Commentary
Regular readers will recall my quoting the campaigning Joe Biden’s pledge to end our dependence on fossil fuels, and later President Biden’s executive order to end our energy independence and his costly legislation to transform the nation into a dependence on energy from wind and solar.
As I have previously written, I don’t think most of those who voted for Biden actually believed he would be able to follow through with his pledge, but here we are today, in an untenable position.
I am a believer in “the majority rules,” but as most of you know, I am also a believer in accountability. Allow me to break down the vote for Biden and the green new deal.
While you need to know that Biden won in 2020 with 81,283,098 votes, or 51 percent of the votes cast, just 66.7 percent of people of voting-age bothered to vote.
Whether those who voted for Biden believed him or not, there are some 81 thousand Americans now responsible for the fix in which we find ourselves.
One can hope that the voters in the Midterms were signaling “enough” when they returned Republican majority to the House, where the purse strings for appropriations are controlled.
On the Horizon
While I don’t believe the average American is aware of the billions of dollars the Biden administration has “invested” in clean energy – wind and solar – here, I am confident they are unaware of the billions of dollars committed to stem climate change globally.
In addition to paying our share of the $100 billion a year we have promised to help poor countries reduce emissions and adapt to climate change, resumed when Biden restored our membership in the Paris Accord, the UN is now seeking billions more in reparations to pay for climate change losses suffered by poor countries.
While John Kerry, our climate envoy to the recent UN climate conference in Egypt, disapproved of the proposed reparations fund, it has been reported that Europe approved of the deal, abandoning the U.S.
Although House Republicans won’t approve an appropriation for the fund, it is feared that the administration could tap international development banks that we fund. The State Department, known to have a slush fund, could also be the source of funding.
“Climate reparations will merely serve as another form of global income redistribution. The Biden administration’s surrender sows again that the religion of climate change is progressive penance for the sin of being prosperous.” – The Wall Street Journal
Back in the U.S.
Speaking of Voter Accountability
In the month before the Midterm elections, Michigan’s Gov. Gretchen Whitmer was touting the 30,000 good-paying auto jobs she announced since taking office.
She won reelection with 54.4 percent of Michigan’s voters, who have seemingly bought into providing huge taxpayer investments in the auto manufacturer’s transition from internal combustion vehicles to those powered by batteries.
Michigan voters seem to have short memories of the past failed green energy subsidy programs of former Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who now serves in the Biden administration as Secretary of Vitality. Yes, vitality.
Now, with Ford announcing that 3,000 white-collar workers would lose their jobs as the company cuts costs to make the transition to electric vehicles, voters are learning that EV’s don’t require as many employees to construct. Yet, the state forked over $50 million in tax exemptions for Ford’s EV facility in River Rouge.
While Ford has plans for half of its global production to be electric vehicles by 2030, General Motors last week estimated its operating margins on EVs would still be in the low to mid-single digits at the end of 2025.
With consumer tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act, GM expects to add five to seven percentage points in margin, while Ford’s margin was estimated at eight percentage points.
Auto manufacturers are also expecting huge subsidies for developing battery production.
And this from my stack of stuff
Interesting Exit Poll Detail
Some interesting Midterm exit poll numbers from Jeffrey H. Anderson’s piece in the City Journal were published In the Wall Street Journal’s Notable & Quotable column.
Anderson noted that 32 percent of voters said that they cast their House vote to “oppose” President Joe Biden, while 28 percent said that they cast their vote to “oppose” former President Trump. “In other words,” he said, “ for every eight votes cast against Biden, all but one (were) negated by a vote cast against Trump. This is surely unprecedented in a midterm election.”
While many of us chose not to believe the pre-Election Day polls, recognizing that many voters were unwilling to reveal their choice, there is little reason not to believe those who responded as they left the polling location.
Pelosi’s Source of Pride
I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t listen to Nancy Pelosi’s cliché-laden farewell speech, but I found it interesting that in her 35 years in the House she highlighted with “great pride,” the fact that the number of Democrat women there had increased from 12 to more than 90, adding that the left’s new caucus will consist of 75 percent women, people of color and LGBTQ.
May God continue to bless the United States of America.
