Posted on 09/05/2006 1:16:11 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
The EPA and the CA Air Resources Board (CARB) have just ganged up on diesel fuel in a mandated version that they say makes it cleaner. This came about on a very stealthy basis with NO advance fanfare taking the transportation industry by complete surprise and jacking the cost of fuel by around $.40/per gallon, more or less.
Now Silly Schwartzenrenegger didn't institute this change or I'd be all over him like stink on a manure pile like I am about all his other costly GANG-GREEN goof-off stuff he's been doing. But think of what this sudden, surprising diesel fuel cost of shipping almost everything in and around CA will inflate the cost of just about everything!
Well, BlueNgold, that's what all that other goofy goof-off stuff of tradin pollution credits and all the other mandated crappola to try to comply with the absolutely INSANE KYOTO CO2 CAPS is gonna add to the very specific thing I just spelled out for you above!!!
Why are you and a few others on this formerly conservative website so desperately eager to cut Arnoiled every possible break imaginable while he's cheerfully letting the Demonicrat whords screw our immediate future without any danged lovin, HUH??? WHY???
I want to hear an answer other that "because, because, because we're so fearfully frightened of the big bad Communist Angelides that we'll let him do ANYTHING TO US!!! ANYTHING!!!
Yes, of course I know what single payer healthcare would do to us. If you read back up just a few replies you'll see that I sell health insurance in CA and have been doing it since before the other American Socialized Medicine called MEDICARE!!! It's the damn blank check that's triggered all this stupid medical inflation from the beginning!!!
This was a softball to make Arnold look good in return for the way he's bent over for the Democrats for the last few weeks, concluded with the cooperation of Fabian Nunez and Don Perata who also get to look good with their leftist base. There was no way this bill was going to take effect and everybody knew it.
It's still good news. For everyone.
The shrieking commie doesn't think the governor can make his own decisions. He just does the bidding of his handlers. She doesn't understand that price controls cause skyrocketing prices and/or scarcity of the controlled product or service. She really howls over the thought that a private business might make a profit in exchange for risking capital to provide a product or service. Perish the thought. Big government wastes money much more efficiently. Big government never imposes huge administrative on anything.
I think Kaiser gets a bad rap. I was with them for years and I had nothing but good experiences. Why do you think it's different than any other insurance? YOU HAVE TO BE VIGILANT and you have to be your own advocate.
My Dad had the best health insurance money could buy. He went in for so many tests when he had his stomach problems. He had colonoscopies, sigmoids, etc. When he was diagnosed with colon cancer, they told him it was so advanced, it had been in his body for years. Bottom line, the medical profession are just people. If you are not getting the kind of attention you want, just keep yelling. It works...even at Kaiser,
Quite simply it is this -
I am personally conservative.
I am politically pragmatic.
I would rather have someone 50% conservative in the Governor's office than someone 100% liberal/socialist. I knew exactly what I was getting when I voted for Gov S. Although I do not agree with him on everything - not even close to everything - I am not outraged by his positions or actions - he was a known quantity from day one. It's not apologizing - it's going in with my eyes wide open. Anyone who expected another Ronald Reagan wasn't listening.
Just becasue he has an (R) next to his name doesn't mean he needs to walk in lock-step with every position that the party faithful tend to favor. (Or do we seek to treat him like Senator Lieberman has been treated by his party?) Outrage does nothing but raise your blood pressure, and it will do nothing to change his opinion or position. Vitriol, name calling, type-casting, and screaming do nothing to forward the political debate.
Has he moved CA to a more conservative postion, overall, than when he took office? Has he helped to strengthen the state party organization? Has he been a good fund raiser? Is CA better off than it was when he took office? All reasonable questions - worth asking, and worth answering.
My only advice, do your best to elect the most conservative viable electable candidate available.
P.S. petty snipes like "let me make it a little plainer for ya since that went over yer head!" will neither forward the debate nor will they prove your point. If saying it makes you feel better, then I suppose I can live with it.
