Rick Santorum Answers Questions On Science, Education, & Global Warming

A representative from the group Skeptics Guide to the Government interviews Rick Santorum on science, education, and global warming.



H/T Lisa Graas

Eagle Freedom Links July 7, 2011 -- The Traveling Wilburys

America's Watchtower - Asian pollution has halted global warming

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS 

Amusing Bunni's Musings - Fantastic News for Your Holiday....Plus Home & Pet Safety Tips 

American Perspective - Gender Apartheid in Iran - Women with no rights 

Atlas Shrugs - Law Enforcement Finally Admits Hezb'allah is Operating in Mexico 

A Conservative Teacher - What the History of the Russian Tsars Can Teach Us 

 A Patriotic Rottweiler - A Nation of Blind, Shortsighted, Incompetent Fools 

A Western Heart - Obama's Misleading Vocabulary 

Acts Of Apostasy - College Democrats Reveal Themselves 

Adrienne's Corner - Evil, Rotten, Capitalist Bastards... and Funniest post on Obama's presser.... 



Allied Liberty News - In Defense Of Marriage 

Always On Watch - Power Perverted Into Tyranny

American Creation - Constitution Quiz 

Another Black Conservative - That's Sarah Palin to you, Sarah Palin trademarks her name 

Barking Spider -The BBC: Middle Class, Multi-Culti, left-wing pricks 

BBCW - Will Obama Drop Biden as the Vice President? 

Beers With Demo - Rejoice...

Big Blue Wave - FCP commends Toronto mayor, condemns homosexual coercion 

Black or White Is A Choice - The Left's Contribution to the Youth of Our Country

Blowing San #1 - VA muzzles praying veterans...



Bluegrass Pundit - Secret Service Will Investigate the Hacking of Fox's Political Twitter Account and Average Stimulus Job Cost Taxpayers $278,000

Bread Upon The Waters - Obama: Fed Gov't should stop "Poking Its Nose Into What States Are Doing"

Catholic Fire - Vatican announces it will unveil secret archives of World War II

Catholic Once Again - John Martignoni's Forty-Two Questions 

Christian Conservative - Obama Isn't Working - Allentown, PA

Cmblake6's Blog - Bill Whittle explains "Turncoat" 

Commentarama - Wisconsin: Union Collapse = Education Reforms 

Common Cents - Rush Limbaugh's July 4th Speech in Joplin, MO

Conservative Hideout - Lessons from Economic Recessions II - The Forgotten Recession of 1920 and And While We Were Celebrating Independence Day... 

Conservatives On Fire - Hows That Income Redistribution Working Out For You?



Conservative Perspective - American Salute - Unsung Heroes 

Creative Minority Report - NY Clerk Refuses To Sign Gay Marriage Docs

Creeping Sharia - Muslims Harass and Bully Christian Preacher at 2011 Arab Fest

DeanO - How to browse securely on public wifi

Don't Tread On Us - Rebellion To Tyrants  and 7 American Problems

DRScoundrels - 2 Minute Video Crushes Obama "Leadership" Claims 

Eye Of Polyphemus - Cameron Diaz 

Faith of the Fathers - Time's Orwellian Story on U.S. Constitution Refuted - Ken Blackwell 

Fleece Me - Greed is a two-way street and Obama's Weekly Address - Socialism and Individualism in the same address 

Fuzzy Logic - The Declaration of Independence 



Generational Dysfunction - The Republic of Brokistan

Global Domination Through Applied Inactivity - The Monday Comics  

Greg Mankiw's Blog - A Good Exam Question

Hack Wilson - Man with HIV rapes 6 month old boy.  Your thoughts?  

HolyCoast.com - Freedom Fountain 

Hyphenated-American -- News of the Day - Hyphenated American became a U.S. Citizen 

It Don't Make Sense - Curbing Unions Grows Services 

Jo-Joe Politico - Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death 

Just a Conservative Girl - If This is Feminism, I Say No Thanks - Reporter Stages Her Own Rape To Cure PTSD

Just An Artist - Declaration of Independence Sung 



Left Coast Rebel - A List of Obama's Abuses Straight from the Declaration of Independence 

Let The Truth Be Known - America is Under Threat and Attack From Within 

Lisa Graas - Who Will Win the Catholic Swing Vote? 

