Friday, July 3, 2009

The Cap-And-Trade Eight - RINO Traitors





<==Pelosi's Pet RINOs




Pelosi's Pet Rat











Photoshop credit: Leo Alberti

The 8 cap-and-tax Republican turncoats who sold out America are:
Mary Bono Mack (CA) (202) 225-5330
Mike Castle (DE) (202) 225-4165
Mark Kirk (IL) (202) 225-4835
Leonard Lance (NJ) (202) 225-5361
Frank LoBiondo (NJ) (202) 225-6572
John McHugh (NY) (202) 225-4611
Dave Reichert (WA) (202) 225-7761
Chris Smith (NJ) (202) 225-3765



The Carbonated Congress
-"Wall Street Journal", July 3, 2009

President Obama is calling the climate bill that the House passed last week an "extraordinary" achievement, and so it is. The 1,200-page wonder manages the supreme feat of being both hugely expensive while doing almost nothing to reduce carbon emissions.

The Washington press corps is playing the bill's 219-212 passage as a political triumph, even though one of five Democrats voted against it. The real story is what Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House baron Henry Waxman and the President himself had to concede to secure even that eyelash margin among the House's liberal majority. Not even Tom DeLay would have imagined the extravaganza of log-rolling, vote-buying, outright corporate bribes, side deals, subsidies and policy loopholes. Every green goal, even taken on its own terms, was watered down or given up for the sake of political rents.

Begin with the supposed point of the exercise -- i.e., creating an artificial scarcity of carbon in the name of climate change. The House trimmed Mr. Obama's favored 25% reduction by 2020 to 17% in order to win over Democrats leery of imposing a huge upfront tax on their constituents; then they raised the reduction to 83% in the out-years to placate the greens. Even that 17% is not binding, since it would be largely reached with so-called offsets, through which some businesses subsidize others to make emissions reductions that probably would have happened anyway.

Even if the law works as intended, over the next decade or two real U.S. greenhouse emissions might be reduced by 2% compared to business as usual. However, consumers would still face higher prices for electric power, transportation and most goods and services as this inefficient and indirect tax flowed down the energy chain.

The sound bite is that this policy would only cost households "a postage stamp a day." But that's true only as long as the program doesn't really cut emissions. The goal here is to tell voters they'll pay nothing in order to get the cap-and-tax bureaucracy in place -- even though the whole idea is to raise prices to change American behavior. At the same time -- wink, wink -- Democrats tell the greens they can tighten the emissions vise gradually over time.

Meanwhile, Congress had to bribe every business or interest that could afford a competent lobbyist. Carbon permits are valuable, yet the House says only 28% of the allowances would be auctioned off; the rest would be given away. In March, White House budget director Peter Orszag told Congress that "If you didn't auction the permit, it would represent the largest corporate welfare program that has ever been enacted in the history of the United States."

Naturally, Democrats did exactly that. To avoid windfall profits, they then chose to control prices, asking state regulators to require utilities to use the free permits to insulate ratepayers from price increases. (This also obviates the anticarbon incentives, but never mind.) Auctions would reduce political favoritism and interference, as well as provide revenue to cut taxes to offset higher energy costs. But auctions don't buy votes.

Then there was the peace treaty signed with Agriculture Chairman Colin Peterson, which banned the EPA from studying the carbon produced by corn ethanol and transferred farm emissions to the Ag Department, which mainly exists to defend farm subsidies. Not to mention the 310-page trade amendment that was introduced at 3:09 a.m. When Congress voted on the bill later that day, the House clerk didn't even have an official copy.

The revisions were demanded by coal-dependent Rust Belt Democrats to require tariffs on goods from countries that don't also reduce their emissions. Democrats were thus admitting that the critics are right that this new energy tax would send U.S. jobs overseas. But instead of voting no, their price for voting yes is to impose another tax on imports from China and India, among others. So a Smoot-Hawley green tariff is now official Democratic policy.

Mr. Obama's lobbyists first acquiesced to this tariff change to get the bill passed. Afterwards the President said he disliked "sending any protectionist signals" amid a world recession, but he refused to say whether this protectionism was enough to veto the bill. Then in a Saturday victory lap, he talked about green jobs and a new clean energy economy, but he made no reference to cap and trade -- no doubt because he knows that energy taxes are unpopular and that the bill faces an even tougher slog in the Senate.

Mr. Obama wants something tangible to take to the U.N. climate confab in Denmark in December, but the more important issue is what this exercise says about his approach to governance. The President seems to believe that the Carter and Clinton Presidencies failed by fighting too much with Democrats in Congress. So his solution is to abdicate his agenda to Congress -- first the stimulus, now cap and trade, and soon health care. We wish he had told us he was running to be Prime Minister.

