I’m really beginning to hate seeing this phrase: “with the help of the following XX Republicans“. It always means that we have Republicans voting against their base and against the platform – and happy about it. It means that the vision we were given by the Founders, a limited Federal government, just went dark by yet a few more photons.
And there’s US Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) right in the middle of them. Do you think that perhaps she’s going to start regretting some of her “bipartisan, reaching across the aisle” votes when the NH Conservative base votes “present” (e.g., takes a pass on that race like we did for Havenstein and Brown) come September and November? The first line in the post gives you all you need about the brainlessness (not to mention, principlelessness) of her vote (with the second telling who is really going to be eating this one):
GOP-Passed Solyndra Subsidies Use Enron-Style Accounting to Fuel Federal Housing
What happens when you mix green energy social engineering with the affordable housing agenda? You get the worst elements of venture socialism that led to our economic collapse. You also get a bill from your GOP Senate pushing this very left-wing ideal of central planning.
And nothing says Progressive like continuing the Government’s strangle hold on the economy like even more regulations. After all, Progressives don’t trust the Free Market – it must be controlled. What isn’t oft said that in doing so, they really are saying that they don’t trust US to make the right decisions for themselves. And Kelly is right there with them – with this vote she also is saying that she doesn’t trust that we, who ARE the Marketplace – the hundreds of millions of us making billions of tiny decisions about the marketplace every day, cannot be trusted either:
To begin with, the Republican-led Senate is pushing a dubious energy efficiency bill at a time when they should be focusing on bold and popular conservative legislation, especially pertaining to homeland and national security. The Energy Policy Modernization Act of 2015 (S. 2012), sponsored by Lisa Murkowski (RINO-AK), uses the boot of government to promote “energy efficiency” and steer funds toward specific products and services offered by corporate cronies. It also provides subsidies and low interest loans for various forms of energy preferred by federal policy makers.
So, when you start yabbering about how much you just LOVE the Free Market, all I’m going to have to do is point to this and ask: “you voted for this – that is Government distorting the marketplace. What, you don’t trust us? Or love Crony Capitalism more (especially as this is election season and you’re looking for campaign money. Quid quo pro, much?)
While this bill is being sold as a positive step forward because it also contains a provision expediting liquefied natural gas export applications, we are unlikely to actualize any benefit from that until we have a Republican president. In that case, we can pass an even better bill — minus the green energy social engineering.
You know, the housing crash of 2007/2008 (exercerbated by government mandated CRA and the government entities Fannie and Freddie Mac with loose money and looser credit standards) isn’t all that far behind us – and we see that these chuckleheads absolutely refuse to learn from history. I can perhaps see long ago to really ancient history, but just 8-9 years ago? And they still want to shove a screwdriver into the machinery?
To make matters worse, the Senate voted yesterday on an amendment sponsored by Senators Michael Bennet (D-CO) and Johnny Isakson (R-GA), which will require the Federal Housing Administration to count the projected savings from “energy efficiency” in the home towards the income of the borrower for a prospective mortgage. This “increased income” will in turn allow the home buyer to qualify for a larger government-backed loan.
Right! So let’s unpack this: to see if this person can pay the mortgage, look at the energy efficiency of the house and its appliances. Compute some dollar figure per <energy unit saved * energy dollar cost> (go ahead, YOU project energy costs 30 years out given how hard the Left is trying to ratchet up the cost of energy with their “make it mandatory to only use Solar for energy”) and come up with some nebulous and totally bogus shill game amount and think of it as REAL. Make that Savings into Income. What?
Yeah, turn money you didn’t spend on energy to the other side of the financial equation and call it “Income”. Yeah, this is gonna work out real well – really funny money until we see a crash again. And Kelly voted for this malarkey?
Folks, you can’t make this stuff up. This is a mix of Solyndra, Freddie Mac, and Enron accounting all in one. Republican lawmakers are now doubling down on the same failed affordable housing social engineering agenda and are using notional and intangible green energy savings as income in order to encourage riskier loans on the taxpayer’s dime. This proposition will further distort the private market and force housing appraisers and underwriters to ascertain the voodoo-value of energy savings in the house. Overall, this amendment passed 66-31, with the help of the following 21 Republicans:
Alexander (TN)
Ayotte (NH)
Blunt (MO)
Burr (NC)
Capito (WV)
Cassidy (LA)
Cochran (MS)
Collins (ME)
Cornyn (TX)
Graham (SC)
Hatch (UT)
Heller (NV)
Hoeven (ND)
Isakson (GA)
Johnson (WI)
Kirk (IL)
Murkowski (AK)
Portman (OH)
Rounds (SD)
Sullivan (AK)
Tillis (NC)This is a quintessential example of the problem with the Republican Party. They accuse conservatives have harboring unrealistic expectations in terms of how much government they have the ability to cut. The problem is, far from cutting any government intervention, almost every piece of legislation they pass expands government involvement in the private sector. This bill combines two of the worst federal policies — green energy social engineering and the federal housing scheme — and doubles down on the very impetus for our economic failure.
The author is right – how CAN conservative think they can just not cut the growth of government but even make it smaller when there are those in the Party that are totally unhinged and unhooked from the Principles of the Party to which they profess adherence. Instead, it is the same cast of characters at each level that go “reach across the aisle” and you and I know that we’re gonna reach that national debt and intrusive level just that much sooner.
Then some of us might start reaching for something else a bit more potent…
