Friday, January 28, 2011

Barker's Newsbites: Friday, January 28, 2011


Ahh...

Relax...

Just... relax...
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3 comments:

William R. Barker said...

http://www.indystar.com/article/20110128/LOCAL1804/101280341/Wayne-superintendent-s-1M-retirement-package-creates-storm

In 2007, the Wayne [Indiana] Township School Board and then-Superintendent Terry Thompson agreed to a renegotiated contract that provided a generous retirement package for whenever Thompson decided to step down.

But it wasn't until this month that board members realized just how lucrative that deal was...

* WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...

Thompson, 64, who retired in December after 15 years with the district, already has received more than $800,000 of his retirement deal, which included a year's base pay at more than $225,000, as well as contract provisions that kicked in hundreds of thousands more.

But that's not all.

The contract also created the position of superintendent emeritus - a position that has been paying Thompson $1,352 a day since his retirement to advise his successor, among other duties. That amount, over the 150 days laid out in the contract, would pay him more than $200,000 - bringing the total to more than $1 million.

* I'M SORRY, FOLK... VIOLENCE IS NOT "UNTHINKABLE." RIGHT NOW I'M THINKING THAT A VIOLENT REACTION TO THIS NEWS ON THE PART OF INDIANA TAXPAYERS IS JUST WHAT THE SITUATION CALLS FOR. I'D LIKE TO SEE THOMPSON - AND EACH AND EVERY MEMBER OF THE WAYNE INDIANA SCHOOL BOARD WHO VOTED FOR HIS "RETIREMENT PACKAGE" - TARRED AND FEATHERED.

In addition, the contract called for one other perk - a onetime $15,000 stipend for "retirement planning."

* EACH AND EVERY INDIVIDUAL CONNECTED TO THOMPSON'S CONTRACT SHOULD BE THOROUGHLY INVESTIGATED; A FORENSIC ACCOUNTANT SHOULD BE ASSIGNED TO THE CASE AND IF KICKBACKS CAN BE PROVEN, THE CULPRITS SHOULD BE PROSECUTED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT OF THE LAW.

January 28, 2011 at 11:33 AM
William R. Barker said...

* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703893104576108501552298070.html?mod=WSJ_Opinion_LEADTop

The public now understands that "Cap and Trade" is an economy killer, and no small number of Democrats lost their seats in midterms for supporting it.

The president presented his new, conciliatory face to the nation this week, and his SOTU was as notable for what it didn't include as what it did. He uttered not one word about global warming, a comprehensive climate bill, or his regulatory attempts to reduce carbon. Combined with his decision to give the axe to controversial climate czar Carol Browner, political analysts took all this as further proof that Barack Obama was moving to the middle, making nice with Republicans.

Snort. Guffaw. Chortle.

* HEY! THE ABOVE IS STRASSEL, NOT ME! SHE'S STEALING MY SCHTICK! (*CHUCKLE*)

Listen carefully to Mr. Obama's speech and you realize he spent plenty of it on carbon controls. He just used a different vocabulary. If the president can't get carbon restrictions via cap and trade, he'll get them instead with his new proposal for a "clean energy" standard. Clean energy, after all, sounds better to the public ear, and he might just be able to lure, or snooker, some Republicans into going along.

Mr. Obama has no intention of letting go of his carbon-free world. He instead went to plan B.

Specifically, he called in his speech for the nation to "join" him in a "new goal": by 2035, 80% of America's electricity will come from "clean energy sources."

What the president was in essence calling for - in happier, fuzzier, broader language - is what policy wonks refer to as a "renewable portfolio standard." This is a government mandate requiring that utilities produce annually a specific amount of their electricity from "renewable" sources - wind, solar, biofuels.

It's also cap and trade by another name.

(*SMIRK*)

* To be continued...

January 28, 2011 at 12:43 PM
William R. Barker said...

* CONTINUING... (Part 2 of 2)

The goal of cap and trade is to impose crushing taxes on fossil fuels - oil, coal, natural gas - thereby forcing utilities to switch to costly renewables. Under Mr. Obama's new proposal, the government skips the tax part and outright requires the use of costly renewables. The result is the same: dramatically higher energy prices, from carbon-free sources.

* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... THIS IS WHAT YOU'VE GOTTA UNDERSTAND! WITH OBAMA THE "MEANS" MIGHT SHIFT, BUT THE "ENDS" REMAIN THE SAME. OBAMA WANTS AMERICANS TO PAY MORE FOR LESS. OBAMA WANTS AMERICAN'S STANDARDS OF LIVING TO GO DOWN - HE FALSELY BELIEVES THIS WILL ALLOW OTHER PEOPLES' STANDARDS OF LIVING TO RISE ACCORDINGLY. OBAMA SEES ECONOMICS AS A ZERO SUM GAME.

* FOLKS... (*SIGH*)... WHEN YOU COMBINE OBAMA'S ECONOMIC IGNORANCE WITH OBAMA'S HOSTILITY TO THE VERY IDEA OF AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM... (*GRITTING MY TEETH*)... WHAT YOU GET IS "AN ENEMY FROM WITHIN." I KNOW THIS SOUNDS HARSH... BUT IT'S TRUE. GOD HELP US ALL... IT'S TRUE.

Many Republicans understand the situation. Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, chair of House Energy and Commerce, put out a statement following the speech that insisted "the answer is not to hyper-subsidize preferred industries or to force consumers and job creators to purchase energy they can't afford." Reached on the phone, Mr. Upton elaborated, telling me the president's remarks "smell like cap and trade all over again." He noted that 28 states already have their own renewable standards and so "why have a federal mandate?"

Then again, some [RINO's] - the self-styled energy "progressives" - have let it be known they'd be open to a new government diktat... if only the price is right.

* WAIT FOR IT... WAIT FOR IT...

South Carolina [RINO] Lindsey Graham has noodled with legislation to require an energy standard that includes nuclear energy (like that produced in his home state) along with renewables. Indiana [RINO] Dick Lugar has floated what he calls a "diverse" energy standard that would mandate renewables, nuclear and... coal with carbon sequestration. (Indiana relies on coal.)

(*GNASHING MY TEETH*)

This is why Mr. Obama took care in his speech to refer broadly to a "clean energy" standard and make clear he was open to including in it "nuclear" and "clean coal" - along with "renewables."

He'll lure Republicans into negotiations, then cement their support with lavish energy pork for their home-state nuclear, clean-coal, wind, biofuels and solar projects. As a bonus, the plan gives cover to nervous coal state Democrats.

(*GRITTING MY TEETH*) (*POUNDING MY FIST ON THE DESK*)

What the White House also knows - as do most sensible people - is that these promises mean little. The president has made grand nuclear gestures, but his regulators continue to sit on projects. Clean coal remains a pipe dream.

(Here's to betting that if and when the president's "clean energy" standard kicks in, the only mandated sources utilities have to choose from are wind, solar and biofuels.)

The GOP has spent some long, sometimes uncomfortable, years explaining the perils of cap and trade. Yet they risk getting the same policy, all because they've yet to find the moxy to resist the "clean energy" drumbeat.

January 28, 2011 at 12:44 PM

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