On Black Holes and Other Democratic Party Voids

The Washington Post Science section today carries an interesting story about how astronomers estimate that the black hole at the center of our galaxy has a mass equivalent of 4 million suns, and moreover that they are hoping to take a photo of it.  “The thing we will actually see is light just barely escaping from the black hole,” the Post quotes one hopeful astronomer.

By why look so far away for a massive black hole and signs of a miniscule amount of light leaking out.  They could just look at Democratic Party energy policy right here on earth.  Yesterday the Post reported that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to charge ahead with his plan for expensive offshore wind power, even though, as the story reports, “A recent retreat by Congress in helping to fund such clean-energy projects has raised doubts about whether developers could secure financing for an offshore wind farm even with the aid O’Malley’s plan could offer.”  So since Washington won’t subsidize the plan, ratepayers will have to pay the multi-billion dollar price tag.

O’Malley has an answer to that: price caps!  Wow, what a concept.  And price caps worked so well in California a decade ago.  O’Malley probably thinks we could send a manned expedition to explore the sun if we only went at night.

Meanwhile, on the Keystone pipeline disgrace its like Democrats aren’t even trying any more—either that or the Wall Street Journal is up to their old satirical tricks again.  In today’s Journal, Tom Steyer and John Podesta of the Center for American Progress have a truly snort-worthy piece arguing that we don’t need the Keystone pipeline because “Under President Obama’s leadership, we appear to be at the beginning of a domestic gas and oil boom.”  R-r-r-right: Obama is the proximate cause of the natural gas boom.  And my living room cheering is the cause of the 49ers game-losing fumble Saturday.  Can they really think anyone will buy this?

The piece predictably goes on to tout “clean” energy investment, while noting without irony or embarrassment that the “investment” they praise is wholly dependent on taxpayer subsidies:

Our clean-technology edge is due in no small part to the business community’s overwhelming response to specific policy tools—from government investment in research and development to targeted tax incentives to spur renewable energy manufacturing and installation. For instance, the Production Tax Credit, first passed in 1992, has generated massive amounts of new growth in the wind industry, a sector employing 85,000 Americans. But each time Congress allows this credit to expire after a mere two years, investment grinds to a halt, giving our global competitors the advantage in innovation, manufacturing and installation. The Production Tax Credit is set to expire again this year.

Just focus in on one sentence: “But each time Congress allows this credit to expire after a mere two years, investment grinds to a halt. . .”

Now why would that be?  Only an economic illiterate—or a Democratic black-hole-for-a-brain—would wonder. Once again, it looks like the Journal has conned a couple of liberals into writing a parody piece for their pages.

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