Never cede the terms of the discussion to someone with Third Grade Ideas

All of us on the conservative side have been quite rightly amused by the antics of the 14th NY District’s newest Representative in Congress. There isn’t a day that goes by, that the former waitress, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t come up with some new, childlike pronouncement or temper tantrum on the floor of the U. S. House of Representatives.

The issue causing the most discussion, is her 3rd Grade Science Project known as, “The Green New Deal.” Her proposal would double the annual budget and sunder the World’s economy in order to pay for among other things, destruction and reconstruction of buildings that did not conform to certain environmental efficiency standards. The estimated cost of her proposal would be 93 Trillion dollars, or double the 2019 Federal Budget of 4.7 Trillion, for the next 20 years. 93 Trillion Dollars! That my friends, is a LOT of Scotch.

Quite rightly, conservatives in general have attacked her proposal on fiscal grounds, as we have also done here at Red State. That’s all well and good, but focusing solely on the money can effectively cede the basic argument—The World’s Climate is Changing and Mankind is the Cause—to the Leftists, leaving us open to one of their tried and true tactics, incrementalism. Here’s how that works.

First of all we need to understand, Leftists almost never care about costs—unless of course it’s in regard to a Constitutionally enumerated function of the Federal Government, such as the Armed Forces. Then, the green eyeshades come out. Their usual tactic is to attempt to steamroll our side into instant capitulation on a given issue. Sometimes that works.

Every once in a while however, our side grows a backbone and puts up some sort of fight. The leftists, seeing resistance, withdraw somewhat while crooning, “compromise” and “reaching across the aisle.” “Let us have just a little money for this,” they whisper, lulling us into a false sense of security. This is where our side goes wrong, time after time.

By agreeing to fiscal demands of the Democrats—no matter how small in the beginning, we inherently validate their position. As we all know, once the Leftists get a line item in the budget, it never disappears—instead, it metastasizes like cancer.

Moreover, if we agree to fund even $1.00 to ameliorate the effects of so-called, “man-caused climate change,” we are effectively agreeing with the Leftist premise, that Mankind is the cause of something that we have yet to prove exists.

That is absurd. Mankind’s production of CO2, (also known as plant food) is 15 parts per MILLION out of a total 400-420 PPM in our atmosphere. Saying Mankind’s CO2 is causing climate change, is like claiming you can actually hear the two boneheads wearing Tiger Orange in Tuscaloosa Stadium (capacity, over 100 thousand) over the screams of the 100k Crimson Tide Fans. Not gonna happen Pal.

Don’t cede the argument to the Leftists. Ever.

Mike Ford is a retired Infantry Officer who writes on Military, Foreign Affairs and occasionally dabbles in Political and Economic matters.

Follow him on Twitter: @MikeFor10394583

You can find his other Red State work here.