Those are among the scariest words on the planet. Pity the flood victims in snowy Fargo - Obama says he's going to help.
It's worth taking a moment to consider the many ways in which government helps. Two that come to mind:
In California, government has backed away from its plan to outlaw dark-colored vehicles in the face of furious opposition. As you may recall, the idea was to mandate sale of only light-colored vehicles as a means of fighting Climate Change - the government's view was that light-colored cars are more reflective, and so vehicle air conditioners wouldn't need to be run as often.
Fear not, however - the California Energy Commission (CEC) proposes now to ban televisions. Wait. What?
Yes, believe it or not, that's what they want to do, and it's for your own good. Why?
Well, it seems that a honking 48-inch plasma screen, that bright symbol of the bygone days of conspicuous consumption and purveyor of drooling vacuity, uses too much electricity, and electricity production makes too much greenhouse gas emissions (at least in America, where half of our electricity comes from coal - in France, a plasma screen would emit nary a CO2 molecule as the TVs there are nuclear powered).
Accordingly, the CEC proposes to ban some 200 models of televisions.
Greens grumble that old-TVs (many of which are still in service - when I was a kid, we had one black and white TV in the apartment - how quaint) only produce 220 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions per year. Larger plasma screens produce 880 pounds though. Hence, they must be banned. Unsaid is the fact that, if anything decent were being produced for television, emissions would skyrocket. On this basis NBC should make out like a bandit with a carbon cap-and-trade program since their sole show in the prime-time top-20 Nielsen ratings is rated an energy-saving #20, translating weak viewership into an Earth-friendly virtue, and a few million tons of valuable carbon credits.
Of course, televisions, like most electronics and other appliances, have become increasingly energy-efficient over the years; a process that has been driven not by government, but by the market and its associated innovations. Circuit boards are much more efficient than vacuum tubes, and boast increased reliability and longevity, as well. Government, of course, doesn't like the free market. This is entirely understandable, because if the markets are allowed the freedom to operate on their own, then government bureaucrats would have nothing to do. And that's a situation that is simply intolerable.
Meanwhile, over in Cape Coral, Florida:
CAPE CORAL, Fla. - A tea party to protest government spending and taxing is canceled. Canceled by the government.
Why? They feel too many people could show-up.
Apparently, if more than 500 people show up for such an event, it could be a problem. Besides, having a whole pile of folks attending a tax revolt would likely indicate that increasing numbers of people are fed up with big government, and this could exert a negative effect upon the funding for any number of government agencies. Obviously, this would be a huge problem for government, so it's in the best interest for everybody if the event is simply cancelled.
As noted on the Rasmussen Reports website:
While it is quite common to think of the political debate in America as one between Left and Right or between Democrats and Republicans, our polling has found a sharper distinction beyond these traditional labels - the Political Class versus Mainstream America.