Compare and Contrast, then “incent”
Do you really think the bush administration gives a good damn about renewable energy sources and all the other bullshit that he’s preaching this week? Come on, do you? The only reason he’s hawking this idea is because it’s safer than continuing to hawk private Social Security accounts. He has to be on the soapbox about something and this soapbox isn’t high enough to hurt him if he falls off.
Here’s what bush said yesterday, “Some of the nations we rely on for oil have unstable governments, or fundamental differences with the United States. These countries know we need their oil and that reduces influence. It creates a national security issue when we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us.”
Yes dear, that was just about the same time that we found out Arabs would be running our largest ports. Shaking your head yet?
Here’s something else he said. “If technology is going to help us change our energy habits and change the way we live, it makes sense for the government to ‘incent’ people to invest in research and development. Right now we've got what we call a research and development tax credit, which is a major incentive for private companies such as yourselves, to invest in research and development, which will yield new technologies.”
“Incent”? That’s not a word. That is however one more bit of proof that he may be dumber than we thought.
Here’s what bush said yesterday, “Some of the nations we rely on for oil have unstable governments, or fundamental differences with the United States. These countries know we need their oil and that reduces influence. It creates a national security issue when we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us.”
Yes dear, that was just about the same time that we found out Arabs would be running our largest ports. Shaking your head yet?
Here’s something else he said. “If technology is going to help us change our energy habits and change the way we live, it makes sense for the government to ‘incent’ people to invest in research and development. Right now we've got what we call a research and development tax credit, which is a major incentive for private companies such as yourselves, to invest in research and development, which will yield new technologies.”
“Incent”? That’s not a word. That is however one more bit of proof that he may be dumber than we thought.
posted by pissed off patricia at 9:04 AM
24 Comments:
It's worth mentioning that the "lab" he visited in Wisconsin was about to lay off 32 workers for lack of funding the day before his visit. Once that embarrassing fact came to light, the administration did fix it, but what's that tell you about the level of commitment or seriousness about this?
Do you really think the bush administration gives a good damn about renewable energy sources and all the other bullshit that he’s preaching this week? Come on, do you?
LOL!
- oddjob
incent
Maybe he means people will fart more and that way they can run their own damn lights...
“Some of the nations we rely on for oil have unstable governments, or fundamental differences with the United States. These countries know we need their oil and that reduces influence. It creates a national security issue when we're held hostage for energy by foreign nations that may not like us.”
NEWSFLASH!!
Eating more calories than you expend will cause you to gain weight!
- oddjob
The W, Rove and Co is really trying to politically co-opt the liberal agenda in anticipation of having to spar with folks during the Augth Six elections. That's what this whole propoganda junket is all about. So, they can say, hey, we talked about solar, and wind...just like they said, "hey, we briefed members of Congress" on the Illegal spying program. It mollifies the public, but certainly doesn't make it legal. They are executing a classic rovian ploy to deflate the argument in anticipation of it being played.
Damn, they are not stupit, but brilliant political strategists. Playing politics all the time makes it seem like you are not playing politics.
Shit. Now I'm going to have to turn this into a post.
Blog on Sister, blog on.
Folks, he's full of it and he knows it as well as we do. He's running out the clock on his last term and trying to get anything he can done to steal some more for his pals. He'll give lip service to renewables but he'll bury us all if it makes an extra buck for his pals in oil. Nice that he comes to the realization that we are hostages to oil only 30 years after the oil embargo and 30 years after so many others started yelling about it. Oh, but Jimmy Carter was "weak" and Jerry Brown was a "nut". Truth is, the oil industry has played the PR game by owning the news media for decades and we are the losers for it. Now Exxon is running commericals about its investments in renewable resource research.
I've been arguing for renewables since 1980s when the oil companies bought up every single new solar energy patent that was filed and then sat on them without developing them. It's a fact. Look it up. Atlantic Richfield (ARCO) was the leader in buying up solar energy patents and then scuttling development on them.
You don't understand. Carbon based energy IS renewable. You just have to view these things on a much longer timeframe. In a couple million years, throw in another Ice Age and a couple large meteor hits, today's forests and critters (that aren't cut down before they can become forest floor) will become coal and oil. So see, it's not a problem.
I agree with Windspike, sit back and watch the show...
But where do we get more dinosaurs? Don't we need them in the stew?