As for the elevation of my cranium - If you are talking about the Sept 1st shift to ULSD then you are talking about something that is neither new, nor stealthy, nor unexpected - and far from over my head. This has been in the works for quite some time - the EPA mandate goes back to 2002 or 2003 - and the deadlines have been set in stone since late 2005. The entire industry was well aware this was coming - from fuel providers, to vehicle manufacturers, to logistics managers, to - you guessed it - drivers.
If you are personally conservative (which usually means to most Conservatives that you live and stand by some immutable constitutional principles in your political philosophy), how can you then be politically pragmatic (which usually means to most Moderates that you subscribe to the Al Davis school of political activism along with the Rockefeller/Countryclub/checked pants Republicans)!!!
Wassup wif dat, dude???
Think before you publish!
If a social liberal (Schwarzenegger) says he will veto the bill and a socialist (Angelides) says he would also veto the legislation, how would those same decisions be interpreted as politically conservative?
Take both the governor and the Democrat at face value. The legislation can't be supported by the forecast revenue in the present budget nor even with the help of the murky tax increases proposed by the Democrat. Voicing approval, even in the euphoria of a campaign, would be a bridge too far, a lie too big to overcome after the election.
The decision was pragmatic, based on fiscal reality and mundane political consequences, not driven by political philosophy, either liberal or conservative.
Why do you disagree with me, this is exactly what I said.
Very good news!
I said that I disagree with you to some extent. For instance, although you and I share the same sentiment in what you've quoted, you and I differ on other points, for example:
"Why do you think it's different than any other insurance?"
I believe that similar insurance carriers such as my own provide better service and opportunity than an HMO.
veto! Excellent news!
But it's MORE EXPENSIVE, right? We can't all drive Cadillics.
He better veto it!
My questions were not meant to be rhetorical. I said quite plainly that they are reasonable questions to ask and answer when judging his performance. In the case of Governor S. I would say that the facts contradict your across the board 'No'.
Has he moved CA to a more conservative postion, overall, than when he took office?
This certainly is open to debate. Some feel that holding the line on new taxes and repealing some fees is enough to say yes. Some say No.
Has he helped to strengthen the state party organization?
There are more registered (R) than when he took office, and there is a clear state-wide communications effort led by people like Karen Hanratty. I am curious to hear why you think the state party organization is not stronger than it was when he was elected.
Has he been a good fund raiser?
How can anyone say no to this? He's raised millions upon millions for the state and national party, not to mention individual candidates he has helped. But I am certainly open to hearing why you would say no.
Is CA better off than it was when he took office?
This is the $64,000 question for voters of any affiliation. Our retreat from the brink of economic ruin, our job climate, and our growing business sector, among other things, would lead me to say yes. Your reasons for saying no, again, are welcome and encouraged.
Being conservative does not mean one cannot be pragmatic. My ideal candidate died in June of 2004. I suspect another like him will be a long time coming, if ever. But even President Reagan proposed plans and policies with which I disagreed.
Pragmatism to me meas that sometimes in an election I will cast my vote for someone who is less than my ideal but whom I think is the best choice available. I am not a heart and soul supporter of everyone for whom I cast a vote. Sometimes I bite my tongue and sigh that a better candidate is not available, but still, I vote. Sometimes the choice is between bad and worse, and my pragmatism leads me to the polls to vote for bad. Sometimes the choice is between good and excellent, and a lot of mental somersaults are required to decide which is which. Pragmatism means that I vote - and I try to use my vote wisely, sometimes to mitigate damage, and sometimes to make positive change.
My grandfather told me when I was just turning 18 and registering to vote -
There is no perfect candidate, and there's d*** sure no perfect politician - if you want someone you agree with all the time then you'd better run yourself.
Thanks for pinging me to GSG's post 40, where he didn't have to courtesy to ping me too, while he was making up lies about me.
People who let the Dems win and actually support them are the real enemies of conservatives.
I agree with this statement. Anyone who is not satisfied with, or does not understand, what is going on with their medical care has the option of going to the bookstore at any medical school, buying a book on the relevant topic, and studying until you understand. If you cannot afford to buy a book, you can go to the medical school library and read one for free.One MUST be proactive -- Never relinquish responsibility for your life to ANYONE else.
SoS
See my Post No. 79.
SoS
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