Lone Star Parson - Hog Poem 

Lonely is the Nights - Battle Hymn of the Republic 

Maggie's Notebook - News Corp News International and News of the World Implicated in Massive Phone Hackings of Military Families and 7/7 Bombing Victims 

Mind Numbed Robot - Rush Limbaugh Speech July 4, 2011 - Joplin, MO

Motivation Truth - Where You can see :The Undefeated" on July 15th 

Musings Of a Vast Right-Winger - Paul Revere's Ride 

My Daily Trek - Independence Day: Our Christian Heritage



That Mr. G Guy's Blog - Balanced Budget Amendment Will be a Mistake 

The Camp of the Saints - Otto Von Hapsburg, R.I.P.  and When Mark Steyn starts to talk about the break-up of the United States...

The Daley Gator - *Videos* Armless Dudes Play Guitars With Their Feet

The Humble Libertarian - If John McCain Won in 2008, Ron Paul Can Win in 2012: Here's Why

NoOneOfAnyImport - An Opinion On All The Casey Anthony Opinions 

Obama Cartoons - Atlanta teachers get an "F" 

Pathetically Incorrect - Busted!!

Pedaling Fast - Temple, to temple, to temple 

Political Clown Parade - Photoshop of the Day: See Dick Run 

Political Realities - President Obama and the Unions - Separated or Divorced? 



Proof Positive - "Fleebaggers" Funded by Liberal "Nutroots"? I'm Shockled! 

Pundit & Pundette - Resolved: Congress is a Joke 

Quickwit - Union Tactics make local Businessman Sick

Randy's Rountable - Obama and The 14th Amendment

Rational Nation USA - The Looming Crises 

Reaganite Republican - Bachmann Drawing largest crowds of any 2012 Republican candidate in Iowa while pounding Obama like a punching bag

Rightklik - Why the Left's Global Warming Agenda is Wrong

Robbing America - The Dangerous Economic Illiteracy of Our Government

Saber Point - Casey Anthony Acquittal: Biggest Injustice Since O.J. Simpson



Self Evident Truths - The Obama Legacy

Sentry Journal - The Feminist Sword  and Minot Flood: Where We Go From Here...

Stop Marxism - The Best Dear Abby Ever

The Bitter Americans - A Mexican's Thoughts on Immigration 

The Catholic Knight - Our lady Of America - The Immaculate Conception - Pray For Us!

The Last Tradition - Must hear audio: Mark Levin Rips Apart NYT' Thomas Friedman on Israel & Obama

The Liberty Sphere - Progressives planning intense assault on constitution  

The Observatorium - Muslim Outreach 

The Oracular Opinion - Patriotism Is Alive! Hoo-Rah!

The Scottcarp Dream - Affirmative Action Atlanta Schools



The Wyblog - Chris Christie: 5, Planned Parenthood: 0

Theblogprof - Rush Limbaugh: If Casey Anthony's baby was killed in the womb, the media wouldn't care

Todays World News - Obama's Executive Order To Take over Our Heartland for One World Order

TOTUS - Smart Illegals and Dumb Americans or Pancho and "The Lefty"

Three Beers Later... - DOJ Implicated in Fast n' Furious Mexican Gun Scandal

The Audacity of Logic - Happy 4th of July America! 

The Blog - Colorful Characters 

The Born Again Americans - Every Time You Start to Lose Hope Something Like This Comes Along

The Conservative Lady - Budapest & Prague Honor and Thank President Ronald Reagan

The Country Thinker - Our debt problem is worse than our deficit problem 



The Libertarian Patriot - Rand Paul Plans to filibuster debt ceiling talks 

The Malcontent - "If You Voted For Obama in 2008 To prove you're Not a racist, you'll have to vote for someone else in 2012 to prove you're not an idiot"  

The Other McCain - Obama" "Hey, Grandma, There's Still Room for You Under The Bus" 

The Right Guy - Happy Birthday GOP!

Virtual Mirage - Treason - and a new birth of freedom

Warning Signs - There is No First Amendment without a Second Amendment



We The People... - Words of Wisdom from Uncle Ted 

WDTPRS? - A Priest defends true marriage against the promoters of contrary-to-nature unions 


 Wolf Files - "A Time For Choosing" By Ronald Reagan 

Woman Honor Thyself - July 4th!

