July 06, 2008
Stupid Party's RINO of the Day
Will someone please save me from meddling, know-it-all busybodies, supercilious, smug, condescending bastards who live to tell people like you and me how to live our lives?
I am speaking, of course, about politicians, who exist to make public pronouncements about things they don't understand, proposing new laws accomplishing nothing useful -- other than to place greater limitations on our freedom to decide for ourselves how we want to spend our money, and, incidentally, turn over more power to the government.
And no member of the genus Feckless Crapweasel is more infuriating than the RINO.
"Mike, you're always talking about rhinos; why do gigantic African animals upset you so?"
It's RINO, not rhino, genius, as in Republican In Name Only. Politicians who call themselves Republicans, yet never seem to advocate smaller government, lower taxes, fewer stupid laws, and greater economic freedom.
Like this idiot, Sen. John Warner, who hails from the great state of Virginia.
"Shut up, sit down, and drive 55. Why? Because the New York Times will sing my praises for being an unusually-enlightened Republican when it comes to solving our energy crisis -- and telling y'all to drive slower is a lot easier than casting a vote to increase domestic energy production."
Warner sent a letter to the U.S. Dept. of Energy last week, asking the agency to look into the benefits of reimposing the hated national 55 mph speed limit on highways, which was repealed back in the 1990s.
As you may recall, the double nickel did nothing to help with the oil shortage during the 1970s, nor did it result in lower oil prices; all it did was foster nationwide contempt for the law and inspire at least one decent song from Sammy Hagar.
Warner's call for a return to a Federally-mandated speed limit is classic big-government, nanny state-style politics, the basic premise of which is that no one knows better what's good for you than the so-called experts in Washington, D.C.
In the months leading up to the final repeal of the national speed limit, so-called safety advocates lamented that the highways would be running with the blood of innocents, slaughtered by speed-crazed motorheads and maniacal long-distance truckers.
The reality is, however, that the overall fatality rate on highways dropped, thanks in part to a combination of safer, better-engineered cars and American drivers not being the morons that the safety Nazis thought we were.
From a conservative perspective, the Feds have no business telling us how fast to drive, especially as a means of supposedly reducing oil consumption; free market principles will help drivers determine whether or not they want to slow down.
There's an opportunity cost to driving fast: more fuel consumption, which means that drivers fill up more often and pay more at the pump. If the pain of allocating more of the household budget for gas is too great, some drivers will decide to slow down and spend less.
On the other hand, there's an opportunity cost to driving slowly over long distances: it takes longer -- sometimes a lot longer -- to get where you're going, and some consumers are willing to spend more money to tell the kids, "Yes, we're there yet!" sooner, rather than later.
I have had to make multiple trips between Southern California and the Sacramento area over the years, and the difference between 55 and 75 mph is 2 hours less time spent on the road. That's a big deal, and well worth the extra fuel cost that I'm willing to pay.
Republicans -- conservative ones, that is -- used to understand the concept of free market capitalism, believed that Americans were in the best position to decide for themselves how to do many things, including having the States pass their own laws. This was also once known as a key feature of Federalism, wherein the 50 states served as "laboratories of Democracy," where people are free to live their lives as they and their neighbors saw fit, in accordance with local desires, not the diktats of distant rulers in Congress.
But RINOS like Warner are far more interested in compromise, which seems to always be another way of saying, "let Congress control."
Warner is set to retire in January, the 81-year-old millionaire finally shuffling off the national stage.
Good riddance.
Posted by Mike Lief at July 6, 2008 11:13 AM
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