Irony: Colin Powell now concerned about Obama’s agenda

Colin Powell, who endorsed President Barack Obama during the campaign to much fanfare, is beginning to have doubts about the agenda of the new administration. Powell not too long ago scolded the Republican Party for not being more embracing of moderates, and lectured them that people now “wanted to pay taxes for services, and are looking for more government in their life, not less.” This was only back on May 5th, folks.

My, how the general has changed his tune now. In an interview with CNN’s Peter King, he completely reverses himself on the role of government and the role of taxes:

… Give me a government that works. Keep it as small as possible. Keep the tax burden on the American people as small as possible, but at the same time, have government that is solving the problems of the people.

Wow, so which is it, Mr. Powell? According to many, this is the kind of principled moderate leadership that needs to take the reins of the Republican Party, eh? Such a turnaround in such a short time is laughably absurd, but it’s thinking like this that is supposedly lacking in the GOP and is responsible for it’s recent defeats at the polls. The political philosophy of Mr. Powell, who I still admire as a military commander and as a person, can apparently be summed up as, “When the going gets tough, just change your mind.”

His utter flip-flop aside, Powell fretted to King about Obama’s massive spending and the debt burden it creates. He expressed his concerns over the massive and unsustainable bureaucracy with the ongoing bloating of government, and cautions Obama against taking on so many things at once that it weakens the country.

General, welcome back to the GOP. Just remember, though, that we never left you, you left us. Maybe you’ve momentarily come to your senses – but why do I have the sneaking suspicion that the minute we see any positive economic sign you’ll return to support for Obama’s agenda and disdain for the policies of your party?

In any case, no matter how long this episode of clarity lasts, it ought to be eye-opening that such a high-profile supporter of the President would voice his concerns so plainly. It’s yet another sign that folks are beginning to see the Obama economic plan as nothing more than harmful government spending followed by the necessary tax increase to pay for it all. Cap and trade and universal health care will just pile on – and who knows what will come down the pike after all that.

New global warming strategy: limit each person’s emissions

It sounds insane, but the National Academy of Sciences suggests that instead of targeting emission cuts for wealthy countries, it would be fairer to mandate emission cuts for wealthy individuals only. Before you get your class warfare gear on and say “Yeah, screw those rich people,” you might consider that the study considers there will be a billion high emitters out of a projected population of 8.1 billion, so 1 in 8 of us will be considered rich enough to merit government attention. That would be about 38 million people in this country if you took the entire world in aggregate today, but since we’re one of the wealthier nations, the number would be much higher.

This is wrong on several levels. First, man-made global warming is science that is still in dispute, and is driven more by political hysteria than consistent scientific findings. Al Gore and company have become rich peddling the notion that we need governments regulating our industries and the activities of daily life to make sure we have sustainable carbon footprints. I’m all for responsible stewardship of our precious planet, but I draw the line at this extreme environmentalism that seems to use politically-minded concern for the Earth as an excuse for more governmental control.

Secondly, whether you’re targeting rich countries or rich individuals, the result is the same: you’re punishing the “rich,” whatever that level of income is decided to be at the time. It’s redistribution of wealth, and it is another way of deincentivizing success and innovation. The cute little secret is that it’s the world’s elite who meet to discuss how environmental regulations will affect the rest of us.

Climate talks are underway this week in Italy. I’m sure with the current crowd in control of the legislative and executive branches, America will be signing on to whatever agreement they come up with. Keep in mind that the folks writing these laws won’t have your best interests in mind, and I’d argue they don’t have the planet’s best interests in mind either. It’s all yet another excuse to scold the common citizen and give more power to a nanny state.