Biden Speaks, the Left cringes...

Even crazy old Joe Biden (did you know he's Vice President now? Neither did I! Wow!!) thinks the government is run by a bunch of amateurs (himself, excluded).

"The truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited," said Biden to ABC's George Snuffalufagus.

In another sign of just how wise Biden is becoming, even he thinks Paul Krugman is a partisan hack, and a leftist, lunatic economist as he downplayed calls from (long ago) Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman this week that a second stimulus will be needed.

I always knew I liked Joe Biden for his candor...

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Stimulus will stimulate nothing

Is there any thinking person in America who actually believes that the proposed $850B "stimulus" package is going to do much to help this economy?

Readthestimulus.org provides some snapshots of the bill, from the CBO's analysis. Whether you agree with the stuff that we're going to find in the bill (and I guarantee, we're going to find lots of egregious stuff), it is obvious that this bill isn't going to provide much of a stimulus for at least a year, if ever.

I encourage everyone to read the CBO analysis, as its 18 page write-up is probably the easiest way to digest, in a summary, what this bill is all about. And, frankly, reading this analysis, the GOP had better come up with a way to fight this monster and keep it from happening. This bill is a waste of taxpayer's 'money, and I guarantee, it'll end up filled with pork in a vote buying effort.

The Heritage Foundation also has some analysis of this pig, among their points:

• This bill will cost over $10,000 for every family in America. Better to send every family a check for $10k - trust me, they will spend it better and it'll provide more stimulus than this pile of liberal doggerel.
• The bill doubles federal spending on education. Liberals will say that either 1)we need the money to improve failing schools, or 2) the feds are doing such a good job with education, they should spend more. They'll say it with a straight face
  
• A significant expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. I will say that if you're poor (or make below about $40,000/year, and depending on how many kids you have) the EITC is a great thing. However, it goes largely to people who don't pay any income taxes. The EITC is a massive transfer payment program.

If we really wanted to stimulate the economy (yes, I contend that President Obama et.al. do not give a rat's ass whether the economy is stimulated, they intend to consolidate power and votes in an old-fashioned vote buying scheme - making government your mommy), we would lower corporate tax rates, nearly eliminate the capital gains tax, make the Bush tax cuts permanent, and cut government spending, including some privitization of social security (don't think markets could use a massive injection of capital right about now???).

Of course, that won't happen with this crowd in charge.

Leaving the Union, Alaska-style

Over on Ripley's Porch, there are thoughts of what might happen if Alaska wised up and left the union. It's an interesting thought experiment, and probably nothing more. However, I'd like to see not just Alaska, but a few other states decide to leave the current union, and start their own....

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Those Dastardly Christians

My fellow sub-blogger and Objectivist, Doc McDonald, clearly feels that Evangelicals pose a threat to the GOP and the country. In his defense, he's not the only one.

The Conservative coalition in this country is made up of a triad of groups, Fiscal Conservatives, who also tend to Libertarianism, who favor smaller government, lower taxes, and less involvement in our lives from the government, largely because it impacts their bottom line. National Defense conservatives, who grew out of the Anti-Communist movement of the 50's and still favor a pre-eminent role for the United States in fighting terrorism today, and social conservatives, who, since 1980 at least, have succeeded in keeping an anti-abortion plank in the GOP Platform, and, for whom, the Life issue is their number one issue. It is these Far-right, fire-breathing, Bible-thumping, intolerant, want-to-tell-you-what-you-can't-do-in-your-bedroom Christians that this post is all about.

Actually, what this post is about, is about trying to find out what it is exactly, that the rest of the coalition finds so threatening about these Far-Right Extremists.

Doc's post and a co-worker of mine, an intelligent man, who feels much the same way, have me wondering why they feel that way? What has the Christian Right actually DONE that gives people (from opposite ends of the political spectrum in these two cases) the impression that they are soooooooo absolutely dangerous.

I am not personally a regular churchgoer, I run in circles with people who are, and either these fire breathing dragons are pulling one of the most elaborate ruses in history on the rest of us, or I am missing something here.

So, what is it I am missing? I'll throw out a few of my thoughts, then I challenge the rest of my readers (well, the one of them), to help me out here.

1. Abortion - The Christian Right believes Life begins at conception, and, the most extreme would like to see abortion outlawed nationally in all circumstances. There are many proposed HLA's. Most merely state that life begins at conception or that the right to regulate abortions shall be left to the states. Even if Roe were overturned today, it would not lead to mass deaths due to "back-alley" abortions. States like Connecticut, California, New York, etc, would immediately pass laws (already on the books in CT) making abortion legal, and states like Georgia, SC, Alabama, Mississippi, would immediately place significant restrictions, if not outright outlawing abortion. I can't disagree with Doc's premises that it is low self-esteem, lack of education, etc, that leads to promiscuity and abortions. That's true, and, programs that remove those things will lead to fewer abortions. Regardless, the argument that if we just provided every kid with condoms and birth control and taught them how to use them has an analog in the argument that if we just took guns from everyone we wouldn't have any murders. Those both skirt the fact that murder is wrong, except in the most extreme of circumstances.
   So, what is it about the Christian Right's abortion stance is it that strikes so much fear into the hearts of the anti-religionists? Is it the fear that once they succeed in passing an HLA, or overturning Roe that suddenly women will be dying left and right from illegal abortions? Is it that along with the CR's success here, they will get birth control outlawed, too? This, friends, is where I'd like your help, because I don't know what it is here that so bothers this group.
   
2. Gay Rights and Defense of Marriage - is this the other issue that so disturbs? There are certainly some high profile Evangelicals who have serious theological and moral problems with homosexuality. And, they have made no secret that they find the homosexual lifestyle (at least as practiced by many gay men) abhorrent and immoral. There is something to be said for tradition, if it didn't work, it would be a tradition we would want to see changed. To many on the Christian Right, the tradition of one man, one woman has withstood the test of time, and is the best environment to raise children who will be productive members of society, not to mention, procreating members of society (but, I digress, as science is making that point moot). Anyway, is this one of those areas that puts us on a slippery slope to theocracy? I'd be interested in hearing those arguments.
3. Public Displays of Faith - I'll lump things like displaying the 10 Commandments in public places, Manger scenes, etc into this category. Is this the horrible slope to a theocracy that people find so objectionable? I'm curious?

Those are just the most prominent and the ones I feel like addressing right now. I want someone to paint a picture for me of how awful the world would be if the Christian Right got their way.