It's a damp and rainy morning. Keith is outside checking to see if it's safe to apply the first layer of paint on the Ranger. He finally convinced me to spend even more money on the truck, with the idea that we could then sell it for more money. I remain doubtful, but he was determined, so that was that.
A couple nights ago Keith got a disturbing text from a soldier. It sounded as though this guy was on the verge of taking his own life. Immediately people flew into motion. Keith and I drove into post, while he continued to text the soldier, while coordinating with the platoon sergeant and some other men.
They all met up at a parking lot and left together. It was moving to see this response. They were not going to leave this soldier behind, even if they weren't in the battle field. One of their own needed support, so everyone dropped what they were doing and headed off to give it, no questions asked.
I waited in the parking lot, reading my emergency in-car book. A half hour later I heard this distinct mid western accent and smiled to myself. Another Indiana boy, I thought, and then looked out the window. It actually was Keith.
We ended up taking the soldier home with us, fed him pizza and then he and Keith sat on the tailgate of the HD, staring at the falling rain and talking. He stayed the night and drove back with Keith in the morning.
We're driving up to Indiana in a couple hours to meet up with Keith's brother in law and then take their father out to eat for Father's Day. But I came across a boat load of interesting articles this morning at RealClearPolitics.com.
"The formula for "clean energy" power, on the other hand, tends to be a bit more complicated, as there is no known numerical value for moral exhibitionism and flights of the imagination. Not yet.
"I suspect all this excessive anger directed at the Obama administration over the BP oil spill is likely symptomatic of an unhealthy faith many of us have in government's supernatural abilities. But watching one of the leading proponents of The Faith taking it on the chin for not doing enough ... well, karmic justice certainly has its moments.
"Could he provide the American people with an example of government-subsidized industries that have spurred a wondrous economic boom? Because at this point, even with the billions in subsidies and handouts -- not to mention mandates -- only 5 percent of our energy needs are met with renewable sources.
"After all, outside of studies that use prospective models, "clean energy" economies haven't been working out very well. A famous 2009 report from King Juan Carlos University in Madrid found that for every green-energy-subsidizing job created by the government, at least 2.2 jobs were lost in the process. Every green job Spain has concocted since 2000 has cost taxpayers $774,000. Spain is about to be junk-bonded, and its green-energy economy is not helping."
-David Harsanyi, "Never Let An Oil Spill Go To Waste," The Denver Post, June 18, 2010
"And oh, by the way, what's the role of Congress in this catastrophe? What exactly is it doing besides presiding over these show trials? Doesn't it have oversight authority when it comes to the Minerals Management Service, which utterly failed to regulate the safety of BP's deep-water drilling operations? Why aren't more people talking about this?
"And why in the world hasn't Congress suspended the Jones Act, thereby allowing foreign-flag tankers into the Gulf of Mexico area? What is it waiting for?
"Another problem with Obama's address was his arrogant announcement that he would inform BP's CEO "that he is to set aside" an asset amount ($20 billion) for the government-run escrow fund to pay for the spill damages. Trouble is, there are no laws to permit our government to force such financial retribution. Not even a new TARP -- at least, not yet. Did someone say nationalization?
The government has no right to interfering with the financial decisions of a private, shareholder-owned corporation. This sounds like GM and Chrysler all over again. Or maybe health insurers, pharmaceuticals, private investment funds and multinational corporations. And it could end up having a serious and chilling effect on corporate investment.
"Consider this: American companies are sitting on an astonishing pile of $1.5 trillion in unused cash. Why aren't they investing to create new jobs? Well, it's because massive tax and regulatory threats coming out of Washington have created a tall barrier of disincentives and uncertainty that is blocking the normal efficiency of the free-market capitalist system."
-Larry Kudlow, "BP, the White House and Congress Are All Dirty," The National Review, June 19, 2010
And lastly,
"Enacting a law is one thing; implementing it is another. And early indications about ObamaCare's implementation via new regulations suggest this law will validate its critics' dire predictions.
The president repeatedly promised Americans that they'd be able to keep their existing health coverage under ObamaCare. Yet an early regulatory draft -- of his administration's own making -- predicts that in just three years, changes that employers will have to make will put 51 percent of workers into plans subject to new federal requirements.
Those changes will raise -- not rein in -- costs. And employers will have to keep modifications to deductibles, co-payments and benefits within a narrow range -- defined by unelected bureaucrats -- or lose their "grandfathered" plans' exemptions from those otherwise mandatory changes.
As costs and regulations rise, fewer of those "grandfathered" plans will survive. They'll cover fewer workers -- and government-designed plans will cover more. Apparently, bureaucrats will do what the ObamaCare law didn't to ensure that government takes over health care.
If the administration holds to the regulatory course it's setting, ObamaCare in practice will be an even bigger disaster than it appeared to be on paper."
-"ObamaCare: The Ruse Exposed"
