We came back to Ireland last night, flying from Dulles directly to Dublin. Dulles Airport was strangely quiet…as if everyone knew it was about to be bombed by terrorists — everyone but us.
But no bomb went off. Instead, it was much like the old days. Few people wore masks. There were no long delays. The Homeland Security crew were even polite.
A fluke? A trend? We don’t know.
On Friday, we looked at the US$739 billion Inflation Reduction Act, IRA.
What the heck is it? An attempt to control the world’s temperature? An effort to reduce deficits and inflation? Is it meant to save lives…increase GDP…boost jobs? Or is it just another Democratic Party giveaway to favoured groups and artful lobbyists?
Robbery, flimflam, and jackassery
Yahoo!News focused on the environmental angle: ‘Climate change bill would cut U.S. air pollution deaths by up to 3,900 per year, study finds’:
‘The budget reconciliation bill that Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., agreed to with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., could save up to 3,900 lives per year by 2030, thanks to reduced air pollution, according to a new study from the nonpartisan think tank Energy Innovation.
‘The bill, known as the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), contains $369 billion in spending to address climate change over 10 years, in addition to other provisions, including closing tax loopholes and holding down the rate of increase in the cost of prescription medication.’
But wait, there’s more:
‘“The IRA provisions could also generate enormous public health and jobs benefits,” the report states. In addition to preventing between 3,700 and 3,900 premature deaths from air pollution in 2030, Energy Innovation found it would lead to a net increase of up to 1.5 million jobs in 2030 and increase the United State’ gross domestic product by 0.84% to 0.88% in 2030.’
What kind of morons do they take us for?
This grab bag of boondoggles will increase US GDP by 0.84% eight years from now? It will save 3,700 to 3,900 lives? Really?
The technocratic precision is breathtakingly absurd. There is no way on Earth to predict the effect of this collection of robbery, flimflam, and jackassery on our US$24 trillion economy…eight years in the future. And to two decimal points! If passed, it will be doctored up, interpreted…bent and persuaded to suit the people in control of it. And then…it will run into the real world. Like an invasion of Russia…no Great Campaign ever survives the initial shock.
Politically correct hypotheticals
The number of saved lives, too, is screaming claptrap. There again, the nonsense mounts on stilts…with a projection that the ‘low’ estimate for Black lives saved is 0.14%. The ‘high’ estimate is 0.14%. And yet the ‘moderate’ estimate is 0.13%. (We’re as puzzled as you are. But if the maths is curious, at least the numbers are politically correct; 0.02% more Black lives are saved than White lives!)
How can democracy function with such gobbledygook dressed up like ‘science’? What’s a poor voter to think? How can he think at all?
But no matter. Here come the heavies…five former treasury secretaries…throwing their weight behind the IRA. From Business Insider:
The former treasury secretaries backing the proposal are:
- Larry Summers, who served under President Bill Clinton
- Robert Rubin, who served under President Bill Clinton
- Hank Paulson, who served under President George W Bush
- Tim Geithner, who served under President Barack Obama
- Jacob Lew, who served under President Barack Obama
That does it for us. If they’re for it, we’re against it.
The Wall Street Journal, meanwhile, looked at the tax angle, renaming the bill ‘The Schumer-Manchin Tax Increase on Everyone’. The Journal says the bill will make Americans poorer.
Of course, making people poorer is the effect (but not the intention) of almost all federal legislation. The feds take from the many (thus making them poorer) and give to the few (making them richer). Result: most people are poorer.
All the other promises, projections, and estimates for the IRA will fail. Poverty will triumph.
Regards,
 |
Bill Bonner,
For The Daily Reckoning Australia
