Democrats to drop renewable energy standard out of the energy bill

[albed]

"Tax credit" is just another deceptive term for government handout and if a technology is truly beneficial it doesn't need government handouts for people to invest in it.

Government sponsored alternative energy programs have been popping up for decades and most collapse as soon as the teat goes dry and just waste money and effort that private investment could have directed in a more productive manner.


If government officials want to come straight out and declare CO2 a pollutant they should honestly demonstrate its harmfulness and pass straightfoward laws restricting its release for the public good and then people will adapt with their own very superior ingenuity. But politicians only see fit to use it as propaganda to get themselves political support from the gullible.

If they truly wanted to reduce CO2, nuclear power is tried and proven, but again it's only been used for propaganda by politicians who aren't interested in anything but their own agenda.

[theknife]

Originally Posted by albed

"Tax credit" is just another deceptive term for government handout and if a technology is truly beneficial it doesn't need government handouts for people to invest in it.

no, but it sure helps. like it did for the railroads or the Internet or the Space Program. they don't teach you this in Wingnut 101, but there is lots of precedent for successful government investment in technology.

[albed]

I wouldn't say "lots" but your picks are hilarious; railroads were a morass of government corruption, shoddy construction, and monopolistic abuse in the 19th century, the government actually fought off private investment aimed at taking the internet public for a time, and the billions of dollars wasted and lives lost with that space shuttle boondoggle are a mark of government incompetence that even a semi-literate surf-monkey should know about.

[theknife]

Originally Posted by albed

I wouldn't say "lots" but your picks are hilarious; railroads were a morass of government corruption, shoddy construction, and monopolistic abuse in the 17th century, the government actually fought off private investment aimed at taking the internet public for a time, and the billions of dollars wasted and lives lost with that space shuttle boondoggle are a mark of government incompetence that even a semi-literate surf-monkey should know about.

corruption and waste is a moot point - these are investments in technology that were advanced in giant leaps because of government-industry collaboration and they spun off hundreds of successful industries. but it's fun to force you to argue with success.

[albed]

Oh bullshit, the railroads were basically just land grants and the internet was practically an accident and the shuttle was actually a step backward in space travel. Pry your lips off the government ass and get some fresh air.

[theknife]

Originally Posted by albed

Oh bullshit, the railroads were basically just land grants and the internet was practically an accident and the shuttle was actually a step backward in space travel. Pry your lips off the government ass and get some fresh air.

who said anything about the shuttle? i'm talking about the Space Program. and the Internet was a collaboration between government and academia that has morphed into the single biggest economic engine ever. US Government was also the biggest single investor in the creation of intercoastal railroads - with money, not just land (see the Railway Act of 1862).

i know - it's enough to make your pointed little wingnut head explode, isn't it?

[Mazer]

knife, instead of making these arguments as you were the one who thought them up, you should have just posted a link to the white paper those arguments came from. I mean there's no reason why you should be bulldozed just because you bought into somebody else's dubious line of reasoning.