RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://www.wsj.com/articles/david-malpasss-lesson-for-gop-candidates-world-bank-al-gore-climate-change-gotcha-question-republicans-scientist-11664214207?mod=opinion_lead_pos10

World Bank President David Malpass committed a horrible environmental crime last Tuesday. When asked about his views on climate change, he said, “I’m not a scientist.”

The saga began earlier when Al Gore called Mr. Malpass a “climate denier” and urged President Biden to fire him. It isn’t clear why Mr. Gore was so incensed by Mr. Malpass. Whatever his personal beliefs, the World Bank under Mr. Malpass’s leadership has given a record $31.7 billion in fiscal 2022 to “climate-related” initiatives.

When a reporter prodded Mr. Malpass about the comment hours later, he said it was “very odd” and declined to discuss his climate views with his words about not being a scientist.

This seeming nonevent developed into front-page news at the New York Times. Calls for Mr. Malpass’s resignation began, including from the White House, despite Mr. Malpass subsequently clarifying that he does believe greenhouse gases cause warming. One wonders where this outrage was when Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson declined to define the word “woman” in her confirmation hearings, pleading, “I’m not a biologist.”

Mr. Malpass has refused to resign, and why should he? He spoke the truth. He isn’t a scientist. He’s an economist, hence his appointment to the World Bank by President Trump. What he said about greenhouse gases is also true, and probably the one thing all sides can agree on in the climate debate. It’s also the end of what science clearly says about global warming. Anything else you hear is guesswork, if not fear-mongering.

But the hysterical reaction to Mr. Malpass’s statement is also an important lesson for Republican candidates. They’re likely to get this sort of “gotcha” question on climate and “I am not a scientist” and similar disavowals of expertise, knowledge and opinion aren’t good answers, true as they may be. They instantly make one sound defensive and don’t defuse the situation.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-permitting-bills-poison-pill-joe-manchin-federal-energy-regulatory-commission-senate-11664226775?mod=opinion_lead_pos1

The Senate may vote as early as Tuesday on Joe Manchin’s permitting reform bill, and the West Virginian says Republicans should accept incremental progress rather than nothing. But the main problem isn’t that his changes are too modest, though they are. Some of them would do tangible harm to U.S. energy security and constitutional federalism.

Though it’s received little attention, one section would rewrite how transmission lines are permitted, and not for the better. The 1935 Federal Power Act preserved state authority over transmission-line permits while the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) decides how to allocate costs.

A transmission line that crosses a state affects its utility planning. Yet states may disagree over whose citizens should pay for it. FERC today apportions the costs by economic and reliability benefits. If a line reduces electricity prices in Michigan, its citizens shoulder some of the cost. The Manchin bill would disrupt this delicate federal-state balance.

It gives FERC the power to permit an interstate transmission line if the Energy Secretary says it promotes “national energy policy” or the ability of “intermittent energy to connect to the electric grid.” FERC could override states and approve a line merely because it reduces CO2 emissions or encourages renewable power.

www.swtotd.blogspot.com

Accusations of “threats to democracy,” are being tossed around with the abandon of rolls being thrown at a Drones Club dinner. This has especially been true from the “anointed” left toward their conservative opponents. They see a fascist behind every Republican. “With…democracy itself in the balance…” wrote Sara Burnett and John Hanna of the Associated Press in a recent article on Governor’s races taking on new prominence. CNN’s S.E. (Sarah Elizabeth) Cupp recently wrote of the ascendancy of right wing nationalism and “in some cases fascism,” in which she grouped Donald Trump with Jair Bolsonaro and Viktor Orban, and Liz Truss with Marine Le Pen. Hillary Clinton recently compared a Trump campaign event in Ohio to a Nazi rally, I guess “deplorables” wasn’t strong enough.

Catchy slogans are ubiquitous in politics. Most, unsurprisingly, have a positive slant: “Why not the best?” – Carter in ’76; “Morning in America!” – Reagan in ’80. A few carry an accusatory tone: “It’s the economy, stupid!” – Clinton in ‘92. Others are egotistical: “We are the ones we have been waiting for!” – Obama in 2008. And then there was Trump’s upbeat slogan in 2016, “Make America great again,” which Democrats, using the acronym “MAGA,” have turned into a pejorative in 2022.

