Puppetshow

Friday funnies at the Puppetshow, courtesy of Sir Jack the Hawke.

There’s a new puppet show in town, but you wouldn’t know it from their website. Capitol Monitor claims to “shed daylight into the darkest corners of our "citizen" government”:

It's all about transparency.

The problem is, there is no transparency about the website and its owners. But, it's got Art Pope's fingerprints all over it

Of all the millions of people in North Carolina who could offer opinions about stormwater management and coastal pollution, the Charlotte Observer turned this week to a reliable source at the John Locke Foundation, Mitch Kokai, whose main qualification is the fact that he's part of Art Pope's multi-million-dollar opinion manufacturing machine.

Fridays at the Art Pope Puppetshow are always interesting affairs. John Hood takes a much need break from his daily hackery, allowing the minions to step up to the plate of free-market fanaticism. I read the stuff every week because it provides good insight into how the JLF brainwashing machine operates.

Today's guest column features a screed against the City of Raleigh's impact fees on new development by Jon Sanders. What's most interesting (but not at all surprising) is the thinking behind Sanders' commentary. Simply put, Sanders conflates "money" and "benefits" as though the two are indistinguishable concepts. In reporting the results of a study by Michael Walden, an economics professor at NC State, Sanders weighs into the "all growth is good" swamp with both feet.

John Hood, stage manager at the non-profit Art Pope Puppetshow, is at his free-market best today with a selective nod in the direction of accepting reality.

The reality here is that most people act with regard to their self-interest most of the time. They work in order to feed, clothe, house, and otherwise take care of themselves and their families. They’ll also gladly give of their time and money to causes they deem worthy, but that’s not their primary motivation to work, save, and invest.

Fortunately, another reality to accept is that intentions don’t determine results. When governments use coercion to force people to act contrary to their personal choices, the results are often disappointing regardless of how well-intended the government program may have been. And in a market economy, individuals freely transacting business to mutual advantage tend to advance the common interest by promoting innovation, lower prices, better service, and economic opportunity.

How can you disagree with that? Individuals freely transacting business to mutual advantage. Of course in some cases, that mutual advantage means you're a kid who doesn't get the crap beat out of you. Sounds like heaven to me.

Out of my commitment to being a kinder, gentler James, I mostly try to ignore the tiresome talking points emanating from Art Pope's Puppetshow. But every now and then the Puppets write something so sublimely ignorant that it's hard to let it pass. That's what happened today, with the latest "report" produced by Daren Bakst.

Recent high energy prices are taking their toll on the economy, Bakst said. “A Congressional Budget Office study that examined the impact of high gasoline prices on the economy found Gross Domestic Product in 2006 is probably lower by about one percent, or $132 billion, than it would have been if energy prices had not risen,” he said. “In addition, the average household’s annual spending on energy goods and services rose by about $1,700 between 2003 and 2006, and their saving rate dropped sharply.”

Leave it to Art Pope's minions to argue against one of the very few energy sources that could immediately contribute to building a sustainable energy portfolio. And, as usual, their arguments are full of hot air.

RALEIGH – North Carolina needs a “Coast Law” to protect residents from wind turbines that ruin local landscapes, harm wildlife, and pose potential health risks, all while providing an unreliable source of electricity. That’s the key conclusion of a new John Locke Foundation Spotlight report.

Oh. My. God. Now we have Puppets all a'twitter about local landscapes, wildlife and health. Will wonders never stop ceasing?

Map now updated with Myers Park Pat!

I admit to spending less and less time worrying about the "reports" and political activities spewing steadily from the Art Pope Puppetshow. Funded to the tune of $3 to $4 million annually by the knight of the right, the increasingly irrelevant John Locke Foundation and Civitas appear to have attracted all the converts they're going to get.

But as our handy-dandy (and updated!) map of the Show suggests, the Puppetmaster has infiltrated major media outlets and at least one major university, so they are definitely worth keeping an eye on. Which is why I was so pleased to see this post by Rob Schofield at NC Policy Watch yesterday. It's a doozy.