A referee: a judge who enforces rules and supervises fair play. Sports fans beg for referees to be invisible, allowing the players determine the outcome of the contest.

However, regarding electric cars, "Start Up America" and solar panels referees are building teams, changing rules, handicapping players and even buying their desired outcome.

Government Motors offers the Chevy Volt, a $41,000 gas/electric car with a huge subsidy that may even double this year. It may not run at all in freezing temps and there will be a dearth of re-charging stations for its electric battery for years. The Mini and the Fiat 500 compete in the small and fuel-efficient market. Both have a longer fuel range, have no electric plug, are smaller and lighter, and are sold for as little as $15,500.

On which side of this contest is the referee on?

The White House has announced the "Start Up America" program. It is an effort to create jobs by giving bureaucrats actual federal tax dollars to select start up companies and invest in entrepreneurial ideas. However, successful venture capitalists regularly say "no!" to good but unprofitable ideas, often pull investments and management when a good idea fails and always complain about limited seed capital and funding. Right now there are millions of small businesses across the nation that are underfunded, struggling and asking:

On which side of this contest is the referee on?

The European Union has begun paying huge subsidies to German and French farmers to place solar panels on barn roofs. These payments are so large that farmers all across the continent have begun building empty barns all over their land, limiting crop yields. With food shortages around the world and with no discernible reduction of energy costs as of yet, some farmers may even decide to strip and till the remaining lands and not bother to plant at all.

The rest of us ask, on which side of the empty barn is the referee on?

James Courcelles is an independent writer who can be reached at JamesCourcelles@yahoo.com