No end to the Stupidity

There is no end to the stupidity in Sacramento:

A free parking spot is one of life's little perks, and at one free lot, customers told us at a time when the price of everything seems to be going up, free parking is something they can still hang onto.

But in California, environmentalists say all that free parking comes at too high a cost- in greenhouse gas emissions. Environmentalists say if people drove less, there would be an environmental benefit.

With the support of green groups, the state senate passed a plan offering cities and counties financial incentives to slash the number of free parking spaces on the street and in government-owned lots, and to reduce the number of free spaces businesses are required to provide.

Sponsors suggest that will encourage people to walk, take the bus or even ride a bike. Critics say it's just another example of Sacramento Democrats' far left agenda.

My first reaction to hearing this last night, minus the epithet of course, was to wonder what else won't they try and regulate, control or otherwise attempt? This is agenda driven stupidity at it's extreme.

To see semi-local reaction, here is the news report from KEYT out of Santa Barbara from last evening.

They can't Arrest all of Us

Nick Gillespie at Reason wonders aloud how many people will ignore a Federal mandate to buy health insurance. Given the history of ignoring other such legal ultimatums, it's an interesting thought exercise.

There's lots of bravado in the comments about being willing to be a 'test case' but it all made me wonder; how many people in non-compliance would it take to grind that nonsense to a screeching halt?

Daylight not-Saving Time

Didn't need to hear experts weigh in on this. I could have told you it was a stupid idea:

The early onset of Daylight Savings Time in the United States this year may have been for naught.

The move to turn the clocks forward by an hour on March 11 rather than the usual early April date was mandated by the U.S. government as an energy-saving effort.

But other than forcing millions of drowsy American workers and school children into the dark, wintry weather three weeks early, the move appears to have had little impact on power usage.

"We haven't seen any measurable impact," said Jason Cuevas, spokesman for Southern Co., one of the nation's largest power companies, echoing comments from several large utilities.

That may come as no surprise to the Energy Department, which last year predicted only modest energy savings because the benefits of the later daylight hour would be offset.

For example, households may draw less electricity for lights at night, but will use more power in the early in the day as they wake to darker and chillier mornings.

Duh.