from masterresource
Author: Robert Bradley Jr.
“'I am a businessman. I will take [government green] Money, that's all I care about… I'm going to do whatever it takes to get this project done here'. ——James Quigley, quoted Politico “Power switch” (below)
In the mid-19th century, the political economist Claude-Frédéric Bastiat wrote:
Government is the great fiction through which everyone lives at the expense of everyone else. Everyone is motivated, more or less, to profit from the labor of others. No one dared to express such emotions; he even hid it from himself.
The Frenchman added:
When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of people in a society, over time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes plunder and a moral code that celebrates plunder.
Correct. Government doesn't create wealth; it redistributes it (after deep cuts). Who wins and who loses? The winners are the government, lobbyists and people rent seekerresulting in concentrated benefits for them and diffuse costs for the rest of us. Bastiat would have said, plunder.
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I saw a piece of news that reminded me of this Politico's “Power Switch” newsletter (August 16, 2023).
“Not all Republicans want to repeal the climate law that takes effect today,” Josh Siegel reports. “In fact, my colleague Kelsey Tamborino and I spoke with dozens of people from across the country. The conversation revealed that many Republican officials in rural areas welcome the billions of dollars in clean energy incentives provided by legislation signed by President Joe Biden.
So do you think they find that Republicans worry about “climate change” and welcome “green” energy being cheaper and better? No, the respondents are financially captive rent seekers enjoying the transfer of taxpayer wealth (via Biden) into their pockets. Here's the rest of the story.
In Rogers County, Oklahoma, Republican Commissioner Ron Burrows looked at the Inflation Reduction Act and found jobs — 1,000 jobs, to be exact. At least once Italian giant Enel opens a $1 billion solar manufacturing plant there in 2025.
Burrows is not alone. Other Oklahoma political and economic leaders, including Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt, are pleased to receive major investments they say they would never have attracted without the climate law.
“You can imagine being in a small rural community and trying to achieve economic development — it’s a challenge,” said Rosalie Griffith, a member of the Enola Rural Economic Development Commission. “But unless you develop, you die.”
Burrows said Enel wouldn't have decided to settle in the town (population 1,500) east of Tulsa without the support of locals. “I don't think there's a company out there that doesn't take some level of comfort in making an investment like this because it's not confrontational, it's not divisive,” he said.
By contrast, his local congressman — Republican Rep. Josh Brecheen — views the Inflation Reduction Act through the eyes of most national Republicans. Breshin told me he opposes the use of “taxpayer subsidies” to support green industries favored by Democrats and is seeking to repeal the law.
Kelsey and I found the same disconnect between state and local Republican officials in rural areas and federal representatives across the country.
A similar, but less dramatic, dynamic is even playing out in upstate New York. Republican Rep. Marc Molinaro voted to repeal the clean energy incentives in the Inflation Reduction Act, making him a top Democratic target in the 2024 election. His district is one of 18 that voted for Biden but are controlled by Republicans.
Funding from the Inflation Reduction Act prompted Canadian company Zinc8 Energy Solutions to decide to locate a planned battery factory in Molinaro's Purple Zone. The project is expected to bring up to 500 new jobs to the Hudson Valley region, which continued to suffer from the loss of its manufacturing base in the 1990s. That's exciting James Quigley, a Tesla-driving Republican and supervisor of the town of Ulster (where the Zinc8 program is located).
“I'm a businessman. I take money, that's all I care about,” Quigley said. “I’m going to do whatever I can to get the project done here.”
Final comments
Gosh, Josh, what do you really find here? Are you proud of this? Have you and Kelsey Tamborrino asked the same political party whether they like the federal deficit and inflation? What is the current tax level? The wisdom of a few outweighs the energy judgment of the masses?
this wall street journal’s “Bidenomics and the New Political Subsidy Economy” touches on this issue:
The money for these subsidies has to come from somewhere, which means higher taxes on the private economy and more government borrowing…. Irish Republican Army [Inflation Reduction Act] It is at the core of Bidenomics, creating a new economy of political subsidies. Maybe all this will blossom into a brilliant green future. More likely, hundreds of billions of dollars in misallocated investments will reduce future productivity gains and lead to slower economic and income growth. Hopefully, President Biden’s subsidies won’t eat their own way, making all Americans poorer, like the pandemic transfer payments did.
What a waste, what a pity. The next president needs to issue an emergency declaration declaring that America is out of money and halting all Inflation Reduction Act subsidies to suspend wind, solar and battery subsidies. Taxpayers and taxpayers will be grateful.
Relevant
