Acton Institute PowerBlog - Entries from Monday, October 8, 2007

Normally, I’m not a huge fan of Congressman John Dingell. But on this issue, I have to at least give him points for honesty:

Democrats took over Congress vowing to make global warming a top priority, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi planned to notch a quick victory with a bill that was long on political symbolism and cost, if short on actual emissions reductions.

Standing in her way has been Mr. Dingell. Much to the speaker’s consternation, the powerful chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee is insisting that any bill should actually accomplish something, and that its pain be borne by all Americans (rather than just his Detroit auto makers). In recent months he has been circulating his own proposals for hefty new taxes on energy, gasoline and homeowners--ideas that are already giving the rest of his party the willies.

His position arguably makes Mr. Dingell the lone honest broker in the global warming debate. But it also makes him a headache for all his Democratic friends, who’d prefer he just play political nice. For his part, the 81-year-old Dean of the House--as feisty and courtly and colorful a congressman as you’ll ever find--is unrepentant.

“I wasn’t sent down here to destitute [my district]. And I wasn’t sent down here to destitute anyone else. . . . I’ve got a responsibility to legislate, but I’ve got a responsibility to legislate well. I’m going to be honest with the American people about this and say ‘look here, fellas, this is what we’re going to have to do to you to fix global warming. You tell us whether you like it or not.’ ”

Read the whole interview, and be sure to savor the ease with which Dingell talks of directly controlling or changing your life from his perch in the government. Honest, and frankly - chilling.

Sonny Bunch reviewed “The Call of the Entrepreneur” and discussed the significance of the American Film Renaissance (AFR) in The Weekly Standard. His article is titled, “The Right Stuff: Conservatives decide if you can’t beat Hollywood, join it.”

In his piece, Bunch discussed the goals of AFR:

AFR has been hosting film festivals across the country since 2004, but the Hubbards hope to set up permanent shop in Washington and push the festival into the mainstream. Jim Hubbard says he wants the name recognition of a Sundance or a Cannes while maintaining the political sensibility of Middle America.

Bunch also noted, “The Call of the Entrepreneur” is “alternately funny, moving, and educational.” Also, quoting Acton’s Michelle Muccio, Bunch declared:

“Hollywood demonizes entrepreneurship and business ventures,” Muccio told me before the show, pointing to examples like the evil Mr. Potter in It’s a Wonderful Life and the conniving Gordon Gekko from Wall Street. It’s not often that you see a businessman doing much good in a Hollywood film.