Rebane's Ruminations
September 2011
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President Obama's approval ratings are so low now, Kenyans are accusing him of being born in the United States." –Jay Leno

George Rebane

Republican Bob Turner wins over a century of Democrat incumbency in New York Nine.  It turned out to be issues instead of long time party loyalty, and Obama lost on the issues.  Oh yeah, the defeated Democratic candidate was State Assemblyman David Weprin, but everyone knew that he was just a sock puppet.  No doubt our liberal friends will claim ‘it don’t mean a thing’, and explain it all to us.

One of my recent talks was to South County Rotary yesterday morning (hard to believe that those people intentionally start their meetings at 7am).  I talked about SESF’s TechTest merit scholarship program, and how it is all coming down to encouraging our kids to consider STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) majors, because almost all other majors are counting for fewer and fewer (non-government) jobs.  Giving the background data for this eye-opener did not start the day off with a happy dance for those Rotarians who did, however, show much interest in the state of our educational system.  Maybe some of them will even send a check.

Speaking of STEM, Europe’s economic powerhouse Germany is in trouble – they are running out of engineers.  In the September IEEE Spectrum we read that the country has 76,400 vacant engineering jobs, and importing high tech talent is no longer working.  In a declining population – 1.38 births per mother (2.1 is steady state) – this shortage will not be made up soon if ever.  Math is the stumbling block to all STEM careers, and it seems that Germany’s young people are catching the American disease, no one wants to do numbers when there are easier ways to get a check – at least until the government runs out of other people’s money.  Liberal sustainability advocates are invited to stay tuned.

And we keep running into this damned income inequality all over the place (see Gini Index).  Those uppity educated people go out there and start businesses and get outlandish raises for performance, and you know the drill.  The income curve just keeps getting skewed no matter how hard the socialists try to even things out.  Problem is that the bastards won’t stand still for higher taxes and then do all kinds of things to end run those hard working government planners and accountants.  These high earners have literally no sense of social justice at all – clearly stronger measures are needed.

Oh yes, in the politically correct department we have the IEEE assuring us in an article on manufacturing robotics that they “won’t displace humans but rather work alongside them – and alongside one another.”  What the maven forgot to explain to us is who worked alongside the human manufacturing worker before the machine came along.  Machines replacing humans?  No, no, no, not in this Age of Jobs.

It appears that the UN’s IPCC is beginning to crumble faster and faster.  It’s arguments for man-made global warming were bought and paid for by politicians who now see that they may not get a return on their investment (Al Gore call your office).  Add that to the growing spate of green technology company bankruptcies – yep, they ran out of other people’s money – and you have a real embarrassment on your hands.  We capitalists call it insufficient ROI.

To really twist the tail on this anthropogenic global warming, new evidence is pouring in that extra-terrestrial phenomena like cosmic rays and solar winds have always and will continue to swamp the puny efforts of man to change earth’s climate – it does it all by itself, thank you very much.  Soon the Agenda 21 people will just have to fess up and say ‘this climate crap was all a ruse, we just want to create a global government for other reasons, so suck it up and play ball, or else.’  For more details on things to do with global warming and climate change, our own Russ Steele’s The Next Grand Minimum blog will keep you right up to date on the latest turns in this brouhaha.  Get ready for a bit of global cooling.

[16sep2011 update]  Another scientist balks at the global warming bums rush that the politicos have ginned up for us.  Physicist and Nobelist Dr Ivar Glaever resigns over the American Physical Society's "incontrevertible evidence" claim for AGW.  As anyone trained in science knows, "incontrevertible evidence" is something that real science takes a dim view of.  Glaever joins a rapidly lengthening list of scientists who have changed their minds as new evidence against AGW pours in almost daily.  Anyone have any names of former skeptics who now want to join Team Gore and the Debate-Is-Over chorus?

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59 responses to “Ruminations – 14sep2011 (updated 16sep2011)”

  1. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    The left is spinning the losses as we assumed they would. I think the people of the country are really rather simple in their needs and when they see Obama and his wife take separate planes top Martha’s Vineyard and know she has spent over ten million bucks on vacations, they make a simple deduction. Throw the bums out.

