Cap-and-Trade (War-On-Poor) Vote Hurried for Pelosi’s Vacation

Cap-and-Trade (War-On-the-Poor) Vote Hurried for Pelosi’s Vacation

Published by Boaz ItsHaky Campaign under Economy, Environment, Rosa Watch, War on the Poor
http://www.boforcongress.com/

UPDATE 1: 6/26/09 12:54 pm. Roll call #466: Rep. Rosa DeLauro has voted YES on H.Res. 587, bringing H.R. 2454 onto the floor for three hours of debate. Rep. DeLauro’s vote is STRIKE ONE against the the poor and middle-class of the United States on behalf of wealthy special interests!

Warning! Do not believe the newest price tag of H.R. 2454, the Clean Energy and Security Act. Its guaranteed to be much higher than the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates being touted in Washington. But that’s all part of the game being played against the American people by the incumbent Democrat leadership. (We’ll issue the same warning for the government’s health reform as it progresses.)

The lower estimates are designed to lure wavering Democrats into voting for what may be the single biggest tax increase and scam ever to enter the halls of Congress. As CNN’s Evan Glass reports,

Democrats are hoping that a recent evaluation by the CBO, which estimates that the annual economywide cost of the cap-and-trade program in 2020 would be $22 billion — or about $175 per household, is enough to alleviate concerns of some members.

As is always the case, once the real price tag is made public, none of the Congressmembers who voted for H.R.2454 will admit they relied on fraudulent figures to get the bill passed. They never do.

Meanwhile, Rep. Edward Markey, Mr. Waxman’s co-author, said the cost of upending the entire energy economy would be no more than a postage stamp a day for the average family. But that figure is unbelievable, and not just because the price of postage increases practically every year!

As we reported weeks ago, even veteran incumbent John Dingell expressed caution over the price of Rep. Waxman’s scheme. And the Wall Street Journal breaks down the CBO figures so even a member of Congress can understand what’s going on:

For starters, the CBO estimate is a 1-year snapshot of taxes that will extend to infinity. 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 cranked down over time to reduce total carbon emissions.

This is where it becomes a scam. CO2 is made into a commodity which will be traded by brokers who belong to a tight-knit community of environmental elites. They collect huge commissions for trading basically nothing. These fees get passed on to the consumer.

World-famous environmentalist Sir James Lovelock flatly calls cap-and-trade a scam that will do nothing to contain global warming but will make a few well-placed people immensely rich. (But then, perhaps that’s the whole purpose of Rep. Waxman’s creature.)

The CBO’s analysis looks solely at the year 2020, before most of the tough restrictions kick in. As the cap is tightened and companies are stripped of initial opportunities to “offset” their emissions, the price of permits will skyrocket beyond the CBO estimate of $28 per ton of carbon. The corporate costs of buying these expensive permits will be passed to consumers.

This will start earlier than 2020. It will be immediate. That’s because corporations must work anticipated cost increases into long-term forecasts and raise prices early to make the transition gradual, as well as to build a pad in case a more radical bill comes into Congress.

The CBO acknowledges that the resource cost does not indicate the potential decrease in gross domestic product (GDP) that could result from the cap.

Of course it doesn’t! Rep. Rosa DeLauro touts these measures as job creators in the green industry. And, she is right. But neither she nor Rep. Waxman have the courage to say how many times more jobs will be lost!

Job loss is only part of the problem. What the Wall Street Journal calls “the most massive tax increase in U.S. history” is directed right at the poor. Since all commodities, raw materials, farm produce, manufactured consumer products, and energy consumption will be taxed by cap-and-trade, everything used by the poor will increase in cost. For all their talk of “helping the under-privileged,” the veteran Democrat leadership are about to deliver a hammer blow to the poor.

Regardless of the consequences to our nation’s economic recovery, this bill would be a triumph for the leadership: Passing this 1,201-page barely-read bill ensures that the special interests that did most of the writing (especially the 300 extra pages that magically appeared in the bill this week alone) will get rewarded. And, the veteran incumbent Democrats can tout the bill as a fulfillment of their campaign promises to curb global warming, even though this bill is almost useless in accomplishing that!

Worst of all, this legislation is being rushed because of Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s vacation plans. Almost like a few months back, when she and Rep. Rosa DeLauro forced through the stimulus bill without reading it so they could jet over to a luxurious junket in Rome.

Rep. Rosa DeLauro is certain to vote YES to H.R. 2454.

She will vote YES to waging war on the poor by raising prices on everything from bread to clothes to electricity.

She will vote YES to making a well-connected elite fabulously wealthy as they exclusively trade nonexistent carbon credits.

She will vote YES to crushing America’s economic recovery as taxes force more business overseas.

She will vote YES to a system that is a proven failure to off-set CO2 wherever its used.

She will vote YES to massive job loss as manufacturers produce less goods to avoid the carbon cap.

And come November 2010, Boaz ItsHaky will remind voters in Connecticut’s Third District how Rep. DeLauro voted AGAINST every single one of them.