Woodsterman - Why California is Broke! 

Zilla Of The Resistance - Obama Officially Embraces Muslim Brotherhood, Designates Israel Sponsor of Terrorism 

Two Environmentalists Debate On Climate Change

Here is a fascinating debate between two founders of Greenpeace, one follows the whole climate change is caused by humans mantra and the other does not believe in human-caused global warming/climate change. 

From MercatorNet:

In February, MercatorNet published a controversial article by Patrick Moore, a founding member of Greenpeace in which he explained why he had turned his back on the organisation and its key policies. Rex Weyler, a director of the original Greenpeace Foundation and author of a history of the organisation, plans to respond. Below is a debate between the two men which summarises many of the key disputes over climate change policies.

* * * * *

Rex Weyler: Patrick, I’ve had some requests to comment on your book. So far, I’ve avoided critiquing your ideas in public, out of deference for our friendship. You know from our discussions over beer that I disagree with most of your positions, but now that you’re in print, your ideas bear some scrutiny.  As you know, you’re getting plenty of praise from the usual suspects, National Post, Fox News, etc, so you certainly have your backers.

Patrick Moore: My new book, Confessions of a Greenpeace Dropout: The Making of a Sensible Environmentalist, was debuted in the Vancouver Sun, has been reviewed by the Calgary Herald, featured on many radio talk shows such as Mike Smyth on CKNW, and in the Toronto Star, hardly a bastion of the right. I do regular interviews on National Public Radio in the US and with Bloomberg News. I also take interviews with Fox Business News and the National Post. If you refer only to the conservative outlets that are interested, then you are hardly producing a balanced critique.

Rex Weyler: I’m sending you this note as a heads up that I may appear in print with a more critical review of your ideas.

Patrick Moore: Thank you for doing so. Has Greenpeace asked you to critique my new book? In other words, should I be expecting the Greenpeace party line from you? Or a more sensible approach?

Rex Weyler: My main objection is that there remains a considerable gap between the scientific data before us and your analysis of that data.

Patrick Moore: You mean like the considerable gap between your certainty about human-caused climate change and the lack of scientific data to prove such a claim? I give plenty of examples where the extent of our knowledge is insufficient to warrant certitude, climate being the main one. As Michael Crichton said “I am certain there is too much certainty in the world.” So I don’t really see what you are getting at here. Is it not more a question as to which set of uncertainties one takes issue with?

Rex Weyler: You portray yourself as “sensible” and disparage all non-corporate environmentalists, but you don’t act scientific. You employ rhetorical devices such as: “There is no alarm about climate change,” since “the climate is always changing.” I’m sure this plays well at corporate speaking gigs, but you should google the fallacy of “misplaced concreteness.” I assume you are aware that you erroneously presume a word means the same thing in different contexts.

Patrick Moore: I hardly think Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalogue, is a corporate environmentalist, more of a loveable hippie with a big brain. Do you think Bjorn Lomborg is “corporate”. I don’t agree with either Brand or Lomborg on everything but at least they cause me to think rather than people who repeat a memorized party-line. I also admire James Lovelock even though I find him enigmatic. All three of these environmentalists that I admire are non-corporate. Which “corporate environmentalists” am I allegedly admiring?

I believe I am sensible and have been all my life, as in common sense. But I suppose that is a matter of opinion.

As to acting “scientific” the highest duty of a scientist is to retain a healthy scepticism about all hypotheses, especially regarding subjects that have many variables like climate. I think you are aware that I hold an Honours BSc in Biology and Forest Biology, a PhD in Ecology, an Honorary Doctorate of Science and have received the  the US National Award for Nuclear Science and History from the Einstein Society, affiliated with the Smithsonian Institute. Would this not make me at least as credible as any member of the IPCC?

If you are referring to the word “climate” you must elaborate as I fail to understand what you mean here. First, you have added in the word “since,” which makes my statement a syllogism. When you do write your critique of my new book, I do hope you will not manipulate my words in that way.

Second, I did not say “there is no alarm about climate change,” but that “there is no REASON FOR alarm about climate change.” The fact that there is such alarm I blame in part on Greenpeace itself.

