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Jens 'n' Frens
Idle thoughts of a relatively libertarian Republican in Cambridge, MA, and whomever he invites. Mostly political.
"A strong conviction that something must be done is the parent of many bad measures." -- Daniel Webster
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Friday, September 07, 2012 :::
“It’s not a level playing field,” said Peter V. Anderson, who grows corn and alfalfa on the parched plains of eastern Colorado. “I don’t think in reality that the farmer can compete with the oil and gas companies for that water. Their return is a hell of a lot better than ours.”
Does it occur to him that his point seems to be less that the playing field isn't level than that he's on the team that's not as good? It may be that there are regulations favoring energy companies over farmers — I suspect that the playing field, if anything, is already tilted in Mr. Anderson's favor, though I don't know that for sure — but he certainly, at least in the excerpted quote, doesn't make that point.
A couple years ago I read an article about the New York Marathon, discussing how long the streets should be blocked off; you'd like to give the amateur runners their chance at finishing, but the residential streets in particular have other uses to which other people would like to put them. One woman interviewed, who runs a marathon in six to seven hours, indicated that she pays the entry fee, and is entitled to the same services as are provided to the top runners. I support holding the streets for the runners for that length of time, but comparing the services required here, especially in terms of road closure per se, is a cannonball through the sails of that position — she's not requesting the same amount of road closure as the top runners, she's requesting three times as much road closure. There's a case to be made, and sympathy to be extended, but arguing that you should get more by pretending that it's less isn't going to win my support.
::: posted by dWj at 11:14 AM
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