sent to the hospital, three of Blankenship's armored cars trashed and those 11 bullets fired into his office, the union caved in, agreeing to less featherbedding and less job security. Now Massey's liabilities for future retiree benefits and land reclamation equal $11 for each ton it ships annually; its three biggest rivals average $20 a ton.

. . .

The 53-year-old made his name in 1985, when Massey insisted on separate negotiations for each of the company's mines. In protest the United Mine Workers of America struck at mines run by Blankenship. But after 15 months, with one worker shot to death, 91 others sent to the hospital, three of Blankenship's armored cars trashed and those 11 bullets fired into his office, the union caved in, agreeing to less featherbedding and less job security. Now Massey's liabilities for future retiree benefits and land reclamation equal $11 for each ton it ships annually; its three biggest rivals average $20 a ton.

. . .

Blankenship, making a contrarian bet that the supply of low-sulfur coal will fall even faster than demand as more eastern miners fold up shop, has bought mines in West Virginia. Massey now has a third of Central Appalachia's proven and probable reserves. It mined 44 million tons last year, up from 13 million in 1990. "We're skating where the puck is going to be," says Blankenship.

. . .

n October 2000 the floor of a 72-acre wastewater reservoir built above an abandoned mine in Kentucky collapsed, sending black sludge through the mine and out into a tributary of the Big Sandy River. The sludge killed fish and plants for 36 miles downstream... Blankenship says the accident "could have happened to anyone" and partly blames faulty maps of the old mine . . . the reservoir had shown signs of leaking right before the accident and Massey failed to report that fact to regulators as required, according to the U.S. Mine Safety & Health Administration. The cleanup has cost $58 million so far.

. . .

The state's Surface Mine Board, which includes the vice chairman of the state lobbying group for the coal industry, called Massey's actions at Madison "absolutely the worst behavior by any company that any member of this board has ever seen over the decades that this board has been in existence."

Over the two years through 2001 Massey was cited by West Virginia officials for violating regulations 501 times. Its three biggest rivals, mining twice as much coal in the state as Massey, were cited a collective 175 times. Blankenship says Massey is unfairly targeted by regulators. "We don't pay much attention to the violation count," he says.

. . .

In the winter of 2000-01 electricity demand rose and the spot price for Central Appalachian coal jumped from $24 a ton to $48 a ton. Mining companies began digging furiously, hiring more workers and pushing up wages. Blankenship refused to match the increases. Miners quit in droves. The timing was awful. Blankenship had planned to increase Massey coal production for the coming year from 44 million tons to 56 million tons and so needed to add staff. He had to turn to people with little experience. By the end of 2001 half of his 5,000-person staff were new hires.

The company's cost of sales, which includes miner's wages, jumped 11% in 2001 for each ton of coal sold. And, despite the surge in coal prices, Massey's operating margin fell a third, to 13%, that year. Blankenship says his decision to let the old workers go will be vindicated as savings from lower wages pile up.

And the above is a Forbes article from 2003- in other words, that was his closest FRIENDS writing about him. His allies in big business were, at the time, sharply critical of his short-sighted policies combined with his monopolistic desires- as you see above, his corporation controls a third of all coal in Appalachia, and holds near total dominion over West Virginia, where coal is the only industry.

Here's what his ENEMIES say about him, and it's based on more recent material:

Here's something else about Don Blankenship and Massey Energy Company: Blankenship spent over $1 million dollars along with other US Chamber buddies like Verizon to sponsor last year's Labor Day Tea Party, also known as the "Friends of America Rally."

. . .

Massey ranks among the nation’s top five coal producers and is among the industry’s most profitable. It has a spotty safety record.

The federal mine safety administration fined Massey a then-record $1.5 million for 25 violations that inspectors concluded contributed to the deaths of two miners trapped in a fire in January 2006. The company later settled a lawsuit naming it, several subsidiaries and Chief Executive Don Blankenship as defendants. Aracoma Coal Co. later paid $2.5 million in fines after the company pleaded guilty to 10 criminal charges in the fire.

. . .

The Manville Trust filed the case in July 2007 against company Chairman, CEO, and President Don Blankenship and certain other current and former officers and directors. The plaintiff sought several corporate governance reforms, specifically regarding environmental compliance and worker safety. Citing several incidents involving Massey Energy, including a major federal water pollution lawsuit, penalties for two coal miners' tragic deaths and other safety and environmental compliance problems, the lawsuit claimed that a "conscious failure" by the defendants to ensure compliance with federal and state regulations and other legal obligations posed a "substantial threat of monetary liability for violations."

