Dave Letterman Should Stick to Comedy

Dave had John McCain as a guest on his show tonight. I know he loves politics, but the man just doesn't understand the markets. They were speaking of the 15 billion dollar "loan" to the Big Three.

Dave recited the Reed/Pelosi mantra: if we give them the money, then the Big Three must devote half of their production to hybrid/alternative energy vehicles, for this will create a plethora of jobs in the industry.

There is one problem: the market. Expansion of jobs within a company require an increase of revenue. This revenue can come in the form of sales, bonds, or government subsidy. The first is the problem: sales. There is simply not enough demand to warrant that much production. People buy what they can afford, and these cars are more expensive to make. Moreover, it will take 5+ years to break even if gas prices stay low. If people don't buy those cars, Big Three is right back in the place they are now, and with a depreciating stock of cars.

So, in order for this bright idea to work, one of two things must happen: Gas prices skyrocket (and if the do, it is probably due to the dollar, meaning car prices will also increase) which will fuel some demand...or [the more likely solution] the government will force us to buy them by coercive methods

Neither is desirable. Trust me, if gas goes up to a point at which it is economically worth the cost for a hybrid, demand will increase for it. Markets will take care of the problem when the problem manifests...

...also, global warming is such a serious problem, it snowed in South Louisiana yesterday, so lets bring more expensive regulations on the already struggling car industry, because New Orleans can't handle this snow.

President's Day...

If you have ever been so lucky to have debate a secularist or atheist on the religion of the Founding Fathers, undoubtedly you have heard the retort, "All of the Founding Fathers were diests."

Likewise, from Christians--particularly evangelicals--you will hear that the all of the Founding Fathers were Christian...

Neither is true. The only Founding Father that could be labeled deist--actually believing something compatible with classic deism--is Thomas Paine, and Paine could be easily interpreted to have been atheist or agnostic as well. The rest were obviously theist. How do I know this?

Most of the prominent Founding Fathers that the secularists claim to be deists were George Washington, Thomas Paine, Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and occasionally John Adams. However, when you read the consensus of all of these men, there is a theme and word that shows up in all of their writings: Providence.

Washington was not an evangelical. Frankin and Jefferson were not even orthodox to historic Christian beliefs. The secularist are right on this point. However, all of these men consistently use the word Providence (of God) in their personal writings. Mentioned also is God's favor towards the United States.

This poses a problem for the secularist: the concept of a provident God is incompatible with deism. One cannot be a deist and believe in the providence of God, for the former holds that God does not interact in the affairs of the world and the latter requires such action on God's part.

To read more: http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=878