FoxPolitics.net - Appleton, WI News - What's really going on in the Fox Cities

FoxPolitics.net Blogs

FoxPolitics News

Local/State Govt Links

Salaries

• Appleton School District, 2007-08
• City of Appleton
• Town of Grand Chute
• City of Menasha
• City of Neenah

Candidates

City of Appleton

• Elected Officials
• Salary Watch
• Directory
• Mtg. Agendas/Minutes

Advisory Board

Blogroll

Selected News Sources:
Business Jrnl of Milw
Christian Science Monitor
Daily Caller
Drudge Report
La Crosse Tribune
Milw Journal Sentinel
National Journal
New York Times
Public Policy Forum
Real Clear Politics
Stateline
The Hill
TPM
Washington Examiner
Washington Post
Washington Times
WI State Journal
Selected Blogs - from the Right:
American Mind
Blaska's Blog
Boots & Sabers
Charlie Sykes
Dad29
Freedom Eden
Heritage Foundation
Jerry Bader Blog
Life Voice
Marketplace of Ideas
Marquette Warrior
Natl Review Online
No Runny Eggs
Patrick McIlheran
Real Debate Wisconson
RedState
Rhymes with Clown
Shark and Shepherd
The Lote Tree
Vox Populi
Wall Street Jrnl, Opinions
WI State Jrnl, Opinion
Wigderson Library & Pub
Wisconsin Family Voice
WPRI
Selected Blogs - from the Left:
Big Money Blog
Blogging Blue
Brenda Konkel
Caffeinated Politics
Capital Times
FightingBob
Folkbum's rambles
Griper Blade
Huffington Post
Lost Albatross
MAL Contends
Mid coast views
Moneyed Politicians
One Wisconsin Now
Open Left
Playground Politics
Political Environment
Rock Netroots
Talk to Tony
Uppity Wisconsin
Waxing America

Today's Blog: Time for the Guv to morph into Chris Christie
My husband and I and a couple hundred friends watched in Green Bay as ...(more)

Search Archives

Blogs

Time for the Guv to morph into Chris Christie (6/28/2011)

Time for Gov. Walker to talk more about the cake (3/4/2011)

Today, reality hits home (3/1/2011)

FoxPolitics News going on hiatus (1/28/2011)

Brown County Executive candidate forum Feb. 8 (1/28/2011)

Education done right (1/27/2011)

To Obama, the ‘We’ is Government (1/27/2011)

(more)

7/26/2010
Parins: Alternative energy reveals same old cop-out

I used to be a fan of the Picken’s Plan. Convert 18-wheelers to natural gas, which we have plenty of here in America. Set up massive wind farms across the Plains. And innovate like mad to find better alternative energy solutions.

It was a good pragmatic plan to get us off the dime and roll us down the road a piece, instead of just throwing money at everything and anything and hoping it would pay off.

Pickens is an oilman – and oilman who knows oil cannot last forever. But there is nothing anywhere close to being as cheap, plentiful and powerful in the here and now. So if we are going to leave this century still on top of the world economically, we must begin this century on the recognizable path to alternative energy.

The problem with T. Boone’s plan is that he lost his nerve. The cozy billionaire has lost his taste for the risk-reward Capitalism that made America great. The recognizable path he took was up the marble steps of the nation’s Capitol.

Instead of putting his money where his mouth is, buying Schneider National and converting those rigs at eighty grand a pop and setting up the natural gas infrastructure to run those trucks to their destinations – and pushing it to profitability – Pickens went straight to Congress to beg for subsidies. We have had that approach for far too long.

DO you think Hank Rearden would have done that?! Or Francisco D’Anconnia?! Or John Galt?! Or Dagny Taggart?! Well, hell no! Capitalism is not about going to Cuffy Meigs or Wesley Mouch and begging the government’s Unification Board to grant you a profit or to allot you the raw materials to fill an approved order at an approved price paying an approved wage to workers paid according to their need. (Have you read Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged. If you haven’t, what have you read?)

Holy Canoli, Batman! Is America coming to this? Is Atlas going to shrug for real?!