. . .

Blankenship will spend millions to keep the Massey Energy's workforce non-union, is perfectly happy to discriminate against union workers even if it means being sued and losing, and might hate unions as much as he hates 'greeniacs'.

This is the same mine where the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) recently ruled that Spartan Mining illegally discriminated against 82 UMWA members by refusing to hire them because of their union membership status.

“This settlement highlights yet again the treacherous and backhanded manner Massey treated the miners who had worked at the Cannelton mine for decades,” UMWA International President Cecil E. Roberts said. “While it was discriminating against these experienced miners because of their age or union status, the company was at the same time publicly crying about the lack of experienced miners in the coalfields.

“But it wasn’t that Massey couldn’t find experienced miners,” Roberts said. “They were there all along and wanted to work. It was that the company would rather break the law than allow its employees to have a strong voice at work and the tremendous benefits of a union contract.

Penny-wise, pound-foolish. An investment in experienced workers trained in state-of-the art safety measures combined with OSHA compliance and mine safety measures might have saved at least 25, and possibly 29 lives.

Instead Don Blankenship spent that money and more on a US Chamber of Commerce corporate-sponsored tea party to convince good, hard-working honest people to work against their best interests.

Scared yet? That's only the beginning:

On April 3, 2008, ABC News reported that Blankenship attacked an ABC News photographer at a Massey facility near Belfry, Kentucky . . . "If you're going to start taking pictures of me, you're liable to get shot," Blankenship stated in the video.

. . .

A former employee of Blankenship, Deborah May, has filed a lawsuit claiming that stress from personal abuse forced her to quit her job as Blankenship's personal maid in November, 2005. The lawsuit claims that a wrong breakfast order from McDonald's, misplaced ice cream in the freezer and an improperly hung jacket in the closet caused difficulties with Blankenship.

. . .

He referred to the support of President Jimmy Carter for energy conservation in the 1970s to communism: "Buy a smaller car? Conserve? I have spent quite a bit of time in Russia and China, and that's the first stage."

In a letter to the editor of the Charleston (WV) Gazette dated Oct. 30, 2009 Blankenship denied that global warming exists, and states: "Why should we trust a report by the United Nations? The United Nations includes countries like Venezuela, North Korea and Iran."

In 2005, Blankenship wrote a memo to employees telling them that maximizing coal production was more important than spending time constructing things like support beams or ventilation shafts: "If any of you have been asked by your group presidents, your supervisors, engineers or anyone else to do anything other than run coal (i.e., build overcasts, do construction jobs, or whatever) you need to ignore them and run coal."

So here we have a man who has no value whatever for the lives of other people, who believes that any form of regulation or conservation is Communist tyranny, who attacks and abuses other people and routinely gets away with it...

...oh, and did I mention he's one of the biggest Republican donors in four states, to the point that he's de facto boss of the Republican machine in West Virginia?

Don Blankenship, the CEO of Massey Energy — which owns the Whitesville mine — is a looming figure in West Virginia politics. Indeed, it's difficult to think of a figure like him in any other state in the current century. He financed a takeover of the state Supreme Court that wound up setting U.S. Supreme Court precedent around politics and the judiciary, and then tried to take over the Legislature.

And look down in the comments:

1) Massey Energy is based in Richmond; 2) Massey's Knox Creek site in Tazewell County "was one of ten sites in the country to be cited for major health and safety violations last October"; 3) our fine Attorney General is not only NOT cracking down on Massey, he "is actually working with Massey Energy on his lawsuit against the EPA;" and 4) Massey hearts Virginia Republicans, having donated $61,000 to Virginia Republicans in 2009 ("and $0 to the Dems"), not to mention $441,463 to Virginia Republicans since 1997 (just $8,250 to Democrats), including $40,000 to Bob McDonnell for Governor and $10,000 to Ken Cuccinelli for Attorney General.

And what did Blankenship get for his money? An attorney general who ordered Virginia universities to discriminate against gays and lesbians, and a governor who just declared April to be Confederate History Month... and then left out slavery altogether from his proclamation because:

"there were any number of aspects to that conflict between the states. Obviously, it involved slavery. It involved other issues. But I focused on the ones I thought were most significant for Virginia."

