This week, the world appeared to be Atlas Shurgged run-amok. At work, three of four items on a manufacturing supply request were no longer available. The search for another item that is no longer made in the United States continued. The former supplier agreed, the only things manufactured in the United States anymore are lawyers and accountants.
I heard of a highly-skilled craftsman who made less than half what I did last year. His work went into Learjets and yachts. Learjets were demonized to show the auto industry needed to be run by government; and nobody’s buying yachts. In fact, the only party willing and able to hire the artisan was a governor who needed some work done on his palace. Another source in an entirely different conversation informed me the land for the palace was acquired right before the state enacted anti-Kelo legislation.
A lot of time was spent on the road, stopping and slowing for orange barrels, whether any substantive work was underway or not. What mattered was government was creating jobs.
The bright spots came in Tennessee, where gas station junk food was half as expensive as it is in North Carolina. I mentioned to the clerks how much higher our taxes were, and they thought their taxes were high. They then relived for me the episode of the Tennesseans swarming the state capitol when legislators were trying to pass an income tax. They recalled rednecks firing rifles and motorists, including drivers of semis, driving around the building honking their horns.
Not too far away, a commercial aired for a big truck that wasn’t green. Instead of watching its footprint, its manufacturers were concerned about the fingerprints of the people who were actually doing things.
Home again, home again, the Asheville City Council consent agenda shows how out of touch state government remains about economics. Council is expected to approve a resolution supporting passenger rail between Asheville and Salisbury. This may be for those I heard described today as “people who can sit around and watch TV 24 hours a day.”
The state will likely have to fire a lot of teachers to pay for the luxury liner. It may have to close down some courts to fund things like $77,435 for “general Nature Center improvements.” That is not as bad as the federal government, which will give the city $179,000 from the federal deficit for red wolf habitat improvements.
The cake, however, goes to Michigan’s governor Jennifer Granholm for her strong support for high-carb diets. Granholm wanted to have a meat-out day to raise awareness about the healthiness of vegetarian diets until livestock growers protested.