T. Boone needs to refocus, find himself a partner, like Mr. Gates or Mr. Buffet – or both – and put their money where his mouth is. Because if it isn’t profitable and they lack the patience and perseverance to make it so, then they should not be doing it.

We must end corporate welfare, for our own good. Because risk-reward capitalism is what made America and we must Must MUST get back to it!!! Ask Ron Johnson whenever you have a chance to be up close and personal; he makes a payroll, and a product to sell. Now that’s a novel idea.

We did not get to be America with the likes of ObamaCare and TARP. WE must end Bailout Nation. Or WE can watch China rising in the east by 2100.

Think about it. Think hard. Vote risk-reward. Vote American Capitalism.

Richard Parins is the President of the Brown County Taxpayers Association.

COMMENTS

I, too, was sucked in by the 'oil man turned green' romancing of TBP, and similarly have become disenchanted with the Pickens Plan as I saw how quickly he started lapping at the trough.

Think about it though, the oil industry has always been 'close' to government. Certainly the relationship has been better at some times than others, after all - they have money and nothing will attract politicians like ants at a picnic. Now for T-Boone the tables have turned and he's just trying to get some of his share back.

But that doesn't mean we have to support his "Plan" and help him.

Too bad, one man's greed turned a lot of good ideas in to another special interest. Yeah, it's a green plan - just not the kind of green it appears to be on the surface.

Now over to Jack for a comment about Campaign Finance Reform...

Jeff Riedl (Mon Jul 26 07:58:11 2010)

Atlas Shrugged is a NOVEL, it isn't true, get it? Even Alan Greenspan drank the Atlas KoolAid then admitted his mistake later that a novel isn't reality. The reality of all the great infrastructure accomplishments in this country is that they ALL required either direct government spending (Interstate highway system)or such generous subsidies that the risk was minimized (transcontinental railroad). Even academic studies show that successful entrepreneurs are not foolish risk takers. Successful entrepreneurs are actually quite risk averse. They know (and I am one of them) that to create something expensive, grand, novel and be the first is usually a path to bankruptcy rather than riches. No, Pickens is right on. The whole country needs to make the subsidies in green energy as it did for railroads, highways, coal, oil so that the risk is minimized and private enterprise can flourish. Otherwise nothing will happen. Please give me one example (just one) of any existing purely private infrastructure enterprise anything close to what Pickens proposes in scope. And please don't quote Gates and Buffett.Neither of these men risked their fortunes on one big infrastructure project. (or for that matter any one project) They each spent decades building their empires one block at a time. I don't believe either one of them would do anything different than Pickens.

dave allen (Mon Jul 26 08:12:11 2010)

Thanks for the intro, Jeff. Let me say that neither you nor I nor Parrins (nor anyone reading or writing on this blog) have the answer. We just don't know -- as much as we think we do -- because the industry is crowded with special interests battling both sides of the issue and paying their own scientists to say things exactly opposite from the other. And your trusty politicians are taking money from one side or the other and thus refusing to get to the truth of the matter.

And though one side is already there, we don't know which one. How's that for solidarity?

If we had an honest political system, congress would establish a non-conflicted panel of scientists and get to the bottom of it. And then act on it. But we don't. Or if they already have, the campaign contributions have prevented action. See this short OpEd on it Political corruption and climate change

Jack Lohman (Mon Jul 26 08:42:39 2010)

Hmmm, surprised not to see a word from Jack yet on campaign finance reform...

So, Atlas Shrugged is a novel, it's fiction. I had no idea we could so readily dismiss everything contained in a work of fiction as "not true." Why can't a novel be built around a specific set of principles, a worldview, a philosophy that DOES exist in reality? And like so many works of fiction, roil the problems it has with opposing views to the surface? 1984 was novel. Brave New World was a novel. But like so many of the classics, they weren't just entertainment novels. They wrestled with real problems in the world which few people today would so readily dismiss as "not true."

I'm no fan of objectivism, but Atlas Shrugged puts the free market and the welfare state at a stark contrast to each other that cannot be easily dismissed or denied in the real world.

As to taking risks: successful entrepenuers measure the risk - they don't just assume that risk = reward. And certainly, take away all risk with government subsidies, and who can maintain the heroic steadfastness of principle that kept the likes of John Galt from joining the ranks of dependence and security.

