Again:

Confiscation of farmland is overblown. We produce more food than at any time in history. I know the small farmer has it tough, but hey, a lot of professions have been mooted by economic forces, yet for good or ill we protect farmers.

Same with Timber. We produce as much timber as we ever did. Thanks to technology. And that selfsame technology means we cut down more trees with fewer humans. Moreover, the papermills that are being shut are the old, polluting ones - the newer ones are more efficient, have a higher output and require fewer people. And the timber industry is using the out-of-work paper mill and lumberjack to ask for MORE forests to be opened and somehow claim that liberals are putting luberjacks out of work. Industry hogwash and you are biting hook line and sinker - check the figures, we are producing plenty of wood, paper and wood products.

Think of it this way, too. I have little sympathy for California farmers - ever wonder why all the produce you eat is from California? It's because our federal tax dollars subsidize the water they use, such that in years past (perhaps still) farmers in the California Central Valley were able to grow RICE, yes, RICE in the desert.

And somehow, with all this environmental crapola that the Congress has passed, where is the economic disaster? Environmental regulation was supposed to have destroyed the economy - the economy has risen and fallen and it had nothing to do with CERCLA. Business has taken it into account and dealt with it and are moving on.

betcha the same thing happens with the latest liberal/conservative battleground - repetitive motion injuries. I bet if all businesses implement a plan to prevent these, and then it becomes standard operating procedure, everyone will benefit from (a) fewer workdays lost and (b) lower health care costs. Irony is, the smart companies are already working to reduce these injuries for those very reasons -- I wonder what the jerks who are vehemently opposed to such measures are doing and how do their health care costs look?

Actually I am FOR NAFTA. again, our best friend is economic progress in Mexico - the more money they have, the more they can buy from us. And remember, our tariffs were just about the lightest in the world to begin with. NAFTA was mostly about reducing the OTHER guys' tariffs.

______________________________________

"Knowledge is power, but enthusiasm pulls the switch"
- Ivern Bell