    Like

  2. bill tozer Avatar
    bill tozer

    Seems like just a couple of months ago our learned progressive friends were creaming their jeans over some Democrat winning the congressional seat in rural upstate New York outside Buffalo. Quite energized they were, I recall. Claimed the Republicans were once again yanking Granny out of her wheelchair and tossing her kickin’ and screamin’ frail body over the cliff. Very excited they were over the winning issue: Conservatives are going to take away your Social Security and Medicare. Worked so well in upstate that they tried the exact same message again. Except something has changed. The Social Security and Medicare issue did not work out as desired in educated New York City. Apparently jobs trump Granny in the Big Apple and the voters don’t like Obama’s jobs bill. Not one bit. Been there, done it. Heard his grandiose vision for shovel ready projects before only to find out Stimulus the First put a few measly alms in the cup. Poor Obama did not even get a tiny bump in the polls after his joint speech to Congress. Heck, Bush or Clinton or any warm body always get a bump of 7-10 points after a big ole grand speech to the Joint Session. Not even one point to Obama and even his campaign stumps repeating “Sign the Bill Now” to receptive crowds in blue states has failed to move the needle….well, at least move it in an upward direction. Unlike our learned friends from the progressive movement, I don’t make too much of one Congress seat where you can’t even throw a brick without hitting one or two of our learned lefty friends. Hey, its only a seat that has voted Dem since 1925….no big deal. Means absolutely nuthin.

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  3. Paul Emery Avatar
    Paul Emery

    Yeah
    From the film Spinal Tap
    “Boston canceled our show but that’s OK, it’s not a very big college town”
    Crabb will get the humor

    Like

  4. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Everything worked so well with the ozone hole scare, that they hitched their whole agenda 21 wagon to global warming. Whata buncha ignoranimuses! (B.B.)

    Like

  5. Douglas Keachie Avatar
    Douglas Keachie

    “In a declining population – 1.38 births per mother (2.1 is steady state) – this shortage will not be made up soon if ever. ”
    The stress of a too dense population and too dense social milieu. or melee. We would have had one more kid, except just near the end of my wife’s egg producing years, the District ran low on cash and pink slipped me, and 5 month’s later came through with the cash after all. Too much stress, no more eggs, George’s greedy entrepreneurs deprived themselves of some top notch talent, by having their lobbyists squeezing the short hairs of the legislature, to keep taxes down.
    George, this society is way out of balance, has been for some time, and the gimmetude attitude of the entrepreneurs is every bit as much responsible as the kids we couldn’t figure out how to school and parent into productive citizens.
    Here’s some insight into possible solutions, for schools, public and private:
    http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/18/magazine/what-if-the-secret-to-success-is-failure.html?pagewanted=all%3Fsrc%3Dtp&smid=fb-share

    Like

  6. Greg Goodknight Avatar
    Greg Goodknight

    The news today is that Barry Manilow has enthusiastically endorsed Ron Paul, saying he agrees with virtually everything Paul says.
    As a result, I’m not so sure. I’d hate to be stuck with a Manilow soundtrack after the election.
    In the meantime global warming is collapsing as a progressive leg to stand on, and the 24 hour Gore-a-thon seems to be flopping. Should be an interesting election year.

    Like

  7. Mikey McD Avatar
    Mikey McD

    TURNER WINS and DNC staffer asks the DNC president “What are we gonna do?!!!??”
    DNC President replies “Get me a new pair of undies. mine are full of bricks.”
    Crabb could draw this a lot better :).

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  8. Mikey McD Avatar

    Absolute must watch: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BHLguFEN3M&feature=player_embedded
    When reason/logic/economic laws meets the Keynesian/emotion/hate
    don’t miss part 2

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  9. D. King Avatar
    D. King

    Great link Mikey…thanks!

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  10. George Rebane Avatar

    DougK 1206am – “… the gimmitude attitude of the entrepreneurs is every bit as much responsible …” I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch what bad thing America’s entrepreneurs are guilty of now; please explain.

