Free Republic

ALTON, Va. — Rep. Thomas Perriello relishes an energy fight with Republicans — even here in the rural Southside. The freshman lawmaker understands the potential consequences that he and other vulnerable Democrats face for backing a sweeping climate-change bill, and rather than ducking the issue, he’s embracing what may have been the toughest vote of his young political career. “There’s got to be something more important than getting reelected,” Perriello said in an interview with POLITICO. “If I lose my seat, and that’s the worst that happens, I could live with that.” But the 34-year-old believes Democrats will win this...

    Speaker Pelosi's National Energy Tax: More Mandates, More Regulations, More Costs Posted by Jessica R. Towhey on June 26, 2009 Speaker Pelosi’s national energy tax is going to raise electricity prices, increase gasoline prices, and ship American jobs overseas to countries like China and India.  This, we know.  It would be a bureaucratic nightmare overseen by a confusing web of government agencies that would take and redistribute trillions of dollars from family budgets and workers payrolls.  This, we also know.  Even Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-MN) admitted in the Washington Post this morning that: “The truth is, nobody knows for sure...

U.S. President Barack Obama is calling a climate change bill that passed the U.S. House of Representatives Friday "historic" and crucially important for job creation. In his weekly broadcast Saturday, the president says the legislation will finally make clean energy "profitable." The bill puts severe limits on harmful emissions and promotes alternative energy. The president says the bill encourages investments in clean energy that will create thousands of jobs. The legislation passed the House by a close margin Friday and now goes tothe U.S. Senate for consideration. The president Saturday called on every Senator to support the bill, saying they...

More and more Democrats are ready to vote against Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s climate change bill, according to a congressional committee chairman who opposes his leader. The House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson (D-Minn.) said Wednesday that he’s at an impasse with the lead sponsor of a climate change bill strongly backed by Pelosi (D-Calif.), and that his list of Democratic members who would join him in voting against the measure is growing rather than shrinking. “We’re stuck,” Peterson said regarding a clash he’s had with House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) over a number of issues in...