And finally, as to the “misplaced concreteness”, I refer to climate as a scientific subject, measurable and real. Following Alfred North Whitehead’s definition of this fallacy, I see no misplaced concreteness there.

My belief that there is no reason for alarm has no bearing on the fact that the climate is always changing. I can imagine the public outcry when you accuse me of “misplaced concreteness”, Lordy Lordy.

You and your allies love to use the words “corporate” and “industry” as if they are epithets, swear words, put-downs, etc. with the implication that something sinister is going on. My public appearances are in public, usually with media present.

Rex Weyler: You make claims that have been refuted by the people you reference. This may be okay over a beer, but seems reckless in print. You say DDT was “discontinued for use in malaria control by the World Health Organization and USAID.” But surely you know that WHO and USAID representatives have already told George Monbiot that they never stopped using DDT for malaria control. (“A Charming Falsehood,” The Guardian). Why would you restate this, knowing that WHO and USAID have refuted it?

Patrick Moore: I have provided you with a link to the UN media release titled, “Reversing Its Policy, UN Agency Promotes DDT to Combat the Scourge of Malaria,” UN News Center, September 15, 2006.” Here is the link again where the WHO announces that it is reversing its policy to discontinue the use of DDT after nearly 30 years.

USAID made the same decision in 2006. This reversal stemmed from the negotiations towards the Stockholm Convention on toxic, persistent, bioaccumulative chemicals which, in the end, despite strong opposition from Greenpeace and WWF, provided an exemption for DDT use for malaria control.

I realize there is a major effort at Greenpeace to rewrite the history on this subject as I have been informed by a Greenpeace spokesperson in the UK that “Greenpeace was never opposed to the use of DDT for malaria control.” This has to be one of the most blatant examples of historical revisionism I have encountered. Of course there are other examples, such as their contention that I “played a minor role in the early years” etc. I hope you are not buying into that one. Anyway, if you trust George Monbiot as a reliable source then you’ll get a lot of things wrong, although on nuclear power, he has come a long way in his understanding. Have you noted that George has come out in favor of nuclear energy this week?

And who knows, maybe the WHO and USAID are also trying to cover their tracks. After all it does not look good that health and aid agencies were implicated in the unnecessary deaths of millions of people because they caved into political pressure against DDT in the ’70s. CONTINUED

Which do you think made a good case for his position?  It is plain as day that one environmentalist focused more on attacking the other person's character rather than refuting the other's position.  

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS -- 1-30-11

EAGLE FREEDOM LINKS 

Opus #6 is in love with this cute doggie 

Sig94 explains why Obama doesn't pass the stink test

JR says that Congress is considering passing an internet "kill switch" 

Andrew33 posts on Lt. Col. Allen West's first town Hall 

Always On Watch shows us Great moments in liberal history.

Hoping the Blind Will See posted The American Experiment

Barking Spider posts on the fact that the Hawaii Governor has failed to locate Obama's birth certificate.

Bungalow Bill on the how the Republican establishment hates the tea party

Bluegrass Pundit tells us Obamacare may actually leave more people without insurance

Quite Rightly posts Excellent News On Sudan

LL asks True or False? 

Common Cents has posted the list of Obamacare waivers 

Arizona Bald Eagles - Amazing videos are here

Christopher has posted an Abbreviated version of the SOTU.

Conservative Scalawag informs us that John Conyers calls for more Jim Crow

Patrick Archbold posts on the lib media thinking that Exorcism movies are a right wing plot

Tito Edwards shows us the new trailer "There Be Dragons" 

DeanO has posted a Great Political cartoon

The_Kid explains why Gun control is evil and brain-dead






Jamie Jeffords shows us Mila Kunis 

Fuzzy Slippers posts The SOTU in a nutshell 

EHVOGEL shows us that Only Reagan does Reaganesque 

Hack Wilson posts on The State of the "union" 

Innominatus shows us Yet another reason to avoid Portland 

Matt explores the Intent of Obamacare

Just a Conservative Girl says there are No easy answers in Egypt 

 Supi shows us a couple of Great videos 

Rational Nation USA asks Who's the "bubble head" now? 

Left-footer posts on St. Joan of Arc and poses a question for pacifists. 

Lone Star Parson posts on A Retreat.

Robot asks Are you smarter than an elected official? 