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  11. Dixon Cruickshank Avatar
    Dixon Cruickshank

    Me too george – how many lemonaide stands have been busted this year Keach – those damn 10 yr olds trying to start a business – little bastads always starting trouble aren’t they

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  12. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Hmmmm….funny. We have been monitoring new business start-ups in the Sierra Nevada via a combination of business license applications and Tax ID number creation. Guess what? We have been creating more new businesses than at any time since 2001. We saw a large number of business closures in 2007-2010, then an uptick in activity starting about halfway through 2010 continuing through 2011. Businesses being created have a tendency to be sole proprietorships, mostly self employed, entrepreneurial, intellectual property type businesses, or people who sell some product or service on a freelance basis. A lot of these people are working out of homes, coffee shops, co-working or shared spaces, or multiple locations–in Truckee many of them are working in the Sierra and the Bay area markets simultaneously.
    Some economists have begun to call this the “gig” economy–these are consultants, cultural creatives, new media practitioners and people selling value added products. According to the Bureau of Labor statistics entrepreneurial activity was at an 14 year high in 2009. On-line freelance job postings soared in 2010 with many American corporations outsourcing portions of the work formerly done by full time employees. Since many jobs no longer provide the protections, security or benefits that they did in the past, workers are opting for the flexibility and creative freedom that freelancing or consulting provide, often initially unwillingly, them creating their own thing and finding it more attractive. I know many people like this personally. In mid-2009 they gave up on the traditional economy ‘coming back’ and started their own gig.
    Business start ups actually increased in the second half of the great depression, with many of the iconic businesses of today being formed in the late 1930’s.
    In short it does not seem that the myth of jackbooted government thugs shutting down lemonade stands is stopping people from taking risk, creating their own thing and going with it. These are the very people that government does not get, and neither do retired systems analysts who spend their lives with job security and fat Pentagon contracts.
    Just saying.

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  13. Russ Steele Avatar

    Steven,
    Interesting report on the development of sole proprietorships, self employed, entrepreneurial, intellectual property type businesses in the Sierra. For the most part these business fly under the regulatory radar. At one time the ERC tried to assess the impact these business had on the economy and figure out how to grow these sole proprietorships into employers and tax revenue generators. The ERC captured the County and City business filing records and bought access to Dunn and Bradstreet. According to D&B Nevada County had nine at home business with revenue of more than a million dollars a year. It was a real surprise.
    Teams of volunteers were organized to interview business owner to see how the ERC could help them grow. I was assigned ten of these companies to interview. Five refused to talk to me, or even admit that the company existed. They wanted to stay under the radar, they did not want to become known to regulatory agencies.
    In talking to many of these self employed entrepreneurs, the problems develop when they need to hire some help that would allow them to grow. The regulatory hurdles are huge and many decide that smaller is better than growing and creating jobs.
    A local Small Business Development Administration counselor once estimated that 50% of the homes in Nevada County had some business activity, after interviewing the UPS and FedEx drivers. FedEx and UPS would not give the agency any data, so they just interviewed the drivers and came up with an estimate.
    In the 1990s there was a concerted effort to put in place some zoning regulations that would limit the ability of people to use their homes for business activities. The neighbors were tired of the UPS and FedEx trucks coming in to their neighborhoods two or three times a day. The ERC was able to get those regulations tabled, but there is still an on going effort by neighborhood activists to regulate these home based business our of existence.

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  14. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Russ you are absolutely correct. There are so many home based businesses it make a head spin. I too know many people who refuse to grow because as soon as you hire someone you turn over your freedom to a regulator. I resisted rules for home based businesses when I was at the BOS because a few whiny neighbors were always trying to get laws passed to control it. The issue of parking seemed to become the way the whiners could get their way and there is a set of rules on the books regarding this. The reality is people don’t want to be outed and they do whatever they can to stay incognito. I ave lived in my home for 23 years and across the way is a cul-de-sac with a fellow who repairs Volvo’s. He has been there since before I was. He has a shop at his house and I have never been bothered. SBC monitoring home based businesses is pretty scary. And trying to somehow claim things are hunky-dorry is ridiculous. People are working from home more because the companies they worked for are either kaput or moving out. We saw that before.

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  15. Kathy Jones Avatar
    Kathy Jones

    Don’t know where else to post this, but it appears that the Dems are toss out feelers to get Hillary to run against Obama!
    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/clinton-popularity-prompts-some-remorse-poll.html
    What do some of you think about this?

    Like

  16. Todd Juvinall Avatar
    Todd Juvinall

    Teddy Kennedy did this against Carter and it sure made it interesting. I say go Hillary! The Clinton machine has all the dirt.

