"CAP-AND-TRADE": THE EVERYDAY TAX

House Democrats Ram Through National Energy Tax That Will Cost You Monday Through Friday

NO CHANCE FOR PROPER REVIEW: DEMS RUSHED THROUGH 1,200+ PAGE ENERGY TAX BILL

Washington Post Editorial: Members Of Congress Can't Analyze National Energy Tax Bill Before Voting On It. "The result is a 1,201-page measure filled with political compromises, directives, subsidies and selections of winners and losers that most members won't be able to analyze before the vote and that leaves us wondering how effective it will be. (Editorial, "Waxman-Markey: Action on Climate Change Is Overdue. But is This The Best We Can Hope For?" The Washington Post, 6/26/09).

Chicago Tribune Editorial: Hard To Believe Anyone Has Read Bill. "If the House votes this week, it will not be an informed vote ... If anyone in Congress tells you that he has read and completely understands this bill, and can explain exactly how the system to reduce carbon emissions would work and what its effects would be, he's lying." (Editorial, "Too Big, Too Fast," Chicago Tribune, 6/25/09)

Dems Weren't Done: 300+ Pages Of Amendments Were Inserted At 3 AM On Friday. "Today is the day that the House plans to vote on the cap and trade bill that has mysteriously changed this week. Last night, the bill changed again. We are now looking at an additional 300-pages that will be considered as amending H.R. 2998, the replacement bill of origins unknown." (Paul Blumenthal, "300 Pages Out Of Thin Air," Sunlight Foundation Blog, 6/25/09)

WHY WOULD THEY RUSH IT THROUGH? BECAUSE IT'S A TAX THAT WILL HIT AMERICANS EVERY WEEKDAY

MONDAY: Pay Higher Utility Bill For Your Home. Obama: "When I was asked earlier about the issue of coal, you know, under my plan of a cap and trade system, electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Even regardless of what I say about whether coal is good or bad. Because I'm capping greenhouse gases, coal power plants, you know, natural gas, you name it, whatever the plants were, whatever the industry was, uh, they would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that money on to consumers." (Sen. Barack Obama, Interview with San Francisco Chronicle Editorial Board, 1/17/08)

TUESDAY: Pay Higher Gas Prices For Your Car. "NACS is concerned that certain provisions in pending legislation (such as the allocation of allowances) may result in dramatically higher costs for motor fuels, which will significantly distress our customers...The leading proposals in the House and Senate will have a massive impact on virtually every aspect of the American economy. To ensure that consumers and small business owners do not bear an unreasonable economic burden, it i s essential that Congress reconsider the direction in which it is currently heading." (Letter to House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman and Ranking Member Joe Barton, National Association of Convenience Stores, 6/23/09)

WEDNESDAY: Pay Higher Ticket Prices For Your Business Trip. "For an airline, higher fuel prices would negatively impact ticket prices, reduce service to both small and large communities and severely hamper the economic development associated with commercial aviation (i.e., travel and leisure businesses, aircraft manufacturing, airport-related jobs, etc.). Moreover, higher fuel prices associated with a cap-and-trade system would siphon away the very capital we need to continue the investments in technology..." ("Statement of James C. May President and CEO Air Transport Association of AMerica, Inc.," Air Transport Association , 6/9/09)

THURSDAY: Pay Higher Prices For Your Medicine And Clothing. "Any substantial cost increases imposed directly or indirectly on trucks by H.R. 2454 will curtail the delivery of vital consumer goods across the nation such as food, medicine, and clothing. Constraining the country's freight delivery system would change our way of life for the worse by significantly increasing the cost of everything we buy." (Statement of G. Tommy Hodges, on behalf of the American Trucking Associations, Inc. (ATA), Before the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, 6/9/09)

FRIDAY: Pay Higher Prices For Your Groceries. "[T]he reality is that this bill will have huge adverse effects on agriculture because of increases in energy prices and agriculture is energy intensive that in turn will have impacts on consumer food prices." (American Farm Bureau President Bob Stallman, "Climate Bill Should Not Ignore Agriculture," American Farm Bureau, 6/11/09)

Chicago Tribune (IL): "Democratic leaders need to slow down. This proposed legislation would affect every American individual and company for generations. There's a huge amount of money at stake: $845 billion for the federal government in the first 10 years. Untold thousands of jobs created -- or lost. This requires careful study, not a Springfield-style here's-the-bill-let's-vote rush job." (Editorial, "Too big, too fast," Chicago Tribune, 6/25/09)