Bald Eagles in Southern Alaska

Watch Dog asks Have American teachers moved "to the Left" of Obama?  

Obama Cartoons shows us that Egypt is at its tipping point

Eman states that Obama's SOTU is tantamount to plagiarism

Jill posts on Oddballs and the blob  

Randy-g says that we need to Keep a close eye on this Muslim brother 

Matt asks Does Government exist to protect rights or to grant them? 

John Carey shows us Bill Whittle's conservative response to the State of the Union 

Reaganite Republican posts that Obama secretly schemed with Egyptian opposition 

Right Wing Extreme reveals the Horrors of global warming propaganda

Euripedes posted Andrew Klavan: highway to hell, leftist remix edition 

STOP MARXISM posted It is time to cut up the national credit card 

Maggie highlights Egyptian women in her rule 5 posting 






Father Dwight Longenecker posts on Superstition and the supernatural 

Cube posts on the 25th Anniversary of the Challenger tragedy 

The Conservative Lady informs us that Sen. Jim DeMint has introduced legislation to repeal Obamacare 

Samuel Gonzalez posted Tourists besiege Cairo Egypt airport 

Kevin has posted on his New passion for energy psychology - EFT 






The Watcher has a Question on the moral decline of America 

The Right Guy posts A hero of the left: a monster to the rest of us 

TOTUS posts Friend or foe, dictatorship or democracy 

Trestin posts on Frank and Dodd 10 

Bob Belvedere posts Egypt: The dark side of the loons 

LD Jackson posts on Harry's Law and the liberal agenda 

Woman Honor Thyself posts Se-x Defines us

Woodsterman posts It must be beer thirty ...



Proof posts that the TSA has put an end to the private screening program

Chris W posts that Arizona is taking on birthright citizenship 

Amusing Bunni invites you to her Comedy club 

The Other McCain posts Herman Caine attends Koch brothers meeting, causes left-wing freak out 

Pamela Geller posts on Obama's Carter moment 

KingShamus shows us that Robert Redford is a hypocrite 

Via Instapundit Andrew Romano of The Daily Beast posts Palin kills it in gun country 

Sick.... So here's some snippets of articles

Oh my! Polar Bears not endangered?  Global warming ecofascists must be highly disappointed about that reality.
From American Thinker:
One of the iconic images of global warming that is supposed to make us feel guilty enough to bankrupt our economy by giving in to various carbon schemes is that of the pathetic polar bear alone in the middle of the ocean on a rapidly shrinking ice floe. We are told that the poor creature is going extinct because the ice is melting and his usual feeding on seals is no longer possible. Continued

Does race matter? Is America colorblind or not?  It doesn't seem to be colorblind under Obama. 

From: American Thinker:

The fanciful idea of living in a colorblind society is one of the greatest impediments to sophisticated discussions about race in America.  If there is going to be a soothing of racial tensions in American society, there first has to be an understanding that race -- albeit a social construct based on some biological realities --exists and matters, and it is not just a vestigial figment of centuries-old white racism.

   It is axiomatic that race is a part of our social reality; however, where we need more discussion is on precisely where race matters.  The fundamental problem with race in America today is that we have a band of profiteering, country-trotting black liberals claiming that race matters in all the areas where it clearly does not. 

                                                                                                                                       Continued

Pope Benedict's address was on Catherine of Bologna: Spiritual Weapons Against Evil. 

From DFW Catholic: The Holy Father dedicated his catechesis during today’s general audience, held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 8,000 people, to St. Catherine of Bologna (1413-1463).

Born to a noble family in the Italian city of Bologna, at the age of ten she moved to Ferrara where she entered the court of Niccolo III d’Este as a maid of honour. There she received a very careful education which would later serve her during her monastic life when “she used the cultural and artistic knowledge acquired over those years to great advantage”, the Pope said.

In 1427, at the age of fourteen, she left the court to dedicate herself to religious life in a community of young women. Two years later the leader of this group founded an Augustinian convent, but Catherine and a number of others preferred Franciscan spirituality and transformed the community into Poor Clares. Continued

It is quite obvious nowadays that public schools and common sense just don't mix.  Here is one more example of a school overreacting big time and where the so called protection is much worse than the "crime".   Do mistakes, mix ups, or accidents happen anymore?  This is ludicrous! 