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  17. George Rebane Avatar

    It is a sad state of affairs when entrepreneurs and small business enterprises have ‘fly under the radar’ of governments (all levels). Certain RR commenters even take entrepreneurs to task for being greedy and contributing to the nation’s income inequality. Someone recently said that ‘you can’t be anti-business and pro-jobs’.
    KathyJ – you raise a good point that is gaining traction in more and more Democrat minds. I heard a Democrat commentator on Fox the other day saying that it would be to Obama’s benefit if some serious opposition to his nomination would arise early; it would get his attention and “tighten him up” re his policies. Being not of that crowd, I’m not sure which way he’d run were he tightened up by an opponent, especially Hillary.

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  18. Dixon Cruickshank Avatar
    Dixon Cruickshank

    SteveF your spin on the jobs market is a sign of desperation and not really a positive. Its called doing whatever you can to survive – those are unemployed workers not job creaters as Russ pointed out. Also as pointd out by Russ, IF any had been interviewed and became any sort of positive focus I’m sure at least 4 or 5 State Agency’s would be at the door very soon with their hand out and a wad of forms to fill out.

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  19. Douglas Keachie Avatar
    Douglas Keachie

    Pretty obvious, George,
    Cutting tax revenue to schools results in one less neurosurgeon, etc., at the end of the day.

    Like

  20. Dixon Cruickshank Avatar
    Dixon Cruickshank

    Their all Indians now anyway, all the white guys are old

    Like

  21. Kathy Jones Avatar
    Kathy Jones

    Douglas,
    Abortions result in one less neurosurgeon, etc., at the end of the day… ALSO!

    Like

  22. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    Amazing how negative you old farts are. There is such a thing as ‘creative destruction’. I was merely pointing out that that is happening at an amazing pace in our economy right now, which, regardless the cause, is an opportunity as well as an threat. The leader of a prominent local economic development agency was at our event today saying his workshops focusing on web based marketing arex getting 25-30 participants. Many of those participants are home based businesses. I would think all of y’all would be rooting for these gritty entrepreneurs, instead of implying the only reason they are there is because they were down sized. I clearly acknowledged that in my comment, but many of them now could actually get other jobs. Many of them don’t want to because they prefer the freedom of self employment. That is a good thing, because God knows we can’t count on traditional corporate America to provide any security these days. They are sitting on trillions of dollars of cash and paying their shareholders fat dividends while they collect their bonuses. I believe Tea Party hero Michele Bachmann calls that ‘crony capitalism’.

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  23. George Rebane Avatar

    SteveF – we all celebrate small scale entrepreneurship. But attempt to hire just ONE employee and you run into a regulatory buzzsaw. Creative destruction is good, Obama and crowd should try it – starting with the unionized education industry.

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  24. Michael Anderson Avatar
    Michael Anderson

    Steve F. wrote: “Business start ups actually increased in the second half of the great depression, with many of the iconic businesses of today being formed in the late 1930’s.”
    True enough. And the same thing is happening today–I can offer numerous examples in Nevada County. It is true that many traditional businesses have died or are dying here, but new businesses are thriving and growing as well. You have to look around comprehensively to get the full picture.
    This is no longer the traditional (last 80 yrs.) Nevada County economic landscape.

    Like

  25. Michael Anderson Avatar
    Michael Anderson

    TJ wrote: “I have lived in my home for 23 years and across the way is a cul-de-sac with a fellow who repairs Volvo’s. He has been there since before I was. He has a shop at his house and I have never been bothered.”
    Yup. He was the best Volvo mechanic in Nevada County for 3 decades until he retired last year, our Cross Country X70 couldn’t have survived w/o him. We are now having to drive our glorious machine to Santa Monica in order to get the same quality of service!
    Did you notice the recent reduction in Volvo traffic, Todd? Probably not, too busy blogging maybe…(-;
    That one Volvo mechanic was grandfathered in back who-knows-when, but what if there were 5 very busy auto mechanics clustered together on that little drive today? Would that work for you?
    Todd, I would love to be able to understand your thresholds for libertarianism and regulation. Unfortunately, mostly what I get from you are homilies about what feels right in your gut, based on non sequiturs.

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  26. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Something tells me that if the Volvo guy had been tanning hides or smelting lead TJ would have been the first person on the phone to code enforcement. The idea that all regulation is un-necessary, which is often how those here frame the issue to rally the troops, then they pull back and say “Hey we didn’t say that, some regulation is necessary”, begs the question–if you are the critic its up to you to tell us WHICH regulations is un-necessary. Regulation, and regulatory reform, needs to be considered on a case by case basis.

