Reason Alert - June 4, 2009 - Killing General Motors Softly - California's Fiscal Doom and the Federal Deficit - Judge Sotomayor Revives the Affirmative Action Debate - Congress Deceives Taxpayers on Cap-And-Trade Energy Prices - New at Reason
*Killing General Motors Softly*<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77606/0/> Reason Foundation's Shikha Dalmia, based in Detroit, writes: "The president seems to think that there is nothing that G.M. has that a visit to bankruptcy court won't cure. Amputate its liabilities to bondholders, excise all its promises to unions (no, actually, scratch that one, that didn't quite happen) and, presto, it'll be ready, once again, to kick some foreign ass. If only! Chapter 11 is certainly a necessary - and a long overdue - condition for G.M.'s return. But it is not a sufficient condition. What G.M. also needs is a winning business model...Far from returning the $50 billion, G.M. is likely to become an unquenchable money-guzzler that taxpayers will have to feed for many, many, many years to come." A Green Ride for Government Motors<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77607/0/> Jacob Sullum: How Not to Run GM<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77596/0/> *California's Fiscal Doom and the Federal Deficit*<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77593/0/> Reason magazine's Brian Doherty examines California's cash crisis, the massive federal deficit and what all of this red ink means: "Federal revenues for 2007 ($2.6 trillion) are sufficient to have spent twice as much as federal outlays in 1975, adjusted for inflation, with no deficit at all. While life in these here United States was hellish on many levels in 1975, not least the fashions and food, even those with a much bigger appetite for government than I might agree that a government twice as big as what we enjoyed/suffered that year should be able to manage its necessary functions. (And no, there is no convincing reason that in a growing economy the government’s cash grab as a percentage of GDP should remain stable.) When contemplating California’s fiscal present and the U.S.’s fiscal future, it’s not quite right to say that where California is now, the U.S. as a whole will follow. The U.S. is already in a deep hole, much deeper than California's, and has been for some time. Even President Barack Obama knows it. He told C-SPAN recently, with wonderfully disarming frankness, 'we are out of money now.' The U.S., unlike the state of California, when faced with a dearth of cash, can just make more, which is in essence Obama’s plan—for a while, at least. As in his most famous movie role as the Terminator, Schwarzenegger is metaphorically a visitor from a dangerous and unpleasant future that awaits the rest of the United States. The Golden State is absolutely a political bellwether now in the sense that the crisis-induced fiscal seriousness Schwarzenegger is at least pretending to attempt will be essential to the U.S. in the near future—and should be seen as essential this very second. But while California can hold out hope that the federal government might bail it out of its troubles, the U.S. government, alas, has no higher power to which it can direct its own appeals. The buck stops there. The only problem, as Obama himself claims to understand, is they are all out of bucks." Matt Welch: Blame the Voters, Pass the Buck<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77608/0/> Watch Welch on Fox News Discussing California's Deficit<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77609/0/> *Judge Sotomayor Revives the Affirmative Action Debate*<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77602/0/> Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's decision in the affirmative action case *Ricci v. DeStefano* has reignited the discussion over racial preferences. Reason magazine's Cathy Young says the issues must be confronted: "With all the domestic and international problems we are confronting today, affirmative action may seem like a relatively minor issue. And yet it has major implications for individual rights, justice, and race relations in America. The legacy of racism, and particularly the dehumanizing oppression of generations of blacks, is a terrible blot on our history. If we try to remedy it by maintaining a new system of racial spoils—not at the expense of affluent, well-educated white elites, but of working-class, disadvantaged people who happen to be white—the blot will only deepen. So will racial division." Reason Foundation's Amicus Brief on the *Ricci* Supreme Court Case<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77610/0/> Sotomayor, Cops, and Hate Speech<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77611/0/> *Congress Deceives Taxpayers on Cap-And-Trade Energy Prices*<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77612/0/> "The central fact of the cap-and-trade proposal is that it will increase the price of energy. If energy prices don't go up, the goal of getting energy producers, manufacturers, and consumers to shift away from carbon generating fuels (coal, oil, and natural gas) toward low-carbon sources of energy (nuclear, solar, wind, conservation) will not be achieved...The chief technique that Congress is using to hide the mandated price increase in electricity and natural gas from voters is giving away free emissions permits to local electricity and gas distribution companies...this plan to allocate 'free' permits could well end up costing consumers even more than they 'save' on their household electricity and natural gas bills. Fearing the electoral consequences of honesty, Congress is trying to hide the fact that they are increasing energy prices by distracting the American people with a torrent of rebates, subsidies, and tax incentives, along with plenty of happy talk about renewable energy and creating 'green jobs.' The result is that Congress has devised a complicated and inefficient scheme where distributing a 'free' commodity actually makes products and services more expensive than it would otherwise have to be. That's truly 'wonderful politics'!" - Reason magazine's Ronald Bailey examines the cap-and-trade proposal and what it will mean to your electricity bill. ** *New at Reason* Urban Mass Transit Is Not a National Problem<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77613/0/> Transit is a local and sometimes regional function that should be paid for locally Robert Poole <http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77613/0/> Obama's Betrayal On Don't Ask Don't Tell<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77614/0/> The president's forgotten civil rights promise Shikha Dalmia Reason.tv Video: "Free" Government Money With Matthew Lesko!<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77615/0/> Your slice of the bailout Govs. Paterson, Schwarzenegger and Rendell: "The Moment for Public-Private Partnerships Is Now" <http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77616/0/> Hopefully DC is listening to these governors Leonard Gilroy NY State Commission, Governor Embrace Privatization for Infrastructure Development <http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77617/0/> A new and positive role for privatization and public-private partnerships Leonard Gilroy Schwarzenegger Outlines Need for Privatization, Budget Reform in California<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77618/0/> A major step forward Leonard Gilroy Florida IT Contract Draws Scrutiny<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77619/0/> The transition was difficult but the privatization is working Leonard Gilroy What Norm Coleman & Al Franken Have Taught America<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77620/0/> The Senate is carrying more dead weight than an Uruguayan rugby team Nick Gillespie Reason.tv Video: DMVs Ban Smiles<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77621/0/> Making a trip to the DMV more miserable Reason.tv Video: How Churchill Became Churchill<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77622/0/> Nick Gillespie interviews Michael McMenamin *Media Contact*: Chris Mitchell Director of Communications Reason Foundation, Reason magazine, Reason.tv (310) 367-6109 If you were forwarded this email and you would like to receive updates on the latest Reason Foundation research, commentary and events, please click here: http://www.reason.org/reasonalert.shtml<http://sol.sparklist.com/t/4720986/28259383/77623/0/> --- You are currently subscribed to reasonalert as: [email protected]. 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