The National Report

Our nation is fading fast, and Washington D.C. is voting on legislation at such a blinding pace, it is difficult for most people to keep up with the changes. Late Friday afternoon, when most people in this country were discussing important matters such as the death of Michael Jackson, and their weekend plans, Congressional Democrats were hard at work forcing through a piece of legislation called the Waxman-Markey climate bill, more popularly known as Cap-and-Trade.

This dangerous and controversial piece of legislation narrowly passed in the House of Representatives with a vote of 219-212, with three representatives failing to vote either way. A complete list of how each representative voted (or didn’t) is listed at the end of this article so you can properly remember them when they come up for re-election.

Touted by the left as the way to make us greener, the bottom line on this bill is to raise energy prices to painful levels so that Americans will use less gas and electricity. The bill penalizes energy producers who exceed production caps on carbon dioxide. As we know all businesses pass those costs along to consumers – that means you and me.

What is worse is that the bill won’t affect just gas and electric prices. Manufacturers use energy and gas in the production of goods. The increased costs will be passed along to them, and their costs in turn passed along to the consumers. Everything from food, to cars, to clothes will see a painful increase in prices. Already feeling a pinch, Americans will now buy even less, which will result in less production of goods, fewer jobs created, and more layoffs.

“Not so,” say the Democrats who are championing this piece of legislation. Instead they are pointing to the analysis of the Congressional Budget Office which looks only at the day to day costs of running the program, and completely ignores the broader economic pressures of restricting energy. While the Democrats say that this will only cost the average homeowner the price of a postage stamp each day, the numbers the CBO used in that analysis are for a period prior to when the real big penalties kick in! By 2020, once companies loose their ability to offset their emissions, the price of their permits would shoot up, well beyond the CBO analysis.

Trying to downplay the economic ramifications to get the bill passed, Democrats, including Barack Obama, are wavering from earlier statements. On January 17, 2008 Barack Obama himself said, “Under my plan of a cap and trade system electricity rates would necessarily skyrocket. Businesses would have to retrofit their operations. That will cost money. They will pass that cost onto consumers.” Necessarily skyrocket? He didn’t say increase, or go up modestly, he admitted they would skyrocket!

Remember Barack’s campaign promise to reduce our dependence on foreign oil? Well with this legislation that goes out the window as well. In fact, Cap-and-Trade will encourage domestic refiners to bring in foreign gasoline! Think that is a paranoid statement? Under the program refiners would have to purchase allowances for carbon dioxide created by their plants and when motorists burn that company’s fuel. Imports would only have to pay tax when motorists burn their gas. According to Jim Mulva, CEO of Conoco Phillips, this creates a competitive imbalance. In an article on Bloomberg he was quoted as saying, “It will lead to the opportunity for foreign sources to bring in transportation fuels at a lower cost, which will have an adverse impact to our industry, potential shutdown of refineries and investment and, ultimately, employment.”

According to Roger Ihne, an energy client portfolio leader at Deloitte Consulting, about 2 million barrels of daily U.S. refining capacity will shut down because carbon costs will be several times the operating profits for some plants. That equals about 12 percent of America’s fuel making capacity. Some put the estimate higher at 3 million barrels a day of idled refining capacity.

If this bill were really about the “good of the environment,” then why is the Environmental Protection Agency against it? In an analysis they did in April and May of this year, their report states the cap-and-trade system favored by President Barack Obama and many congressional Democrats could potentially damage the U.S. manufacturing sector and force jobs to move overseas. This is the analysis of the EPA! Their analysis continues to say the policy “can cause domestic production … to shift abroad.” The EPA’s assessment also notes that this would result in higher greenhouse gas emissions in countries that don’t have similar cap and trade laws. In further review of the Waxman-Markey bill, the EPA shows that the plan would reduce U.S. manufacturing capacity.

What about Greenpeace? Surely an organization dedicated to the environmental protection of our planet would be in favor of this bill? Guess again. On their website they say, “Greenpeace opposes this bill in its current form. We are calling upon Congress to vote against this bill.” They go on to say, “Despite President Obama’s assurance that he would enact strong, science-based legislation, we are now watching him put his full support behind a bill that chooses politics over science.”

Several members of the House of Representatives are greatly concerned over other collateral damage that will be done as a result of this bill. Once energy companies and manufacturers start buying, selling, and trading carbon permits from one another, they acknowledge their concern about the market to be created in carbon allowances, stating it poses the same risks as those in markets in other kinds of derivatives.