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  27. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Funny George, I manage 20 employees, have managed hundreds in my life, and have never found it a big problem. Sure, I have to know the law regulating hiring employees, follow some simple rules in the workplace re: discrimination and privacy and safety, I have to provide workers comp. I have to pay taxes. But you know, it has never been that hard to figure out and has always been worth it to expand my business or amplify the impact of the work I am doing. You are just flat out exaggerating the problem. Small business people are not stupid, they can figure this stuff out. My guess is is 95% of cases people bitch about regulation because of ideology not a real problem, and in the 5% of the cases where the regulation is onerous or un-necessary we should get rid of it.

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  28. RL Crabb Avatar

    You can spin it any way you want, Steve, but the fact remains that too many businesses are voting with their feet and moving to greener pastures. Maybe they don’t have your enthusiasm for spending a lot of time just keeping up with reams of new regs and laws, or being treated like criminals. I’ve heard it from liberals as well as conservatives.

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  29. Aaron Klein Avatar

    Catching up on blogs this fine Saturday morning and lo and behold, a comment thread is still happening.
    Having recently hired two people, all I can say is…wow. Yes, entrepreneurs can figure it out, but it’s a major amount of administrative overhead. And every hour I spend on that is an hour I can’t spend building the foundation for hiring more.
    One of the big changes in the tech world right now is the “lean startup” movement…staying agile and keeping budgets low to give your company the maximum number of chances to get something right, rather than doing a huge scaling effort just because “that’s what startups do.”
    All I can say, as I watch the vast sums of money (as a percentage of payroll) flow out to the federal and state governments every month, is that if our governments operated on a lean methodology, I’d probably have hired employees #3 and #4 by now.

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  30. George Rebane Avatar

    SteveF re 530am – as ever, you continue to be the wonder. The rest of the country full of business people should beat a path to your door. Have you published your nostrums about how ‘Regulations don’t mean a thing’?

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  31. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    Now George, be fair. I did not say regulations don’t mean a thing. I said that you guys are exaggerating, and it is not the biggest, nor the only problem. I strongly support regulatory reform, as I have said here many times. I stated clearly that it needs to be done on a case by case basis. I heard a great quote the other day, ” if regulation and wealth creation were inversely related sub-Saharan Africa would be the wealthiest place on earth”.
    This argument that regulation is the problem that needs to be backed up. Specifically which regulations? Why? What change would you make? What was the original intent of the regulation? What was the problem that was intended to be solved by the
    regulation ? Is that problem real or only perceived? I can guarantee you that I would gladly eliminate regulations that serve no purpose.
    But the case you are making is unsupported here, and at the national level.
    What would you eliminate? The Clean Air Act? The Clean Water Act? The Endangered Species Act? If so, how would you protect air, water and species?
    What would you eliminate? The minimum wage? OSHA? EEOA? If so how would you protect workers from unscrupulous employers, unsafe working conditions and discrimination?
    What would you eliminate? The Voting Rights Act? The Civil Rights Act? The direct election of Senators? I only ask because all of these are proposals from Republican presidential candidates.
    Conservatives are quick to wave the “end regulation” banner, and awfully short on specifics. That’s because when you do get down to specifics you lose the debate, because the American people Are much smarter than you all give them credit for. The want minimum wage, worker safety, and civil rights protection. They want clean air, clean water, and wilderness. They want to protect the right to vote, freely and fairly, and to directly elect their representatives.
    There are answers here, and there is middle ground, but not with those who post here. You are all too set in your ways.

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  32. George Rebane Avatar

    SteveF – that the country is over-regulated is obvious to those of us who have/run businesses, remodel our houses, and live on land. Your contending with this notion by the simplistic responses of ‘eliminate the voting rights act?’ etc illustrates to me that you really don’t have a handle on the economics of America. Reputable estimates of the marginal cost of regulation compliance are around $1T annually. The opportunities lost cost is most likely at least twice that.
    Everything – products, processes, behaviors, … – in the US is now designed by bureaucrat lawyers. This song is old and well known. Books and policy papers and websites abound with lists of insane regulations and enforcement horrors. Ensconced in an NGO, these may not be all that visible. In the end you are right, we are too set in our ways – we continue to fight for an America that enjoyed freedoms unheard of by current ‘graduates’. The fact that our efforts are opposed by pandering arguments like ‘you want to take America back to where workers were slaves …’ does show that intellectually you are shooting blanks. (Even Europe is deregulating in desperate efforts to revitalize their economies.)

