Conservative Donnybrook

Soren Kern, based out of Spain and a writer for numerous blogs, wondered about the present status of Euros’ love affair with the “The One” at Pajamas Media earlier this week.

Not surprisingly to the sentient, even the hard-left media on the Continent has continued their anti-Americanism despite having their Messiah-of-choice in office. European disdain is, of course, ignorant and hypocritical. And you need not be a historian to understand that — even though most “post modern historians” still do not. The “restoring our place in the world” line, used by Bush haters of the left, is such a cliche that it may be answered with three simple facts:

1. Like the Yankees, Lakers, Donald Trump and other power groups, we Americans will always be “hated.” Despite freeing Europeans from totalitarianism twice, since the end of the Spanish-American War, this has sadly been the case. It’s no more or less under Bush than Obama or vice versa. When my friends and family went to Europe under a Johnson or a Reagan or a Clinton presidency, we were despised by the urban Euro (like Americans, there are two types of Euros, of course) just as much as in 1967 as 1987 or 2007. No one likes admitting a nation across the pond has to act as their daddy and fight their wars, free millions from tyranny and so on.

2. We’re actually NOT hated in western Euro nations like Italy, Portugal, Belgium and some of the Scandinavian nations either — so it’s basically Britain, France, Holland and Germany that worries people, I suppose.

3. We’re actually NOT hated in the vast majority of the world. We’re “hated” by a cadre of apathetic and brainwashed western Euros, who, proving many actually do understand world events deep down, have elected more conservative leaders than we have in the past few years. They’re also far less “tolerant” of Muslims and “minorities” than we are — with many being pure, uneducated racists, despite what Gwyneth Paltrow mused yesterday.

To clarify, we’re hated in the Muslim world. Good. They hate freedom of speech, press, religion, women’s rights, open markets and classical liberal values.

But we Americans are liked, admired, or even loved in:

Israel: our only ally and the only liberal democracy in a region of half a billion religious fanatics who practice terrorism.

Most of South America, especially Colombia, though Nancy Pelosi and the congressional Democrats have ruined that — due to their political need to placate unions for votes here at the expense of Colombian safety there — have ruined much of that recently.

Japan and most of the far east, including much of China, and of course, non Muslim Southeast Asia, have no issue with us.

Australia and Oceania are pro-America.

Africa (Even CNN confessed earlier this year that more than ten million lives via the Bush Administration’s AIDS work there)

Eastern Europe (and most nations that have people who have suffered or are suffering love America. Recall how well-received Bush was in eastern Europe and Africa.)

Related:

Victor Davis Hanson schools Obama on how to handle thugs and tin-pot dictators.

On the same day that Michael Jackson beat it for the great beyond, Pelosi and her cohort passed the largest tax increase in the history of history. Perhaps you missed it; the news tended to focus only on the passing of a pop singer of doubtful moral character to the exclusion of a number of other stories. Can anybody tell me what ever happened with that North Korean freighter that the U.S. Navy was bird-dogging? Anybody hear about the AMA revolting against Obama’s healthcare scheme? You might have heard that we won the war in Iraq. Maybe not. Did anyone hear that an American soldier was captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan this week? How about that Barack Obama’s nominee for the upcoming Supreme Court vacancy was overturned this week by that same Court?

If you can’t beat ‘em, I suppose, you join ‘em. So, I will show how even the the Michael Jackson estate would be affected by the Cap and Trade bill that the House of Representatives passed last week. But first, a little about the bill itself. The bill itself states that its purpose is ”[t]o create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.” Some of that may need to be explained. For instance, global warming pollution is carbon dioxide – the same stuff you exhale. Indeed, each respirating organism on earth is now categorized as a polluter. For an idea of what “transitioning to a clean energy economy” looks like, take a look at Spain. Apparently, if we look at Spain, it is possible to create clean energy jobs, but each one will cost between $750,000 and $1.4 million and will cost 2.2 jobs in other areas per job created. On other hand, we will be saving the planet, right?

But, how do they propose to do it? The bill is designed to increase the price of energy in order to drive down consumption.

During the campaign, Obama also pledged that he would never raise taxes in any form on Americans making less than $250,000 per year. But his cap and trade tax is estimated to cost American families almost $2,000 a year when it becomes effective, growing to almost $7,000 a year for a family of four by 2035. That will be paid through higher prices for electricity, oil, gasoline, natural gas, home heating oil, coal, food, and every product that is produced or transported using energy.

In short the Cap and Trade proposal passed out of the House last week is a “Tax on Everything” – everything that uses energy. An interesting exercise is to try to think of anything that you purchase that requires no energy to produce, deliver, sell, or consume. The increased costs associated with that energy usage will be embedded in the price of every consumer good and service that Americans utilize. As a result, Americans will purchase fewer goods and services. If Americans purchase fewer goods and services, then companies who provide those goods and services will be forced to cut production (read: jobs). But, hey, we’re saving the planet.

One of my “favorite” provisions of the bill is in sections 201-203, which requires every State to adopt the building codes of California. (See ACES Sec. 201(c)(3) which reads “COMPLIANT CODE — For the purposes of meeting the target described in subsection (a)(1)(A) [which required that State's become compliant within one year of enactment] for residential buildings, a State that adopts the code represented in California’s Title 24-2009 by the date two years after the enactment of the American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 shall be considered to have met the requirements of this subsection for the applicable period.”) The code then goes on to dictate to State legislatures the legislation it is required to pass and the timeline on which it is required to pass it.  The States are to be denied federal funding from the Act if they are found to be noncompliant. Indeed, if  the State fails to enforce compliant building codes within 2 years, the Secretary of Energy shall enforce the codes within that State.

The bill requires not only new buildings to satisfy whatever arbitrary standard the Secretary chooses, but it also places the burden on homeowners of existing houses to “retrofit” their property before they are allowed to sell them. This provision alone will place an incredible economic burden on homeowners whether they earn $250,000 or not.  Their mobility, their choice of where to live, their ability to change jobs will be affected by this single onerous provision. But, we will gladly sacrifice our freedom because it’s saving the planet, right? I hope MJ installed new windows and an EnergyStar compliant furnace before he died, otherwise his estate’s going to get hit with a gigantic bill to retrofit Neverland Ranch before they can sell it and distribute the proceeds to his heirs.

There is plenty more where that came from in the bill that has nothing to do with the actual Cap and Trade bits and which are sure to raise the eyebrows (or ire) of anyone who loves his freedom. For instance, there is an entire section regulating outdoor lightbulbs to be brighter and last longer. There’s even a provision regulating the type of bulb one can use to illuminate their artwork, including mandating its color spectrum and power factor.

As mentioned earlier, outrageously, this bill passed the House of Representatives 219-212. Now the bill goes to the Senate. If the Senate passes the bill, it will become law. If the Senate passes any kind of compromise bill, it will go to conference and will become law in some form. The only hope now is that the Senate stops this bill dead. “Obi Wan Senati, you’re our only hope!”

After all that, I apologize, but I don’t really care how this bill will affect the Jackson estate. I can assure you it would be bad. But, thanks for all the MJ Googlers for stopping in.