who would you like to see as the next president of the united states?

submitted by yelgy from self.AskSaidIt

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[–]TheJoint 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Cruz did nothing to hold the energy companies accountable for not winterizing their system which they were supposed to do for years.

[–][deleted] 1 insightful - 1 fun1 insightful - 0 fun2 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

If those companies didn't play by the rules, it falls to the Public Utilities Commission to assess a penalty. More likely, though, they did comply with the rules (they employ hundreds of lawyers, I'm sure) and the rules are stupid.

In fact, I know that to be the case. Electrical deregulation really is profoundly stupid. It's been around since the late 1990s, and has always played out the same way: in most years, it saves consumers a small amount of money. In a few other years, consumers face crazy, unpredictably high prices. This makes the idea unworkable.

Electrical service is a near-perfect example of a natural monopoly. Any attempt to create a free market for it will be awkward, and subject (as we have seen) to gaming.

This is difficult for conservatives to accept, but Cruz (to his credit) has started talking about the government's role in the electrical system in Texas. It's not as exciting as sticking it to some Big Evil Energy corporation would be, but I think it's what is needed.