"Incent" is the new business/neocon 'back-formation' buzzword. Back in the slavery days they used to say "whip".
The Great British incent constantly. That is one way they became great, but are not so great now.
Incent. Where is the accent?
Is it pronounced like
"in'-sur-ance?
In'-cent?
Jr, it's the first half of the word incentive. Bush apparently thinks the word is a verb rather than a noun.
I hate to say it, but "incent" is pretty commonly used in the business community. People use it all the time meaning "to provide and incentive" to do something. It's ignorant I admit, but hardly uncommon.
"Incent" isn't in the Webster's that I have here (2002). Perhaps I need to update or get the dictionary that george uses.
Chancelucky said...
It's worth mentioning that the "lab" he visited in Wisconsin was about to lay off 32 workers for lack of funding the day before his visit. Once that embarrassing fact came to light, the administration did fix it, but what's that tell you about the level of commitment or seriousness about this?
Actually, it's worth mentioning that they DID lay off 32 workers from that facility within days of the State of the Union speech.
The administration re-hired them the day before Bush visited the facility and they claimed it was a minor screw up.. you know, people put that funding in the wrong place and they accidentally lay-off 32 researchers at one of the premier alternative-energy research centers.
It kills me to know how many people believe it when they make rediculous claims like this and what percentage realize they are just lying but they simply don't care.
ffakr.
Yes indeedy- incent is in fact a word- and it's hardly ignorant. It is often used in the business and legal community by very smart people. In fact I'm surprised that Bush even knows the word. Here's your definition:
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
incent
SYLLABICATION: in·cent
PRONUNCIATION: n-snt
TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: in·cent·ed, in·cent·ing, in·cents
To incentivize: “would use tax breaks to incent corporations to invest in their future”
ETYMOLOGY: Back-formation from incentive.
God knows that I dumbya, but incent is a word... Even a yokel like me knows that... It makes you look stupid to claim it's not a word... Hopefully you were going for some kind of satirical cynicism or something...
That would be the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden COLORADO - it was in all the newspapers, folks - and I work there.
Let me assure you that those 32 people were laid off for one purpose: to give Bush this grand opportunity to ride in on his white horse and save the day. Many of the people who were laid off were some of the most senior, most important, and most valuable - not the hundred or so midlevel flunkies and troublemakers who normally would have been laid off in such a situation. They did this in a way that would garner the most media attention; the whole thing was very fishy from the beginning.
I can guarantee that a deal was made between senior people at the lab, the DOE, and the White House. Bush needs good press, the lab needs good press and restoration of at least some of its funding, DOE needs good press.
Gosh, and isn't is just amazing (wow!!) that the whole thing was done with the constant din of local and national news media championing the cause. Rah, rah renewable energy... interviews with the brilliant scientists now left idle at home, the newcomer to the lab who just can't believe this happened to her now... heart tugging stories all - made the Olympic moments spots look like hard news in comparison. Yeah right.
Sorry to rain on all this feel-good nonsense, but this is just more cynical manipulation from Bushco, DOE, and yes, NREL - nothing more.
For the most part it was lost in all this cynical media crap that the lab has been underfunded for its entire existence and $15 million is a tiny, tiny (and nearly useless) drop in the bucket for a lab that actually needs an infusion of hundreds of BILLIONS of dollars to make a dent in the R&D that is needed there.
And now back to the inane conversation about "incent"
Just so you know I'm not ignoring you Mr or Ms Anon, here's a bit-o-knowledge you might want to check out.
bureaucratic jargon
Please read the whole page. There are other sources with similar comments if you care to Google the word.
Republican Economics 101: The job of government is to "incent" the lazy, minimum-wage 'Merkin worker by giving "your money" to international corporations that "grow" the economy, making "the pie higher."
And it's hard work.
thanks for the followup on what really happened to the laid off employees. What a joke!
Incent is NOT a word. Yes, it's used frequently in the business world, and eventually it may just be made a legitimate word soley because so many ignorantly use it instead of "incentivize". People -- even those in high positions in the business world -- use "irregardless" too, but that doesn't make it a legitimate word either.
Its a bit funny how several folks have posted references to dictionaris and other articles that show "incent" as a commonly used word, and then the last poster simply stamps his/her feet and says "it is NOT a word". As if capitals make him/her right. :)
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