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Saturday, October 15, 2011

That damned Subsidy

What's Mallard raving about today?

Subsidies, Solyndra, Ethanol

Fascinating that subsidies to the most profitable companies on earth (oil companies) didn't make Mallard's newspaper.

Did I say "fascinating"? I meant "predictable."

16 comments:

Tog said...

Ha ha, holy shit, seriously? The government's been paying Big Agriculture's tab for decades, through every single administration, be it faux-liberal or faux-conservative.

...Oh, right. We're talking about Batshit here. He and his duck think the government should run on free magic.

Tucci said...

Worse yet, the "biofuel" enactments (especially the ones requiring the adulteration of gasoline with fuel ethanol) constitute both massive agribusiness subsidization and the diversion of grain crops from feeding people to fueling motor vehicles.

Burning food in the name of Watermelons' idiotic "renewables" priorities.

World markets in bulk foodstuffs are as fungible as is the market in crude oil.

Land, fertilizers, farm machinery, farm management skills, and farm labor diverted from the production of crops that directly or indirectly feed human beings to the government-dictated output of energy-inefficient fuel ethanol and "biodiesel" has been driving up food prices all over the world.

If it's bad for Americans living on fixed incomes (or sinking further and further below our own determination of the poverty line), it's become far worse for people in the Third World.

The "Arab Spring" uprisings seen recently are a manifestation of the biofuel renewables craze in America and in the Eurozone. The countries of the Middle East are absolutely dependent upon imports for most of their baseline daily calorie input. Even the Israelis (by far the most technologically advanced and efficient farmers in that part of the world) have to satisfy a bit over half of their aggregate need for cereal grains with imports. The Arabs - with their economies a perpetual bloody mess - are in far worse straits.

Something to which Tinsley (and everybody else) ought to pay better attention.

The unrest that still hasn't finished spreading throughout the Arabic-speaking countries hasn't even peaked yet, and it will not be resolved by way of local regime change, democratic or despotic.

The problem is that world food prices have been driven up by the U.S. and European governments subsidizing their megabusiness corporate welfare parasites with this "renewables" crap.

If for no other reason than to prevent the Third World from blowing up completely, this "burning food" idiocy has got to be ended.

Kip W said...

Ethanol? You'd have to talk to Bob Dole about that one, since he was the Senator from Archer Daniels Midland when the government somehow decided we should give them money.

Tog said...

Burning food in the name of Watermelons' idiotic "renewables" priorities.

I know it gets your tiny, useless rocks off to get a reaction, but every time you can't make a point without resorting to blatantly racist garbage, you prove yourself an even bigger fool than you've proven yourself previously.

rewinn said...

1. Are we gonna see @Tucci demanding that Iowa Republican farmers give up their subsidies? Go ahead ... the caucuses are coming any month now.

2. Why does @Tucci think that Arabs don't love freedom the same as Americans do? Is it their darkish skin or is it their mysterious ability to speak Arabic?

3. Meanwhile, as to the "comic" ... new industries often spring from governments pushing the way. Aerospace and electronics are two great examples, and medical advances, for the most part, are founded on government support for basic research and the amazing, totally amazing advances forced by our misguided military adventures in Central Asia. Surely it would be better to develop new and better technologies and industries for reasons other than national security, but even there, "green" tech is in the national interest of all of us except those few who are happy we are locked into the House of Saud's Band of Oil Barons - who fight among themselves, but are united in keeping America dependent on burning carbon.

Even though burning carbon is, beyond rational dispute, destroying the world we leave to our grandchildren. Hey, who am I kidding? Is there any evidence that Tinshley and @Tucci not only hate their grandchildren, but would love to paid by the friends of the Iranians.

Frank Stone said...

Another stale recycled right-wing talking point AND he didn't even bother to put some sloppy black shading in the upper corners? It's like he's FLAUNTING the fact that he's not even trying anymore.

Steve-O said...

Let me get this straight, oil subsidies, farm subsidies, airline subsidies, and big bank subsidies are a-ok. Green industry subsidies are OMG! SOCIALISM!11!

Yep, I think I've got it.

Fake right-wing outrage is a feature, not a bug.

CW in LA said...

Anyone else get the impression Tucc-bag resorts to the flagrant racism and the wall of text so he can keep consoling himself that no one's been able to prove his basic point is crap?

Steve-O said...

@CWinLA, Douchie is one of those losers that thinks if he screams the loudest he wins the debate. I usually gloss over his giant wall of non-attributed racist claptrap.

Why is he only here on the weekends? Did you get a furlow from the halfway house Douchie?

DiR said...

Fun Game Time!
Limbaugh just attacked Obama for sending troops to Africa to kill Christians. Will the fact that this Christian group in Africa are bloodthirsty kidnappers, rapists, and murders responsible for over ten thousand deaths get to Tinsley before he submits a strip parroting Limbaugh's attacks?

Steve-O said...

Man, that is one seriously stupid talking point. What the fuck difference does it make what religion they are?

I guess in the Bloated Pigboy's world it's only ok to kill Muslims.

CW in LA said...

"...it's only ok to kill Muslims."

Hey, now that is just totally baseless and completely out of line.

I mean, Catholics are fair game, too, as long as they're from Mexico.

Steve-O said...

Haha, yeah, a guy I work with said that the U. S. should set up machine-gun nests every few hundred yards along the southern border and just mow down the immigrants as they cross into the country. I said, "Is that what Jesus would do?". He shut up.

Bill the Splut said...

Some of you actually read Tucci? I learned by Day Two of his appearance that he's going to be racist, incoherent and just scribble far too long for me to bother to read his blatherings and have him prove again that he's mentally ill. Tucci is the T in TL;DR.

rewinn said...

BREAKING NEWS: if you wish to move your money out of a bank, make sure the bank won't refuse to give you your money and have you arrested as Citibank seems to have tried

Me, I congratulate Citibank on their innovative new customer retention policy. And I just can't wait for Mallard Fillmore to comment on it in about three weeks - it's probably Obama's fault, right?

Tog said...

@Bill the Splut: Well, only up to the point he makes his signature fool-of-himself move. At that point I feel I've fulfilled my minimum fairness obligation and can piss in his face at will.

@Rewinn: That's just incredible. I'll never be a fan of the obnoxious, screechy, look-at-me-everybody protestor (the Occupier hamming it up for his "death-by-scooter-cop" scene being one perfect recent example of their counter-productivity) but Citibank's obviously waaaay too comfortable with its "we make our own laws" status.

I've already transferred my direct deposit from a big bank to a local credit union account; lettin' the old account die quietly.