13-46 Economy or Environment, Bad Government is a Whale of a Mess

By Dr Mark | November 18, 2023 | Comments 0 Comment

Show 13-46 Summary: A blast from Oregon’s past, the national debt continues to blow up, and story from right here in Oregon about how bureaucrats are throwing themselves on the grenade of success. Plus, environmentalists have traded saving whales to killing them – as long as they get their billions of dollars. And those offshore windmills may not be as green as they’re made out to be.

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Original Air Dates: November 18th & 19th, 2023 | Guests: Jonathan Williams & Terry Johnson

This Week – Economics and Wind Farms

We start off this week’s show with a look back to Oregon’s “Exploding Whale” story. It’s as good a metaphor as anything for the state we find ourselves in. As in the general state of affairs but, yes, state of Oregon too.

Why? Because the exploding whale is a great example of bad ideas by government officials that make a bad situation even worse. And, yet still worse, government officials with those bad ideas don’t get fired. They get promoted up the ladder.

Where in reality does this make sense?

Bidenomics

We welcome back a good friend of I Spy, ALEC’s chief economist Jonathan Williams. With the US House once again passing a continuing resolution or “CR” to keep the government open, we see our national debt soar. Jonathan discusses the deficit and debt and why there’s a lot of hope of finally getting our government’s spending addiction under control with the new House Speaker, Mike Johnson, who is a former member of ALEC from when he served in the Louisiana House. There is also the matter of Moody’s downgrading the U.S. credit rating with our treasury sales taking a big hit. And a story from right here in Oregon of government throwing itself in the way of prosperity.

Because in Lane County, a factory originally built for $1.6 billion by Hynix, a chip maker, has been sitting idle for 15 years. Now, Stratacache wants to open it to make micro-LED screens (the kind you see as menu boards in fast-food restaurants) and will hire 100s of employees. They were even given a $19 million from the State of Oregon to get going. But Lane County is blocking them. Because they are demanding $2 million property taxes.

Can you believe this? (Well, it’s Oregon, so yes. Yes we can.) Three hundred workers at an average of $40,000 each is $12 million dollars of taxable income. Every year. But that bureaucratic whale-exploding mindset has taken over and they’d rather blow up the deal. Sacrifice $12 million to get $2 million. That’s government.

Hint: empty buildings produce nothing.

CFACT: Save the Whales

Who had “conservative organizations sue the government to protect endangered whales” on their 2023 bingo card? Anyone?

Decades ago, environmentalists — the real ones, not today’s latte crop — fought to save the whales. They would risk their lives to put their boats and rafts between whales and the harpoons of whaling vessels.

But that was then. Now there is 100s of billions of free taxpayer cash to be had. What’s a few endangered whale deaths when you can be given billions. If you support the green agenda. And offshore windmills that aren’t green.

What’s that you say? Windmills not green?

We talk with Collister Terry Johnson, a senior policy advisor about their fight to stop offshore wind farms. CFACT sent the government a 60-day notice of intent to sue. This is a legal requirement, giving the federal government time to correct a mistake or rule violation. In this case, violating the endangered species act by plopping all these wind farms off shore. Right in the middle of whale migration areas. Including the Right Whale, which is highly endangered with only about 350 of them left.

If the government fails to take action within the 60-day window, CFACT and The Heartland Institute, will sue. And this lawsuit could have far-reaching implications. Not just stop the Virginia offshore wind, which it’s aimed at. But even shut down existing wind farms.

These wind farms that only exist because of billions of those taxpayer dollars. But, it turns out, a new study has been released that shows that these offshore wind farms may not be “carbon neutral” after all. In fact, they may be putting more CO2 into the air than they help prevent.

Whoops. There goes the whole point of their existence in the green energy sphere.

We only learned about the study the morning of our interview. But you can bet we’ll dig into it in a future show. You can read it here: How Offshore Wind Drives Up Global Carbon Emissions.