From Hot Air: 

Suspended for the school year and charged with misdemeanor possession of a weapon on school grounds. And by “weapon,” I of course mean … a paring knife.

Just one question: Is it true?

Smithwick said personnel found the knife while searching the belongings of several students, possibly looking for drugs. She said the lunchbox really belonged to her father, Joe Smithwick, who packs a paring knife to slice his apple. He and his daughter have matching lunchboxes…

Lee County Schools Superintendent Jeff Moss said in a statement on Wednesday that the 3-inch-long knife was found in the teen’s purse, not her lunchbox. The search was conducted on Oct. 20 after a faculty member at the school discovered a student on campus with marijuana…

“She is currently enrolled as a student at the school,” Moss said.

The teen told WRAL News that she was initially given a 10-day suspension, then received notice that she was suspended the rest of the school year.

“Over two months after the event it is a mystery to us that the Smithwick’s concerns were not brought to our attention by the family through normal appeal procedures prior to going to the press,” Moss said.

                                                                                                                                                        CONTINUED

I

Van Jones Admits Left is "Pretending" Need for Regulation in ...

Well, we knew that liberals were and are lying to people about global warming, Cap & Trade, and Green energy  jobs.

Yes Rep. Issa, Please, by All Means Dig, Dig, Dig

This New York Times article asks whether Rep. Darrell Issa and the GOP will be digging or investigating a long laundry list of violations that the Obama admin has committed over the last two years.  I can almost guarantee that Rep. Issa and the GOP will be investigating away.  YEA!! The N.Y. Times columnist Brian Friel makes an educated guess as to which issues he thinks that Darrell Issa and the GOP will be investigating after they takeover the reigns in January.  Friel even goes onto mention some additional issues which he thinks should be investigated as well. 

Here is the list:

White House job offers. The question is whether the administration offered plum positions to get two Senate primary challengers — Joe Sestak in Pennsylvania and Andrew Romanoff in Colorado — to drop their bids against Democratic incumbents. While the White House insists and most legal experts agree that no law was broken, Mr. Issa has said that that Americans could have “confidence in the legitimacy of the conclusions drawn” by the administration in the cases only if they have access to all related documents.


“Friends of Angelo.” Several prominent Democrats, including two senators, Kent Conrad of North Dakota and Chris Dodd of Connecticut (who chose not to run for re-election this month), were found to have received sweetheart mortgage rates from Countrywide Financial and its former chief executive, Angelo Mozilo. While the Senate Ethics Committee found “no substantial credible evidence” that the two senators had violated ethics rules, Mr. Issa says more investigation is warranted into whether other government officials got such deals.

Acorn. The liberal nonprofit group dissolved last year in the glare of conservative scrutiny, but some Republicans want an investigation into Acorn’s federal financing for its housing programs, which amounted to at least $53 million since 1994.

New Black Panthers. Last year the Justice Department convened and then dropped an investigation into whether members of the New Black Panther Party intimidated voters at a polling place in Philadelphia in 2008. Many conservatives feel the case was concluded prematurely and would like the Justice Department to take it up again.

Climate science. Conservatives who question the consensus that climate change is manmade want to use various committees’ oversight powers to challenge its scientific underpinnings, many of which were reached by federally financed researchers. Mr. Issa has focused on the so-called Climategate scandal involving alleged manipulation of data by British scientists: “For me, settled science starts out with settled raw data,” Mr. Issa said. “If the raw data’s in doubt, then the idea that we have settled science doesn’t exist. I want settled science.”

BP oil-spill response. Republicans may want to emphasize the White House’s missteps in dealing with the Gulf oil spill in April. In July, Mr. Issa said that the administration’s “preoccupation with public relations” might have hindered local officials’ efforts to deal with the disaster.

Economic stimulus. Representative Issa created a Web site where people can post pictures of road signs touting projects financed by the $787 billion economic stimulus package; he says the signs are little more than expensive propaganda, costing taxpayers $192 million. Mr. Issa will no doubt find additional creative ways to raise doubts about the administration’s response to the Great Recession, which he says has wasted money on swimming pools, zoos and golf courses.