Yeah... because the single biggest reason the secessionists themselves cited for forming the Confederacy isn't significant enough to be part of history.

So... Don apparently got what he paid for there.

And how did this nutbar not only survive, but prosper, in the decade he's been CEO of Massey? One word: politics.

Blankenship was abetted by former employees placed at the highest levels of the federal mine safety system. Massey COO Stanley Suboleski was named a commissioner of the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission in 2003 and was nominated in December 2007 to run the Energy Department’s Office of Fossil Energy. Suboleski is now back on the Massey board. After being rejected twice by the Senate, one-time Massey executive Dick Stickler was put in charge of the MSHA in a recess appointment in October 2006. In the 1990s, Stickler oversaw Massey subsidiary Performance Coal, the operator of the deadly Upper Big Branch Mine, after managing Beth Energy mines, which “incurred injury rates double the national average.” Bush named Stickler acting secretary when the recess appointment expired in January 2008.

. . .

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao, wife of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), oversaw the Mine Safety and Health Administration. Chao “put on the brakes” on the MSHA investigation into the spill by placing a McConnell staffer in charge. In 2002 a $5,600 fine was levied. That September Massey gave $100,000 to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, chaired by McConnell.

. . .

In May 2007 the EPA filed suit for $2.4 billion against Massey for violating “Clean Water Act more than 4,500 times from the beginning of 2000 to the end of 2006″ in West Virginia and Kentucky, including the Martin County spill. In January 2008 Massey agreed to pay $20 million to settle the case.

In short language: Blankenship is one of many crazy, self-obsessed CEOs who have bought off the government. We can only wait and hope that this fresh tragedy actually goads a Democratic federal government into putting some teeth into the regulations and nailing Blankenship's hide to the proverbial war.

But, since the Democratic Party is the Party of Caving In to Evil, I'm not holding my breath. No doubt they have More Important Issues to Focus On. No doubt they Don't Want to Alienate Republicans in Congress. No doubt they wish to Seek Bipartisanship.

If the Democrats don't act now, and act definitively, it will be merely another example of why we desperately need some other party besides the Big Two- one irredeemably evil, the other useless.

GOP: Pollution Controls are a Socialist Conspiracy

So, the lower house of the Utah legislature- overwhelmingly composed of the most radical conservative Republicans in America outside the Confederacy- voted a resolution claiming that athmospheric carbon dioxide is harmless.

And that's after the bill was edited to make it less radical:

The original version of the bill dismissed climate science as a "well organised and ongoing effort to manipulate and incorporate "tricks" related to global temperature data in order to produce a global warming outcome". It accused those seeking action on climate change of riding a "gravy train" and their efforts would "ultimately lock billions of human beings into long-term poverty".

In the heat of the debate, the representative Mike Noel said environmentalists were part of a vast conspiracy to destroy the American way of life and control world population through forced sterilisation and abortion.

The bill claims not only that global warming is not caused by humans, but that there is no such thing as global warming- and therefore that proposed anti-carbon regulations being considered by the Environmental Protection Agency should be put on hold "until a full and independent investigation of climate data and global warming science can be substantiated".

Just in case the EPA isn't paying attention, Texas governor Rick Perry is suing in federal court to block any such regulations.

Texas said it had filed a petition for review challenging the EPA's "endangerment finding" with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Texas has also asked the EPA to reconsider its ruling.

"The EPA's misguided plan paints a big target on the backs of Texas agriculture and energy producers and the hundreds of thousands of Texans they employ," Texas Gov. Rick Perry said.

The National Association of Manufacturers, the American Petroleum Institute, and the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association also said on Tuesday they filed a petition challenging the EPA in federal appeals court.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and U.S. iron and steel makers have also signaled they would file lawsuits.

This isn't just ignorance, mind you- at least it's not in most cases. There's a lot of big money that doesn't want to pay the cost of controlling the release of carbon dioxide into the athmosphere. Big Oil, Big Steel (well, such as is left in the US) and Big Coal, to name three industries, want to keep pollution nice and regulation-free.

And in order to do this, they're pumping billions, with a B, of dollars into public relations, think tanks, and junk science to discredit climate change at every level- just like tobacco companies used to do to combat medical studies that showed the direct link between smoking and lung cancer. They're not just playing on the general ignorance of the voting public- they're ADDING to it by promoting false information, conspiracy theories, and false blanket statements on the nature and reliability of climate science.

