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FRIDAY FACTS: September 12, 2008

- Register by Friday, Sept. 19 for, “Power, Policy and Politics: Georgia’s Energy Challenges,” a Georgia Public Policy Foundation noon Policy Briefing Luncheon on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Commerce Club. This panel discussion is moderated by Dean Alford of Allied Utility Network with Sen. Ross Tolleson, chairman of the Senate natural resources committee; Suzanne Sitherwood of AGL; Oscar Harper of Georgia Power and Sara Banaszak of the American Petroleum Institute. The cost is $30 for members and guests; $40 for non-members. To register, click on the link above or call 404-256-4050.

- MARTA saw a 15 percent increase in ridership in the second quarter of 2008 over the same period last year, according to the American Public Transportation Association. Bus travel increased 3.95 percent from April to June 2008 over 2007; rail ridership grew a whopping 15.59 percent, second only to Puerto Rico. Some of the increase probably reflects soaring gas prices. But wait and see how much reflects something else: It was July ’07 when phase-in was completed of MARTA’s new Breeze system, with six-foot entry gates that eliminated broken fare gates and turnstile jumpers.

- Air quality policy in Georgia is the latest chapter in the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s Agenda 2009: A Guide to the Issues, at http://www.gppf.org/pub/agenda2009/airquality.pdf. Find recent chapters on water, transportation, education, health care, land use and regulatory reform at http://www.gppf.org/pub/Agenda2009/agenda_2009.htm

- The high cost of health insurance: In 1960, just 5 percent of the U.S. economy was devoted to health care; today, that figure is 16 percent, the Goldwater Institute’s Byron Schlomach points out. In 1960, 24 percent of health care costs were paid by government and 21 percent were paid by insurance; today, those figures are 46 percent and 34 percent respectively. In 1960, 47 percent of all health care costs were paid directly by consumers. Today, consumers pay only 12 percent. “If you’ve covered the bar tab for a party, you know people spend most responsibly when they pay for themselves. When people don’t pay their own bill, money is no object. This is exactly what has happened in health care.” Source: Goldwater Institute

- Hot air and greenhouse gases. The most frequently mentioned U.S emissions-reduction target is 80 percent by 2050. But, as Steven Heyward notes, the last time the United States emitted CO2 at that level was 1910, when the population was 92 million. By 2050, there will be 420 million people, requiring a per-capita emissions rate not seen in the nation since 1875. Per-capita emissions will have to be less than 2.5 tons (from about 20 tons today). The only nations today that have GHG emissions that low are desperately poor nations, such as Haiti and Somalia. Even France and Switzerland, the two industrialized nations with the least fossil-fuel energy, emit about 6.5 tons of CO2 per capita. Source: Index of Leading Environmental Indicators

- Bailing out Fannie and Freddie is a bad idea, says Peter J. Wallison in “A Failed Business Model:” “Republican presidential candidate John McCain has been campaigning against the culture of corruption in the federal government. Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama has based his campaign on the idea of change in Washington. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are telling illustrations of corporate welfare – the profitable private exploitation of a cozy relationship with the government. And the [Treasury] plan will foster just what a cynic might expect: more of the same.” Source: AEI.org

- So real or surreal? “A new report points toward a drastically impaired response to real-world dramatic incidents among America’s habitual television viewers. ‘We found that a majority of viewers who watch a normal amount of television – between 32 and 56 hours a week – were relatively unmoved by such personal traumas as divorce, financial disaster, or the death of a child, compared with their reactions to similar events on television,’ said Dr. Fernando Alonso.” Source: The Onion

- Visit www.gppf.org to read the Foundation’s latest commentary, “Congress Undermines Infrastructure by Looting the Highway Trust Fund,” by Ronald D. Utt.

Have a great weekend.

Rogers Wade 

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