Czars. Mr. Issa wants to give special scrutiny to unconfirmed presidential advisers including Elizabeth Warren, who is setting up the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Carol Browner, who oversees environmental policy. Such czars are a sign of the “arrogance of government,” Mr. Issa says, because their appointments avoid Congress’s constitutional advise-and-consent role.


INVESTIGATIONS WE COULD REALLY USE


Federal contracts. Agencies paid private contractors at least $539 billion in fiscal 2009, much of it with little or no competition or performance evaluation. An additional $660 billion-plus in grants to states, local governments and nonprofits has undergone no systemic Congressional review. The committee should look into possible waste and whether contracting rules were followed.

The Civil Service. As with contractors, Congress has not systemically reviewed the performance and efficiency of the government’s 1.8 million-member work force.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. At $136 billion so far, the federal takeover of the quasi-private housing corporations is the most expensive component of the government’s response to the economic crisis. Figuring out the government’s role in the housing market going forward is essential after decades of Congressional neglect.

Defense spending. Congress has been loath to dig too deeply into waste in the Pentagon budget, in part because every state and Congressional district benefits from the spending. But 8 of the 31 agencies on the Government Accountability Office high-risk list of programs “vulnerable to fraud, waste, abuse and mismanagement” are run out of the Defense Department. Certainly Congress should scrutinize them.

Food safety. A series of recalls, including that of half a billion eggs last summer in a salmonella outbreak, has highlighted the strains on the Food and Drug Administration. Congress should investigate whether it needs to be reformed or its duties taken up by other agencies.

Transparency. The government keeps too much information secret, operating a costly system of classification. Much of the information it does make public is impossible for most citizens to comprehend. Republicans could push agencies to declassify more information more quickly and draft legislation to compel the bureaucracy to release data in more usable formats.

Veterans health. Since the exposure of terrible conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2007, Congress has dumped billions into the veterans health system. But there has been little follow-up to examine the quality of care and the cost-effectiveness of efforts by the Department of Veterans Affairs and other agencies.

Loan guarantees. Congress has backed more than $100 billion in loans in energy-related private projects. Because the guarantees don’t cost much up front, they tend to get little scrutiny. But the taxpayers are on the hook for any projects that go bust, and Congress should scrutinize them more carefully to determine the risk of failure and whether the projects truly deserve our backing.

Agency performance. Do taxpayers get what they pay for? In 1993, Congress passed the Government Performance and Results Act, requiring federal agencies to report each year on how well they were meeting goals, like whether the Internal Revenue Service is collecting all taxes due or whether the Education Department is improving student achievement. Agencies still produce those reports, but everyone involved knows that nobody really reads them. Oversight committees should start using them the way shareholders use companies’ annual reports: to see if their investments are paying off.

Congress itself. Committees in general do little sustained oversight, instead chasing headlines. And they operate with significant overlap — more than 100 committees and subcommittees oversee the Homeland Security Department, for example. The committees offer few channels for public input and participation. As one expert says, “I’d like to see Congress take a hard look at how it does oversight before it does any more of it.”


I am looking forward to seeing Rep. Darrell Issa dig, dig, dig, and the deeper the better.

A Common Sense Global Warming Believer Brings us "Cool It"

First off I don't believe that man-made global warming exists because I haven't seen any empirical or indisputable evidence which proves it. But, let's say that the globe is warming not because of man but for some other reason, maybe we should look into why and fix it, if it really does need to be fixed.  Here is an article by a common sense man-made global warming believer (not an alarmist Al Gore type) which I found interesting even though I disagree with his premise that man-made global warming exists.

By Bjorn Lomborg: For nearly two decades now, people have been arguing about climate change and getting nowhere. Right-wingers argue that global warming is a hoax based on unsubstantiated science, while left-wingers insist that not only is it real but unless we spend everything we have and more trying to stop it, the world will end tomorrow.


To which I say, “Stop—you’re both wrong!”

This, in a nutshell, is the message of the new documentary about me and my work that opens nationwide on Nov. 12. It’s called “Cool It” and, yes, the title is meant to be clever. The idea is that we do need to cool down the planet, but in order to do it sensibly we first need to cool it ourselves. That is, we need to dispense with both the anti-scientific denialism and the Al Gore-ish fear-mongering. Instead, what we should be doing is facing facts—and responding to them not with rhetoric but with smarter, more rational policies.