Denver Post (CO): "The debate on such a transformative issue ought to continue and broaden. How is it possible the 1,200-page American Clean Energy and Security Act is being rushed through Congress in a repeat of what happened with the stimulus package? Has anyone read this one?... Fashioned to avoid appearing like a new tax, the measure nevertheless would work like one, as the higher costs of meeting the caps get passed on to consumers. The measure risks hurting our competitiveness globally without effectively lowering global greenhouse gases." (Editorial, "Cap and trade is wrong solution," Denver Post, 6/26/09)

San Diego Union Tribune (CA): "At a time when the economy is in shambles, with 14.5 million people unemployed, the president is seeking quick approval of a bill that would take a wrecking ball to U.S. industry, especially agriculture.... Unfortunately, we are now enmeshed in a debate in which the dominant voices either shout down or try to shame those who disagree with their policy prescriptions. If they get their way, here's the grim likely result: a continuation of global warming and a crippled U.S. economy... So we implore both Congress and President Obama to slow down on the folly that is "cap and trade." On global warming, it's time for fresh, unfettered thinking."(Editorial, "Slow the rush," San D iego Union-Tribune, 6/19/09)

Charleston Gazette (WV): "The current governmental attack on coal will cause American job losses, higher power bills and increased worldwide pollution. Cecil's argument that the outlook would be just as bad under a different administration avoids confronting the fact that so-called cap-and-trade legislation is bad for not only coal miners, but also for America... Climate-change legislation in this country, regardless of who writes it, will only make matters worse. It will simply legislate carbon emissions - and jobs - into other countries, with no positive impact whatsoever on global temperature. Everyone should remember that China is on the same globe that we are." (Don Blankenship, "Stand with Proponents of Coal," Th e Charleston Gazette, 5/10/09)

Charleston Daily Mail (WV): "What exactly would the bill do to West Virginians? And at what cost to the mining industry, its work force, to electric utilities, to businesses, to local governments, to state revenues and to ratepayers?... The war on coal, and the accompanying cap-and-trade mumbo-jumbo, would clobber West Virginia and West Virginians." (Editorial, "Our views; Between a rock and a hard place; West Virginians expect their representatives to stand with them," Charleston Daily Mail, 6/24/09)

Bismarck Tribune (ND): "Citizens of North Dakota need to be very concerned about the cap and trade or Clean Energy Bill that will soon be voted on in Congress. This bill will really affect North Dakota's economy, as well as the rest of the nation... The new energy bill the Obama administration wants could cost every person a lot in new energy expenses. North Dakota and the U.S. will lose lots of jobs, but there will be one company that will profit, General Electric, and Obama will get another one of his bills he wants to have passed. Where will this all stop? We have to get our U.S. economy back on track. Cap and trade will be hard on North Dakota's economy." (Darlean Hahn Tioga, The Bismarck Tribune, 5/26/09)

New Castle News (PA): "Obama's 'cap and trade' would bring this country to its knees, hurting the ones he promised to help and force businesses to close. Aside from doubling the cost of utilities, cap and trade would quadruple taxes. When city, school, county and state have their utility costs doubled, taxpayers will be asked to ante up. Business and industry's only option will be to raise prices, lay off or shut down." (Patty Jenkins, "Obama Policis Criticized," New Castle News, 5/8/09)

Harrisburg Patriot News (PA): "Rep. Henry Waxman and other key members of the House Energy and Commerce Committee are calling for a carbon cap-and-trade system, much like the one that Europe adopted four years ago but has yet to produce benefits. In Europe, energy prices have skyrocketed, economic competitiveness has drained away, many jobs have been lost and investment has gone elsewhere. Worse still, Europe's carbon emissions have increased." (John J. Interval, "President should note Europe's failed system," Harrisburg Patriot News, 5/3/09)

North Carolina State University Professor: "In addition to having drastic effects on the economy, the cap-and-trade system could significantly increase gasoline prices in the short run, perhaps as much as 60 cents per gallon... In the meantime, because of increased costs, oil production would decline making us more, not less, dependent on foreign oil. The increased production costs due to cap and trade, causing production of fossil fuels to decline, would translate into higher gasoline, utility, and other energy costs -- even more so as many of the developing economies continue to become richer and demand more fossil fuel-based energy." (Michael K. Wohlgenant, Op-Ed, "Why cap and trade is a bad idea," Ashville Citizen-Times, 6/26/09)

