As if we didn't have enough idiocy on our plate, now we have to deal with not just the number of dollars in the "stimulus" bill but what it's actually going to spend money on--and the implications. Not only the intended consequences--social engineering by rolling back welfare reform, we know how well that went don't we, but, sigh, the unintended consequences.
The modern version of tilting at windmills. William Tucker, The American Spectator, on the next subprime meltdown:
Last week we passed a landmark when Heidi Fleiss, the Hollywood madam, announced she was giving up plans to open The Stud Farm, Nevada's first male brothel. Instead, she is putting her money into alternate energy. "It's where the money is," she told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "It's the wave of the future." [snip]One bright spot in the world economy? Amazingly, it's France. They already run on nukes. How about spending energy money on nuclear power instead of Nancy Pelosi's shopping list. Nancy--how about a(n actual) fact-finding detour to France instead of Italy, hmm?Governments have assumed that windmills, solar collectors, and biofuels are the wave of the future. Therefore the only logical course is to hasten that future by subsidizing it and forcing utilities to adopt it ahead of schedule. What's lost in this is that windmills are producing almost no useful electricity and will become a huge drag on the economy -- just as biofuels have done nothing to reduce our dependence on foreign oil and have just led to hundreds of millions in wasted investments. Last week the New York Times reported, "VeraSun Energy, one of the nation's largest ethanol producers, has suspended production at 12 of its 16 plants and is planning to sell production facilities. In recent days Renew Energy, Cascade Grain Products and Northeast Biofuels have filed for bankruptcy protection. Pacific Ethanol said it would suspend operations at its Madera, Calif. plant."