The first fact we need to acknowledge is the reality of global warming. Like it or not, the data is abundantly clear that man-made greenhouse gases have been building up in the atmosphere for decades if not centuries, with the result that global temperatures are rising. Yes, the “Climate-gate” emails and the disclosure of funny business at the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change exposed some deeply disturbing academic chicanery and prejudice at some supposedly prestigious institutions. However, these revelations did nothing to undermine the fundamental scientific basis of global warming. What they did call into question were many of the more extreme predictions about global warming’s likely impact—such as the idea that all the Himalayan glaciers were about to disappear (they’re not) or that half the Amazon rain forest would soon be destroyed (not likely).


Of course, these extreme predictions are at the heart of the mainstream environmental movement’s position on climate policy. And this brings us to another set of facts we need to face: that while global warming is real, it is not quite the imminent catastrophe so many climate activists would have us believe. There may be some truth to the notion that in order to get people to focus on a problem, you need to scare the pants off them. But while worst-case scenarios may be a great way to get the public’s attention, they are a terrible basis for making public policy. If you believe that the southwest U.S. is about to become another dustbowl (as Paul Krugman has insisted) or that Greenland and Antarctica are on the verge of becoming huge piles of slush (as Al Gore would have us believe), of course you’re going to argue that we should do everything we can to eliminate carbon emissions as quickly as possible—even if that means amazingly costly and ineffective government policies.

And make no mistake about it—the kind of carbon cuts called for in the Kyoto Protocols and the European Union’s recently adopted 20/20 policy (under which carbon emissions are supposed to be cut to 20% below 1990 levels by 2020) are hardly a recipe for success. Not only would they rob us of trillions of dollars worth of economic output—the EU effort alone would cost an estimated $250 billion a year in lost GDP—but they would do astonishingly little to solve global warming. According to the DICE climate-economic model, if the EU plan were to be implemented every year for the next 90 years, the resulting reduction in temperatures would be too small to measure. (To be precise, the figure is a miniscule 0.1 degrees Fahrenheit.)

The good news is that there is another, better way to deal with global warming—a cure that is most assuredly not worse than the disease. As I have noted elsewhere, the big problem with the Al Gore approach to global warming is that it ignores the fact that despite all the hopeful talk about solar, wind, and other green energy technologies, we are still overwhelmingly dependent for our energy needs on carbon-emitting fuels like coal and oil. Why? Because coal and oil are far cheaper and more efficient energy sources than the alternatives. For two decades now, we have been putting the cart before the horse, pretending we could cut carbon emissions now (by taxing them) and solve the efficiency problem later. Unfortunately, this makes neither economic nor political sense. What we should be doing isn’t trying to make carbon-emitting fuels too expensive to use, but rather figuring out how to make green energy cheaper. If we could do that, we wouldn’t have to force (or subsidize) anyone to stop burning coal and oil. Everyone, including the Chinese and the Indians, would shift to the cheaper and cleaner alternatives.

This of course is a big if. But it’s not impossible. As the Breakthrough Institute has pointed out, we didn’t promote the digital revolution by taxing slide rules or restricting the supply of typewriters. We did it by investing massively in R&D. We could—and should—do the same with green energy technology. As we point out in “Cool It,” devoting roughly $100 billion a year to green energy R&D would likely produce the kind of game-changing breakthroughs needed to fuel a carbon-free future. Not only would this be a much less expensive fix than trying to cut carbon emissions directly, it would also reduce global warming far more quickly.

So why aren’t we doing this? I blame polarization. What’s keeping us from getting anywhere is the lack of any middle ground in the climate debate. As far as the alarmists are concerned, you either believe global warming poses an imminent threat to our continued existence or you are a denier. Deniers can be just as bad: in their view, if you don’t believe global warming is a nefarious hoax, you must be an empty-headed “warmist.” It’s time to retire the old shibboleths of both left and right—and stop branding anyone who dares question them a crackpot or worse.

Tackling global warming smartly is not (or at least it shouldn’t be) a political issue. Being smart is something we ought to be able to find bipartisan agreement on. For the politically conservative, the attraction of this approach is that it is a clear-headed, fiscally responsible response – and one that would actually fix the problem it is meant to solve.




H/T Breitbart