Since this is going to start up again, let me make it very clear:

Cap and trade, which is a tax on a naturally occurring element in the atmosphere, as well as the basic building block which defines life, not only is a load of garbage, but will absolutely devastate our economy in ways Obama’s HealthCare takeover could only dream of doing.

This carbon tax will increase gas to a minimum of $7 a gallon, according to the supporters!

Let’s factor this in a bit…

It takes carbon-based fuel to currently power a vast majority of our agriculture. Fuel costs are one of the two biggest factors to food prices. By increasing gas prices 300%, food prices will have to rise to allow farmers to eek out a living. Oh, and the basis of many fertilizers is also petroleum, so that will increase the cost too. Before you liberals start advocating for organic farming – there are more than enough studies to prove we’d be having a massive famine if it wasn’t for things like fertilizer.

Carbon-based petroleum is used in the creation of plastics. That cute little iPad you just purchased? Plastic. Your credit card? Plastic. A majority of the components in a hybrid car (in order to lighten it due to the increased weight of the batteries inside)? Plastic. The container OF a battery? Plastic. All go up in price.

Airline travel is also dependent on that fuel, and that ain’t cheap. Hello ticket price increase and stupid schemes that charge you even for carry-on bags. Bad enough they now charge $10 for food you can get out of a vending machine for $5.

These are just a few things I can think of that will destroy us if we follow along with this stupid idea. We are all carbon-based lifeforms. Taxing carbon means we are taxing ourselves for living. Of course, considering what just passed for Healthcare, it is obvious the Democratic Party should be renamed the Logan’s Run Party anyways.

But, there are Republican dolts backing cap and trade as well. Primary among these is Lindsey "Hagel-Lite" Graham on the Senate side. On the House side, Michelle Malkin posted the following graphic of the cap-and-trade-8. They all need removal and replacement by people who understand the world and the economy:

What makes a Dark Age?

For me, a Dark Age occurs with three conditions exist. First, economic institutions break down and then are controlled by the central ruling authority, making the people dependent on the local ruler in order to survive. Second, primitives and barbarians gain power in regions holding natural resources, and are able to defeat the civilized powers to a point where the civilized powers have to give in either economically or militarily. Third, belief is mired by scientific falsehoods that help cause a stagnation of technological progress.

I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it is my belief February 2009 marks the beginning of a new Dark Age for society if we do not reverse the current trends.

On my first point: The ‘stimulus’ package, like the first TARP plan before, and any such similarly constructed plans in the future does exactly what I postulate above. Government, by controlling who is allowed to make money and removing jobs from the private sector in order to feed public largess takes control of the economy. If you do not believe this, it has been estimated by the Cato Institute and Heritage Foundation that the obligations in both bills, along with the expected increases in the regular budget, the United States government’s debt will be larger than the entire world’s Gross Domestic Product.

The reason the barbarian mercenaries turned on Rome, and thus caused the first era called the Dark Ages, was the value of money dried up. Rome had been taxing its citizens to a point where they could tax no more, then was unable to pay the mercenaries that had become the armies of Rome (created since the Legions were even more expensive).

Secondly: With the current administration’s public rhetoric, the Bush Doctrine attempting to thwart the power grab by those technologically inferior to the West will be stopped. Afghanistan, as well as other regions, will revert to control to those who do not like any of those who are considered civilized. We are already held hostage on oil because the Obama administration refuses to explore our own soil for the abundant minerals and wealth found here. Other commodities such as aluminum, uranium, and even coal will eventually reach similar states. Batteries have nickel-cadmium ore, a mineral that is mined. Plastics are petroleum-based. The computer I am typing this on has silicon and glass (both derived from sand), gold, copper, glass. I am forgetting many, many more than these. Eventually, if we do not work on getting our own reserves, we will end up dependent on the barbarians.

Thirdly, you know what belief I’m going to target: global warming/climate change. Because of global warming, the Obama administration and others that follow along will prevent that exploration mentioned in part two. Removing sand from the beaches may harm some rodent in San Francisco. Drilling and mining are blanket bad, as is further development of nuclear power. You can’t make batteries as their toxic chemicals are worse for the environment than the gas burning pollution they replace in the long run. Let alone like I mentioned above – nickel and cadmium are mined. Battery casings are either plastic (petroleum) or metal (mined). What is so sad is many scientists oppose the fact global warming even exists, let alone whether it is either significant or that we actually know what the heck we are doing when we attempt to ‘reverse’ it. Despite the rhetoric, nothing is confirmed. Al Gore’s computer models have been proven to be flawed, as very critical components were left out of the data model.

All in all, the world is going to suffer for decades as they gleefully follow along with Mister Hopey-Changey and his cohorts. I have no desire to live my last half of my life as the Roman commoners did in 477 after Odaoacer took over. At this point, we must get off our fannies and resolve to make a difference. It is no longer enough to just subscribe to some mailing list or community like the Top Conservatives on Twitter and do nothing. That nothing will translate into a stagnant society for not only your later years, but for your children and grandchildren as well assuming they survived the inevitable epidemics and wars perpetuated by the Dark Age in which they live.