In this week’s National Journal poll, prominent political bloggers were asked about Obama’s handling of GM and Chrysler and the changes–if any– we might see as a result of the ongoing energy debate.
Q: Do you support the Obama administration’s handling of General Motors and Chrysler?
The answer choices were simply yes or no. As you might expect, most of the lefty bloggers do and most of the right-leaners don’t. I answered "no," pointing out that
"This is just SO bad on so many levels. Bankruptcy laws were created as the most equitable solution for these messes. I view the whole thing as nothing more than protecting union contracts and jobs, though, in the end, it will do neither."
Bookworm from the Bookworm Room was even more blunt:
"I can’t think of anything worse than nationalizing business. It’s bad for business and bad for the nation."
The second question…
Q: What is the likeliest outcome in this Congress of the debate on energy and climate change?
The choices we had were
- Sweeping Change
- Incremental Change
- No Change
I went for "incremental change," given that’s how the liberals attain their goals which, were they known to more people, would never be accepted at face value. I told the folks at National Journal that
"We will be taxed more for energy and face a ‘California situation’ before this ends. There won’t be enough reliable power for all if we don’t watch what we’re doing. This is playing out on a smaller scale here in New Hampshire, with the majority Dems using the regulatory fist to close a paid-for, domestically supplied coal-fired power plant by not allowing the facility to upgrade pollution-cleaning scrubbers. And they don’t stop to consider the free-market, good-paying jobs they’re blocking. Shame on them!"
But then again, Soren Dayton of The NextRight is more optimistic:
"It is inconceivable to me that we would raise energy taxes on all Americans like this with this level of economic turmoil. The left lost this argument decisively in Canada. They will lose it here."
I hope I’m wrong and he’s right. Time will tell. Click here to view the full poll results and read all of the blogger comments.