Letters: Who are the real RINOs?; Gas tax proposal has wide impact
Who are the real RINOs?
It has been interesting listening to how the GOP candidates for office are calling one another a RINO, (Republicans in name only).
But who are the true RINOs? Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, John Kasic and Larry Hogan. No, they represent what the Republican Party once was and should be again.
The real RINOs include Trump, McSwain, Dr. Oz, McCormick, Corman, Benninghoff, Keller, Thompson and all the other Trumpsters. They have nothing in common with what the Republican Party of Eisenhower, Reagan and H.W. Bush once was.
What was once an honorable party has now become a cult whose members now seek the support of a habitual liar, narcissist, cheat and fraud who is living in Florida and are drinking his Kool Aid.
Gas tax proposal has wide impact
Many in Congress urge us to “follow the science,” except when it is convenient for them to ignore it. Such is the case in point with the recent push by some Senate Democrats to suspend the federal gasoline tax for the remainder of the year. Anyone with a basic understanding of economics can see that this proposal has effects on important matters besides consumer pocketbooks. Higher gas consumption is contrary to the move to curb use of petroleum as means of addressing climate change. Lower tax revenues will be a barrier to improving the infrastructure and could add perhaps $20 billion to the federal deficit. As always there would be debate over how much of the tax break gets passed on to consumers. And if the tax-break gimmick is defeated, some will surely use that outcome to blame their opposition for high inflation. The real cause for concern on the inflation-front should be keeping the Federal Reserve free from partisan politics — the gas tax issue illustrates why that is critically important for the future of the country. The first law of politics is “get reelected” so that must be the scientific principal at work here.
Limitless energy would be a planetary disaster
There’s been some news lately about developments in fusion power that could lead to limitless clean energy. Is that what we need?
Right now in the United States, our average energy consumption is 100 times the amount of food energy we need. In the process of using that energy, we create enormous amounts of waste and devour finite resources. Right now we greatly exceed Earth’s ability to assimilate our wastes, particularly carbon-dioxide and nitrogen and phosphorus. Plus species extinction is estimated to be occurring up to 1,000 times faster than a few hundred years ago. If everyone lived like we do, it would take five Earths. And that is with limited energy.
Limitless energy would be a disaster. Even if the energy is relatively clean, limitless use would create limitless waste and require limitless resources. That is impossible.
All other forms of Earthly life are powered, with limits, by the sun. We should be smart enough to create ways to be happy using natural energy flows while also contributing to a healthy planet.