I struggled with Atlas Shrugged
Of course, I never imagined she was going to be this right this fast:
Six House Democrats, led by Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-Ohio), want to set up a "Reasonable Profits Board" to control gas profits.
The Democrats, worried about higher gas prices, want to set up a board that would apply a "windfall profit tax" as high as 100 percent on the sale of oil and gas, according to their legislation. The bill provides no specific guidance for how the board would determine what constitutes a reasonable profit.
The Gas Price Spike Act, H.R. 3784, would apply a windfall tax on the sale of oil and gas that ranges from 50 percent to 100 percent on all surplus earnings exceeding "a reasonable profit." It would set up a Reasonable Profits Board made up of three presidential nominees that will serve three-year terms. Unlike other bills setting up advisory boards, the Reasonable Profits Board would not be made up of any nominees from Congress.
The bill would also seem to exclude industry representatives from the board, as it says members "shall have no financial interests in any of the businesses for which reasonable profits are determined by the Board."
I am just about speechless. Just about.
Duly-elected Representatives Dennis Kucinich, John Conyers, Bob Filner, Marcia Fudge, James Langevin, and Lynn Woolsey should never be re-elected to their current positions – or any positions within any American government – but you and I both know they will be. Why? Because those petty bureaucrats are not the problem, they are just a symptom of the problem.
By dint of our very means of running it, we, the American people, receive the government we want and deserve. We just keep re-electing self-absorbed, megalomaniacal scum because our scum is better than their scum, because they promise our state money, because they help us with pork barrel projects, because they keep "social" programs alive, because we are told they are "electable" and other options are not; and then we have the nerve to act "surprised" when, predictably, scum exposes itself as scum. When someone shows a marked disdain for the Constitution, for free-market economies, for freedoms, for liberties, for all those things that once made America a great country, and you re-elect them, you are no longer permitted to be astonished that they just go on doing what they were doing before.
Which is pretty much exactly why I am voting Third Party in this coming Presidential election, as well as any other election where I am dissatisfied with both the incumbent and his/her challenger. I simply do not care any more if someone arbitrarily dictates whether or not a certain candidate is "electable"; I only care about what kind of job he or she will be doing in office. Honestly, if more people paid attention to / cared about that, our country would be in a lot less hurt right now.
Just to break out the partisanship, though, it almost goes without saying that all of the meddling authoritarians behind this proposed bills have "D"s after their respective names, and it is no surprise that this comes after Our Glorious President took it upon himself to kill not only a cheaper source of oil, but also a massive job creator.
And to completely switch tracks for a moment, does anyone see a problem with folks who may not necessarily understand anything about the oil industry being allowed to arbitrarily set "reasonable" profit levels for that industry without any oversight or actual direction as to what "reasonable" may or may not mean? Furthermore, given that $0.184 of every gallon goes to the Federal Government as an excise tax, when are we, the people, going to formulate a "Reasonable Taxation Board" to control government taxes, or a "Reasonable Income Board" to control congressmen’s income, or a "Reasonable Legislation Board" to strike down blatantly idiotic legislation such as this?
It seems like that time is rapidly coming upon us.
(Courtesy of The Freeholder.)
Wow. Just wow. Almost perfectly pulled from the book.
I’m going to do my research and vote for the most small-government-minded candidates for Senate, House, and President I can find in the primaries (remember, its more that just the President that matters), then vote third-party in November unless one of the ones I vote for makes it into the general election. Yes, I want change — and the word “incumbent” and same-stuff-different-name ‘traditional’ candidates from the two main parties are right OUT.
This is exactly what Rand talked about (though she could have gotten to the point much, much faster). It’s hubris, pure hubris. Wow.
>I struggled with Atlas Shrugged; the damn book took me six months to finish,
Heh, someone I know – who will remain nameless – said to skip the pages-long preaching to the converted junk and just read the sex scenes.
I’ll admit to skipping ahead. I’ll also say that the Fountainhead was 10x better.
Try “Anthem” if you haven’t read it yet (I think it’s still free on Hulu).
One of the most haunting books I’ve ever read…and it’s not a billion pages long.
Excellent post. I find it hard to comprehend how people blame “the establishment” for putting forth unacceptable candidates when the real problem is their friends and family who continue to elect and reelect the clowns.
Voting is a powerful weapon – even more effective than evil assault weapons. It’s a good thing the citizenry doesn’t know how to use it, it’d probably be banned as well.
@ Robert Slaughter: I have to admit that I was astonished someone would suggest such a thing so soon after the whole Atlas Shrugged craze and movie… I mean, so many people like us will not only be sensitive to such things, we will know how to call them out as exactly what they are, and yet they go ahead and do it anywise. Amazing.
In addition to Senators and Representatives, do not forget your local politicians – in some ways, they more directly affect your day-to-day life than the frakwits in DC could ever hope to.
@ SGB: “Textbook case” definitely sums up the situation.
@ Standard Mischief: Wait, there were sex scenes? I remember scenes that might have vaguely related to the act of coitus, but it seemed more like a description of assembly line processes…
@ Cormac: Like I said, I remain unconvinced that Ayn can actually write, so I may pass for the time being… might in the future, though.
@ alcade: As the saying goes, “A vote is like a rifle; its usefulness depends upon the character of the user.” And given how badly “gun control” has infected our society, it does not surprise me that the average American understands neither half of that quote.
I was never able to make my way through the print book. I had to get the audio book and have someone read it to me–something like 56 hours worth. The first few chapters were a tad slow, but after that, it really grabbed me. I guess because at this point it has that whole “ripped from the headlines” thing going for it.
Scariest book I’ve ever “read”. Definitely changed some of my thinking.
But I will say one thing–IMHO Rand could have used a good (better?) editor.
My understanding is that Ayn basically told her editor to pack sand and did things her way. Given the nature of the book’s literary quality, I cannot say as though I am surprised.
The lady was unquestionably right, and the echoes to current events were disturbing as hell, but, gawd, what a painful book.
And here’s where I prove my libertarian chops by saying that not only did I really like it, but I also read it in about a week. Not sure what else that says about me…
… That you are a masochist?