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  33. Russ Steele Avatar

    The FUE has a comment this morning claiming that millions of taxpayer dollars have been pumped into the Economic Resource Council with mixed results.
    “In the case of the ERC, we’ve pumped millions of dollars in taxpayer money into the group over the years with mixed results.”
    First, it would be more accurate to say thousand of tax payer dollars were pumped in to the ERC. Millions is an exaggeration.
    Second, one of the main function of the ERC has been to help businesses navigate the regulator morass. These successes often go unrecognized or unreported. The business helped do not want their customer to know they are having problems. Not the best public relations move to make your problems public. As a result, the ERC successes often go unrecognized.
    The ERC was a major player in getting SBC, now AT&T, to expand broadband in the Western County. The ERC did a broadband marketing survey and business plan and shared it with then SBC. They expressed little interest until wireless internet providers started using that study to justify expansion of their business, and then SBC/AT&T got real interested and started rolling out DSL well ahead of their strategic plan. This action brought DSL to Penn Valley five years before it was planned. It resulted in an early turn on of DSL in areas that SmarterBroadband was planning on covering.
    The ERC took the lead in getting County Zoning regulations changed which were inhibiting SmarterBroadband’s roll our of wireless internet in Nevada County. These changes became a recommend model in a SESCorp Broadband Study for the PUC. It was cited as a best practice for all foothill Counties to follow by the PUC.
    It is hard to calculate the economic impact that this early broadband roll out had on the local economy. It is just as hard to recognize the regulatory management efforts of the ERC. These effort by the ERC often goes unrecognized by those who were not directly involved in the efforts, like the FUE.

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  34. George Rebane Avatar

    Russ, reporting that “millions” have been “pumped into” the ERC is more than a bit of amateurish journalism. You are a gentleman for kindly assessing it simply as “an exaggeration”. Those familiar with ERC’s history know that besides being hampered by county jurisdictional politics, the agency was on a strict ‘beg-a-handout-a-year’ plan.

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  35. Russ Steele Avatar

    Steven, you wrote:
    What would you eliminate? The Clean Air Act? The Clean Water Act? The Endangered Species Act? If so, how would you protect air, water and species?
    It is not that the original intent of these regulations was bad. The real problem is how they have been abused by environmentalist and zealous regulators to use these regulation as a battering ram to reengineer society into their vision for social justice. When regulatory agencies depend on the fines they level for their survival, they often use these regulations as a resource generator. This leads to abuse of the regulation. All of these activities become job killers and CA’s economy suffers.
    I have one question about the The Endangered Species Act. Wind turbines are shredding endangered birds, but for some reason this is being ignored by the environmentalist. Why? This seem like selective enforcement. Again, producing negative PR for the regulations.

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  36. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Ok, lets take these one at a time.
    George 10:22 am. I spent 20 years in the private sector, owned my own business, and ran businesses, or substantial portions of businesses for three major corporations. I opened 5 restaurants from plans, to opening. I know what regulation is, how to track compliance and what the cost is.
    In addition, being an NGO has nothing to do with this. As an NGO I have to comply with EVERY regulation a private sector business would, and more. For example, I have a higher standard for financial oversight and reporting than any small business, and most corporations. This is a red herring.
    One flaw in your logic, which is common when talking about these issues, is that the cost of regulation needs to be offset by the benefit of regulation to talk about the real cost. For example, if a business spends money on workers compensation, and a worker is injured, the business is not held liable for the expenses, unless there is gross negligence. Because these costs are covered by WC my liability insurance cost is lower. To do a true cost benefit calculation one would need to calculate the delta. There is also a cost savings associated with reducing days lost due to injury, reduced replacement and training costs, etc. All of these would need to be calculated.
    Who are you quoting when you say, ‘you want to take America back to where workers were slaves …’ Certainly not me.
    Finally, you manage not to answer my key point. If one is going to say regulation is the problem, one has a burden to cite the specific regulation and propose a solution. What specific regulations would you change, why and how?
    I am absolutely serious when I say I support regulatory reform—but there is a big difference between a general statement and a specific recommendation.
    I won’t even touch the “intellectually shooting blanks” statement. I know no one is as brilliant as you believe you are.

