The Dangerous Fears of Bob Inglis

His Fear of Bogus Economic Disaster Led to Bailout Votes

Bob Inglis believes that man-made CO2 released into the earth's atmosphere is causing life-killing acid in the ocean.

There are many reputable scientific experts that say his fear is unjustified.

Here, he is pictured to the left in a captured image from his nine minute YouTube video. The video shows Representative Inglis explaining the alleged danger. In the picture and video, Representative Inglis holds a jar of acid water containing an egg. Inglis uses the jar to illustrate how the acid water melts the shell of an egg. Inglis argues this acidfication is what CO2 is causing in the oceans. He believes acidification from CO2 emissions will destroy the ocean's ecosystem. Thus, Inglis believes our auto-industrial CO2 American society, if it continues unabated, will have catostrophic consequences for life on the earth.

The Inglis YouTube video is highly significant because it demonstrates that Representative Inglis has bought a tent in the camp of the global warming paranoid.

Here's the problem. He is also our Representative, and a lot of folks believe the camp is built upon bogus CO2 science.

Representative Inglis' fear that man-made carbon emissions could utterly destroy of the ocean's ecosystem will inevitably lead him to vote for tax plans to discourage U.S. citizens and businesses from maintaining their rate of carbon emissions. Such policies, if actually enacted by our government, will do grave damage to the United States economy by putting America at a competitive disadvantage against other countries (like China), and they threaten to destroy our prosperous American way of life. Bob Inglis' fear represents a direct threat to our children.

And, voting the wrong way based on fear is not new for Representative Inglis. He has a track record.

On September 29, 2008, Bob Inglis voted "yes" for the $700 Billion "Crap Sandwich" Bailout of Wall Street. It is easy to see now how that bailout vote was a colossal mistake. The bailout money was used to fund million dollar bonuses for Wall Street and Banking executives. It was used to bailout foreign banks. It did nothing to help the economy except it allowed the federal government (instead of the free market system) to pick its favored winners and losers.

Inglis stated at the time he had no choice to vote on the bill. "When knowledgeable people tell us that there is a substantial chance of a depression, it’s time to act." See Inglis Rescue Package Decision Memo. However, even when he cast the vote, hundreds of noted economists and bankers had already signed a Petition denying that the economy was so bad urgent enactment of the bailout without Congressional hearings was required.

Narayana Kocherlakota, of the University of Minnesota, calls the White House's case an unconvincing one. "I think one of the reasons why so many people were signing that is the administration has not brought forward the information that would be compelling, that yes, we are facing economic Armageddon," Kocherlakota says.

NPR Story, Planet Money, David Kestenbaum (Oct. 1, 2008).

Fear makes bad policy.

Representative Inglis' fear of ocean acidification (i.e., the "Acid in Oceans Fraud") represents a real and present danger to the United States economy. It could mean Inglis might really vote with Democrats and other moderate Republicans for economy wrecking, capping and taxing policies.

If he voted for Wall Street bailouts once out of fear, wouldn't he again repeat the mistake by voting out of fear of ocean acidication? The means to stop ocean acidification is to enact oppressive tax policies built upon fraudulent CO2 science. Should we re-elect a man so easily manipulated by fear mongering?

The second question is one that the majority of voters in the Fourth District should decide with a resounding "NO" vote in 2010.

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