Daily Press (VA): "The last thing we need is a massive new program that will increase the cost of doing business, hike consumers' utility bills, raise the price of many goods and services (including gasoline), and dampen the prospects for recovery. This bill would do all that." (Editorial, "Bad Bill, Bad Business; Tell Your Representatives To Say No To A Cap-And-Trade Bill That Will Tax And Hurt," Daily Press, 6/24/09)

The Roanoke Times (VA): "On top of that, the Waxman-Markey "cap-and-trade" bill now moving through Congress would impose heavy carbon fees -- in reality, taxes -- on energy-intensive industries, especially oil and natural gas companies. These taxes and fees have the potential over time to severely reduce investment in new energy supplies, particularly unconventional sources of oil and natural gas, which are critically important in meeting our nation's energy needs." (Editorial, "Carbon Tax Is A Bad Idea," The Roanoke Times, 6/19/09)

The Montgomery Messenger (AL): "A recent American Solutions poll revealed that 67 percent of Americans do not support the passage of a cap-and-trade plan to regulate carbon emissions, if it will raise the cost of energy between $800 and $2,500 per household. Such a plan will likely result in a loss of 1.3 million to 2.3 million American jobs. Simply put, the cap-and-trade plan is nothing more than an energy tax on every American...Righ t now, policies promoted by the Obama administration and its congressional allies would require utilities to obtain as much as 25 percent of their power from "renewable" resources. While some would have us believe that picking only certain types of "renewable" technologies in Washington is a good thing, the truth is that the cost impacts on the people and businesses of Alabama -- a state with limited renewable options beyond our existing hydroelectric plants -- would be dramatic." (Michael Ciamarra, "ALABAMA VOICES: Going Green Sensibly," The Montgomery Messenger, 4/22/09)

They came for the coal miners, but I wasn’t a coal miner, so I said nothing.

They came for the power plant workers, but I wasn’t a power plant worker so I said nothing.

Now I’m sitting in a cold, dark f_cking house!

Good post. The gasoline tax increase alone will cause everything else to go up in price. I’m afraid more independent truckers will go out of business.

And experts say this will cause millions of jobs to go overseas.

I started up power plants for five years. I designed power plants. I ran R&D programs on new high efficiency technology and built several pilot plants to demonstrate the new technology.

The government interference was so horrendous that the entire industry became dedicated to telling its customers to buy less and less of its product. The industry continually apologized for its venal sins.

I got so sick of the sycophants that would roll over to their lords and masters in government that I finally left the industry. Just couldn’t stand it any more.

Another unread bill passed in the night as Democrats say it’s so important, it has to be passed immediately. They did this to us with the stimulus bill and now they are doing it on the misnamed anti-global warming bill which is actually a tax bill along with an anti capitalist-let’s wreck America bill.

If these issues are so important and will so change our economy, why can’t they be read ahead of the vote and why can’t we see reasoned debate (instead of arm twisting by Obama and Pelosi/Reid)?

Americans, it’s time to take back our government from those bent on wrecking America and impoverishing its citizens. We don’t just need Tea Parties, we need to start drilling citizens militias to defend us from tyranny. Lexington & Concord 2009 may be in our future.

All those union railroaders who voted for “That One” will find themselves out of work when there are fewer and fewer coal trains running to power plants.

Coal is still commodity number one to the nations railroads.

Bankrupt the coal industry and railroads go too.

“and railroads go too.”

Except the govt. will subsidize and print money and tax us to pay for it.

All these taxes are death by a thousand cuts. Any school boy I knew growing up knows you do not raise taxes in a recession.

Now that FDR OBAMA has set the stage to transfer every bit of wealth out of the middle class it will be interesting to see the effect on the stock market over the next few months.

Iran, Iraq, Afganistan, Russia..

Whatever...

America's true enemies are from within..

They are here. Ruling your life. And they do not intend to let go of the control they have over you....

Will you wake up in time?

Farmers: Stop producing food.

Energy workers: Stop making electricity

Patriots: (fill in the blank)

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.