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Show Notes: Research, Links Mentioned & Additional Info

That exploding whale story: “A whale exploded in Oregon in 1970, and the story will blow your mind” (That Oregon Life, Feb 21, 2017)
The YouTube video of the original Paul Lindman report: “2012 KATU AM Northwest (KATU’s 50th Anniversary)” (The Exploding Whale’s YT Channel, March 16, 2012)

Jonathan Williams’ Segments (1–3)

Jonathan’s organization is ALEC – the American Legislative Exchange Council. Find out more at ALEC.org.
- Encourage your representatives to join ALEC! There are state and city memberships. Help elected officials understand economic problems and the real solutions available to get out of them! Send them this link: https://alec.org/membership/. And you too can join as a private-sector member!
Romney and Manchin Call for Commission to Stabilize US Debt (Yahoo News, Nov 9, 2023)
- How very brave of two people who are leaving the senate.
Oregon income inequality grew again in 2021 (KLCC, Nov 13, 2023)
Salem payroll tax failing by large margin (Statesman Journal, Nov 7, 2023)
- A citizen’s group forced Salem’s proposed tax on the ballot. When people can actually vote on the outrageous they vote it down.
Oregon awarded millions to reopen a Eugene tech factory; a property tax fight could stand in the way (OregonLive, Nov 5, 2023)

Terry Johnson Segments (4–6)

CFACT issues “intent to sue” over offshore wind, releases new study (CFACT, Nov 14, 2023)
THE STUDY:
Collister (Terry) Johnson on “Joe Thomas in the Morning” shreds Dominion’s wind project (CFACT, Oct 12, 2022)
Repeal the Virginia Clean Economy Act (VCEA), Latest News: Release Of Second Video and Calling For Investigation (Repeal the Virginia Clean Economy Act, No Date)
EXCLUSIVE: ‘Demonic’ off-shore wind farms are blamed for New Jersey whale deaths: Former SNL star reveals ‘green energy companies’ are sending ultra-loud blasts into water every 10 seconds that make mammals think predators are chasing them (UK Daily Mail, Nov 15, 2023)
Oregon tribes push back on offshore wind (Bend Bulletin, November 11, 2023)

Moody’s Downgrade of US Credit

Uh oh. Moody’s turns negative on US credit rating, draws Washington ire (Reuters, Nov 10, 2023)
Moody’s downgrades US debt rating outlook to negative (The Economic Times, Nov 11, 2023)*“Due to interest rate hikes by the US central bank to curb inflation, the cost of debt for the United States has ballooned, with Washington paying $162 billion more for interest in the last fiscal year compared to 2022.”

Worst Bond Market: Fewer Buyers Willing to Buy US Debt

2022 was the worst-ever year for U.S. bonds. How to position your portfolio for 2023 (CNBC, Jan 7, 2023)
2022: “The Worst Bond Market Ever: By history’s standards, stocks have not performed too badly, but bonds certainly have.” (Morningstar, Nov 21, 2022)
Government Bubble Burst: Treasury bond investors have been taking a historic beating. (Wall Street Journal, Oct 18, 2023)
- “Although most of our national debt was issued when interest rates were low, that debt is quickly rolling over into a high-rate debt environment, and further borrowing continues. Without corrective action, interest costs could total more than $13 trillion over the next decade and $1.9 trillion per year by 2033.”
The collapse in Treasury bonds now ranks among the worst market crashes in history (Markets Insider, Oct 5, 2023)
- Since March 2020, Treasury bonds with maturities of 10 years or more have plummeted 46%, while the 30-year bond had plunged 53%.
Dreadful Treasury Auctions May Continue As Buyers Evaporate (Seeking Alpha, Nov 10, 2023)
- “The 30-year Treasury auction on Nov. 9 was horrific. It saw one of the widest high-yield to median yield spreads since 1990 as the indirect acceptance rate plunged.”
The $24 Trillion Problem Haunting Wall Street (NY Intelligencer, Oct 18, 2023)
- “When Wall Street sizes up the world’s risks, one way traders make their bets on the future is through the market in U.S. Treasuries.”
Demand for 30-Year Treasuries Proves Weak, Sending Yields Surging (Wall Street Journal, Nov 9, 2023)
- “Primary dealers, big banks who are obligated to finance whatever portion of a Treasury auction isn’t purchased by other investors, bought nearly a quarter of the issuance. [That’s] more than double their average in recent 30-year auctions.”