Perhaps you didn't see what I was criticizing. I wasn't criticizing the science necessarily (although there are a lot of FACTS that are being overlooked or simply dismissed), but "cap and trade" or yet another corporate tax. I suppose if having the second or third highest corporate tax rate in the world isn't good enough for you, then perhaps more taxation is the answer. But I, for one, don't believe that yet another tax increase would be of benefit to anyone.

I appreciate your passion for increased governmental control of the distribution of wealth, however, you have to understand that any corporate tax is a tax on productivity. Make a profit, get taxed. Make a bigger profit, get taxed more. Levy a tax on a business for any reason, that cost immediately gets passed on to the consumer, or even the employee. Those details have been discussed repeatedly, so I won't waste the time here.

I think the most important thing to understand about the free market (I'm assuming we still have one of those) is that if there is a cheaper, more efficient way to do something, then someone will eventually do it because it's a good business decision. The last time I checked, automated assembly lines were not born of government subsidy, but out of necessity to increase production at a lower cost.

I find it interesting that you point out deductions, rebates, etc. and call them a distortion. I get deductions too, but that doesn't mean that I think we should all pay a higher tax rate as long as there are deductions. What you're saying is that we should levy a tax that no one can get out of without spending a lot of money making changes. Your point doesn't refute what I'm saying, it just highlights how stupid our tax code is here. Let's consider why we need all of those deductions in the first place...an insanely high marginal tax rate.

By the way, I still will issue a friendly warning to keep an eye on the Sun (I mean that figuratively. Taken literally, you'll burn your retinas out). A solar min (which is late to begin with) will make us all pray for a little "global warming." Perhaps you'll notice an uncanny relationship between the current downward trend in the global heat budget and the decreased solar surface activity. You might want to invest in energy stocks. Just sayin'.