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  37. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Russ 10:24
    Russ is entirely correct that the ERC was not granted “millions of dollars”, and I agree that was a poorly researched point by Mr. Pelline. I also agree that the ERC played a key role in informing the SBC (telecommunications company) process. Also, I do not fault them for not going to our innovation summit; people are busy and need to establish priorities. Its true as well that they spent a great deal of of time trying to intervene in regulation. I guess my question would be how effective was that strategy as an economic development driver? I would love to see the ROI on that strategy versus the other strategies that could have been employed–like business to business sales, creating local capital pools, economic diversification strategies, or even a more concerted single issue focus on broadband, a strategy I strongly support?
    The bottom line is when it came to developing a strategy to bring the big glass to Nevada County the effort was unsuccessful, while it was successful on the east side, in Plumas-Sierra and in the central Sierra. Why?
    I suspect the ERC strategic planning got captured by the ideological bent of some of its members and may have focused on pet strategies, like opposing regulation and bitching about government, rather than really digging in on the most effective strategies.
    I support the ERC, I think they have an important mission, and I am hopeful that they can focus on ED in Nevada County and be successful.

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  38. George Rebane Avatar

    SteveF 1117am – no, one does not at this level of discourse have to cite what is a national truth (albeit politically parsed). Were I to introduce the notion that the moon was made of green cheese, then yes, I would have to cite some support. The country is awash in sources for regulatory overburden.
    I have explained the use of semi-quotes in these pages. The semi-quoted phrase is a compilation of progressive criticisms that summarizes their understanding and/or accusation of the future conservatives desire.
    “intellectually shooting blanks” is a common metaphor for assessing the intellectual content of supportive arguments, and not a pejorative about the person who so argues. That is the sense in which I meant it, you may take it in whatever sense you wish.

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  39. stevenfrisch Avatar
    stevenfrisch

    Russ 10:43
    Regulations are usually created because there is some perceived evil, such as air pollution. What Californian could deny the fact that air pollution has been a serious problem in many areas? Just think LA 1975, the first time I visited. We created an Air Resources Board because people were dying from air pollution. I actually agree with you that regulations should be measured versus results, and if they do not get the intended results should be reformed or eliminated. I agree that as Governor Brown recently said, “not every problem deserves a law”. But the reality is, we live in a SOCIETY, with competing interests, an while some do not want air pollution regulations, others do, and it is part of the role of government to balance these interests. Regulations are usually a compromise between the cost of the perceived evil and the cost of the regulation itself. I can guarantee you that residents of Long Beach, LA and the Inland Empire would prefer much stricter diesel emission rules.
    Personally, I would love to see a comparison of regulations, fines, and final destination of the fines. I have reviewed this and found that in the vast majority of cases fines go back to a general fund budget rather than an agency budget, with a few notable exceptions (like water quality fines, which usually go into a mitigation fund to implement projects). Frankly, I think most regulators are used to the point that there is little to no relationship between levying fines and realizing revenue. Although I have to say, if one supports the idea that the user or violator should pay, as most conservatives do, then I am not sure why you would object.
    Re: wind power and the environmental movement. There is a legitimate, science driven, and difficult debate within the environmental community between those who tend to support wind power and those that don’t. I tend to fall on the tend to support side, with a few caveats. I fall on the pro side, because the preponderance of the evidence I have seen shows that the primary threat to the vast majority of bird species is not the whirling blades of wind (which can be substantively mitigated in many of the new blade designs). The primary threats are: climate change itself-shifting habitats, increasing the danger of bird disease vectors, and changing habitat and thus location of predators; building design (10 times more birds die running into poorly placed and designed glass than die in wind turbines; and domesticated predators, namely house cats. The caveat is that special consideration needs to be given to T&E species, particularly when the threat from wind turbines straddle migration routes (like the souther Sierra) and when location interferes with breeding. But I truly believe that these threats can be mitigated . So I fall more on the pro-wind side.
    By the way, I think the kind of old school environmental movement is basically full of beans on many renewable energy issues.

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  40. Russ Steele Avatar

    Steven,
    You wrote:
    The bottom line is when it came to developing a strategy to bring the big glass to Nevada County the effort was unsuccessful, while it was successful on the east side, in Plumas-Sierra and in the central Sierra. Why?
    There were competing proposals to bring fiber to Nevada County and the rules were that only one would be awarded. There were no competing proposals in Plumas-Sierra. The winning competing proposal covered more than Nevada County. In addition, the Nevada County Proposal was not as strong as it could have been, even after it was mentored by an evaluation team. Writing proposals is an art, an art the ERC still has yet to learn.

