Specter Finally Out of the Closet

[[AK]Bribo]

After years of pretending to be a Republican, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania finally came out of the closet and switched to the Democrat party.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/04/...ef=mpstoryview

Now with Sen. Al Franken the Democrats have a filibuster proof Senate.

God help us all.

[[AK]Clay]

Filibusters are not party automatic, Spectre was probably not a reliable member of a filibuster caucus anyway, so this changes little.


As to God Help Us All. WOW, some of the things I saw today were pretty sobering. This CO2 cap and trade program is almost certainly going to become reality, the tracking requirements will be going into effect in 2010, and the actual cap and trading will start in 2012.

And it won't apply to China and MiddleEast. An ethylene plant can expect to spend close to $250,000,000/yr to comply (granted, that number is fluid right now). Meanwhile these guys are running on the ragged edge with the international trade as it is. Lesson - shutter your plant and move operations to the Middle East. Very sobering, huge sections of US industry (and everyone who services secondarily and tertialy upon that wealth) are going to basically collapse.

Personally, I should be OK, in fact it will be a small boon, since construction projects will likely increase - to replace those plants in the US that fold (I wonder who is going to clean up those sites when no one has any money left to actually do it). Just nothing in the US. It's more than just economic, they're going to impose criminal sentancing too on those who don't comply perfectly. Would you be willing to take that risk of being the witch in a populist kill-the-rich witch hunt? I wouldn't. The US will continue its decline from being the great world power - as all great powers eventually do. The depressing part is that the circleing in the bowl as we move to the drain is of our own creation. I hate to be defeatist on this, but wow, just wow.

Some US industries will be exempt from this of course, which will just be the classic case of who has what Senators in their pocket. And those who don't, get to carry more of the burden. It's bad law, to be enacted by bad lawmakers, based on bad science. And it's terrifying to think of the decay and collapse that all of this is going to create.

Meanwhile, if you're in China - WOOT! Congrats dudes! Though the biggest winner will be Saudi Arabia. Enshala!

[[AK]Hylander]

He just changed his business card. He's been a Democrat for years.