The Greens are Winning; Sanity has Lost

The two very best editorials of the day come from Vince Carroll and David Harsanyi.

Harsanyi writes about McCain and Bush being left wing light:

A betrayal of fiscal conservatism and limited government by George Bush has fractured the Republican Party, and mending it won't be easy. Certainly, co-opting liberal ideas and repackaging them for moderates has failed to elect a single Republican. You may wonder, then: Why does it remain the GOP game plan?

Exhibit One: Republican presidential hopeful McCain unveiled his plan to nationalize energy with a cap-and-trade system (among other nuggets). McCain, in a speech that could have easily have been delivered by Al Gore, bemoaned the "profit" motive and claimed his solutions were "market"-driven.

If you believe McCain's new, massive energy bureaucracy is essential, there is already a party out there that will undertake the task with gusto.

Memo to John McCain:  When Republicans begin adopting a socialist energy policy - it isn't even liberal - they lose my vote.  You will do much less damage in the US Senate, sorry to say.

Vince Carroll has been going through the Colorado PUC testimony.  Governor Bill Ritter, never one to shy away from higher taxes and fees, plans to stick it to utilities rate payers to fund $1.5 billion in environmentalist gimmicks.

Here's one possible reason, gleaned from the testimony at the Public Utilities Commission by Tom Plant of the governor's energy office:

"As important as the rate is when calculating an electric bill, it is only part of the equation," Plant said last month. "A rate is multiplied by measured electric use to yield what electric customers care most about - their bill. . . . It may be helpful to start thinking of customers as 'billpayers,' not as ratepayers. An astute 'billpayer' may see a higher rate on their bill when they see a DSM (demand-side management) cost adjustment charge. However, if that customer avails himself or herself of a utility-sponsored DSM program he or she will see a lower bill, will experience greater comfort, and will be playing a part in improving the environment. I urge the commission to adopt a focus on customers' bills."

Someone please send that man a copy of The Wizard of Oz. After all, the wizard was so much more succinct when advising his audience to ignore a painfully obvious fact. "Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain," he urged Dorothy and her faithful band.

Has anyone noticed that the left wingers have stopped talking about a consensus on global warming?  Unfortunately, Newton's third law of motion applies to politics:  A political body in motion tends to remain in motion until removed from office by a newly sane electorate.