And Utah, I'm pretty sure, is just broadcasting the new message for the Republican base: environmentalists are the enemy. Environmentalists are evil. Anyone who wants to reduce pollution, or who worries about climate change, is a Commie bastard who wants to kill your unborn children and take away your freedom.

This is an extension of the old Southern belief that anyone better educated than you are is by definition evil and not to be trusted. It's beyond suspicion- it's actual hatred of expertise and training. It's a call to believe in the superiority of the righteously ignorant.

And it's being done not for the benefit of the country, but merely for the benefit of the extremely rich.

How to Look Concerned Without Really Doing Anything Dept.

Today I found out about a new program created in the 2007 Texas legislature that I'd entirely missed in the news coverage, or lack thereof.

I introduce to you: the Low-Income Vehicle Repair Assistance, Retrofit, and Accelerated Vehicle Retirement Program.

Sounds good, right? Well, um, no.

First, you can't make more than twice the poverty line in your household.

Second, your car has to pass everything except emissions checks. (This, of course, requires that you live in a county that HAS emissions checks, and for at least a year prior to applying. It also requires your car be rolling, and that you have a clean title.)

Third, the director of a state agency- the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality- can put any additional restrictions on the program he or she sees fit.

If you get through these three obstacles, though, what do you get? Between $30 and $600 to bring your car up to code, or between $600 to $1000 to replace the car if it can't be brought up to code.

Furthermore, you can't get the $1000 unless the old car is completely parted out or destroyed outright. You can't sell it as a car or use it as a trade-in at a dealership.

Now, for most causes of emissions failure, $600 is not nearly enough to cover the work needed to bring a car up to snuff. Nor are you going to get a car that passes emissions tests for $1000. In fact, a car that passes inspection isn't likely to be available for less than $3000, and more likely more than $5000.

My personal prediction? This program is going to dole out only a tiny trickle of its billion-dollar budget to the poor. The rest is going to go either to bureaucrats under "administrative costs" or to friends of the current GOP leadership in Texas who can weasel their way through a loophole somewhere.

I personally believe that, if the government is going to concern itself at all with replacing people's old hooptys, it ought to just give folks a new car and be done with it.

Here's how I'd do it: first, set aside a certain amount of dough, say a billion a year, for the program. One million- 0.1% of the total budget- for overhead costs should be sufficient. Give a handful of officials full authority to go out and buy the cars the cheapest way- whether that's direct from the manufacturer or off a car lot. Don't set up any bureaucracy that requires years of applications and review before the cars get delivered; it doesn't stop crooked bureaucrats from giving their buddies a special deal. Instead, investigate the receipts after the fact and make an example of anybody who gets too grabby.

What kind of cars should be bought? No-frills models, certainly- the absolute base standard package. There should be a mix of different vehicle types, but since the program would focus on urban areas the bulk should be small passenger cars. I'd also recommend a mix of hybrids, all-electric, and hydrogen vehicles as they become available; save energy, reduce pollution, and encourage the construction of support infrastructure by the private sector. (Stanley, should we get our hydrogen at Shell, BP or Chevron?)

Given the above, the average price per car should be about $33,000, or a million bucks for thirty cars. If a billion bucks per year is budgeted for the program, that comes up to nearly thirty thousand cars given away per year. Presuming one car per person in Texas (in reality it's more), that's a bit more than 0.1% of all cars in Texas being replaced per year at taxpayer expense. (Which is OK, because most people can afford to upgrade their own rides.)

Anyway, divide up those thirty thousand cars among the urban areas in Texas that require emissions testing, by population. (Living in the sticks as I do, that would make me and about five million Texans ineligible.) People living in those areas can apply for an annual lottery to get the car; pledge your current car as a trade-in, and if your name is pulled, get a new car back. Restrict it to cars ten years or older, but otherwise allow anyone, regardless of income, one chance at a car.

Now let's weight the odds in favor of giving the cars to poor people with polluting, gas-guzzling beaters. Give five extra chances to anyone who shows evidence that the car they're pledging runs, but flunks emissions. Give five extra chances to any household earning less than double the poverty line, and twenty extra chances to any household earning the poverty line or less. Finally, give one extra chance for every two years older than ten the trade-in car is.

Then comes the lottery day, and the winners (plus alternates) are picked. The agency takes delivery of the old car and hands over the new, no taxes, no fees, nothing but a full tank/charge. The old cars can be auctioned off to recover a tiny bit of the cost of the program; the odds are they'll end up as parts, scrap metal, or new offerings in a Mexican car dealership. In any case, they'll be off Texas roads and, more likely than not, off the road altogether.