If the great minds of fiction won't suffice, spend a few weeks perusing http://mises.org. Or just pick up The Economics of Liberty by Llewellyn Rockwell for starters. That's some real life for you.

Andrew Ellis (Mon Jul 26 09:01:14 2010)

Ah so, Andrew. Tough to follow the money is it?

Jack Lohman (Mon Jul 26 09:29:24 2010)

Dave
Better read your history again !
The transcontinental railroad was not built by the US Gov !
It was built by the likes of C.Vanderbuilt and C.P. Huntington who used their money, and the many shareholders in their companies.
The Government did give them the land, and that was the incentive. But the land was not tax receipts, nor was it TARP funds !
This is a big difference.

As an engineer, I laugh at the ridiculus thoughts of many.
The energy field is a slew of cockamamy ideas.
Think about this as a logical point.
Solid fuels (bulk/weight)are perfect for Stationary plants (ie Coal,and Nuclear)
Liquid fuels ( ie, Gasoline,Kerosene)
are perfect for mobile machines. They are easy to transport and measure, and are relatively safe
Gas Fuels ( LPG,Natural Gas,Hydrogen,propane)
Are great as long as they are controlled in a pipe line, as they are EXTREMELY bulky on a BTU to volume ratio.
For Vehicle use, it means frequent refills (every 100 miles) and dangerous combustion in case of an accident.
There is a history of these vehicles in accident situations.check it out !
For a starter, how are you going to go through mountain tunnels ?

As for oil, "peak Oil" is a myth.
The recent gulf disaster , while unfortunite, shows the vast, yet unused oil fields in the world, let alone the fields in the Dakota's

Rich Carlstedt (Mon Jul 26 11:27:43 2010)

"Neither of these men risked their fortunes on one big infrastructure project. (or for that matter any one project) They each spent decades building their empires one block at a time."

Well maybe we should learn from that paradigm ... one block at a time - get successful with one step, then build on that success in another area. Those who understand how each of these revolutionary 'green' technologies work know that they are VERY expensive and will take a LONG time to pay for themselves.

Don't know if you have taken a look at the family budget lately, but we're pretty well spent out. Someone went on a spending spree and quite honestly it's going to take a while to pay down the US credit cards.

So - let's start by planting some seeds (small initiatives ... none of these 2,000 page epics) and letting them bear some fruit.

Jeff R. (Mon Jul 26 13:24:20 2010)

Jack, your post appeared right before mine. I was only adding to Jeff's "now over to Jack..." line. Needless to say, your timely interjection foiled my meagre attempt at humor...

Oh well.

Andrew Ellis (Mon Jul 26 14:24:20 2010)

I understand, Andrew. I am obsessed on one-issue that (I feel) is getting overlooked as the root cause of all our problems. I get as tired talking about it as others might listening to it.

Jack Lohman (Mon Jul 26 16:53:59 2010)

Rich, here's a good timeline and discussion of the transcontinental railroad. The government subsidies were huge and were in government bonds and land. Government bonds have cash value. You are incorrect to imply that it was primarily risk capital. I never said it was built without risk capital. But it would never had been built without the huge subsidies.Peak oil is not a myth and looking at oil spewing into the Gulf is no more proof of unlimited oil than a flash flood in the desert is proof of abundant rainfall all year round. The Dakota oil and all other oil that remain in the ground is there because of price, it is too costly to extract. Sure, oil will never run out if the price rises. In the meantime we import cheap oil from the middle east destabilizing our economy, their economy and our national security.

dave allen (Mon Jul 26 20:20:03 2010)

Andrew. Atlas Shrugged is no more a guide of actual macro economic behavior and macro political behavior than Communism is. Both are idealized views of human behavior that somehow miraculously apply to society as a whole and both are failures. Society isn't so neat and clean and pure. By the way, Ayn Rand in her private life brook no dissent from her orthodoxy. Rather than the spirit of free enterprise and thought she was more like the Soviet Communist party, believing in a fiction and forcing everyone else to parrot the same false drivel.

dave allen (Mon Jul 26 20:27:02 2010)

Post a Reply

Print this Article

Email Article to a Friend