Free Republic

Mike Allen broke this astounding bit of news yesterday: Phil Schiliro, the White House congressional liaison, has told the Senate to aim to take up an energy bill the week of July 12, after the July 4 break (and after the scheduled final passage of Wall Street reform). Kagan confirmation will follow, ahead of the summer break, scheduled to begin Aug. 9. The plan is to conference the new Senate bill with the already-passed House bill IN A LAME-DUCK SESSION AFTER THE ELECTION, so House members don't have to take another tough vote ahead of midterms. A White House aide...

On July 9, 1970, President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by executive order as an independent agency joining together a number of functions from different federal agencies. The EPA says its mission “is to protect human health and to safeguard the natural environment – air, water and land – upon which life depends.” An Administrator appointed by the President of the United States runs the agency, which is not a Cabinet agency, although the Administrator is usually given cabinet rank. Lisa P. Jackson is the current Administrator, and the EPA’s Website notes that the “FY 2010 Budget...

Forget the dire economic consequences of a Copenhagen climate change treaty for a second and think about the fraud involved. Carbon Trading Fraud Take the European Union, for instance, which implemented a carbon trading scheme analogous to a cap and trade system. And it has been fraught with fraud. French officials are investigating a $230 million carbon trading fraud scheme and this is only the tip of the iceberg in what is a startling revelation and huge blow to the climate talks in Copenhagen: Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement arm against organized crime, announced on Wednesday that carbon-trading fraud...

The recent decision by the House of Representatives to administer a cap-and-trade tax on carbon emissions is an example of an ill conceived and poorly thought out bill from the house. First of all, before even getting into the policy of it all, it is inconceivable to me that a group of people can justifiably understand and make decisions on a fifteen hundred-page document in only a few days. Under a cap-and-trade system, government sets a cap on the total amount of carbon that can be emitted nationally; companies then buy or sell permits to emit CO2. The cap gets...

It was hard for the Democrats to get the 219 votes they needed to pass the "cap and trade" climate change bill in the U.S. House two weeks ago. Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, may have rolled the dice but, veteran Capitol Hillers say, it was only the intervention of President Barack Obama and White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel that managed to close the deal. They did it by pitching the vote as a referendum, at least internally, on Obama's presidency rather than on the underlying issue. No president likes to lose, least of all on a...

When I put out the call for photoshop entries to depict the Tr8torous Eight or “Despicable Eight” Republican Congressmen and women who sided with Obama on the Cap and Trade legislation last week, I never actually thought anyone would do it. - LINK TO ARTICLE AND VOTING SUBMISSION INFO -

June 29, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sarah Palin announced today she does not support a controversial piece of federal climate change legislation that is making its way through Congress. The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 is authored by U.S. Representatives Henry Waxman and Ed Markey. Governor Palin is concerned about the economic and environmental impacts the legislation could have on Alaska. “This bill does not offer enough flexibility to states to meet national standards and goals,” Governor Palin said. “Flexibility is particularly important for Alaska. Our cold climate and rural populations make it difficult for Alaskans...

The House just called up and began to debate the global warming bill. Waxman is waxing forth, blathering about "job growth" out of both sides of his mouth. But what is on TV: Michael Jackson (entertainment) and Governor Sanford's (titillation) cabinet meeting. BO making nice with Angela Merkel (Yerkel and Merkel). Even Fox is ignoring the nuts and bolts dismantling of our country and our economy today? Thanks, Fox. I expected better of you. Who in the world is calling the shots at the remaining legitimate cable news channel? Where are the adults? Why am I having to watch CSPAN?...