Stupid is as Stupid Does _ Three Stories

With all that is going on in America and in the world that has impact our lives and the futures of our children, it is not surprising that a lot of news passes under the radar, sort of speak. Sometimes I have to wonder if there is a conspiracy within the MSM to keep some news under the radar because they don’t want the world to know just how outrageously stupid Americans can be at times.

We have come to expect people in government to do stupid things. In fact that is the norm and it is not just an American phenomena. Two of today’s stories have to do with government. But, we generally tend to think that the people in charge of major corporations would likely be very smart people. The first story today will prove that this theory doesn’t always hold up.

China Dupes General Motors Again

From a recent American Thinker article we learn

It’s  déjà vu all over again!  GM again caves to Chinese pressure.  In  September it was the electric car.  In April it was the  Cadillac.

Allow me to explain what is going on. To do business in China, like many socialist countries, a foreign company like General Motors must have a cinese partner. In this case, the Chinese partner is a company that goes by the accrmym of SAIC. But, not only does GM have to take on a Chinese partner, they are required by the Chinese government to share all of their technology with the partner. And, what does SAIC do with that shared technology? Well, they go off and build a wholly owned factory of their own and produce a clone to compete directly with General Motors.

Can somebody explain to me how this is good business for General Motors? I ask that question because here is what is going to happen. In exchange for some short-term profits (maybe), GM is going to give up its technology and eventually they are going to lose their market share to SAIC’s other company and SAIC will probably end up the proud 100% owner of the factory that GM built with its capital. I have to wonder if GM’s US partner, the US Government, has had a hand in these decisions. Whatever, it looks pretty stupid to me.

Abuse of Government Freebies

Here is a government freeby program that I had no idea it existed. Bid you know that the FCC  (I tried without success to find out when this program started) has a program called Lifeline for low-income folks to have phone service? Bruce McQuain at Questions and Observation has this story. The FCC Lifeline program was originally to provide low-income people with landline phone service in case there were emergencies that needed to be reported. Later on the program was extended to provide free cell phones and even free smart phones. Here is a quote from Arkansas’ Republican Congressman Tim Griffin

“People are not only getting [one free cell phone], they’re getting multiples. There are reports of people getting 10, 20, 30 — just routinely getting more than one, selling them, storing them up, whatever,” Griffin said

This freeby program is costing taxpayer about $1 billion per year.  You see, although government people are stupid , poor people are not so stupid. These phones come with 100 minutes or more of free use. So, what happens? A poor person goes to a participating store and they get their free smart phone. Then they go to another and another participating store and get more phones. They use up their free minutes and sell the phones and start the process al over again. So, Mr. McQuain has a question for you

…Ever wonder what that line on your bill that says “universal service fund” was all about?  Well, this is what it’s about.  Your government giving away cell phones with no apparent accountability and you paying for them.

Yup! We always pay for government stupidity, don’t we?

A Nanny Never Sleeps

I swear these people stay up nights divining problems that government must solve by creating another law. This low flying news also comes to us thanks to Bruce McQuain at Questions and Observations.  The Nanny in question is a  Kathy Webb, a state Representative from Arkansas. She thinks frying hamburgers is dangerous to the environment.

Webb has submitted Interim Study Proposal 2011-201, an act “to declare an emergency” over the alleged crisis. Frying hamburgers is now The People’s Business of the Highest Order.

Webb’s bill claims food grease presents an emergency risk of sewer overflows that threatens the environment. “It is in the public interest to establish a Fat, Oil, and Grease Advisory Committee to study the recommended measures to better ensure that the collection, transportation, disposal, and recycling of fat, oil, and grease are done in a manner that is protective of the environment,” reads the bill.

And, there is more

According to the bill, the state will appoint a 14 (!) member committee “with adequate staff and facilities” to study the frying-pan-grease emergency and recommend legislation, enforcement, and other emergency government action to fight food grease. Even after such action, the committee and its “adequate staff and facilities” will perpetually exist, convene, and soak up taxpayer resources.

Bruce has a response that is much better than anything I could come up with

Because that’s what government does.  It appoints “Grease Czars”, enthrones them in perpetuity “with adequate staff and facilities” and then wastes taxpayer money trying to enforce unenforceable laws passed by morons.

Yeah, stupid is as stupid does. Stupid is a commodity that we never seem to run short of.

Well, that’s what I’m thinking. What are your thoughts?

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