The issue of Net Neutrality is dead.

We’re going to go ahead and call it right now, the push by liberals to pre-emptively regulate the Internet through so-called Net Neutrality legislation is dead. How can we make this call when Google and other multi-billion dollar companies are still willing to shovel money into the cause? It’s pretty simple, really.You can always tell how effective a lobbying effort is, and how important the public views an issue as being by the stature of the celebrities involved in pushing the agenda forward. Poverty has Bono and Angelina Jolie, for example, but Net Neutrality has Ok, Go! and Justine Bateman. Yes, you read that correctly, Ok, Go! and Justine Bateman. Nothing against Ok, Go! or Justine Bateman, Ok, Go! has some good stuff and Justine Bateman is attractive, but really? That’s the best they could pull? Was Skippy from Family Ties busy, or Screech too swamped with Celebrity Fit Club?  The public simply isn’t buying into the hype.

Add to that the fact that no one anyone in the policy world takes seriously supports the idea (unless they got a big Google check, in which case…well) and the pro-regulation crowd seems to be running out of steam. That’s a good thing.

It’s always been a curious thing that uber-leftists do not support pre-emptive war, pre-emptive reform (as in Social Security, though that and Medicare are already really screwed up, we still have time to fix them (though we’d be happier were they scrapped)), but they line up to regulate something based upon the possibility that a problem may develop in the future. Government isn’t the solution, it would be the problem. The free market is the solution.

Worthy reads.

The Looming Fiscal Nightmare of Fannie and Freddie. The Wall Street Journal continues its excellent coverage and analysis of the quasi-socialist federally-chartered mortgage companies…

MIssion Creep and Risky Intervention from the Fed. George Will wisely asks why the Federal Reserve is being given carte blanche to interfere in the economy. This is particularly ironic since, as Will notes, the Fed is at least partially responsible for current market volatility thanks to its easy-money policy…

The Hidden Damage of Subsidies. Thomas Sowell gives the usual argument against subsidies by pointing out that the government robs Peter to lavish favors on Paul. But he makes an equally important point by explaining how subsidies distort prices and lead to resource misallocation. These seem like arcane issues, but they have a profound impact on whether a nation becomes rich or poor…

People die because of global warming alarmism, NOT global warming.

Every 30 seconds, a child somewhere in the world dies of malaria, according to the World Health Organization. The disease claims more than one million lives each year, although it is both preventable and treatable But the erroneous claims about the toxicity of DDT in Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring prompted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1972 to ban the pesticide, precipitating the suspension of spraying in dozens of countries – and the deaths of tens of millions
of people.Tens of thousands of drivers and passengers have perished in crashes because of fuel economy standards. But a 500-pound reduction in vehicle weight increases crash fatalities between 14 percent and 27 percent annually, according to Harvard University and the Brookings Institution, among others. Moreover, cars weighing less than 2,500 pounds account for two-and-a-half times as many crash fatalities as SUVs weighing 5,000 pounds or more, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Read on at National Review about how Gore’s “cause” has caused food to go to waste, and how Greenpeace prevented the treatment of basic drinking water .

The End of the Beginning for the global warming myth?

National Review has cited a Gallup survey in which they found the number of people who are “alarmed” by global warming alarmism has declined, from 41 to 37 percent. While not a massive leap in numbers, it is a step in the right direction. Perhaps one of the greatest indicators that the great global warming scare may be over is that the fanatics are really upset that no one cares. The alarmism causing the rush to shoot ourselves in the foot may soon be over.

Just like peak oil, population threats, Y2K, and all of the other famous scam-scares of the world, global warming seems to be falling in its rightful place.

Sit back and grab the popcorn as the world watches Europe and the UN try to pry their feet out of their mouths over this one.

As Winston Churchill once said, “It is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.” Let’s hope that applies here.

Flat Tax Vs. Fair Tax: What’s the difference?

There is also a reminder of how our current tax system sucks.