T. Boone Pickens, former oil tycoon and present day rent seeker* and political entrepreneur says in a commercial for his energy plan “it will work, but we need your help.” Of course what T is really saying is that his wind power scheme won’t work in a free and competitive market and therefore he needs your tax dollars to ensure that his millions of dollars worth of investments in industrial wind turbines pay-off.

*A rent seeker is a term in economics which refers to someone who uses lobbying and influence to gain subsidies for his businesses and regulations that harm his competitors in an attempt to attract excess profits to himself. The left typically agrees with the right in opposing such activities except when it is done in the name of saving the environment, as is the case with T. Boone’s activities, then it becomes socially enlightened.