Chad Lundquist/Nevada Appeal
President Trump, or any other Republican running for president in 2020 (wishful thinking), is hoping the Democrats will run a “Green New Deal”candidate, because that would guarantee a GOP victory.
For starters, the Green New Deal (GND) would eliminate fossil fuels and bankrupt the country. Other than that, it’s probably a great idea, especially if you like the idea of living in a Socialist Utopia like Venezuela, where young mothers sell their babies to buy food for their families. GND is the brainchild of freshman Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a self-described Democrat Socialist from New York City. The telegenic lawmaker is the newest media darling in New York and Washington, D.C.
GND would move America to 100 percent clean, renewable energy and achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in 10 years; guarantee everyone a job with a living wage, family and medical leave, vacations and retirement security; an economic environment free of monopolies, and guarantee economic security for all who are unable or unwilling to work. In other words, the government would send money to those who don’t want to work. This is called Socialism, a system that has failed everywhere it’s been tried. Again, think Cuba and Venezuela.
Ms. Ocasio-Cortez may put an attractive face on Socialism, but it’s still the same old failed economic system where the government (i.e. unelected bureaucrats) interferes with the free market and spends our tax money on people and projects that we — those of us who pay federal income taxes — oppose. You want to send my tax money to someone who doesn’t want to work? Forget about it! Because I send more than 20 percent of my taxable income to the Infernal (excuse me, Internal) Revenue Service, I want a say in how that money is spent.
As Ms. Ocasio-Cortez wrote on her website, GND requires a “massive” (trillions of dollars) new spending program and speedy “overhauling of whole industries,” including the fossil fuel industry, which will be phased out. All buildings, including your home, would have to be retrofitted to be energy efficient. Air travel and cows — yes, flatulent cows — would also be phased out. So how would we get to Hawaii? Don’t ask. However, I might ask my friend Charlie Abowd if Adele’s would take steaks off the menu — sure hope not.
“I support GND as an aspirational measure,” said Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat. “What we have to do now is flesh out the details.” Yes, we’re interested in the details. Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner wrote “Democrats are taking the proposal very seriously and most 2020 presidential candidates are endorsing it” as an aspirational measure.
In an op-ed published last week in the Elko Free Press, my friend and fellow columnist Jim Hartman wrote the Green New Deal “already has the support of 67 Democratic co-sponsors in the House and the support of 11 Democrats in the Senate, including presidential candidates Kamala Harris, Cory Booker, Elizabeth Warren, Amy Klobuchar and Bernie Sanders.”
“Millions of jobs would have to be destroyed en route to a brave new green world,” Hartman added, noting GND would require the U.S. to be carbon-neutral within ten years. Not to worry, however, because GND guarantees government jobs for everyone. Let’s face it: We’ll need millions of dedicated, starry-eyed bureaucrats to create a world full of rainbows and unicorns.
“The Democrats’ extreme leftward march could be giving President Trump a lifeline to a second term,” Hartman concluded, and I agree. So if you love President Trump, endorse the Green New Deal. Simple.
Guy W. Farmer is the Appeal’s senior political columnist.