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  41. Russ Steele Avatar

    George,
    Here is a list of 50 former IPCC experts /contributors/editors/ reviewer who have turned against the IPCC global warming junk science. I wonder if the list of former global warming deniers, who have joined the Al Gore team of warmers, is as long? My bet is zero!

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  42. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    George:re 10:50 am
    Really, no examples? Just a broad statement that the answer is to eliminate regulation. I am not sure how one can even take your point seriously if you won’t cite specific examples. I bet if you did we could find several we could agree on, but then that would not advance the narrative would it?
    I also notice that you are quick to imply I live in an ivory tower, yet when I cite fact about both my experience and current regulatory requirements, you have no answer.
    Meanwhile, chew on this:
    http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/inforeg/2011_cb/2011_cba_report.pdf

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  43. George Rebane Avatar

    SteveF – I think the RR readers are familiar with my corporate experience and history. There is no reason for me to go into a dick measuring session with you on our respective business experience; it would be unseemly. Suffice it to say that I have spent some serious dollars with internationally known law firms which I have hired to keep my businesses and clients in compliance. Along with that is a history of opportunities (and job creations) bypassed because the legal morass was simply too daunting.
    From the Investors Business Daily we read –
    “…government red tape has climbed to all-time highs: …there is much more to government’s reach in the economy than direct spending. The costs to the public of complying with federal health, safety, environmental and economic regulations appear nowhere in the federal budget. Economist Mark Crain’s research for the U.S. Small Business Administration finds that in 2006 regulatory compliance cost Americans $1.14 trillion. Astoundingly, that approaches half of last year’s total federal spending of $2.6 trillion, and exceeds 9% of U.S. GDP… Agencies publish regulations in the Federal Register, the daily depository of all federal rules and regulations. In 2006, the Register swelled to 74,937 pages, the second-highest level in history (the highest was 2004). Within those pages, agencies issued 3,718 final rules. …the 60-plus federal departments, agencies, and commissions are at work on 4,052 more rules. Of these, agencies report 139 are “economically significant,” which means they will cost at least $100 million — often far, far beyond — while 787 are expected to affect small businesses. …Almost 4,000 new rules every year is a lot of “regulation without representation.” ”
    If this were not a problem, our most socialist president in decades would not be commissioning his worthies to study how to roll back and “streamline regulations”, and he would not be touting this on the stump.
    Debating the lunar green cheese component would be a more productive enterprise.

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  44. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    George, I was not the one dick measuring, you are. I did not denigrate your experience, you denigrated mine. So. In short, no pun intended, your economic theories are what got us into this mess, and your experience was mostly funded or benefited from the government, right?
    So if you want to measure, I suggest you examine tourism pants, big boy.

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  45. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    Plus, you still never answered the question, what specific regulations would you change? My guess is you won’t answer because, once again, you might find we could agree on something.

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  46. Greg Goodknight Avatar
    Greg Goodknight

    “the preponderance of the evidence I have seen shows that the primary threat to the vast majority of bird species is not the whirling blades of wind (which can be substantively mitigated in many of the new blade designs). The primary threats are…[lastly]domesticated predators, namely house cats.”
    Anyone have a good recipe for katzenpfeffer? Help save endangered species and improve the nutrition of the poor at the same time.
    AGW is a non-issue here. The A- component is nearly invisible compared to natural variations, which are expected to turn downwards. Dems better pray for a warm 2011-12 winter and a hot summer for 2012.
    Sec’y Chu has stated alternative energy sources need to improve by a factor of 6 before they’re competitive with current fossil and nuclear technologies. They probably won’t.

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  47. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    The perils of the I-pad, “tourism” should read “your own”.

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  48. Steve Frisch Avatar
    Steve Frisch

    Plus, your quote from IBD does not calculate benefit, so once again you have a one-sided equation.

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  49. George Rebane Avatar

    SteveF – the proponents of the ‘two-sided equation of regulation’ have shown us what we now see, for example, in the collapse of the green and clean technologies in California (e.g. AB32 and its bastard regulatory offshoots that you so strongly touted) which have bankrupted companies, have more on the brink, others on the run, and the state without a visible future. The much ballyhooed VCs have either pulled out early, or have and are suffering record losses. I am among those who sincerely believe that as long as your ideology remains dominant, we are toast.

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