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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Patricia Trinchero who wrote (146163)	5/17/2001 6:50:02 PM
From: greenspirit	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

"Solve the problem" is the latest battle-cry of Demolibs who have done nothing for 8 years and who fail to understand that politicians planning and controlling the energy industry has largely caused the problem to begin with. "Get government out of the way" and stop punishing productive innovate solutions from taking root, would be a much better battle-cry. "Give me total control of the power companies and everything will be just fine" is their rallying call now. "Deregulation caused the problem", so let's control this evil corporate energy entity with our benign and wonderful government bureaucrats. They aim to do this through insipid policy prescriptions meant to guide us to make the right choices, for instance, that all tax breaks should be "targeted" towards encouraging one socially responsible way of behaving. One car to drive, one heating system to buy, one way of living right. Conservatives like George Bush understand that their isn't one way to the future. Unregulated industries often look messy, unclean, unorganized and anti-intellectual, but they are also the most vibrant adaptable and able to innovate in order to meet customer needs placed on them. In the late 1980's, Silicon Valley was attacked as chaotic and unproductive in the Harvard Business Review, the author warned that if the U.S. government didn’t create a policy to guide the industry, “U.S. microelectronics would be reduced to permanent, decisive inferiority within 10years.” This statement was widely applauded at the time, but the government did what it does best. Nothing. Regulation, price controls, government planners and technocrats can never fully take into account the changing market place demands of societal needs and changing circumstances. It doesn’t matter how careful regulation is planned, or how good its intentions are, it almost always acts to prevent innovation and creativity from taking root. The future is full of complex messiness and we should acknowledge and embrace that reality instead of trying to circumvent and control it. So Californians, stop whining about prices until you elect people who are willing to forgo political decision making for the greater good of society. Until you stop pretending politicians have all the answers, your energy problems will forever remain with you.