Like the Left’s call for net-zero-emissions (which in reality is a regressive tax), the words “Republicans represent a threat to democracy” serve as a red herring, to detract from real issues, like inflation, the economy, immigration, jobs, crime, school choice, and the student mental health crisis. Yet democracy is fragile, so should be watched and handled with care. Our Constitution provides for a government based on the rule of law, with checks and balances cast in three co-equal branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The purpose – to make it difficult for any individual to wrest control. As early as September 1787, Benjamin Franklin allegedly responded to a query about the new government, that it was “a Republic, if you can keep it.”  In the same year, in “Federalist 26,” Alexander Hamilton addressed the debate between legislative power and individual liberty. In the 1830s, Alexis de Tocqueville saw the threat of tyranny from unchecked demands of individuals and groups. A Civil War was fought in the early 1860s to combat slavery, but also to preserve the union. The American political system is not supposed to be efficient. It is designed for debate and collaboration, aimed at reaching a consensus. While advocacy is expected from political parties, constraints on government are critical for continued individual liberty.

https://amgreatness.com/2022/09/26/cover-up-artists-for-undercover-operatives/

Hot off falsely claiming Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick was bludgeoned to death by “insurrectionists” on January 6, 2021, Representative Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.) last week identified another faux victim of Trump supporters: Ray Epps.

The infamous red-hatted man seen on video numerous times urging people to “go into the Capitol” remains free despite engaging in conduct far more disruptive than many who face charges for their behavior that day. Jones, however, describes Epps as a “scapegoat” and “bogeyman” of his Republican colleagues; commended Epps for turning himself into the FBI (as did many protesters later charged with crimes); and claimed Epps tried to calm the crowd as the chaos unfolded. 

“There is nothing unusual about a guy who didn’t actually go into the Capitol on January 6 and who did not actually incite violence not being indicted,” Jones said during last week’s House Judiciary Committee meeting to debate a bill demanding that the Department of Justice turn over all records related to Epps. “Mr. Epps and his wife have had their lives threatened. And they’ve had to go into hiding because of this latest conspiracy theory by MAGA Republicans to distract from the existential threat that Donald Trump and the Republican Party pose to our democracy.”

Jones was the latest member of Congress to come to Epps’ rescue, an inexplicable defense of someone who took part in what the Biden regime considers an act of terror comparable to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 that left nearly 3,000 people dead. Despite promises by the January 6 select committee that Epps’ sworn interview would be released to the public, his testimony remains under wraps nearly nine months later. 

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.), a member of the committee, called unanswered questions about Epps a “conspiracy theory” and begged Republicans to leave Epps alone. “He’s just trying to survive and he’s on your side!” Raskin yelled during the same House Judiciary committee meeting. Claiming without evidence that Republicans “don’t have many voters left,” Raskin suggested Republicans should stop “vilifying” Epps, an alleged Trump supporter.

So everyone else is an insurrectionist and terrorist but Ray Epps is just a “schmuck?” 

Weird.

https://issuesinsights.com/2022/09/27/bidens-student-loan-bailout-is-just-the-beginning-as-other-debtors-line-up-for-relief/

Nobody has yet come up with a definitive estimate of the full taxpayer cost of President Joe Biden’s student loan bailout, but the numbers are already staggering. And as budget-busting as this one is, it’s only whetted the Left’s appetite for more loan bailouts.

The Congressional Budget Office released a cost estimate for Biden’s loan cancellation executive order. He plans to forgive $10,000 in federal student loans for borrowers who earn less than $125,000 a year. Low-income Pell Grant borrowers are eligible for an additional $10,000 cut. The CBO figures this will cost $400 billion over the next decade. Plus another $20 billion in costs by the extension of Biden’s “emergency” payment suspension through the end of this year – a suspension allegedly in response to COVID, which Biden himself says is no longer a pandemic.

That is close to the estimate that the Wharton school produced in late August. It pegged the 10-year cancellation cost between $469 billion and $519 billion.

But that’s only a small part of the taxpayers’ largesse Biden wants to shower on college students.

As the CBO notes “The estimates presented here do not include any effects of the actions affecting income-driven repayment plans.”

If anything, that will cost taxpayers more than the cancellations. Biden wants to vastly expand this escape valve for student loans. As it stands, students have the option of capping their loan payments at 10% of their income, and any debt left over after 20 years will be forgiven.