-WSJ

See also:

Stop The Madness That's Killing Jobs, "Investors Business Daily", July 2, 20009

"National Health Insurance, 'Cap and Trade': Two Steps in the Wrong Direction" by Peter Schiff, June 28, 2009


"...[U]nder my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket...So if somebody wants to build a coal-powered plant, they can. It’s just that it will bankrupt them.”
-Barack Hussein Obama

"...I chose my friends carefully...the Marxist Professors and the structural feminists..."
-Barack Hussein Obama

"I hope he fails."
-Rush Limbaugh

Me too, Rush. Me too. Or God help us all...

Restore our beloved founding father's vision of America: A haven of liberty where individual freedom is protected from tyranny by the U.S. Constitution.
De-throne King Obama and make his Marxists minions extinct forever.

Fire. Them. All. Join the Revolution!

25 comments:

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Volt, were there some Blue-Dog Democrats who voted against it (Heath Shuler, for example)?

clif said...

Nice to see st sarah is a cut and run surrender monkey when the poll ratings begin to drop ...

BTW; One question,

If Sanford was the one fucking a woman not his wife,

why is Palin the governor resigning?

GOPigs certainly are a strange bunch of crooks and hypocrites.

Bhahwhahwahwhahwha

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Boy, does Clif ever hate Sarah Palin, huh? Of course, Clif hates a lot of other people, too. So, context, I guess.

clif said...

Don't "hate" her simpleton, nice way of framing MY thoughts in such a dishonest way .... typical of a concern troll though.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

"Walking brain fart", "trailor trash", "brain dead bimbo", "freakin idiot", "cut and run surrender monkey" - I don't know, Clifford, it sure as hell sounds like you hare her. LOL

clif said...

Hare her?

Sounds like your concern trolling is rotting your brains numbnuts.

Stick to writing fictitious accounts of your non -dates son.

thereturnofRusty said...

Hey,the welfare queen stopped by
with a few insightful comments.

thereturnofRusty said...

This friggin moron spent his
military career as a supply officer
handing out socks and underware,he gets caught up in Clintons dont
ask dont tell policy,gets drummed out on a supposed "disability,"
says hes too sick for honest employment,waits by his mail box
for his welfare check and chucks rocks at his betters to make himself feel like a whole man.What a sad example.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

But he spells good, Russ.

thereturnofRusty said...

Smell's good? Oh,I see spell's
good.

clif said...

Never was a supply officer, Lie #1

Never issued supplies, lie #2

Never was on active duty while Clinton was in office, lie #3

Damn the chicken hawk pussy lies a lot don't he?


Like most gutless reich-wing trolls he makes up lies about others to cover up for HIS own yellow streak.

Gutless pussy.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hi Blue Falcon!

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Oh and Will,

FF has been posting the last couple of threads.

My moving is complete, just still settling into the new digs.

clif said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
thereturnofRusty said...

Did Klink ask,or did he tell?
Perhaps both.
I remember that story he told Mike
how some young officer blew the wistle on him when he tried to crawl into the guys bunk one night.
I guess thats a disability,well he
sold it.
Come to think of it,we are paying his salary....maybe we should have him mow our lawns or at least sweep
the driveway.Even with his "serious" disability he should be able to perform those menial tasks.

thereturnofRusty said...

Klink,the hero supply officer who threw rolled up socks at the enemy.Yes,compared to that we are indeed chicken hawks.
I can see this friggin idiot in his back yard setting up those little green soldiers we all had as kids and throwing firecrackers at them.I wonder if he wears his old uniform?

thereturnofRusty said...

Gutless pussys??? I think most would say it takes a lot more "guts" to do honest work each then to wait by the mail box for a wefare check you earned faking a
so called disability.Now that is truely gutless.

clif said...

Pussy

Still can't stand the FACT you are a gutless pussy and always will be one.

So you do what all reich-wing losers do

LIE

IrOnY RaGeD said...

Hey FF,

I'd also like to nominate Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace to your list of RINO traitors.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

Good to have you back, Volt. Yeah, I just noticed that FF did the last one. Actually, I should be able to tell the difference from the prose alone - different styles.

Freedom Fan said...

Hi Volt. Don't know those two. Who are they?

Are you attending a tea party tomorrow? I'll be in San Juan Capistrano.

IrOnY RaGeD said...

FF, Those are the two McCain campaign insiders who have been spreading malicious gossip about Sarah Palin. They did it during the election and more recently for the Vanity Fair article.

Whenever an un-named McCain camp insider is quoted making a trashy comment on Sarah it's been traced back to one of those two.

I won't vote for anyone on our side who has those two involved with their campaign.

Hannity has had Wallace on his TV show quite a lot recently. I've since quit watching him.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

I still watch Nicole Wallace. Of course, I ALWAYS put hotness over principle. Seriously, though, did you see how they stuck into this bill the requirement that before you sell your house have have to have it retrograded? I can't believe that the more deliberative Senate will keep that particular provision in.

clif said...

Typical concern troll, thinks with his penis, since he can't use the other head for much.

Will "take no prisoners" Hart said...

So, I'm a concern troll with Volt, too? LOL Hey, how 'bout that Palin, Clif? She's hot, too, no? LOL