Is this a legitimate government function? No, not really- at least it's not a core function.

But it's a much better way of actually helping poor people drive cleaner than the abomination the Texas legislature actually came up with.

Just Too Much to Choose From Today...

Tomorrow's Corn Flake, barring new developments, is going to be a couple weeks old- but you've doubtless heard of him.

For today, though, I'm finding so much relevant news that I just can't pick one story to focus on. This isn't a Cull Day thing- this is just all stuff which I don't want to hold and wait until more stories come out.

For an appetizer, let's start with this story about the United States' carbon emissions dropping in 2006- the first time since 1990 they've dropped, according to preliminary numbers from the US Energy Dept.

Two points to consider, though: (1) Isn't this the same Energy Department run by some guy who used to be an Exxon executive? (2) Isn't it a bit early for George Bush to be crowing about his initiatives (none of which have been enacted that I know of) reducing carbon while emissions continue to rise in Europe... when even his puppet agency claims the reduction is primarily due to lower energy demands caused by a mild winter and summer in 2006? This story, combined with the word "preliminary"- that is, subject to wild and radical change without warning- smells like bullshit to me.

Over to the Levant for the second story: Israel arrests over thirty Hamas leaders, including members of the Palestinian Parliament. Let me get this out on the table now: I support an Israeli state in the Levant. I support its right to exist. I do NOT, however, approve in any way, shape or form of how the government of Israel acts- basically, like a little bully who knows nobody will punish him because his daddy is an even bigger bully. For years now Israel has had it both ways- blame the Palestinian Authority for not enforcing laws against terrorist groups, while at the same time sabotaging every effort the Palestinians make to police their own streets and negotiate with splinter groups to end the ongoing entefada. If Israel isn't going to treat Palestinians as equals, they might as well withdraw recognition of the Palestinian Authority and declare an end to the two-state policy. If, on the other hand, they really do want an independent Palestine, they need to stop doing dumb shit like this crackdown... this crackdown that makes Hamas, people who use Mickey Mouse look-alikes to call for the massacre of everyone who doesn't agree with them, look like the victims.

Back to the USA now: Reports surface showing that George W. Bush was warned- repeatedly- before March 2003 that taking out Saddam would create an incurable quagmire and sectarian civil war in Iraq. The most relevant paragraph: A former intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the decision to go to war had been made months before the 2003 papers were drafted and analysts had no delusions that they were going to head off military action. Rather, the official said, they hoped their warnings would be considered in the planning.

That's right: yet more proof that the decision to go to war in Iraq had been made months, even perhaps years in advance. More proof that George W. Bush had no intention of negotiating in good faith for weapons inspection, sanctions, or international support for ousting Saddam Hussein. Most damaging, more proof that Bush and his cronies had determined to have a war regardless of all other considerations- including the safety of American soldiers and the American people.

This story comes from an anomymous source, but keep your eyes out when the report this info comes from is released either late this week or sometime next week.

Finally, closer to home... Remember my posts about Houston's sex business ordinance, which is a direct attack on the ability of those businesses to operate at all? Well, the state legislature has squeezed through a new sin tax at the last minute before the session ends- a $5 per head tax on everyone who sets foot in a titty bar.

No, I correct myself: strip club. Even places that don't serve booze have to pony up the dough.

Prize-winning quote from the article at the end, from State Senator Dan Patrick- not the one from ESPN, but he also STILL HAS a radio talk show:

"I don't want the fact that the government is making money from them to make them harder to close. I would rather see the businesses close down," he said after the vote. "If we base our budget on a combination of sin taxes, we are kind of supporting the sin."

Mr. Patrick has forgotten the old adage: the power to tax is the power to destroy.

Mr. Patrick is also one of the supporters of efforts in this legislature to severely restrict or outright ban abortion... and to provide tax dollars to pay women to carry their child to term.

Oh- and although Mr. Patrick is a Republican, the author in the Texas House and the bill's sponsor in the Senate are both Democrats. The state House has to vote to approve Senate changes, so I don't know the final vote there, but only one state senator voted against the bill.

With both parties voting to continue the Iraq war in Washington, and both parties voting to tax people for being horny in Houston and Austin...

... does anybody still really believe Libertarians can change anything unless Libertarians get ELECTED?