Puppetshow

If you're like me, you'll have a mighty struggle trying to make sense of the Big Debate between dueling experts on air quality in North Carolina's mountains. On one hand, you have the conclusions of expert witnesses working for Attorney General Roy Cooper. On the other other hand, you have a "scholars" hired to carry water for the free-market extremists in the JLF Puppetshow.

Fridays at the Art Pope Puppetshow are always interesting affairs. John Hood takes a much need break from his daily hackery, allowing the minions to step up to the plate of free-market fanaticism. I read the stuff every week because it provides good insight into how the JLF brainwashing machine operates.

Today's guest column features a screed against the City of Raleigh's impact fees on new development by Jon Sanders. What's most interesting (but not at all surprising) is the thinking behind Sanders' commentary. Simply put, Sanders conflates "money" and "benefits" as though the two are indistinguishable concepts. In reporting the results of a study by Michael Walden, an economics professor at NC State, Sanders weighs into the "all growth is good" swamp with both feet.

I'm sorry, but this excerpt from an interview with a JLF "Report" writer is flat out hilarious.

Bakst: Well, a wind farm is a cute way of describing what is a massive line of wind turbines, and wind turbines are not cute little windmills. They’re massive industrial wind turbines, which are 475 feet potentially, maybe even higher, which is about the height of a 47-story skyscraper.

Martinez: Forty-seven stories?

Bakst: Yes, I think it would be taller than any building in Raleigh, actually. So that’s massive.

Martinez: That’s huge. In fact, they are somewhat controversial. We’re talking about one possibly in Carteret County, we’ve heard about suggestions for wind farms in the western part of the state. Is it simply the size that makes them controversial?

Bakst: Well, for local communities it’s certainly the size of it. For electricity consumers and the public, it shouldn’t just be the size. It’s the fact that wind power is really a bad form of electricity.

John Hood, stage manager at the non-profit Art Pope Puppetshow, is at his free-market best today with a selective nod in the direction of accepting reality.

The reality here is that most people act with regard to their self-interest most of the time. They work in order to feed, clothe, house, and otherwise take care of themselves and their families. They’ll also gladly give of their time and money to causes they deem worthy, but that’s not their primary motivation to work, save, and invest.

Fortunately, another reality to accept is that intentions don’t determine results. When governments use coercion to force people to act contrary to their personal choices, the results are often disappointing regardless of how well-intended the government program may have been. And in a market economy, individuals freely transacting business to mutual advantage tend to advance the common interest by promoting innovation, lower prices, better service, and economic opportunity.

How can you disagree with that? Individuals freely transacting business to mutual advantage. Of course in some cases, that mutual advantage means you're a kid who doesn't get the crap beat out of you. Sounds like heaven to me.

Out of my commitment to being a kinder, gentler James, I mostly try to ignore the tiresome talking points emanating from Art Pope's Puppetshow. But every now and then the Puppets write something so sublimely ignorant that it's hard to let it pass. That's what happened today, with the latest "report" produced by Daren Bakst.

Recent high energy prices are taking their toll on the economy, Bakst said. “A Congressional Budget Office study that examined the impact of high gasoline prices on the economy found Gross Domestic Product in 2006 is probably lower by about one percent, or $132 billion, than it would have been if energy prices had not risen,” he said. “In addition, the average household’s annual spending on energy goods and services rose by about $1,700 between 2003 and 2006, and their saving rate dropped sharply.”

Leave it to Art Pope's minions to argue against one of the very few energy sources that could immediately contribute to building a sustainable energy portfolio. And, as usual, their arguments are full of hot air.

RALEIGH – North Carolina needs a “Coast Law” to protect residents from wind turbines that ruin local landscapes, harm wildlife, and pose potential health risks, all while providing an unreliable source of electricity. That’s the key conclusion of a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

Oh. My. God. Now we have Puppets all a'twitter about local landscapes, wildlife and health. Will wonders never stop ceasing?

Map now updated with Myers Park Pat!

I admit to spending less and less time worrying about the "reports" and political activities spewing steadily from the Art Pope Puppetshow. Funded to the tune of $3 to $4 million annually by the knight of the right, the increasingly irrelevant John Locke Foundation and Civitas appear to have attracted all the converts they're going to get.

But as our handy-dandy (and updated!) map of the Show suggests, the Puppetmaster has infiltrated major media outlets and at least one major university, so they are definitely worth keeping an eye on. Which is why I was so pleased to see this post by Rob Schofield at NC Policy Watch yesterday. It's a doozy.

A couple of items of interest today.

First off, Chris Fitzsimon at NC Policy Watch smacks Rick Martinez (News Puppet at WPTF-AM) upside his wooden head with a great column on public education.

The market fundamentalists are relentless in their crusade to privatize public schools and don’t mind ignoring facts and social science if they have to. They are even willing to temporarily put aside their normal demonization of the poor.

Today's New York Times contains a well-written piece that dissects the fantasies of free-market extremists quite handily. The author is Peter Goodman, one of my favorite reporters at the Times.

As we move into the year ahead, the tension between proponents of the so-called "invisible hand" and those of us who prefer to deal with reality will escalate, and the divisions will sharpen, especially around health care issues, where the "invisible hand" mostly picks taxpayers' pockets so the money can be transferred to the corporate elite.

But now the invisible hand is being asked to account for what it has wrought. In this country, many economic complaints — from the widening gap between rich and poor to the expense of higher education — are being dusted for its fingerprints.

I've been reading a lot of right wing blogs lately, including a fair amount free-market stuff like Cato. I have to admit, those guys are good at weaving Libertarian threads into magical nirvana carpets.

There's only one problem. Their magic carpets don't fly right now. They only fly eventually.

That's how it is with free markets. Everything is eventually.

One place where this awkward adverb comes painfully into play (no pun intended) is in the area of health care. The full-market extremists argue that all we need to do is cut regulation, cut taxes, get government out of health care and all will eventually be right with the world. They might be right, who knows? But my question is this: what happens between now and eventually? Do millions of poor people suffer because they don't have the access rich people have?