Today, I was just listening to a right wing radio talk show on the way home from lunch (as I usually do because it is better than listening to the top 40 radio station), and I heard the commentator say that he wanted to know who was responsible for the black out in the northeast.
I can tell you who was responsible for the blackout in the northeast. It is people that come from his way of thinking that every government service needs to be turned into a private company; a company that is more interested in collecting profits than it is in providing services to customers.
This is the same thing that happened in California. All of the right wing officials wanted to regulate the power system
But when the blackouts came they all pinned the blame on Gov. Davis.
Now this asshole who hosts a right wing radio show (that will remain nameless) wants to pin the blame on someone. Well he should look in the mirror because the problem is people like him. People that don’t want to pay for government
They hate taxes.
The love rebates.
They love fast, polluting vehicles.
The love to consume more energy than any of their conterparts from other industrialized countries.
I blame the wealthy for constantly wanting to be more wealthy.
I blame the politicians in power for wanting to buy votes with rebates.
I blame the power companies for wanting to make profits and not make investments.
I blame the Republican party for driving deregulation in the first place.
However, listing to NPR this afternoon, they reported that the Federal Regulatory Commission claimed that deregulation of the power grid was not at fault. The claimed that what is needed is more investments into the transmission lines. I have trouble seeing their logic on this.
Why would a profit driven entity invest in better power lines? Can you rent them out? Maybe. Will anyone rent them? Perhaps. What can you do with the investment money if you don’t invest it in power lines? Put it in a long term CD or some other investment account where it is almost gaurenteed to make about 6% intrest. What would you chose to do with your money.
No, the government should be responsible for critical infastructure. The government should own the power distribution system. I am willing to pay about $50 more a year in taxes to ensure that this does not happen again.
What the FRC was referring to when it claimed that more investment was needed for the transmission lines was business investment, not to be confused with financial investment. Business investment refers to investing company profits back into the corporation.
What, in a roundabout, skirt the issue, kind of way, he was saying, is that the transmission lines had not been properly maintained due to the fact that money had not been allocated to do so.