For those who haven’t been paying attention, derivatives are very controversial and have been one of the big players in our recent economic crisis. In fact, some financial gurus such as Warren Buffet believe that the complicated packages of swaps and stock futures increase risk and long-term bubbles such as with the recent mortgage backed investment packages. Think this can’t happen? In October of 2008 NASDAQ completed an acquisition of Nord Pool International. The new company will introduce a new offering, NASDAQ QMX Commodities, based on Nord Pool’s energy and carbon derivatives products to banks, hedge funds, brokers, and other financial companies in addition to power utilities, industry, manufacturing and oil companies. Does any of this sound familiar? In fact aren’t we still waiting for most of this nation’s largest financial institutions to recover from their latest round of trading in these kinds of investments?

In fact didn’t Barack Obama come out against this kind of greed by Wall Street? He can’t be too upset. After all, in 2000 and 2001 he helped to fund a pioneering carbon trading exchange, the CCX, while he was serving on the board of a “charitable organization” in Chicago! Do you think that just maybe that organization may just profit huge by the bill that Obama himself strong-armed through the House yesterday?

Nancy Pelosi has $50,000 to $100,000 invested in Clean Energy Fuels Corp, the largest provider of natural gas for transportation in North America. According to their website, they have a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, ports, shuttle taxi, regional trucking, airport and municipal fleet markets.

What about Al Gore, Mr. Green himself? Surely he is philanthropic about our planet? Nope. Al Gore is the chairman and founder of Generation Investment Management. According to Gore, the London-based firm invests money from institutions and wealthy investors in companies that are going green. According to an article written on BNet, “GIM appears to have considerable influence over the major carbon-credit trading firms that currently exist: the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX) in the U.S. and the Carbon Neutral Company (CNC) in Great Britain. CCX is the only firm in the U.S. that claims to trade carbon credits.” Hmm the only company in the U.S. and it was funded by Barack Obama. Interesting.

The 2007 article continues stating, “Clearly, GIM is poised to cash in on carbon trading. The membership of CCX is currently voluntary. But if the day ever comes when federal government regulations require greenhouse-gas emitters-and that’s almost everyone-to participate in cap-and-trade, then those who have created a market for the exchange of carbon credits are in a position to control the outcomes. And that moves Al Gore front and center.” Yesterday Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi strong armed members of Congress to pass this legislation. It would seem that their ship has come in at the cost of your rights and freedoms and our nation’s economic viability.

The Democrats in Washington D.C. obviously do not have our best interest in mind. This bill is all about power, control, and greed at the expense of American jobs and at the cost of “skyrocketing” prices on everything we pay for. They will dictate everything about your life. From the clothes you wear, to the food you eat, and the car you drive, every facet of your existence will be determined by the damage this bill does. Because of the extreme pressures this bill will place on our economy, it will even shape how much food you eat, how you drive that car, and how far you can drive. This bill squarely places control of all industry, economic growth, earning potential, job creation, and consumerism in the hands of the government. Remember when we used to be the Land of Opportunity? This is socialism pure and simple.

This administration’s desire to march our country steadily into socialism can’t be more clear. Once all of the affected industries suffer and come under strict government control, we will be bordering on communism! The next takeover on their agenda is health care. Policy after policy that has been rapid fired out of Washington since Obama’s inauguration and rushed into law by his extreme left-wing cohorts in Congress are destroying the nation our founders envisioned.

This latest move goes against everything they believed, and stands against the republic they envisioned. Our representatives are supposed to answer to us, pass laws that are good for American citizens, and reduce government intrusion into our private lives. Those in D.C. need to be voted out in a hurry. I’m afraid it is already to late to save this once great nation as we have to watch the self-serving socialists in Washington D.C. cannibalize our nation while sneaking through legislation before it can be properly read and understood.

The night before it was voted on, an additional 300 pages were added. That brought the total number of pages  to over 1500! You can’t tell me anyone who voted on the legislation read them all. Instead they were continuously harassed by phone calls from Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama pressuring them to vote yes on this piece of garbage. In my opinion, what is going on in Washington D.C. borders on treason.

The only glimmer of hope that exists to defeat this bill lies with the Senate. Thankfully this is a very controversial bill, as demonstrated by the narrow victory it received in the House of Representatives. Unlike the House, where a bill needs just a majority to pass, for a bill to pass in the Senate it needs to receive 60 votes. Many critics believe that it is in for an even tougher battle in the Senate. Now is your time to act! Contact your two Senators and let them know how much you detest this piece of legislation and demand that they vote it down. If you live in California don’t forget to address Barbara Boxer as “Senator,” to avoid her having a complete hissy fit.

While you are at it, let your representative in Congress know how you feel about their vote yesterday. Let them know how much you plan to remember it when you go to the polls. Below, you will find a complete list of members of the House of Representatives, and how they voted on this bill. Happy calling!

—- AYES    219 —

—- NOES    212 —

—- NOT VOTING    3 —