Rachel Maddow reported last week that the Koch brothers, Charles and David, increased their net worth from about 32 billion dollars to about 50 billion dollars over the last three years. During that same time, the number of employees of Koch Industries fell from about 50,000 to about 32,000.
But we mustn't tax them any more, because that would inhibit their ability to create jobs.
The most recent ploy of people who would like to deny global warming is to allege there also is global warming on Mars, and therefore any planetary warming here is a natural phenomenon and we shouldn't try to stop it. And so, business as usual.
A quick check of Internet sources indicates that one (count 'em, one) climate scientist in Russia makes the claim about warming on Mars, and the consequent argument that warming on earth is nothing to be concerned about is refuted by all other climate scientists.
That's not to say the one scientist can't be right and all the other scientists are wrong, but we would be well advised to go with the preponderance of the evidence.
And whatever Governor Perry says, the idea that there's a conspiracy among climatologists and Al Gore to trumpet warming in order to win more government grants for climate study is just farcical.
President Obama was in Denver Tueday to campaign for his jobs bill. Yesterday's local newspaper here in Colo Spgs editorialized that the bill is a boondoggle and there must not be any tax law changes, because, "when you give money to some people, you have to take it away from other people." (Not an exact quote, but gives the spirit of what was written.)
Well, first of all, this is an odd argument coming from anyone who believes in supply side economics, and the idea that cutting taxes actually increases government revenues. Either it's a zero sum economy or it isn't guys.
Second, money has been taken from people of modest means for the last ten years and redistributed upward to the Koch brothers and others like them. If it's to be redistributed any more, I'd like it to be redistributed to people like myself for a change.
Finally, the president's job bill differs from the bailouts of two years ago in that it's aimed at public works rather than the financial apparatus of the country. Driving along local roads, I'm more than convinced that there's work to be done, even if it's nothing more grandiose than filling potholes. By the way, the same paper that bemoans the president's bill splashed a story this week, enthusiastically recommending widening Interstate 25 through our town at a cost of many millions of dollars.
No wonder people are confused.
No comments:
Post a Comment